Paternalism and Autonomy in Transgender Healthcare

Transgender healthcare has made considerable advancements in the quality of patient care and gender confirmation surgical technique throughout the past several decades, which has led to a significant increase in patient satisfaction and overall physical and mental wellbeing. However, there are still several issues that remain to be addressed, many associated with excess paternalism by physicians and violations of patient autonomy. These problems can be mitigated by improving LGBTQ+ and transgender-related medical education for physicians, updating healthcare insurance coverage requirements to be more in line with current care standards, developing appropriate guidelines for lifelong primary care and geriatric care, and expanding the physician knowledge base beyond that of the assumed “standard” transgender patient to encompass a wider variety of identities, expressions, and histories

Mineral composition and yield of tall fescue as affected by ammonium and nitrate nitrogen fertilization

A greenhouse experiment was conducted with tall fescue (Festuca arunidacea Schreb.) to evaluate the effects of NO3 and NH4 fertilization on mineral composition, yield and components related to grass tetany potential. A nitrification inhibitor [2-chloro-6-(trichloromethyl)- pyridine] was used to slow the conversion of NH4 ions to the NO3 form. In the experiment a factorial combination of three levels of N; 34, 67, and 134 kg N/ha; three levels of K; 56, 112, 224 kg K/ha; two levels of Mg; 0 and 112 kg Mg/ha; at two Soil pH levels; pH 5.2 and 6.2; was evaluated with and without a nitrification inhibitor. Two cuttings of plant material were analyzed for Mg, Ca, K, total N, and NO3-N. The use of a nitrification inhibitor such that primary N fertilization was from the NH4 form was found to lower Mg, Ca, and NO3-N concentration of first cutting forage. However, N in the NH4 form increased Ca and K in the second cutting. The ratio of K/(Ca + Mg) was not affected at the chosen probability level by the NH4 form of N fertilization. Total Mg uptake by forage was reduced when the NH4 ion was the primary form of available N. Yield was not affected by NH4 fertilization in either of the two cuttings, but was lowered when combined yield data were statistically analyzed. First cutting forage grown at the 224 kg rate of added K/ha, at the 0 kg/ha rate of added Mg, with NH4 as the primary form of N, contained Mg concentrations below 0.20%. Also in the first cutting, forage contained less than 0.20% Mg when grown at pH 5.2, at the 0 kg/ha rate of Mg, and with the 67 and 134 kg/ha rates of N fertilization. Addition of the higher levels of K used in the experiment increased K concentration and the K/(Ca + Mg) ratio of forage while lowering Mg concentrations in both cuttings. However, K concentrations were not high enough to limit Mg availability to animals as some authors have suggested. The ratio of K/(Ca + Mg) did not approach or exceed 2.2 in any cutting. The addition of Mg at the 112 kg Mg/ha rate was found to increase Mg concentration but did not significantly affect K/(Ca + Mg) ratios. Fertilization with the higher levels of N increased total N concentration of both cuttings, with total N being higher in the first cutting than the second. In neither cutting was total N concentration great enough to decrease Mg availability to animals consuming the forage. First cutting results revealed higher NO3-N levels in forage from pots receiving NO3-N as the primary form of N fertilization when compared to the NH4 form. Levels of NO3-N did approach or exceed the 0.35% level some have suggested as toxic to animals consuming forages in a few treatments. An increase in soil pH from 5.2 to 6.2 significantly lowered the K/(Ca + Mg) ratio in the first cutting and increased forage Mg concentration in both cuttings

Paper Session III-B - Continuing Legacy of the Space Test Program

During the 1960’s, it became apparent that the Department of Defense (DoD) needed to develop space systems technologies at a rapid rate. Furthermore, the DoD realized that in order to develop and deploy reliable space systems for operational use, they first must test them in space. At that time no organization or funds were readily available to provide timely spaceflight for experiments and demonstrations with military relevance. As a result, the Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E) wrote a memorandum and created the DoD Space Test Program (STP) in 1966.1 The mission of STP is to protect US space superiority by demonstrating the most promising technologies for future operational requirements, thereby reducing the risk of future acquisition efforts. In the 34 years since its inception, STP has flown over 416 scientific experiments on more than 154 missions. The STP “legacy” is far reaching. Each day, the defense community uses some of the data or experience, which originated on an STP experiment, in an operational mission. STP has advanced space technologies in many fields including satellite design, operating systems, knowledge of the space environment, and launch systems. Missions flown by STP were at the forefront of navigation, surveillance, nuclear detection, communication, weather observation and ground radar calibration. Other STP payloads have collected data that furthered the knowledge of the space environment including radiation, composition, and solar effects. But what can we expect from STP in the future? The answer is, we can expect more of the same. STP is using Space Command’s Long Range Plan (LRP) to identify the flavor of the next generation of operational space systems. Everyday, they are planning, manifesting, and launching experiments that will turn Space Command’s vision into reality

Development of and flight results from the Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS)

Described here is the development of and the flight results from the Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) flight units used in the Orbiter middeck, Spacelab module, and the Orbitercargo bay. The SAMS units are general purpose microgravity accelerometers designed to support a variety of science experiments with microgravity acceleration measurements. A total of six flight units have been fabricated; four for use in the Orbiter middeck and Spacelab module, and two for use in the Orbiter cargo bay. The design of the units is briefly described. The initial two flights of SAMS units on STS-40 (June 1991) and STS-43 (August 1991) resulted in 371 megabytes and 2.6 gigabytes of data respectively. Analytical techniques developed to examine this quantity of acceleration data are described and sample plots of analyzed data are illustrated. Future missions for the SAMS units are listed

Green Pricing

Green pricing is commonly found in energy markets and finances environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional utilities. Interested customers pay an additional fee per kilowatt-hour to purchase clean energy from hydroelectric, wind, geothermal, solar, and biomass sources. Green power markets are still new, and to ensure quality and verify delivery, many utilities apply for certification from independent organizations. Renewable energy credits (RECs) are another method to assist utility companies in financing green energy investments. Although the REC purchaser does not directly buy electricity, REC sales may subsidize renewable energy production

Rapid Application of Space Effects for the Small Satellites Systems and Services Symposium

NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) has engaged Military Branches, the Department of Defense, and other Government Agencies in successful partnerships to design, develop, deliver and support various space effects capabilities and space vehicles on timeline of need. Contracts with Industry are in place to execute operational and enabler missions using physical and informational infrastructures including Responsive Manufacturing capabilities and Digital Assurance. The intent is to establish a secure, web-enabled "store front" for ordering and delivering any capabilities required as defined by the users and directed by NASA ARC and Partner Organizations. The capabilities are envisioned to cover a broad range and include 6U CubeSats, 50-100 kg Space Vehicles, Modular Space Vehicle architecture variations, as well as rapid payload integration on various Bus options. The paper will discuss the efforts underway to demonstrate autonomous manufacturing of low-volume, high-value assets, to validate the ability of autonomous digital techniques to provide Mission Assurance, and to demonstrate cost savings through the identification, characterization, and utilization of Responsive Space components. The culmination of this effort will be the integration of several 6U satellites and their launch in 2016

Aerodynamic Characteristics of Two Waverider-Derived Hypersonic Cruise Configurations

An evaluation was made on the effects of integrating the required aircraft components with hypersonic high-lift configurations known as waveriders to create hypersonic cruise vehicles. Previous studies suggest that waveriders offer advantages in aerodynamic performance and propulsion/airframe integration (PAI) characteristics over conventional non-waverider hypersonic shapes. A wind-tunnel model was developed that integrates vehicle components, including canopies, engine components, and control surfaces, with two pure waverider shapes, both conical-flow-derived waveriders for a design Mach number of 4.0. Experimental data and limited computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solutions were obtained over a Mach number range of 1.6 to 4.63. The experimental data show the component build-up effects and the aerodynamic characteristics of the fully integrated configurations, including control surface effectiveness. The aerodynamic performance of the fully integrated configurations is not comparable to that of the pure waverider shapes, but is comparable to previously tested hypersonic models. Both configurations exhibit good lateral-directional stability characteristics

Time-resolved spectroscopy of multi-excitonic decay in an InAs quantum dot

The multi-excitonic decay process in a single InAs quantum dot is studied through high-resolution time-resolved spectroscopy. A cascaded emission sequence involving three spectral lines is seen that is described well over a wide range of pump powers by a simple model. The measured biexcitonic decay rate is about 1.5 times the single-exciton decay rate. This ratio suggests the presence of selection rules, as well as a significant effect of the Coulomb interaction on the biexcitonic wavefunction.Comment: one typo fixe

DSN Beowulf Cluster-Based VLBI Correlator

The NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) requires a broadband VLBI (very long baseline interferometry) correlator to process data routinely taken as part of the VLBI source Catalogue Maintenance and Enhancement task (CAT M&E) and the Time and Earth Motion Precision Observations task (TEMPO). The data provided by these measurements are a crucial ingredient in the formation of precision deep-space navigation models. In addition, a VLBI correlator is needed to provide support for other VLBI related activities for both internal and external customers. The JPL VLBI Correlator (JVC) was designed, developed, and delivered to the DSN as a successor to the legacy Block II Correlator. The JVC is a full-capability VLBI correlator that uses software processes running on multiple computers to cross-correlate two-antenna broadband noise data. Components of this new system (see Figure 1) consist of Linux PCs integrated into a Beowulf Cluster, an existing Mark5 data storage system, a RAID array, an existing software correlator package (SoftC) originally developed for Delta DOR Navigation processing, and various custom- developed software processes and scripts. Parallel processing on the JVC is achieved by assigning slave nodes of the Beowulf cluster to process separate scans in parallel until all scans have been processed. Due to the single stream sequential playback of the Mark5 data, some ramp-up time is required before all nodes can have access to required scan data. Core functions of each processing step are accomplished using optimized C programs. The coordination and execution of these programs across the cluster is accomplished using Pearl scripts, PostgreSQL commands, and a handful of miscellaneous system utilities. Mark5 data modules are loaded on Mark5 Data systems playback units, one per station. Data processing is started when the operator scans the Mark5 systems and runs a script that reads various configuration files and then creates an experiment-dependent status database used to delegate parallel tasks between nodes and storage areas (see Figure 2). This script forks into three processes: extract, translate, and correlate. Each of these processes iterates on available scan data and updates the status database as the work for each scan is completed. The extract process coordinates and monitors the transfer of data from each of the Mark5s to the Beowulf RAID storage systems. The translate process monitors and executes the data conversion processes on available scan files, and writes the translated files to the slave nodes. The correlate process monitors the execution of SoftC correlation processes on the slave nodes for scans that have completed translation. A comparison of the JVC and the legacy Block II correlator outputs reveals they are well within a formal error, and that the data are comparable with respect to their use in flight navigation. The processing speed of the JVC is improved over the Block II correlator by a factor of 4, largely due to the elimination of the reel-to-reel tape drives used in the Block II correlator

Optimizing the perception of soft speech and speech in noise with the Advanced Bionics cochlear implant system

This study aimed to provide guidelines to optimize perception of soft speech and speech in noise for Advanced Bionics cochlear implant (CI) users