Integrated Application of Active Controls (IAAC) technology to an advanced subsonic transpot project-demonstration act system definition

The 1985 ACT airplane is the Final Active Controls Technology (ACT) Airplane with the addition of three-axis fly by wire. Thus it retains all the efficiency features of the full ACT system plus the weight and cost savings accruing from deletion of the mechanical control system. The control system implements the full IAAC spectrum of active controls except flutter-mode control, judged essentially nonbeneficial, and incorporates new control surfaces called flaperons to make the most of wing-load alleviation. This redundant electronic system is conservatively designed to preserve the extreme reliability required of crucial short-period pitch augmentation, which provides more than half of the fuel savings

Integrated Application of Active Controls (IAAC) technology to an advanced subsonic transport project: Current and advanced act control system definition study. Volume 2: Appendices

The current status of the Active Controls Technology (ACT) for the advanced subsonic transport project is investigated through analysis of the systems technical data. Control systems technologies under examination include computerized reliability analysis, pitch axis fly by wire actuator, flaperon actuation system design trade study, control law synthesis and analysis, flutter mode control and gust load alleviation analysis, and implementation of alternative ACT systems. Extensive analysis of the computer techniques involved in each system is included

Antipsychotics and Torsadogenic Risk: Signals Emerging from the US FDA Adverse Event Reporting System Database

Background: Drug-induced torsades de pointes (TdP) and related clinical entities represent a current regulatory and clinical burden. Objective: As part of the FP7 ARITMO (Arrhythmogenic Potential of Drugs) project, we explored the publicly available US FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database to detect signals of torsadogenicity for antipsychotics (APs). Methods: Four groups of events in decreasing order of drug-attributable risk were identified: (1) TdP, (2) QT-interval abnormalities, (3) ventricular fibrillation/tachycardia, and (4) sudden cardiac death. The reporting odds ratio (ROR) with 95 % confidence interval (CI) was calculated through a cumulative analysis from group 1 to 4. For groups 1+2, ROR was adjusted for age, gender, and concomitant drugs (e.g., antiarrhythmics) and stratified for AZCERT drugs, lists I and II (http://www.azcert.org, as of June 2011). A potential signal of torsadogenicity was defined if a drug met all the following criteria: (a) four or more cases in group 1+2; (b) significant ROR in group 1+2 that persists through the cumulative approach; (c) significant adjusted ROR for group 1+2 in the stratum without AZCERT drugs; (d) not included in AZCERT lists (as of June 2011). Results: Over the 7-year period, 37 APs were reported in 4,794 cases of arrhythmia: 140 (group 1), 883 (group 2), 1,651 (group 3), and 2,120 (group 4). Based on our criteria, the following potential signals of torsadogenicity were found: amisulpride (25 cases; adjusted ROR in the stratum without AZCERT drugs = 43.94, 95 % CI 22.82-84.60), cyamemazine (11; 15.48, 6.87-34.91), and olanzapine (189; 7.74, 6.45-9.30). Conclusions: This pharmacovigilance analysis on the FAERS found 3 potential signals of torsadogenicity for drugs previously unknown for this risk

Integrated Application of Active Controls (IAAC) technology to an advanced subsonic transport project: Current and advanced act control system definition study, volume 1

An active controls technology (ACT) system architecture was selected based on current technology system elements and optimal control theory was evaluated for use in analyzing and synthesizing ACT multiple control laws. The system selected employs three redundant computers to implement all of the ACT functions, four redundant smaller computers to implement the crucial pitch-augmented stability function, and a separate maintenance and display computer. The reliability objective of probability of crucial function failure of less than 1 x 10 to the -9th power per flight of 1 hr can be met with current technology system components, if the software is assumed fault free and coverage approaching 1.0 can be provided. The optimal control theory approach to ACT control law synthesis yielded comparable control law performance much more systematically and directly than the classical s-domain approach. The ACT control law performance, although somewhat degraded by the inclusion of representative nonlinearities, remained quite effective. Certain high-frequency gust-load alleviation functions may require increased surface rate capability

Female senior secondary physics students’ engagement in science: a qualitative study of constructive influences

Background: Prompted by fewer females compared to males enrolling in physics and advanced mathematics at both secondary and university levels, our research investigated the views and experiences of female students currently studying upper secondary school physics. We interviewed 18 female students about influences they considered important to their own science education, interest in science, and future science-related aspirations. Our purpose was to identify the experiences that these students most strongly associated with the generation and maintenance of their engagement in science, particularly represented in this research by their enrolment in upper secondary physics. Results: The research team used a systematic, iterative process to identify the main themes in the transcribed interview data. We identified the influence each girl reported as the strongest (ranked first). We also combined all influences that the participants had nominated, regardless of their ranking, to further examine all factors participants suggested as influential in their sustained engagement in school science (represented by their decision to study upper secondary physics). Systematic analysis of the interview data confirms that the influences on these females’ choices to study physics at upper secondary originate from a combination of their teachers, their school’s science culture, members of their family, the participants themselves and their peers. Conclusions: The interviews highlighted the idiographic complexities in understanding the wide range of important influences on these students studying physics at upper secondary school and their engagement in science. The unique contribution of this work is giving voice to the participants and reflecting on what these high achieving females have to say about the influential factors in their decisions to pursue science. Supportive teachers and the school science culture play essential roles, and other cultural and/or social factors such as family members and peers are identified as important. References to the culture and expectations of the school, family holidays, and conversations with siblings are support factors that seem to interact and overlap. At the same time, the importance of policy-amenable factors such as competent and caring science teachers, and science-supportive school cultures should be emphasised and encouraged

Identification of IKr Kinetics and Drug Binding in Native Myocytes

Determining the effect of a compound on IKr is a standard screen for drug safety. Often the effect is described using a single IC50 value, which is unable to capture complex effects of a drug. Using verapamil as an example, we present a method for using recordings from native myocytes at several drug doses along with qualitative features of IKr from published studies of HERG current to estimate parameters in a mathematical model of the drug effect on IKr. IKr was recorded from canine left ventricular myocytes using ruptured patch techniques. A voltage command protocol was used to record tail currents at voltages from −70 to −20 mV, following activating pulses over a wide range of voltages and pulse durations. Model equations were taken from a published IKr Markov model and the drug was modeled as binding to the open state. Parameters were estimated using a combined global and local optimization algorithm based on collected data with two additional constraints on IKrI–V relation and IKr inactivation. The method produced models that quantitatively reproduce both the control IKr kinetics and dose dependent changes in the current. In addition, the model exhibited use and rate dependence. The results suggest that: (1) the technique proposed here has the practical potential to develop data-driven models that quantitatively reproduce channel behavior in native myocytes; (2) the method can capture important drug effects that cannot be reproduced by the IC50 method. Although the method was developed for IKr, the same strategy can be applied to other ion channels, once appropriate channel-specific voltage protocols and qualitative features are identified

SoTL Lab: Undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research in teaching and learning in CSD

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Communication Sciences and Disorders SoTL Lab was designed to provide hands-on research experiences to undergraduate students on a large scale. Student reflections on experiences within the SoTL Lab identify the value of collaboration, development of confidence, and exposure to the entire research process as key outcomes. These experiences foster development of research skills and may lead students to consider academic careers

Understanding the influence of race/Ethnicity, gender, and class on inequalities in academic and non-academic outcomes among eighth-grade students: findings from an intersectionality approach

Socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and gender inequalities in academic achievement have been widely reported in the US, but how these three axes of inequality intersect to determine academic and non-academic outcomes among school-aged children is not well understood. Using data from the US Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten (ECLS-K; N = 10,115), we apply an intersectionality approach to examine inequalities across eighth-grade outcomes at the intersection of six racial/ethnic and gender groups (Latino girls and boys, Black girls and boys, and White girls and boys) and four classes of socioeconomic advantage/disadvantage. Results of mixture models show large inequalities in socioemotional outcomes (internalizing behavior, locus of control, and self-concept) across classes of advantage/disadvantage. Within classes of advantage/disadvantage, racial/ethnic and gender inequalities are predominantly found in the most advantaged class, where Black boys and girls, and Latina girls, underperform White boys in academic assessments, but not in socioemotional outcomes. In these latter outcomes, Black boys and girls perform better than White boys. Latino boys show small differences as compared to White boys, mainly in science assessments. The contrasting outcomes between racial/ethnic and gender minorities in self-assessment and socioemotional outcomes, as compared to standardized assessments, highlight the detrimental effect that intersecting racial/ethnic and gender discrimination have in patterning academic outcomes that predict success in adult life. Interventions to eliminate achievement gaps cannot fully succeed as long as social stratification caused by gender and racial discrimination is not addressed