A method for continuous study of soaring and windhovering birds

Avian flight continues to inspire aircraft designers. Reducing the scale of autonomous aircraft to that of birds and large insects has resulted in new control challenges when attempting to hold steady flight in turbulent atmospheric wind. Some birds, however, are capable of remarkably stable hovering flight in the same conditions. This work describes the development of a wind tunnel configuration that facilitates the study of flapless windhovering (hanging) and soaring bird flight in wind conditions replicating those in nature. Updrafts were generated by flow over replica “hills” and turbulence was introduced through upstream grids, which had already been developed to replicate atmospheric turbulence in prior studies. Successful flight tests with windhovering nankeen kestrels (Falco cenchroides) were conducted, verifying that the facility can support soaring and wind hovering bird flight. The wind tunnel allows the flow characteristics to be carefully controlled and measured, providing great advantages over outdoor flight tests. Also, existing wind tunnels may be readily configured using this method, providing a simpler alternative to the development of dedicated bird flight wind tunnels such as tilting wind tunnels, and the large test section allows for the replication of orographic soaring. This methodology holds promise for future testing investigating the flight behaviour and control responses employed by soaring and windhovering birds

Leptin, Obesity and IgE in patients with Asthma and Allergic Rhinitis

Background: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the respiratory airways with a worldwide prevalence. This study was performed to evaluate the role of leptin on asthma and /or allergic rhinitis, and to study asthma-obesity-leptin relationship. Methods: A cross sectional study was performed on asthmatic patients (190), allergic rhinitis patients (110) and healthy control subjects (48). Results: Serum leptin was significantly higher at asthma with overweight, asthma with metabolic syndrome, allergic rhinitis with overweight patients than of control subjects, while it was of no significant statistical difference at asthma with normal weight, allergic rhinitis with normal weight patients than of healthy control individuals. Body mass index was significantly higher in asthma with overweight patients; asthma with metabolic syndrome and allergic rhinitis with overweight. It was of no significant difference in asthmatic with normal weight patients, allergic rhinitis with normal weight than of control subjects.  FEV1 was significantly lower in asthma with normal weight patientss; asthma with overweight; asthma with metabolic syndrome; allergic rhinitis with normal weight; allergic rhinitis with over weight than in control subjects. Conclusion: Leptin was significantly higher in patients with asthma and allergic rhinitis as compared to healthy non allergic individuals and it was influenced by BMI and presence of metabolic syndrome in allergic patients. BMI influence FEV 1 in both asthmatic and allergic rhinitis patients

Association Between Cytomegalovirus Infection and Bad Obstetric Outcomes in Women From Kirkuk

The human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is one of the common viral infections worldwide that represent a major causes of congenital infections. To determine the seroprevalence of CMV in women with bad obstetric history and sociodemographic characteristics that may influence the seropositivity, a case control descriptive prospective study was conducted in Kirkuk, Iraq. A 838 women with age range from 14 to 48 were included in the study. Of the total, 547 women were with bad obstetric history(BOH) and 291 women with normal previous pregnancy as control group. All the serum samples collected from the study and control groups were tested for CMV IgM and IgG antibodies by ELISA kits. CMV IgM seroprevalence was higher in women with BOH. CMV IgG seroprevalence was with no significant difference between BOH and control. CMV IgG seroprevalence significantly influenced by age, education, smoking, and family size. However, CMV IgM seroprevalence significantly associated with pregnancy, residence, and animal exposure. Odd ratio confirmed the association between CMV IgG and age, crowding index, residence, smoking, and number of abortion in women with BOH. In addition, current CMV infection significantly associated with residence in women with BOH

Avian-inspired energy-harvesting from atmospheric phenomena for small UAVs

Fixed-wing small, unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAVs) usually fly in atmospheric boundary layers that are often under the influence of turbulent environments. Inspired by nature's flyers, an application of an energy-harvesting flight strategy for increasing the energy state of the aircraft is presented. This paper provides basic longitudinal flight dynamic model exposing the physics behind the process. It shows significant power savings in flight with a sinusoidal and stochastic wind profile with active control of energy-harvesting. The active control based on optimized proportional gains was implemented for energy extraction from realistic atmospheric conditions, leading to significant energy savings for a 'bird-sized' vehicle. The paper reveals the equipment and necessary preparations for the flight test campaign. Moreover, it describes the design of a custom controller and its calibration in the wind tunnel against roll movements during pitching maneuvers. Finally, it investigates the benefits and potential of the automated process of energy-harvesting with simple proportional control through flight tests in a turbulent environment, validating the concept through the increased energy state of the aircraft

The Malaysia DREEM: perceptions of medical students about the learning environment in a medical school in Malaysia

BACKGROUND: Students’ perceptions of their learning environment, by defining its strengths and weaknesses, are important for continuous improvement of the educational environments and curriculum. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore students’ perceptions of their learning environment, among medical students in Malaysia. Various aspects of the education environment were compared between year levels and sex. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Management and Science University, Shah Alam, Malaysia in 2012. A total number of 438 medical students participated in this study, and the response rate was 87.6%. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Comparisons of the mean scores of Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) subscales were calculated. The t-test was used to determine statistically significant differences. RESULTS: The majority of the study participants were female, Malay, and from year 3 (68.7%, 65.3%, and 55.7%; respectively). Analysis of each of the 50 items of the DREEM inventory showed that 47 items scored ranged between 2.00 and 3.00, and three items scored below 2.00. These were identified as problem areas in this medical school that are required to be critically addressed. The overall score showed that the medical students’ perceptions were positive. The students’ perception toward educational environment was positive for all five DREEM subscales. CONCLUSION: The study found that, in general, the perceptions of the participants about the learning environment were positive. Nevertheless, the study also found there is a need for curriculum improvement in this school and identified priority areas for such improvement