Impact of Baseline BMI upon the Success of Latina Participants Enrolled in a 6-Month Physical Activity Intervention

High rates of obesity in Latinas highlight the need to determine if physical activity interventions are equally effective across the body mass index (BMI) range. Thus, this study assessed how BMI impacts success of Spanish-speaking Latinas in a culturally and linguistically adapted theory-based physical activity intervention (N = 45). Longitudinal regression models tested the relationship between baseline BMI and outcomes. Overall, a trend for a negative association was found between baseline BMI and self-reported physical activity and theoretical constructs targeted by the intervention over time. For example, someone with a 25 kg/m2 BMI would report, on average, 27.5 more minutes/week of activity compared to someone with a 30 kg/m2 BMI at followup. Furthermore, higher baseline BMI was significantly associated with lower self-efficacy, behavioral and cognitive processes of change, and family social support over time. These findings suggest that participants with higher BMI may need additional intervention to promote physical activity

Orbiter Interface Unit and Early Communication System

This report describes the Orbiter Interface Unit (OIU) and the Early Communication System (ECOMM), which are systems of electronic hardware and software that serve as the primary communication links for the International Space Station (ISS). When a space shuttle is at or near the ISS during assembly and resupply missions, the OIU sends groundor crew-initiated commands from the space shuttle to the ISS and relays telemetry from the ISS to the space shuttle s payload data systems. The shuttle then forwards the telemetry to the ground. In the absence of a space shuttle, the ECOMM handles communications between the ISS and Johnson Space Center via the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). Innovative features described in the report include (1) a "smart data-buffering algorithm that helps to preserve synchronization (and thereby minimize loss) of telemetric data between the OIU and the space-shuttle payload data interleaver; (2) an ECOMM antenna-autotracking algorithm that selects whichever of two phased-array antennas gives the best TDRSS signal and electronically steers that antenna to track the TDRSS source; and (3) an ECOMM radiation-latchup controller, which detects an abrupt increase in current indicative of radiation-induced latchup and temporarily turns off power to clear the latchup, restoring power after the charge dissipates

Anxiety sensitivity and hazardous drinking among persons living with HIV/AIDS: An examination of the role of emotion dysregulation

Hazardous drinking is prevalent among persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Anxiety sensitivity is a vulnerability factor that is highly associated with hazardous drinking among seronegatives, but has yet to be tested in PLWHA. Additionally, there is a need to examine potential mechanisms underlying associations of anxiety sensitivity and hazardous drinking. Emotion dysregulation is one potential construct that may explain the association between anxiety sensitivity and hazardous drinking. The current study examined emotion dysregulation as a potential explanatory variable between anxiety sensitivity and four, clinically significant alcohol-related outcomes among PLWHA: hazardous drinking, symptoms of alcohol dependence, number of days consuming alcohol within the past month, and degree of past heavy episodic drinking. The sample included 126 PLWHA (Mage=48.3; SD=7.5; 65.9% male). Results indicated significant indirect effects of anxiety sensitivity via emotion dysregulation in all models. Indirect effects (κ2) were of medium effect size. Alternative models were run reversing the predictor with mediator and, separately, reversing the mediator with the proposed outcome(s); alternative models yielded non-significant indirect effects in all but one case. Together, the current results indicate that anxiety sensitivity is associated emotion dysregulation, which, in turn, is associated with hazardous drinking outcomes. Overall, these findings may provide initial empirical evidence that emotion dysregulation may be a clinical intervention target for hazardous drinking