Astronaut Rescue Air Pack (ARAP) and Emergency Egress Air Pack (EEAP)

Two designs for a lightweight, low profile, mobile rescue apparatus providing a 15-minute air supply and self-contained two-way communications assembly are described. Units are designed for astronaut use in hazardous environments

Geodetic Constraints on the 2014 M 6.0 South Napa Earthquake

On 24 August 2014, the M 6.0 South Napa earthquake shook much of the San Francisco Bay area, leading to significant damage in the Napa Valley. The earthquake occurred in the vicinity of the West Napa fault (122.313° W, 38.22° N, 11.3 km), a mapped structure located between the Rodger’s Creek and Green Valley faults, with nearly pure right‐lateral strike‐slip motion (strike 157°, dip 77°, rake –169°; http://comcat.cr.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc72282711#summary, last accessed December 2014) (Fig. 1). The West Napa fault previously experienced an M 5 strike‐slip event in 2000 but otherwise exhibited no previous definitive evidence of historic earthquake rupture (Rodgers et al., 2008; Wesling and Hanson, 2008). Evans et al. (2012) found slip rates of ∼9.5  mm/yr along the West Napa fault, with most slip rate models for the Bay area placing higher slip rates and greater earthquake potential on the Rodger’s Creek and Green Valley faults, respectively (e.g., Savage et al., 1999; d’Alessio et al., 2005; Funning et al., 2007)

The Effects of a Korean Ginseng, GINST15, on Hypo-Pituitary-Adrenal and Oxidative Activity Induced by Intense Work Stress

The effect of GINST15, an enzyme fermented ginseng supplement, on hormonal and inflammatory responses to physical stress in humans is unknown. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the constitutive and stress-induced effects of GINST15 supplement on hypo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and antioxidant activity in addition to muscle damage. Ten women (age: 38.7 ± 7.8 years; height: 163.81 ± 4.4 cm; body mass 76.0 ± 11.6 kg) and nine men (age: 41.2. ± 9.7 years; height: 177.4 ± 5.3 cm; body mass: 88.5 ± 5.0 kg) participated in a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, counterbalanced within-group study. Participants completed three 14-day treatment cycles with different doses (high: 960 mg; low: 160 mg; placebo: 0 mg) separated by a 1-week washout period. At the end of treatment, physical stress was imposed with intense resistance exercise work stress. Participants provided blood at rest and various time points after exercise (immediately [IP], 30 min [30], 60 min [60], 24 h [+24HR]). Cortisol (CORT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), total glutathione, nonspecific antioxidant activity, total antioxidant power (TAP), and creatine kinase were measured. GINST15 supplementation produced stress-inducible dose-dependent reductions in circulating cortisol and increased enzymatic and nonspecific antioxidant activity. Twenty-four hours after intense exercise, a high dose GINST15, a bioactive ginsenoside metabolite, significantly reduces muscle damage and HPA responses to physical stress in humans; these effects may result from increased antioxidant expression

Fuzzy-logic controlled genetic algorithm for the rail-freight crew-scheduling problem

AbstractThis article presents a fuzzy-logic controlled genetic algorithm designed for the solution of the crew-scheduling problem in the rail-freight industry. This problem refers to the assignment of train drivers to a number of train trips in accordance with complex industrial and governmental regulations. In practice, it is a challenging task due to the massive quantity of train trips, large geographical span and significant number of restrictions. While genetic algorithms are capable of handling large data sets, they are prone to stalled evolution and premature convergence on a local optimum, thereby obstructing further search. In order to tackle these problems, the proposed genetic algorithm contains an embedded fuzzy-logic controller that adjusts the mutation and crossover probabilities in accordance with the genetic algorithm’s performance. The computational results demonstrate a 10% reduction in the cost of the schedule generated by this hybrid technique when compared with a genetic algorithm with fixed crossover and mutation rates

The structure of the PapD-PapGII pilin complex reveals an open and flexible P5 pocket

P pili are hairlike polymeric structures that mediate binding of uropathogenic Escherichia coli to the surface of the kidney via the PapG adhesin at their tips. PapG is composed of two domains: a lectin domain at the tip of the pilus followed by a pilin domain that comprises the initial polymerizing subunit of the 1,000-plus-subunit heteropolymeric pilus fiber. Prior to assembly, periplasmic pilin domains bind to a chaperone, PapD. PapD mediates donor strand complementation, in which a beta strand of PapD temporarily completes the pilin domain's fold, preventing premature, nonproductive interactions with other pilin subunits and facilitating subunit folding. Chaperone-subunit complexes are delivered to the outer membrane usher where donor strand exchange (DSE) replaces PapD's donated beta strand with an amino-terminal extension on the next incoming pilin subunit. This occurs via a zip-in-zip-out mechanism that initiates at a relatively accessible hydrophobic space termed the P5 pocket on the terminally incorporated pilus subunit. Here, we solve the structure of PapD in complex with the pilin domain of isoform II of PapG (PapGIIp). Our data revealed that PapGIIp adopts an immunoglobulin fold with a missing seventh strand, complemented in parallel by the G1 PapD strand, typical of pilin subunits. Comparisons with other chaperone-pilin complexes indicated that the interactive surfaces are highly conserved. Interestingly, the PapGIIp P5 pocket was in an open conformation, which, as molecular dynamics simulations revealed, switches between an open and a closed conformation due to the flexibility of the surrounding loops. Our study reveals the structural details of the DSE mechanism

Recoverable Robustness by Column Generation

Real-life planning problems are often complicated by the occurrence of disturbances, which imply that the original plan cannot be followed anymore and some recovery action must be taken to cope with the disturbance. In such a situation it is worthwhile to arm yourself against common disturbances. Well-known approaches to create plans that take possible, common disturbances into account are robust optimization and stochastic programming. Recently, a new approach has been developed that combines the best of these two: recoverable robustness. In this paper, we apply the technique of column generation to find solutions to recoverable robustness problems. We consider two types of solution approaches: separate recovery and combined recovery. We show our approach on two example problems: the size robust knapsack problem, in which the knapsack size may get reduced, and the demand robust shortest path problem, in which the sink is uncertain and the cost of edges may increase

Development and Validation of Model Consisting of Comorbidity Burden to Calculate Risk of Death Within 6 months for Patients With Suspected Drug-Induced Liver Injury

Background & Aims: Patients with drug-induced liver injury (DILI) frequently have comorbid conditions, but the effects of non-liver comorbidities on outcome is not well understood. We investigated the association between co-morbidity burden and outcomes of patients with DILI, and developed and validated a model to calculate risk of death within 6 months. Methods: A multiple logistic regression model identified variables independently associated with death within 6 months of presenting with suspected DILI (6-month mortality) for 306 patients enrolled in the DILIN prospective study at Indiana University (discovery cohort). The model was validated using data from 247 patients with suspected DILI enrolled in the same study at the University of North Carolina (validation cohort). Medical comorbidity burden was calculated using the Charlson comorbidity index—patients with scores higher than 2 were considered to have significant comorbidities. Results: Six-month mortality was 8.5% in the discovery cohort and 4.5% in the validation cohort. In the discovery cohort, significant comorbidities (odds ratio [OR], 5.4; 95% CI 2.1 – 13.8), model for end-stage liver disease score (OR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.04–1.17), and serum level of albumin at presentation (OR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.2–0.76) were independently associated with 6-month mortality. A model based on these 3 variables identified patients who died within 6 months with c-statistic values of 0.89 (95% CI, 0.86–0.94) in the discovery cohort and 0.91 (95% CI, 0.83–0.99) in the validation cohort. We developed a web-based calculator to determine risk of death within 6 months for patients with suspected DILI for use in the clinic. Conclusions: We developed and validated a model based on comorbidity burden, model for end-stage liver disease score, and serum level of albumin that predicts 6-month mortality in patients with suspected DILI

Shotgun Proteomics Identifies Serum Fibronectin as a Candidate Diagnostic Biomarker for Inclusion in Future Multiplex Tests for Ectopic Pregnancy

Ectopic pregnancy (EP) is difficult to diagnose early and accurately. Women often present at emergency departments in early pregnancy with a 'pregnancy of unknown location' (PUL), and diagnosis and exclusion of EP is challenging due to a lack of reliable biomarkers. The objective of this study was to identify novel diagnostic biomarkers for EP. Shotgun proteomics, incorporating combinatorial-ligand library pre-fractionation, was used to interrogate pooled sera (n = 40) from women undergoing surgery for EP, termination of viable intrauterine pregnancy and management of non-viable intrauterine pregnancy. Western blot was used to validate results in individual sera. ELISAs were developed to interrogate sera from women with PUL (n = 120). Sera were collected at time of first symptomatic presentation and categorized according to pregnancy outcome. The main outcome measures were differences between groups and area under the receiver operating curve (ROC). Proteomics identified six biomarker candidates. Western blot detected significant differences in levels of two of these candidates. ELISA of sera from second cohort revealed that these differences were only significant for one of these candidates, fibronectin. ROC analysis of ability of fibronectin to discriminate EP from other pregnancy outcomes suggested that fibronectin has diagnostic potential (ROC 0.6439; 95% CI 0.5090 to 0.7788; P>0.05), becoming significant when 'ambiguous' medically managed PUL excluded from analysis (ROC 0.6538; 95% CI 0.5158 to 0.7918; P<0.05). Fibronectin may make a useful adjunct to future multiplex EP diagnostic tests

A Metric of Influential Spreading during Contagion Dynamics through the Air Transportation Network

The spread of infectious diseases at the global scale is mediated by long-range human travel. Our ability to predict the impact of an outbreak on human health requires understanding the spatiotemporal signature of early-time spreading from a specific location. Here, we show that network topology, geography, traffic structure and individual mobility patterns are all essential for accurate predictions of disease spreading. Specifically, we study contagion dynamics through the air transportation network by means of a stochastic agent-tracking model that accounts for the spatial distribution of airports, detailed air traffic and the correlated nature of mobility patterns and waiting-time distributions of individual agents. From the simulation results and the empirical air-travel data, we formulate a metric of influential spreading––the geographic spreading centrality––which accounts for spatial organization and the hierarchical structure of the network traffic, and provides an accurate measure of the early-time spreading power of individual nodes