How to Build an All-Wheel-Drive Motorcycle

Steve Christini's first all-wheel-drive bike?his senior mechanical engineering project from Villanova?hangs near the main entrance of Christini's shop in downtown Philadelphia. That first bike used a series of chains, shafts, and pinions to transfer power to a suspended, steerable front wheel. His latest two-wheelers?a line of all-wheel-drive off-road racing motorcycles?get power to their front wheels in much the same way. But rather than being prototypes hanging on the wall, they are competing on the world stage at venues like the X Games' Enduro X and Erzbergrodeo enduro.

A few years ago Christini sold $3995 add-on kits for KTM and Honda dirt bikes. In 2011 Christini began selling their own brand of motorcycles, with Paoli front shocks and Honda 450X-clone four-stroke or Gas Gas 300 two-stroke engines. The Gas Gas bike is 40 pounds lighter, has a six-speed gearbox, better rear suspension, and the fantastic Gas Gas 300 two-stroke engine. It's also $2100 more expensive, at $8995, compared with the $6895 450.

We got to try out Christini's AWD bikes. Here's what we learned.

The Tech: The front wheel on a Christini motorcycle freewheels, as it would on an ordinary rear-drive bike, unless the rear wheel loses traction. Thus, it acts like a rear-wheel-drive motorcycle until the rear wheel slips?that's why it's AWD rather than 2WD.

The front wheel is under-driven compared with the rear wheel, at a ratio of 0.62:1. That means the rear wheel has to be turning significantly faster than the bike's forward speed for the front hub's sprag clutch to engage and begin driving the front wheel. This allows easy cornering, since the wheels can turn at different speeds during a corner. Compare that with a Rokon?a utilitarian 2WD motorcycle used by hunters?where the wheels turn in lock step and are always driven at the same speed. "Our [AWD] drive ratio is what allows the bike to feel like a normal bike, except when you need it," Christini says.

Christini's system uses simple machines to get power from the engine to the front wheel. A chain takes power from the bike's gearbox and routes it through a slipper clutch, then through a driveshaft under the gas tank. The driveshaft pierces the head tube and turns a bevel gearset, which in turn spins shafts that drive stepover chains in the fork crown. A sprocket at each side of the crown turns a telescoping driveshaft in front of each fork leg. Finally, a ring and pinion gearset rotates power ninety degrees to turn the front wheel.

The setup adds roughly 12 pounds to the weight of the bike, and Christini says the system saps just 0.1 hp when freewheeling. The AWD can be retrofitted to older bikes, but a custom gas tank must be fitted that allows space for the driveshaft. The system is durable, waterproof, and Christini offers all replacement parts.

The Ride: We rode both Christini motorcycle configurations?the 450 four-stroke and 300 two-stroke?on sandy trails in New Jersey (before Hurricane Sandy's wrath rolled in). On the 300, with the handlebar-mounted lever flipped to all-wheel-drive and the throttle twisted to the stop, it feels like the bike is bogging down. In reality, the front wheel is using the power that would have produced a big boost.

The driven front wheel benefits the rider in ways beyond pure acceleration. AWD makes it possible to get started on a muddy climb rather than having to dismount and push. In sandy corners the front doesn't dig in or wander. And since the front wheel keeps turning, the bike tracks exactly where it is pointed. As you exit a corner, it's possible to get on the power harder and earlier than on a conventional dirt bike.

Trevor Franklin of Motorcycle News once described a Yamaha R1 with a prototype Ohlins hydraulic AWD system as "different?with a strange taut, alert feeling to the front wheel, almost as if it's electrified?but there's nothing to 'ride around' and it doesn't demand a change in riding style." He's exactly right. Properly done, an AWD bike is alert and connected, but feels natural.

"People think the system uses more horsepower," Christini says, "but when you're riding a dirt bike on a sloppy trail, you'll use less. The reason is because you don't waste gas and energy on wheelspin." He also claims that rear tires on an AWD bike can last up to three times as long, since riders aren't spinning their wheels and burning up rubber.

It's also easier on the rider. The military has just issued Christini a contract for a batch of the AWD 450s?the 450 bested all other bikes in the military's incline test?and its tests showed that the AWD bike required 30 percent less effort to ride than other bikes. Christini added an auto clutch for the military version and is working on combat-specific upgrades.

The Bottom Line: It may be more complicated than a normal motorcycle, but everyone loves a competitive advantage?witness the popularity of retrofitting centrifugal auto clutches to enduro bikes. AWD offers an even greater benefit. After riding the Christinis and feeling firsthand how a powered front wheel can energize a bike, we're convinced that there's a place for AWD on bikes that see extreme conditions.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/motorcycles/reviews/how-to-build-an-all-wheel-drive-motorcycle-14466480?src=rss

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Meningitis outbreak 'nowhere near the end'

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The meningitis outbreak that has so far killed 15 people and sickened more than 200 others is "nowhere near the end," a top medical expert said on Tuesday, a day after federal authorities warned more that tainted drugs may be linked to the health crisis.

Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, said on "CBS This Morning" that he expects a "steady increase" in the number of fungal meningitis infections over the coming weeks.

The Food and Drug Administration's move on Monday to widen its investigation of the cause of the fungal meningitis outbreak to other drugs made by a Massachusetts pharmacy, the New England Compounding Center (NECC), is "ominous," Schaffner said.

"We were concerned that there might be other medications that might be contaminated coming from that pharmacy," said Schaffner, who is past-president of National Foundation for Infectious Disease. "The FDA has given us a heads up that that looks to be the case. We'll have to notify many more patients across the country that they may have been exposed to a fungal infection.

"I think we're still in the middle," Schaffner said, when asked about the outbreak's scope. "We're nowhere near the end of this problem. And we will see more patients reporting in ill and we'll have to treat many more going forward."

The FDA said Monday it was looking into two other drugs made by NECC, based outside of Boston in Framingham, Massachusetts.

The agency said it had received reports of a patient with possible meningitis who received an injection of a different steroid than the one found to have caused 15 deaths. It said on Tuesday that one transplant patient was infected with a fungus linked to the meningitis outbreak after receiving a drug used in open heart surgery made by NECC. The FDA had originally said two heart patients were infected.

Also on Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said nine more people were diagnosed with fungal meningitis linked to possibly tainted vials of the injected steroid methylprednisolone, bringing the number of cases to 212.

The patient identified by the FDA as potentially having meningitis received an injection of the steroid triamcinolone, also supplied by NECC.

The FDA said its investigation of that patient and the one who received the heart drug known as a cardioplegia solution during surgery was ongoing. It cautioned that any injectable drugs made by NECC, including those intended for use in eyes, are of "significant concern."

The FDA has not confirmed that the two infections in patients who received the other drugs were caused by the NECC products. NECC said in a statement that it was reviewing the new information from the FDA.

On Monday a Tennessee woman who contracted fungal meningitis after receiving one epidural injection with the NECC-prepared steroid filed a lawsuit against the company seeking $15 million in damages. Tennessee has been the hardest-hit state, with 53 cases and six deaths.

SUSPECT LOTS

All but eight of the 23 states that received suspect medications from the Massachusetts specialist pharmacy have reported at least one case of fungal meningitis, a rare and deadly disease that has proven difficult to treat.

The suspect lots of steroid were shipped to 76 facilities.

A list of recalled NECC products on the FDA website ran 70 pages. http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm322979.htm

Meningitis is an infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms include headache, fever and nausea. Fungal meningitis is not contagious.

The outbreak has raised questions about how the pharmaceuticals industry operates. NECC engaged in a practice called drug compounding that is not regulated by the FDA, which generally oversees drug makers.

In compounding, pharmacies prepare specific doses of approved medications, based on guidance from a doctor, to meet an individual patient's need.

A Reuters investigation found that NECC solicited bulk orders from physicians and failed to require proof of individual patient prescriptions as required under state regulations, e-mails to a customer showed.

State pharmacy regulators have said that NECC violated its license in Massachusetts by not requiring patient prescriptions before shipping products.

The 15 states reporting cases of meningitis are Tennessee, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Texas, Idaho, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio and Florida.

(Writing by Dan Burns; Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington and Bill Berkrot in New York; Editing by Vicki Allen and Dan Grebler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/meningitis-outbreak-no-where-near-end-health-expert-134033744.html

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Three women, the Israel Defense Forces, and the price of fear ...

October 10, 2012


It?s hard to imagine anyone else?s reality.? We pretend we do in order not to feel so helpless.? But usually, we?re just guessing or faking it.? Thus, it is incredibly rare and spectacular to find an author who possesses the literary talent to transport us so completely and persuasively to an utterly foreign realm.? First time novelist, 24-year-old Shani Boianjiu, has performed such a feat in ?The People of Forever Are Not Afraid? (Hogarth/Crown, $24), her disturbing and provocative new book about the traumatic experiences of three young Israeli girls serving in the Israeli Defense Forces.

It feels as if the book is autobiographically based on the author?s own two year army service. The two-page publicity packet that accompanied Boianjiu?s book provides some basic biographical information about her.? She was born in 1987 in a small town near the Israeli-Lebanon border.? She has had some of her short fiction published already in small literary journals and an excerpt from this book was just printed in the New Yorker.? But her publicist says little else about her.? A larger clue lay hidden on the second page of the publicity packet, which is completely filled with a huge color portrait of the young author.? One notices immediately a strikingly gorgeous brunette with thick black hair and a sultry mouth, and beautiful huge eyes that slice right through you.? At first glance, it almost looks like a Hollywood headshot.? But, upon closer examination, one notices a darker reality.? There is a steeliness in Boianjiu?s gaze that is unsettling and a tightness around her lips that belies her young years.? Some spark has already been extinguished from her face, but you don?t yet understand its source.

The novel follows three very close friends who grew up in the same small boring tiny Israeli village.? The three girls relied upon each other for everything young intense friendships demand.? When they leave for their army service, their lives take different directions.? Yael is assigned to train marksmen.? Avishag stands guard at a barbed-wired fence, watching refugees on the other side.?? Lea is posted at a checkpoint where she can?t seem to stop herself from imagining the inner lives of the men and women who walk past her with their eyes lowered.? There is always the nervous tension of imminent danger present alongside the aching boredom of hours spent doing nothing but watching and waiting for something dreadful to happen.?

The voice of Yael narrates the first chapter, and it seems somehow to be the one that most closely echoes Boianjiu.? Yael is still stuck in high school and irritated with almost everyone and everything that goes on around her.? She spaces out in school most of the time dreaming about her friend Avishag?s brother Dan, whom she loves, and thinking about the lunch her mother has packed for her, which is always the same: a tomato and mustard and mayo and salt sandwich.? It is the only one she will eat.? Bored by the teacher, she writes in her journal ?When are we going to stop thinking about things that don?t matter and start thinking about things that do matter?? Dan has recently returned from his army service and spends his days shut up inside his home drawing picture after picture of military boots.? And then one day, he kills himself playing a game of Russian roulette with some old buddies near the cell phone tower in the village.? Heartsick, Yael leaves to perform her own army service.


In the second chapter, we hear Avishag speak to us from boot camp, where she is training to become a soldier.? One of her first drills is learning what it feels like to suffocate and trying not to panic.? Each soldier is instructed in how to securely fasten their gas mask and then asked to enter a tent that is filled with tear gas.? They are each asked the same four questions when they enter the tent, first with their mask on and then again after being forced to remove it.? The questions are ?Do you love the Army?? Do you love the country?? Who do you love more, your mother or your father?? And finally, ?Are you afraid to die??? The goal is to stay in the tent as long as you can without your mask on and still be able to speak, thus showing your ability to focus under duress.? Most of the women struggle, but when Avishag removes her gas mask and feels the tear-gas attacking her lungs she feels a bizarre sense of liberation, thinking ?This is my chance.? As long as I am choking I am allowed, Yael and Lea are not here to drown my words with their chatter.? No one in my family is around to ignore me.? My talking serves a purpose.? My talking, my tears, are a matter of national security.? A part of our training.? I will be prepared for an attack by unconventional weapons.? I can save the whole country, that?s how prepared I?ll be.?? But her tear-gassed induced euphoria is short-lived; she is struggling to cope, and we feel for her.

When Lea addresses us in the third chapter, she outlines her responsibilities, checking the permits of Palestinian construction workers who come into Israel for daily construction work.? Lea becomes infatuated with one of them, a man named Fadi, whose glare is always upon her.? She notices that, ?He had murky rims under his eyes and hairs in his nose.? He smelled of sweat and aftershave.? He was like the rest of them, but he stood with urgency.? He did not want to be there.?? At night, Lea is consumed by thoughts of his life at home; she tries to imagine what his wife looks like, even the faces of his children.? Later on, when Fadi stabs one of her fellow soldiers in a fit of fury, she feels able finally to crystallize her plans for her future, thinking ?I saw I was a soldier and knew that I would be an officer and I was not afraid.?? At 19, she applied to continue her service and become an officer in the army.

Shani Boianjiu lays bare for us what these young people must endure and the emotional collapse that often follows.? She is able to replicate for us the almost paranoid mind-set the soldier must develop in order to survive and the scars it leaves on their psyches.? Recently, in the Boston Review, Oded Na-aman wrote poignantly about his own experiences in the IDF, where he served as a soldier at a checkpoint in the West Bank.? Like Shani Boianjiu?s characterization of Lea, he was forced to confront days filled with constant fear and confusion.? Na-aman writes ?As you stand at the checkpoint, you must constantly consider the various ways in which you may be attacked: Where are they going to come from?? What will the strategy be?? Is that child as innocent as he seems, or is he smuggling a weapon?? Is that ambulance really rushing a woman to the hospital to give birth, or are there enemies hiding inside?? Is that old man harmless, or is he deliberately diverting your attention from something that is happening behind your back?...The soldier realizes he should not act on empathy, since empathy can be manipulated.? But can he suppress this natural sentiment?? It takes time.?? Similarly, the three women in Boianjiu?s novel fight to suppress their natural feelings, at great personal cost.

Reading this novel makes you worry for Israel, for Jews everywhere.? It raises important questions about army life and the toll it exacts on Israeli youth.? The young women here don?t seem to feel part of a heroic mission.? Their lives seem devoid of spiritual meaning -- religious or secular.? They seem simply cut-off from themselves and others.? As a Jew who feels deep concern for the fate of our people, I feel troubled by the chorus of voices clamoring in my head.? On one hand, I listen with sympathy and respect to the voices of Amos Oz and David Grossman and even Avrum Burg, who have been writing so eloquently about the massacre they see being inflicted on the Israeli soul by an overzealous military.? On the other hand, I hear my dead father?s whispering voice telling me that Jewish safety is only upheld by the presence of a strong Israeli military state.? Certainty eludes me.


?

Elaine Margolin is a frequent contributor of book reviews to The Jewish Journal and other publications.

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Source: http://www.jewishjournal.com/books/article/three_women_the_israel_defense_forces_and_the_price_of_fear

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Keeping Lungs Healthy Can Protect the Brain

It is often said that what is good for the heart is often good for the brain (ie: exercise, healthy diet). You could also now say that keeping your lungs healthy now will protect your brain in the future as you age. A new study from Ohio State University has found that pulmonary function is linked to later problem-solving and the brain?s processing speed.

Charles Emery, a professor of psychology, gathered data from a study sample of 832 participants of the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging who were between 50 and 85. The study volunteers were assessed in up to seven waves of testing across 19 years.

The testing included lung function, as measured by forced expiratory volume (how much air a person can push out of the lungs in one second) and forced vital capacity (the volume that is blown out after deep inhalation. Cognitive ability was assessed in four domains associated with stored knowledge, memory, special abilities related to problem-solving and processing speed.

Reduced pulmonary function was associated with a drop in ?fluid? functions, which included thinking functions and the ability to write correct responses quickly. A small effect was seen in verbal tasks as well. Pulmonary function changes, however, did not appear to impair memory of lead to any significant loss of stored knowledge.

Dr. Emery suspects the reason for lowered pulmonary function to lead to a decline in brain health is likely due to the lower availability of oxygen in the blood which in turn affects chemicals that transmit signals between brain cells.

?The logical conclusion from this is that anything you could do to maintain lung function should be of benefit to fluid cognitive performance as well,? said Dr. Emery. ?Maintaining an exercise routine and stopping smoking would be two primary methods. Nutritional factors and minimizing environmental exposure to pollutants also come into play.?

Dr. Norman H. Edelman MD, chief medical officer of the American Lung Association (ALA), who was not involved with the study, concurs that if you take good care of your lungs, they will take good care of you. His top five tips for keeping lungs healthy include:

1. Don?t smoke ? ANYTHING. Smoking is hands down the worst thing you can do to your lungs on a regular basis, and there is no safe threshold ? the more you smoke, the greater your risks for diseases such as lung cancer and COPD. Skip all forms of smoking, including cigarettes, pipes, cigars and marijuana. Stay clear of secondhand and thirdhand smoke as well.

2. Fight for clean air. More than 154 million Americans live in areas where air pollution is a threat to health, according to the ALA?s annual State of the Air report. You can make a difference by cutting your own contributions to air pollution, such as driving less and cutting back on electricity use.

3. Improve your indoor air. There are a number of sources, including fireplaces and wood-burning stoves, mold, pet dander, construction materials and some household products such as paint or certain cleaners that contribute to poor quality indoor air. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends eliminating sources of pollution in your home, improving ventilation, and using air cleaners that remove particulate matter. Consider also having your home checked for radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas that is the main cause of lung cancer in non-smokers.

4. Exercise more. The better your cardio-respiratory fitness, the easier it is for your lungs to keep your heart and muscles supplied with oxygen.

5. Eat Right. There is evidence that antioxidant-rich foods (foods, not supplements) are good for your lungs. A 2010 study, for example found that cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage were protective against lung cancer. The European Lung Foundations suggests eating a balanced diet with plenty of whole grains, fruit, vegetables and fish; reducing salt intake (as it can contribute to fluid retention which causes difficulty breathing in some people); and restricting intake of trans fats and saturated fats.

Other ways to protect your lungs include getting the flu shot, especially if you already have COPD or other lung problems or are 65 or older. Know the warning signs of poor lung health, which includes having a wheeze or cough for more than a month and having a difficult time breathing with little or no physical exertion. Chest pain should also be evaluated, especially if breathing in or coughing makes it worse.

Journal Reference:
C. F. Emery, D. Finkel, N. L. Pedersen. Pulmonary Function as a Cause of Cognitive Aging. Psychological Science, 2012; 23 (9): 1024 DOI:10.1177/0956797612439422

Additional Resources:
Health.com
European Lung Foundation

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Source: http://www.emaxhealth.com/1506/keeping-lungs-healthy-can-protect-brain

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Hubble portrays a dusty spiral galaxy

ScienceDaily (Sep. 30, 2012) ? The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has provided another outstanding image of a nearby galaxy -- NGC 4183, seen with a beautiful backdrop of distant galaxies and nearby stars. Located about 55 million light-years from the sun and spanning about eighty thousand light-years, NGC 4183 is a little smaller than the Milky Way. This galaxy, which belongs to the Ursa Major Group, lies in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs).

NGC 4183 is a spiral galaxy with a faint core and an open spiral structure. Unfortunately, this galaxy is viewed edge-on from Earth, and we cannot fully appreciate its spiral arms. But we can admire its galactic disk.

The disks of galaxies are mainly composed of gas, dust and stars. There is evidence of dust over the galactic plane, visible as dark intricate filaments that block the visible light from the core of the galaxy. In addition, recent studies suggest that this galaxy may have a bar structure. Galactic bars are thought to act as a mechanism that channels gas from the spiral arms to the center, enhancing star formation, which is typically more pronounced in the spiral arms than in the bulge of the galaxy.

British astronomer William Herschel first observed NGC 4183 on 14 January 1778.

This picture was created from visible and infrared images taken with the Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys. The field of view is approximately 3.4 arcminutes wide.

This image uses data identified by Luca Limatola in the Hubble's Hidden Treasures image processing competition.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/q6vc0Eoy8P8/120930160749.htm

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The Search For Minority Entrepreneurs Is Over ? Now They Need To Be Ready For Investors

minority-ntrepreneursEditor?s note: Wayne Sutton is the founder and CEO of?PitchTo, a mobile development lab that builds tools for investors to make smarter decisions and help entrepreneurs deliver exceptional pitches. This article is inspired by Dave McClure?s ?Women in Tech: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.? post. Follow Wayne on Twitter.? What a difference a year makes. Last year the question was ?Where are the minority entrepreneurs?? It was highly motivated by the 2010 CBinsights Venture Capital Human Capital Report, which stated that only 1 percent of minority tech startup founders were founded by African-Americans. But the conversation about minority entrepreneurs didn?t only apply to African-Americans, it also included women and Hispanics. The dialogue reached its peak by various snippets from the CNN?s ?Black in America 4? documentary and niche tech blogs.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/-TTtmyo93Y0/

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Salon: I broke up with my life coach: "I already had one Jewish mother. Now, apparently, I had two..." http://t.co/J2IaCjAf