Mount assembly for porous transition panel at annular combustor outlet

A gas turbine engine combustor assembly of annular configuration has outer and inner walls made up of a plurality of axially extending multi-layered porous metal panels joined together at butt joints therebetween and each outer and inner wall including a transition panel of porous metal defining a combustor assembly outlet supported by a combustor mount assembly including a stiffener ring having a side undercut thereon fit over a transition panel end face; and wherein an annular weld joins the ring to the end face to transmit exhaust heat from the end face to the stiffener ring for dissipation from the combustor; a combustor pilot member is located in axially spaced, surrounding relationship to the end face and connector means support the stiffener ring in free floating relationship with the pilot member to compensate for both radial and axial thermal expansion of the transition panel; and said connector means includes a radial gap for maintaining a controlled flow of coolant from outside of the transition panel into cooling relationship with the stiffener ring and said weld to further cool the end face against excessive heat build-up therein during flow of hot gas exhaust through said outlet

Word-of-mouth on financial products in online communities: an exploration into the why, what, and how?

This paper examines consumers' motivations to engage in electronic word-of-mouth (WOM) and its influences on the cognitive and affective aspects of the WOM message. A sample of 201 consumers was collected from an online survey. Regressions show that four motivations had significant relationships with cognitive and affective aspects of positive messages and two in the case of negative messages. Cognitive and affective aspects were both found to be positively related to message effectiveness, although the former had a greater influence. Findings suggest that consumers use both positive and negative WOM to achieve their objectives, but are more selective when engaging in negative WOM. Managers should encourage consumers to share more factual information about their consumption experience with others through WOM. Managers will gain a better understanding of WOM by analyzing individual messages for its content and delivery

Performance measurement systems as generators of cognitive conflict in ambidextrous firms

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd This study explores the decision-facilitating role of performance measurement systems (PMSs) in firms attempting to translate competence ambidexterity (i.e., the simultaneous pursuit of exploration and exploitation) into innovation ambidexterity outcomes (i.e., the achievement of both radical and incremental innovations). Drawing on paradox and organisational conflict literature, this study emphasises the role of cognitive conflict, generated by PMSs, in shaping the relationships between competence ambidexterity and innovation ambidexterity. Based on survey data from a sample of 90 Irish firms, our findings indicate that competence ambidexterity is associated with (a) the choice to have a balanced set of performance measures, and (b) the use of PMSs for frequent and intensive debate between top managers. Furthermore, the study reveals that these choices are interdependent, as they function as complements in generating cognitive conflict, which in turn drives the realisation of innovation ambidexterity outcomes. The results also show that cognitive conflict is not directly associated with the development of competence ambidexterity, but is instead generated through the conjoint action of a balanced PMS design and the use of PMSs for intensive debate. Overall, this study demonstrates the interdependent nature of choices concerning the design and use of PMSs, and the significant role of PMSs as generators of cognitive conflict in firms attempting to achieve ambidexterity

GOLF DRIVE LAUNCH ANGLES AND VELOCITY: 3D ANALYSIS VERSUS A COMMERCIAL LAUNCH MONITOR

The purpose of this study was to compare initial ball direction and velocity for a golf drive collected using a commercially available launch monitor and 3D data, collected using a retro-reflective motion analysis system. Six golfers (handicap: 2-20) completed 10 drives each, with data simultaneously recorded by both a 12 camera Vicon MX system (400Hz) and a Vector Pro launch monitor. Both systems produced outputs for launch angle, side angle and ball velocity. The launch monitor data were compared against the ‘benchmark’ 3D results and showed a high correlation (0.93 – 0.96). Mean errors (launch angle 0.5º, side angle 1.1º, ball velocity 1.1m/s) were also relatively small. The results of the study suggest that if a high speed 3D system is not available or practical, a launch monitor such as the one tested, should provide accurate measurements of golf ball launch data

Leading in Dangerous Situations \u3ci\u3eAn Overview of the Unique Challenges\u3c/i\u3e

The idea for Leadership in Dangerous Situations: A Handbook for the Armed Forces, Emergency Services, and First Responders evolved from the editors\u27 collective experiences and research in dangerous contexts and from Patrick J. Sweeneys experience directing a course in combat leadership at the United States Military Academy, West Point. We discovered that the leadership literature lacked a comprehensive guide outlining how and why leadership is different in dangerous contexts; how to prepare oneself and followers for the unique challenges of operating in such contexts and how to recover following exposure to adversity; how to lead when group members face danger; and how to leverage organizational systems to facilitate group members\u27 resilience in the face of and after adversities associated with dangerous contexts. The intent of Leadership in Dangerous Situations is to fill the gap in the leadership literature by providing the brave men and women who risk their lives to serve the public a comprehensive and easily understandable guide, backed by research, to prepare themselves and their units for the unique psychological, social, and organizational challenges of leading and operating in dangerous contexts

The nonlinear time-dependent response of isotactic polypropylene

Tensile creep tests, tensile relaxation tests and a tensile test with a constant rate of strain are performed on injection-molded isotactic polypropylene at room temperature in the vicinity of the yield point. A constitutive model is derived for the time-dependent behavior of semi-crystalline polymers. A polymer is treated as an equivalent network of chains bridged by permanent junctions. The network is modelled as an ensemble of passive meso-regions (with affine nodes) and active meso-domains (where junctions slip with respect to their positions in the bulk medium with various rates). The distribution of activation energies for sliding in active meso-regions is described by a random energy model. Adjustable parameters in the stress--strain relations are found by fitting experimental data. It is demonstrated that the concentration of active meso-domains monotonically grows with strain, whereas the average potential energy for sliding of junctions and the standard deviation of activation energies suffer substantial drops at the yield point. With reference to the concept of dual population of crystalline lamellae, these changes in material parameters are attributed to transition from breakage of subsidiary (thin) lamellae in the sub-yield region to fragmentation of primary (thick) lamellae in the post-yield region of deformation.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figure

Trust \u3ci\u3eThe Key to Leading When Lives Are on the Line\u3c/i\u3e

The Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was called in to assist the bureau\u27s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team in Memphis to apprehend a married couple wanted on drug trafficking charges. The fugitive couple and an adult son, all with criminal records, were believed to be living in trailers in a mountain valley where outsiders would be easily noticed. The fugitives were known to stockpile weapons and had vowed never to be taken alive by law enforcement. Thus the FBI considered them to be armed and extremely dangerous. Two HRT snipers along with two SWAT snipers were given the mission of positively identifying the fugitives and providing security and containment for the assault force. The snipers would have to travel several kilometers through wooded, mountainous terrain using night vision goggles (NVGs). The SWAT snipers did not have nighttime, overland movement capability, which is why HRT was brought in

Dual captures of Colorado rodents: implications for transmission of hantaviruses.

We analyzed dual-capture data collected during longitudinal studies monitoring transmission and persistence of Sin Nombre virus in rodents in Colorado. Our data indicate that multiple captures (two or more rodents captured in a single trap) may not be random, as indicated by previous studies, but rather the result of underlying, species-specific social behavior or cohesiveness. In the pairs we captured, most often, rodents were of the same species, were male, and could be recaptured as pairs. Therefore, dual captures of rodents, which are unusual but not rare, tend to occur among certain species, and appear to be nonrandom, group-foraging encounters. These demographic and ecologic characteristics may have implications for the study of the transmission of hantaviruses