Subsonic Longitudinal Performance Coefficient Extraction from Shuttle Flight Data: an Accuracy Assessment for Determination of Data Base Updates

Longitudinal performance comparisons between flight derived and predicted values are presented for the first five NASA Space Shuttle Columbia flights. Though subsonic comparisons are emphasized, comparisons during the transonic and low supersonic regions of flight are included. Computed air data information based on the remotely sensed atmospheric measurements as well as in situ Orbiter Air Data System (ADS) measurements were incorporated. Each air data source provides for comparisons versus the predicted values from the LaRC data base. Principally, L/D, C sub L, and C sub D, comparisons are presented, though some pitching moment results are included. Similarities in flight conditions and spacecraft configuration during the first five flights are discussed. Contributions from the various elements of the data base are presented and the overall differences observed between the flight and predicted values are discussed in terms of expected variations. A discussion on potential data base updates is presented based on the results from the five flights to date

Synthetic Data as a Strategy to Resolve Data Privacy and Confidentiality Concerns in the Sport Sciences: Practical Examples and an R Shiny Application

There has been a proliferation in technologies in the sport performance environment that collect increasingly largerquantities of athlete data. These data have the potential to be personal, sensitive, and revealing and raise privacy and confidentialityconcerns. A solution may be the use of synthetic data, which mimic the properties of the original data. The aim of this study was toprovide examples of synthetic data generation to demonstrate its practical use and to deploy a freely available web-based R Shinyapplication to generate synthetic data. Methods: Openly available data from 2 previously published studies were obtained,representing typical data sets of (1) field- and gym-based team-sport external and internal load during a preseason period (n = 28)and (2) performance and subjective changes from before to after the posttraining intervention (n = 22). Synthetic data weregenerated using the synthpop package in R Studio software, and comparisons between the original and synthetic data sets weremade through Welch t tests and the distributional similarity standardized propensity mean squared error statistic. Results: Therewere no significant differences between the original and more synthetic data sets across all variables examined in both data sets(P > .05). Further, there was distributional similarity (ie, low standardized propensity mean squared error) between the originalobserved and synthetic data sets. Conclusions: These findings highlight the potential use of synthetic data as a practical solution toprivacy and confidentiality issues. Synthetic data can unlock previously inaccessible data sets for exploratory analysis andfacilitate multiteam or multicenter collaborations. Interested sport scientists, practitioners, and researchers should considerutilizing the shiny web application (SYNTHETIC DATA—available at https://assetlab.shinyapps.io/SyntheticData/)

Human somatic mutation assays as biomarkers of carcinogenesis.

This paper describes four assays that detect somatic gene mutations in humans: the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase assay, the glycophorin A assay, the HLA-A assay, and the sickle cell hemoglobin assay. Somatic gene mutation can be considered a biomarker of carcinogenesis, and assays for somatic mutation may assist epidemiologists in studies that attempt to identify factors associated with increased risks of cancer. Practical aspects of the use of these assays are discussed

Confirmation of a Four-Factor Structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire among Undergraduate Students

Objective Although several exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses have supported the initially proposed factor structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) in which its nine subscales are grouped into cognitive-perceptual, interpersonal, and disorganized domains, others have revealed different latent structures. This study determined the best-fitting factor structure from among five models that have been proposed in the literature, as well as five additional hierarchically related models. Method Undergraduate college students (n=825) completed the SPQ as well as the Perceptual Aberration Scale (PAS) and the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (SAS). Confirmatory factor analyses involving the nine SPQ subscales were conducted using the Linear Structural Relations Program (LISREL 8.72). Results The best fitting model was a previously described 4-factor model including cognitiveperceptual, paranoid, negative, and disorganized domains. Correlations between the derived SPQ domains and the PAS score ranged r=.26–.39, and correlations between the SPQ domains and the SAS ranged r=.07–.41. Conclusions The present findings support a 4-factor model over the standard 3-factor model that is typically used to derive SPQ subscale scores. The four derived domains are minimally to moderately correlated with other measures of psychosis-proneness

Using Modeling and Simulation to Examine the Benefits of a Network Tasking Order

The Global Information Grid (GIG) is the military’s computer and communications network which supports the myriad of military missions. Military missions are highly planned, passing through many hands in the strategy-to-task methodology to ensure completeness, accuracy, coordination, cohesion, and appropriateness. A benefit of this planning is the possibility to collect knowledge of future conditions that could be of use to network designers whose goals include optimizing and protecting the GIG. This advanced knowledge includes which networked military equipment will be involved, what their capabilities are, where they will be, when they will be there, and particulars on the required data flows. A Network Tasking Order process is proposed as a means of collecting this information, analyzing the information to generate network taskings, and disseminating those taskings. Tactical integration of assets in mobile networks is introduced as another planning variable in the battlefield; not unlike logistical considerations such as fuel, ammunition, water, and so on used currently in operation planning. Modeling and simulation is used to support the proposed benefits

An examination of the factorial structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire–Brief (SPQ-B) among undergraduate students

Cognitive-perceptual, interpersonal, and disorganized subscales of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire–Brief (SPQ-B), reflecting the three commonly used subscales of the full-version SPQ, have been used in a number of studies. However, the factorial validity of SPQB subscales remains to be clarified. Utilizing data from 825 undergraduate students, confirmatory factor analyses involving the 22 items of the SPQ-B were conducted. A significant χ2 difference test favored the 3-factor over the 1-factor model and fit indices for the 3-factor model were generally satisfactory. However, several of the items may index more than one of the hypothesized factors, so the item-factor separation is not sharp. Thus, more research is needed on the factorial validity of the increasingly used SPQ-B subscales

Schizotypy and Nicotine, Alcohol, and Cannabis Use in a Non-Psychiatric Sample

Schizotypy is a multidimensional personality construct that is characterized by perceptual abnormalities, social withdrawal, mild suspiciousness, and odd thinking patterns. This study examined the relationship between four dimensions of self-reported schizotypy and substance use involving nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis, in undergraduate students. Results showed that higher levels of disorganized schizotypy, or odd thinking and behavior, were associated with greater indices of use of all three substances. Furthermore, higher cognitive-perceptual schizotypy was selectively associated with cannabis use. Results confirm findings of recent research that has discovered associations among schizotypy and substance use, highlighting links between behavioral traits and use of nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis. This study is one of the first to examine a wide range of schizotypy domains, and to show selective effects of the disorganized domain of schizotypy