Mutual recognition of national military airworthiness authorities: A streamlined assessment process

The Air and Space Interoperability Council (ASIC) has adopted the European Defence Agency (EDA) process for interregulatory military airworthiness authority recognition. However, there are gaps in the application of this process to nations outside of the European Union. This paper proposes a model that can effectively map diverse technical airworthiness regulatory frameworks. This model, referred to as the Product-Behaviour-Process (PBP) Bow-Tie model, provides the systematic structure needed to represent and compare regulatory frameworks. The PBP Bow-Tie model identifies key points of difference that need to be addressed, during inter-agency recognition between the two regulatory authorities. With the intention to adopt global use of the EDA process, the proposed PBP Bow-Tie model can be used as a basis for the successful recognition of regulatory frameworks outside of the European Union. Iris plots produced from the implementation of this model are presented, and proposed as a suitable means of illustrating the outcome of an assessment, and of supporting the comparisons of results. A comparative analysis of the Australian Defence Force and New Zealand Defence Force airworthiness regulatory frameworks is used as a case study. The case study clearly illustrates the effectiveness of the model in discerning regulatory framework differences; moreover, it has offered an opportunity to explore the limitations of the Iris plot

A scoping review on the methods of assessment and role of resilience on function and movement-evoked pain when experiencing a musculoskeletal injury

Background: Resilience refers to an individual’s ability to maintain effective functioning, by resisting, withstanding or recovering from stressors or adversity, including pain associated with physical injury (J Clin Psychol Med Settings 28:518–28, 2021). The aim of this scoping review is to determine the role of resilience in the experience of movement-evoked pain (MEP) and return to functional activity following a musculoskeletal injury. Methods: This review conformed to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews and the scoping review protocol of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). Five databases and one grey literature database were searched using predetermined key words and index terms to capture published and unpublished records on the topic. Two authors independently screened the title and abstract of each record, with the full-text of eligible records being reviewed. Papers were eligible for inclusion if they examined the population, concept and context of interest, were written in English and the full text was available. Data were extracted from each eligible record to guide discussion of the available literature on this topic. Results: Of 4771 records, 2695 articles underwent screening based on their title and abstract. After title and abstract screening 132 articles were eligible for full text review, with 24 articles included in the final analysis. This review identified that psychological resilience has primarily been investigated in the context of a range of age-related pathologies. The choice of functional and movement-evoked pain assessments in the included studies were often guided by the pathology of interest, with some being general or injury specific. Conclusion: This scoping review identified inconsistent conclusions regarding the role of resilience in the experience of MEP and the ability to return to function for older adults with a musculoskeletal injury. This scoping review highlights the need for longitudinal research to be conducted that allows a broader age range, including younger adults, to determine if multidimensional resilience may promote recovery form musculoskeletal injury

Expanding the Envelope of UAS Certification: What it Takes to Type Certify a UAS for Precision Agricultural Spraying

One of the key challenges to the development of a commercial Unmanned Air-craft System (UAS) market is the lack of explicit consideration of UAS in the current regulatory framework. Despite recent progress, additional steps are needed to enable broad UAS types and operational models. This paper discusses recent research that examines how a risk-based approach for safety might change the process and substance of airworthiness requirements for UAS. The project proposed risk-centric airworthiness requirements for a midsize un-manned rotorcraft used for agricultural spraying and also identified factors that may contribute to distinguishing safety risk among different UAS types and operational concepts. Lessons learned regarding how a risk-based approach can expand the envelope of UAS certification are discussed

A comparison of gait stability between younger and older adults while head turning

Head turning while walking may challenge stability by altering visual and vestibular information. Whether there are age-related changes that affect gait stability while head turning during walking remains unknown. The aim of the current study was to compare gait stability between younger and older adults immediately following a head turn while walking. Ten younger [mean (SD)] [23.4 (3.3) years] and ten older [68.8 (6.0) years] healthy adults walked on a treadmill at their preferred gait velocity and performed head turns by responding to a visual cue. The margin of stability (MoS) in the mediolateral (MoSML), anterior (MoSA) and posterior (MoSP) directions, foot placement (mean step length and width) and rotation of the head, trunk and pelvis were calculated for the four steps immediately following a cue to head turn and compared to walking only. Older adults increased their MoSML and younger adults increased their MoSP immediately following a head turn. However, older adults had a significantly greater MoSP than younger adults during this time. Older adults also had greater pelvic rotation velocity and a trend towards smaller head-on-trunk rotation compared to younger adults. Age does not compromise the stability of healthy older compared to younger adults immediately following or when completing a head turn. However, older adults may use a different motor strategy to perform a head turn to limit isolated movement of the head and the effects of a changing sensory frame of reference

Fixed-wing MAV attitude stability in atmospheric turbulence-part 2: Investigating biologically-inspired sensors

Challenges associated with flight control of agile fixed-wing Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) operating in complex environments is significantly different to any larger scale vehicle. The micro-scale of MAVs can make them particularly sensitive to atmospheric disturbances thus limiting their operation. As described in Part 1, current conventional reactive attitude sensing systems lack the necessary response times for attitude control in high turbulence environments. This paper reviews in greater detail novel and emerging biologically inspired sensors, which can sense the disturbances before a perturbation is induced. A number of biological mechanoreceptors used by flying animals are explored for their utility in MAVs. Man-made attempts of replicating mechanoreceptors have thus been reviewed. Bio-inspired flow and pressure-based sensors were found to be the most promising for complementing or replacing current inertial-based reactive attitude sensors. Achieving practical implementations that meet the size, weight and power constraints of MAVs remains a significant challenge. Biological systems were found to rely on multiple sensors, potentially implying a number of research opportunities in the exploration of heterogeneous bio-inspired sensing solution

Estimation of tulathromycin depletion in plasma and milk after subcutaneous injection in lactating goats using a nonlinear mixed-effects pharmacokinetic modeling approach

Citation: Lin, Z. M., Cuneo, M., Rowe, J. D., Li, M. J., Tell, L. A., Allison, S., . . . Gehring, R. (2016). Estimation of tulathromycin depletion in plasma and milk after subcutaneous injection in lactating goats using a nonlinear mixed-effects pharmacokinetic modeling approach. Bmc Veterinary Research, 12, 10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-016-0884-4Background: Extra-label use of tulathromycin in lactating goats is common and may cause violative residues in milk. The objective of this study was to develop a nonlinear mixed-effects pharmacokinetic (NLME-PK) model to estimate tulathromycin depletion in plasma and milk of lactating goats. Eight lactating goats received two subcutaneous injections of 2.5 mg/kg tulathromycin 7 days apart; blood and milk samples were analyzed for concentrations of tulathromycin and the common fragment of tulathromycin (i.e., the marker residue CP-60,300), respectively, using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Based on these new data and related literature data, a NLME-PK compartmental model with first-order absorption and elimination was used to model plasma concentrations and cumulative excreted amount in milk. Monte Carlo simulations with 100 replicates were performed to predict the time when the upper limit of the 95% confidence interval of milk concentrations was below the tolerance. Results: All animals were healthy throughout the study with normal appetite and milk production levels, and with mild-moderate injection-site reactions that diminished by the end of the study. The measured data showed that milk concentrations of the marker residue of tulathromycin were below the limit of detection (LOD = 1.8 ng/ml) 39 days after the second injection. A 2-compartment model with milk as an excretory compartment best described tulathromycin plasma and CP-60,300 milk pharmacokinetic data. The model-predicted data correlated with the measured data very well. The NLME-PK model estimated that tulathromycin plasma concentrations were below LOD (1.2 ng/ml) 43 days after a single injection, and 62 days after the second injection with a 95% confidence. These estimated times are much longer than the current meat withdrawal time recommendation of 18 days for tulathromycin in non-lactating cattle. Conclusions: The results suggest that twice subcutaneous injections of 2.5 mg/kg tulathromycin are a clinically safe extra-label alternative approach for treating pulmonary infections in lactating goats, but a prolonged withdrawal time of at least 39 days after the second injection should be considered to prevent violative residues in milk and any dairy goat being used for meat should have an extended meat withdrawal time