A new characterization of the icing environment below 10,000 feet AGL from 7,000 miles of measurements in supercooled clouds

A growing requirement over the past decade for a new assessment of aircraft icing conditions in wintertime clouds at altitudes up to about 10,000 feet is discussed. The requirement was documented in past workshops and comes primarily from the helicopter community which wants ice-protected rotorcraft to meet increasing demands for all-weather operations. Currently, only a few of the larger helicopters are equipped with certification of ice-protection devices. This is because the current FAA criteria for design and certification of ice-protection equipment results in power and payload penalties that smaller rotorcraft cannot tolerate. The FAA criteria were actually designed for large, transport-category aircraft capable of flying to 20,000 feet or more. For this reason, there have been concerns that the current criteria may be too severe for low-performance aircraft, such as helicopters, which generally operate at altitudes below 10,000 feet

Counselling and intervention in case of anxiety problems in school

Mehrdimensionale Beratung und Intervention bei Angstproblemen in der Schule bedeutet für Schulpsychologinnen und Schulpsychologen einen ständigen Balanceakt von der Einzelfallhilfe bis zur Beratung von Schulentwicklungsprozessen. Ausgehend von der individuellen Angstbewältigung im Schulalltag und der Behandlung von Angststörungen bei Schulverweigerung gibt es präventive und angstreduzierende Techniken und Strategien zur Unterrichtsgestaltung und Verbesserung des Schulklimas. Auf der Ebene des Unterrichts stehen vielfältige pädagogischpsychologische Erkenntnisse zur Verfügung, auf der Ebene der Schule wird die Erhöhung der Selbstwirksamkeit als innovatives Ziel und die gezielte Stressbewältigung in Form von Trainings für Lehrer und Schüler vorgestellt. Um tatsächlich eine angstfreie Lernatmosphäre und Schulkultur erreichen zu können, bedarf es allerdings der Kooperation aller Beteiligten und der verbindlichen Umsetzung von Maßnahmen durch die Lehrkräfte im Unterricht. Dazu müssen Lehrerinnen und Lehrer diagnostisch kompetenter werden und lernen, auf die gestiegenen Anforderungen im Umgang mit den Kindern und Jugendlichen im Unterrichtsalltag angemessen zu reagieren: Ängstliche, aber unauffällige Schüler müssen erkannt und entsprechend gefördert werden, damit sie ihr Leistungspotenzial abrufen können und im Umgang mit ihrer Angst besser zurechtkommen. Kindern und Jugendlichen mit extremen Angststörungen stehen vielfältige außerschulische Behandlungsangebote zur Verfügung, von denen die kognitive Verhaltenstherapie zu den effektivsten gehört.(DIPF/Orig.)Multidimensional counselling and intervention in case of anxiety problems in school can be understood as a challenge for educational psychologists who has to solve individual anxiety disorders on the one hand and participate in processes of school development in order to prevent anxiety on the other hand. There are a lot of techniques and strategies to construct classroom settings which reduce anxiety. Improving self-efficacy and training stress management for teachers and students are possible programs presented in order to change the culture of educational organizations like schools. To realize such programs all members of the school community have to cooperate and teachers have to modify their instructional actions. Therefore they have to develop better diagnostic skills in order to detect anxious and inconspicuous students who need special fostering for better learning in school. For extreme anxiety disorders with school refusal there are many therapeutic treatments out of school, one of the best for children and adolescents are cognitive-behavioral settings.(DIPF/Orig.

Kentucky Wastewater Treatment Plants and the Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance Genes

Antibiotic resistance has been a growing problem in healthcare and agriculture for several decades. Antibiotic resistance has been evolving naturally for millions of years, but the process is also accelerated by human activities. Wastewater treatment plants have been studied as potential sources of antibiotic resistance genes in aquatic environments. In this study, several wastewater treatment plants in southern Kentucky were tested for the presence of blaSHV, blaCTX, and tet(B) using PCR and gel electrophoresis. Preliminary evidence suggests that the wastewater treatment plant at West Hickman may be a source of tet(B) and that the wastewater treatment plant at Silver Creek may be a source of blaSHV

Difference sets in Rd\mathbb{R}^d

Let $d \geq 2$ be a natural number. We show that $$|A-A| \geq \left(2d-2 + \frac{1}{d-1}\right)|A|-(2d^2-4d+3)$$ for any sufficiently large finite subset $A$ of $\mathbb{R}^d$ that is not contained in a translate of a hyperplane. By a construction of Stanchescu, this is best possible and thus resolves an old question first raised by Uhrin.Comment: 15 page

Sums of transcendental dilates

We show that there is an absolute constant $c>0$ such that $|A+\lambda\cdot A|\geq e^{c\sqrt{\log |A|}}|A|$ for any finite subset $A$ of $\mathbb{R}$ and any transcendental number $\lambda\in\mathbb{R}$. By a construction of Konyagin and Laba, this is best possible up to the constant $c$.Comment: 7 page

Everywhere unbalanced configurations

An old problem in discrete geometry, originating with Kupitz, asks whether there is a fixed natural number $k$ such that every finite set of points in the plane has a line through at least two of its points where the number of points on either side of this line differ by at most $k$. We give a negative answer to a natural variant of this problem, showing that for every natural number $k$ there exists a finite set of points in the plane together with a pseudoline arrangement such that each pseudoline contains at least two points and there is a pseudoline through any pair of points where the number of points on either side of each pseudoline differ by at least $k$.Comment: 27 pages, 24 figure

Waste Not, Want Not: The Potential for Urban Water Conservation in California

The largest, least expensive, and most environmentally sound source of water to meet California's future needs is the water currently being wasted in every sector of our economy. This report, "Waste Not, Want Not," strongly indicates that California's urban water needs can be met into the foreseeable future by reducing water waste through cost-effective water-saving technologies, revised economic policies, appropriate state and local regulations, and public education

The Role of Political Elites in the Development of New Villages in Malaysia

Political elites comprise a small group that has power and influence over the “others” in society. Basically, political elites play an important role in the decision-making process of the community. New Villages in Malaysia are influenced by political elites who are the representatives of the village community.These political elites are members of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a coalition party of the ruling political party.MCA's political elite play an important role in safeguarding the welfare and affairs of the New Village residents.New Villages refer to a Chinese New Village which is a re-settlement site set up during the Communist emergency period of British rule in Malaysia in the mid-1950s.The role of the MCA's political elite has helped to create the New Village Master Plan 2005 which serves as a guide and reference to the Federal Government and the State Government in the development of New Villages.However, limited provisions and unclear policies have resulted in New Villages facing a multitude of problems and have frustrated development in New Villages especially in tandem with the requirements of national development. The residents of New Villages are neglected, and many are experiencing social and economic problems. The paper evaluates these problems with reference to the role of local leaders and development objectives for New Villages in the context of national goals