Balloon-Borne Video Cassette Recorders For Digital Data Storage

A high-speed, high-capacity digital data storage system has been developed for a new balloon-borne gamma-ray telescope {see paper 0G9.2-2). The system incorporates sophisticated, yet easy to use and economical consumer products: the portable video cassette recorder (VCR) and a relatively newer item - the "digital audio processor". The in-flight recording system employs eight VCRs and will provide a continuous data storage rate of 1.4 megabits/sec throughout a 40 hour balloon flight. Data storage capacity is 25 gigabytes and power consumption is only 10 watts

A balloon-borne imaging gamma-ray telescope

A balloon-borne coded-aperture gamma-ray telescope for galactic and extragalactic astronomy observations is described. The instrument, called Gamma Ray Imaging Payload (GRIP), is designed for measurements in the energy range from 30 keV to 5 MeV with an angular resolution of 0.6 deg over a 20 deg field of view. Distinguishing characteristics of the telescope are a rotating hexagonal coded-aperture mask and a thick NaI scintillation camera. Rotating hexagonal coded-apertures and the development of thick scintillation cameras are discussed

Identification of a porcine-specific adhesin of Salmonella typhimurium and a possible mechanism mediating persistent infections of swine

Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium (S. typhimuriwn) is one of the leading causes of food poisoning in man (4) and consumption of pork products is a major risk factor for disease (3, 5). A major outbreak of salmonellosis in Denmark caused by S. enterica and associated with the consumption of pork has stimulated renewed interest in Salmonella and food safety by pork producers, consumers, and the government (II). A combination of many factors has prompted the United States Department of Agriculture to place S. enterica at the top of its priority list of food borne pathogens (7). In Denmark. S. typhimurium is the most common serotype isolated from pigs (78.2 %) and is the second most common cause of food borne salmonellosis in humans (27.8 %) (I, II). In the United States S. typhimurium is of similar significance

Expanding on Basis Risk Estimates for Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage Insurance

Basis risk or residual risk arising from disparity between an index’s estimate of losses and actual losses is inherent in index-based insurance products. We approximate basis risk as the false negative probability (FNP) within pasture, rangeland, and forage (PRF) rainfall index insurance for the south-central coastal region of California. We estimate the FNP on average that at least one of two selected coverage intervals will fail to provide an indemnity when a loss is realized at 48%. The average FNP is reduced to only 11% when considering whether both selected intervals fail to provide an indemnity when a loss is realized

Phase II trial of pembrolizumab in patients with platinum refractory germ-cell tumors: a Hoosier Cancer Research Network Study GU14-206

Background Despite remarkable results with salvage standard-dose or high-dose chemotherapy ∼15% of patients with relapsed germ-cell tumors (GCT) are incurable. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have produced significant remission in multiple tumor types. We report the first study of immunotherapy in patients with GCT. Patients and methods Single arm phase II trial investigating pembrolizumab 200 mg i.v. Q3weeks until disease progression in patients with relapsed GCT and no curable options. Patients age ≥18 with GCT who progressed after first-line cisplatin-based chemotherapy and after at least one salvage regimen (high-dose or standard-dose chemotherapy) were eligible. Centrally assessed programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) on tumor and infiltrating immune cells was scored. Primary end point was overall response rate using immune-related response criteria. Simon two-stage design with type I error 20% and power 80% was utilized. Results Twelve male patients were enrolled. Median age was 38 years. All patients had nonseminoma. Primary site was testis (11) or mediastinum (1). Median AFP 615 (range 1–32, 760) and hCG 4 (range 0.6–37, 096). Six patients had late relapse (>2 years). Median number of previous chemotherapy regimens was 3. Six patients received prior high-dose chemotherapy. Two patients had positive PD-L1 staining (H-score 90 and 170). Median number of pembrolizumab doses was 2 (range 1–8). There were six grade 3 adverse events. No immune-related adverse events were reported. No partial or complete responses were observed. Two patients achieved radiographic stable disease for 28 and 19 weeks, respectively; both had continued rising AFP level despite radiographic stability and had negative PD-L1 staining. Conclusion This is the first reported trial evaluating immune checkpoint inhibitors in GCT. Pembrolizumab is well tolerated but does not appear to have clinically meaningful single-agent activity in refractory GCT

First Flight of a New Balloon-Borne Gamma-Ray Imaging Telescope

The first flight of a new balloon-borne gamma-ray imaging payload (GRIP) occurred on Oct. 15 and 16, 1986 from Palestine, Texas. Observations included the quasar 3C273, the galactic center, and the Crab and Cygnus regions. We discuss the instrument performance and present images of the Crab and Cygnus regions with 0.6 degree resolution over a 20 degree field of view

Practice-based film education for children: teaching and learning for creativity, citizenship and participation

Practice-oriented film education aimed at children has been hailed for various reasons: at a personal level, as a means of providing tools for self-expression, for developing creativity and communication skills. And at a social level, it is argued that children must now become competent producers, in addition to critical consumers, of audiovisual content so they can take part in the global public sphere that is arguably emerging. This chapter discusses how the challenges posed by introducing children to filmmaking (i.e. digital video) are being met at three civil associations in Mexico: La Matatena AC, which seeks to enrich the children’s lives by means of the aesthetic experience filmmaking can bring them. Comunicaciòn Comunitaria, concerned with the impact filmmaking can have on the community, preserving cultural memory and enabling participation. And Juguemos a Grabar, with a focus on urban regeneration through the cultural industries

A Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer

We describe a new instrument to be flown on ISEE-C which is optimized to measure the isotopic composition of solar and galactic cosmic rays with ~5 to ~250 MeV/nucleon. A mass resolution of ≾ 0.3 AMU should be achieved for all elements with charge Z ≤ 30