Design, fabrication, and initial test of a fixture for reducing the natural frequency of the Mod-O wind turbine tower

It was desired to observe the behavior of a two bladed wind turbine where the tower first bending natural frequency is less than twice the rotor speed. The system then passes through resonance when accelerating to operating speed. The frequency of the original Mod-O tower was reduced by placing it on a spring fixture. The fixture is adjustable to provide a range of tower bending frequencies. Fixture design details are given and behavior during initial operation is described

Government review of the Mod-2 wind turbine (as-built)

The findings and recommendations of the Government committee formed to conduct an as-built review of the three Mod-2 wind turbine units at Goldendale, Washington are given. The purpose of the review was to identify any critical deficiencies in machine components that could result in failure, and to recommend any necessary corrective action before resuming safe machine operation. The review concluded that one of the deficiencies identified would preclude planned attended or unattended operation, provided that certain corrective actions were implemented

Getting the Green: Understanding the Market for Eco-Friendly Tires

The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company has developed a new tire that replaces petroleum with a more sustainable resource: soybean oil. Following an unexpected surge of popularity in the press, Goodyear decided to look into marketing options for this new tire. For this purpose, the research team is testing market reactions to eco-friendly products, reactions to specific tire names, and potential pricing options for the tire. Previous research indicated multiple areas of concern, including a general skepticism towards “green” terminology, perceptions of low quality in eco-friendly products, and a lack of willingness to purchase eco-friendly products in older generations. The team decided to test the questions and concerns with focus groups and a survey. Results confirmed the skepticism mentioned in earlier research, although the public may be more open to “eco-friendly” terminology than they are to “green” terminology. However, the public is more receptive to sustainable products, although Millennials are not more favorable to these products than Generation X or Baby Boomers are. Assuming that Goodyear can emphasize the increased performance of its new tire, it may be able to charge a premium of 5% to 10%. In addition, brand loyalty to eco-friendly companies may be more important than the environmental friendliness of any particular product. With these thoughts in mind, the team recommends a marketing strategy that emphasizes Goodyear’s overall eco-friendly efforts. Goodyear’s ability to charge a price premium will depend on its selection of a target market, but above all else, authenticity will be essential in its future endeavors

Integrating Water Resources and Land Use Planning

Information and recommendations were developed pertaining to the integrating of water resource and land use planning at a conceptual level. In the accomplishment of this goal, the report acts as a vehicle of information transfer to facilitate recognition of the interrelationships between land use and winter resources planning by practitioners in both areas. The approach that was used includes six basic components: 1) the clarification of current planning theory as it pertains to both water and land use planning, 2) analysis and review of historical and current land use planning practices, 3) review of historical and current land use planning practices, 4) identification of problems and concepts which would affect the integration of land and water planning, 5) the design of a conceptual framework (the IRUM model) which would facilitate the integration of land and water planning, and 6) a case study of a selected planning region for small scale applications of the IRUM model. In connection with the case study, a general population survey was taken to identify social and environmental values, land and water use preferences, and other conditions which would affect an integrated planning effort. The recommendations developed in the report cover institutional issues such as culture, law, and organizational arrangements, and also methodological issues such as conceptual framework development and procedural problems which will confront actual efforts to integrate land and water resource planning

Levels of Analysis in Comprehensive River Basin Planning

Since nearly every water resource managment choice has two or more sides, differences must be resolved in decision making. Equitable resolution requires an understanding of the reasons for the differences. These reasons originate in the implemented plans have physical-environmental, economic, social, cultural, and political impacts at levels ranging from local to national or international in scope. Decisions are made by individuals and groups impacted in all of these dimensions and at all of these levels; the decisions generate additional impacts; and the entire interactive process changes water management practice in ways outside the control of any one decision point or even dicision dimension. The objective of this study is to conceptualize this process in a way that will help in establishing institutional mechanisms for reconciling differences among levels of analysis. The conceptualization used viewed differences in choices being made at the various levels of analysis as associated with perspective differences having value, jurisdiction, action, and temporal elements. The possible combinations of differences within and between these elements were used to identify ten categories of institutional obstacles to efficient water planning (differences in values, conflicts between value and jurisdiction, etc.). The history of water resources planning on the Colorado River basin was then examined to identify 17 specific institutional obstacles, and a computerized policy simulation was applied to levels of analysis in the Uintah basin of Utah to identify three more. These 20 obstacles were shown to be broadly distributed over the ten categories, and the nature of the obstacles defined provides valuable insight into the common characteristics of the major institutional obstacles to water management. The priciples of logic as applicable to rationality in decision making were then used to identify two root causes of levels\u27 conflicts. If alternatives are evaluated from a single perspective, the ostensible causal relationships commonly used lead to estimates of the sum of the consequences from the parts of a water management program being far more than the total consequences of the entire program. Looked at another way, since available water resources planning tools do not properly allocate consequences from interactive processes to individual causal sources, decisions made to acheive a desired impact are not based on reliable information. In fact, different decisions made over time from a single perspective have conflicting impacts. When multiple perspectices are considered, one finds that individual values do not aggregate linearly in forming social values, many actions are not efficient in achieving preferred values, and decision makers are not able to implement their plans as desired. Real world situations combine interacting perspectives and partial contributions. Nine recommendations are made on what to do next in improving water resources planning in an interactive, nonlinear world

Results from the Mars Phoenix Lander Robotic Arm experiment

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95618/1/jgre2693.pd

Deciding Together?:Best Interests and Shared Decision-Making in Paediatric Intensive Care

In the western healthcare, shared decision making has become the orthodox approach to making healthcare choices as a way of promoting patient autonomy. Despite the fact that the autonomy paradigm is poorly suited to paediatric decision making, such an approach is enshrined in English common law. When reaching moral decisions, for instance when it is unclear whether treatment or non-treatment will serve a child’s best interests, shared decision making is particularly questionable because agreement does not ensure moral validity. With reference to current common law and focusing on intensive care practice, this paper investigates what claims shared decision making may have to legitimacy in a paediatric intensive care setting. Drawing on key texts, I suggest these identify advantages to parents and clinicians but not to the child who is the subject of the decision. Without evidence that shared decision making increases the quality of the decision that is being made, it appears that a focus on the shared nature of a decision does not cohere with the principle that the best interests of the child should remain paramount. In the face of significant pressures toward the displacement of the child’s interests in a shared decision, advantages of a shared decision to decisional quality require elucidation. Although a number of arguments of this nature may have potential, should no such advantages be demonstrable we have cause to revise our commitment to either shared decision making or the paramountcy of the child in these circumstances

Targeting Cattle-Borne Zoonoses and Cattle Pathogens Using a Novel Trypanosomatid-Based Delivery System

Trypanosomatid parasites are notorious for the human diseases they cause throughout Africa and South America. However, non-pathogenic trypanosomatids are also found worldwide, infecting a wide range of hosts. One example is Trypanosoma (Megatrypanum) theileri, a ubiquitous protozoan commensal of bovids, which is distributed globally. Exploiting knowledge of pathogenic trypanosomatids, we have developed Trypanosoma theileri as a novel vehicle to deliver vaccine antigens and other proteins to cattle. Conditions for the growth and transfection of T. theileri have been optimised and expressed heterologous proteins targeted for secretion or specific localisation at the cell interior or surface using trafficking signals from Trypanosoma brucei. In cattle, the engineered vehicle could establish in the context of a pre-existing natural T. theileri population, was maintained long-term and generated specific immune responses to an expressed Babesia antigen at protective levels. Building on several decades of basic research into trypanosomatid pathogens, Trypanosoma theileri offers significant potential to target multiple infections, including major cattle-borne zoonoses such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Brucella abortus and Mycobacterium spp. It also has the potential to deliver therapeutics to cattle, including the lytic factor that protects humans from cattle trypanosomiasis. This could alleviate poverty by protecting indigenous African cattle from African trypanosomiasis

Participation of the PI-3K/Akt-NF-κB signaling pathways in hypoxia-induced mitogenic factor-stimulated Flk-1 expression in endothelial cells

BACKGROUND: Hypoxia-induced mitogenic factor (HIMF), a lung-specific growth factor, promotes vascular tubule formation in a matrigel plug model. We initially found that HIMF enhances vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in lung epithelial cells. In present work, we tested whether HIMF modulates expression of fetal liver kinase-1 (Flk-1) in endothelial cells, and dissected the possible signaling pathways that link HIMF to Flk-1 upregulation. METHODS: Recombinant HIMF protein was intratracheally instilled into adult mouse lungs, Flk-1 expression was examined by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. The promoter-luciferase reporter assay and real-time RT-PCR were performed to examine the effects of HIMF on Flk-1 expression in mouse endothelial cell line SVEC 4–10. The activation of NF-kappa B (NF-κB) and phosphorylation of Akt, IKK, and IκBα were examined by luciferase assay and Western blot, respectively. RESULTS: Intratracheal instillation of HIMF protein resulted in a significant increase of Flk-1 production in lung tissues. Stimulation of SVEC 4–10 cells by HIMF resulted in increased phosphorylation of IKK and IκBα, leading to activation of NF-κB. Blocking NF-κB signaling pathway by dominant-negative mutants of IKK and IκBα suppressed HIMF-induced Flk-1 upregulation. Mutation or deletion of NF-κB binding site within Flk-1 promoter also abolished HIMF-induced Flk-1 expression in SVEC 4–10 cells. Furthermore, HIMF strongly induced phosphorylation of Akt. A dominant-negative mutant of PI-3K, Δp85, as well as PI-3K inhibitor LY294002, blocked HIMF-induced NF-κB activation and attenuated Flk-1 production. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that HIMF upregulates Flk-1 expression in endothelial cells in a PI-3K/Akt-NF-κB signaling pathway-dependent manner, and may play critical roles in pulmonary angiogenesis