Enhancement of Linear Agricultural Areas to Provide Invertebrates as Potential Food for Breeding Birds

Conservation Biolog

The Impact of Landscape Complexity on Invertebrate Diversity in Edges and Fields in an Agricultural Area

Conservation Biolog

Composite grading algorithm for the National Cancer Institute’s Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE)

Background: The Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events is an item library designed for eliciting patient-reported adverse events in oncology. For each adverse event, up to three individual items are scored for frequency, severity, and interference with daily activities. To align the Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events with other standardized tools for adverse event assessment including the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, an algorithm for mapping individual items for any given adverse event to a single composite numerical grade was developed and tested. Methods: A five-step process was used: (1) All 179 possible Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events score combinations were presented to 20 clinical investigators to subjectively map combinations to single numerical grades ranging from 0 to 3. (2) Combinations with <75% agreement were presented to investigator committees at a National Clinical Trials Network cooperative group meeting to gain majority consensus via anonymous voting. (3) The resulting algorithm was refined via graphical and tabular approaches to assure directional consistency. (4) Validity, reliability, and sensitivity were assessed in a national study dataset. (5) Accuracy for delineating adverse events between study arms was measured in two Phase III clinical trials (NCT02066181 and NCT01522443). Results: In Step 1, 12/179 score combinations had <75% initial agreement. In Step 2, majority consensus was reached for all combinations. In Step 3, five grades were adjusted to assure directional consistency. In Steps 4 and 5, composite grades performed well and comparably to individual item scores on validity, reliability, sensitivity, and between-arm delineation. Conclusion: A composite grading algorithm has been developed and yields single numerical grades for adverse events assessed via the Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, and can be useful in analyses and reporting

Peak Stir Zone Temperatures during Friction Stir Processing

The stir zone (SZ) temperature cycle was measured during the friction stir processing (FSP) of NiAl bronze plates. The FSP was conducted using a tool design with a smooth concave shoulder and a 12.7-mm step-spiral pin. Temperature sensing was accomplished using sheathed thermocouples embedded in the tool path within the plates, while simultaneous optical pyrometry measurements of surface temperatures were also obtained. Peak SZ temperatures were 990 ⁰Cto 1015 ⁰C (0.90 to 0.97 TMelt) and were not affected by preheating to 400⁰C, although the dwell time above 900 ⁰C was increased by the preheating. Thermocouple data suggested little variation in peak temperature across the SZ, although thermocouples initially located on the advancing sides and at the centerlines of the tool traverses were displaced to the retreating sides, precluding direct assessment of the temperature variation across the SZ. Microstructure-based estimates of local peak SZ temperatures have been made on these and on other similarly processed materials. Altogether, the peak-temperature determinations from these different measurement techniques are in close agreement

Influence of heat input on friction stir welding for the ODS steel MA596

The oxide dispersion strengthened steel MA956 was friction stir welded using eight different rotational speed/translational speed combinations using a polycrystalline cubic boron nitride tool. Weld parameter conditions with high thermal input produced defect-free, full penetration welds. Electron backscatter diffraction showed a significant increase in grain size in the stir zone, a body centered cubic torsional texture in the stir zone, and a sharp transition in grain size across the thermo-mechanically affected zone. Micro-indentation results showed an asymmetric reduction in hardness across the transverse section of the weld that was sensitive to the heat input. This change in hardness is explained by the increase in grain size and may be described using a Hall-Petch type relationship.This work was sponsored by a collaborative research agreement between the Naval Postgraduate School and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Invertebrate Communities Associated with Three Early Phases of a Prairie Restoration Project

Conservation Biolog

The effect of friction stir processing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of an aluminum lithium alloy

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11661-008-9698-8Friction stir processing (FSP) was conducted on a wrought plate of AA2099 to refine and homogenize the microstructure and enhance the through-thickness ductility and fracture resistance. Optical microscopy (OM), orientation imaging microscopy (OIM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods were employed to evaluate microstructure and micro- texture in as-received material and in material subjected to FSP as well as postprocessing heat treatments. Hardness and orientation-dependent tensile test data were combined with anticlastic bending fatigue data to characterize the as-received, processed, and processed and heat-treated conditions of the material.Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)Office of Naval Research (ONR)Contract no. N00014-06-WR-2-0196 (ONR