Artificial intelligence for multi-mission planetary operations

A brief introduction is given to an automated system called the Spacecraft Health Automated Reasoning Prototype (SHARP). SHARP is designed to demonstrate automated health and status analysis for multi-mission spacecraft and ground data systems operations. The SHARP system combines conventional computer science methodologies with artificial intelligence techniques to produce an effective method for detecting and analyzing potential spacecraft and ground systems problems. The system performs real-time analysis of spacecraft and other related telemetry, and is also capable of examining data in historical context. Telecommunications link analysis of the Voyager II spacecraft is the initial focus for evaluation of the prototype in a real-time operations setting during the Voyager spacecraft encounter with Neptune in August, 1989. The preliminary results of the SHARP project and plans for future application of the technology are discussed

SHARP: Automated monitoring of spacecraft health and status

Briefly discussed here are the spacecraft and ground systems monitoring process at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Some of the difficulties associated with the existing technology used in mission operations are highlighted. A new automated system based on artificial intelligence technology is described which seeks to overcome many of these limitations. The system, called the Spacecraft Health Automated Reasoning Prototype (SHARP), is designed to automate health and status analysis for multi-mission spacecraft and ground data systems operations. The system has proved to be effective for detecting and analyzing potential spacecraft and ground systems problems by performing real-time analysis of spacecraft and ground data systems engineering telemetry. Telecommunications link analysis of the Voyager 2 spacecraft was the initial focus for evaluation of the system in real-time operations during the Voyager spacecraft encounter with Neptune in August 1989

Explaining Society: An Expanded Toolbox for Social Scientists

We propose for social scientists a theoretical toolbox containing a set of motivations that neurobiologists have recently validated. We show how these motivations can be used to create a theory of society recognizably similar to existing stable societies (sustainable, self-reproducing, and largely peaceful). Using this toolbox, we describe society in terms of three institutions: economy (a source of sustainability), government (peace), and the family (reproducibility). Conducting a thought experiment in three parts, we begin with a simple theory with only two motivations. We then create successive theories that systematically add motivations, showing that each element in the toolbox makes its own contribution to explain the workings of a stable society and that the family has a critical role in this process

Relation of vertebral deformities to bone density, structure, and strength.

Because they are not reliably discriminated by areal bone mineral density (aBMD) measurements, it is unclear whether minimal vertebral deformities represent early osteoporotic fractures. To address this, we compared 90 postmenopausal women with no deformity (controls) with 142 women with one or more semiquantitative grade 1 (mild) deformities and 51 women with any grade 2-3 (moderate/severe) deformities. aBMD was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), lumbar spine volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) and geometry by quantitative computed tomography (QCT), bone microstructure by high-resolution peripheral QCT at the radius (HRpQCT), and vertebral compressive strength and load-to-strength ratio by finite-element analysis (FEA) of lumbar spine QCT images. Compared with controls, women with grade 1 deformities had significantly worse values for many bone density, structure, and strength parameters, although deficits all were much worse for the women with grade 2-3 deformities. Likewise, these skeletal parameters were more strongly associated with moderate to severe than with mild deformities by age-adjusted logistic regression. Nonetheless, grade 1 vertebral deformities were significantly associated with four of the five main variable categories assessed: bone density (lumbar spine vBMD), bone geometry (vertebral apparent cortical thickness), bone strength (overall vertebral compressive strength by FEA), and load-to-strength ratio (45-degree forward bending ÷ vertebral compressive strength). Thus significantly impaired bone density, structure, and strength compared with controls indicate that many grade 1 deformities do represent early osteoporotic fractures, with corresponding implications for clinical decision making

Subcutaneous Immunoglobulin Replacement Therapy with Hizentra® is Safe and Effective in Children Less Than 5 Years of Age.

BACKGROUND:Hizentra® (IGSC 20%) is a 20% liquid IgG product approved for subcutaneous administration in adults and children 2 years of age and older who have primary immunodeficiency disease (PIDD). There is limited information about the use of IGSC 20 % in very young children including those less than 5 years of age. METHODS:A retrospective chart review involved 88 PIDD infants and children less than 5 years of age who received Hizentra®. RESULTS:The mean age at the start of Hizentra® was 34 months (range 2 to 59 months). IGSC 20 % was administered weekly to 86 infants (two additional infants received twice weekly and three times weekly infusions, respectively) and included an average of 63 infusions (range 6-182) for an observation period up to 45.5 months. Infusion by manual delivery occurred in 15 patients. The mean dose was 674 mg/kg/4 weeks. The mean IgG level was 942 mg/dL while on IGSC 20 %, compared to a mean trough IgG level of 794 mg/dL (p < 0.0001) during intravenous or subcutaneous IgG administration prior to IGSC 20 %. Average infusion time was 47 (range 5-120) minutes, and the median number of infusion sites was 2 (range 1-4). Local reactions were mostly mild and observed in 36/88 (41%) children. No serious adverse events were reported. A significant increase in weight percentile (7 % ± 19.2, p = 0.0012) among subjects was observed during IGSC 20% administration. The rate of serious bacterial infections was 0.067 per patient-year while receiving IGSC 20%, similar to previously reported efficacy studies. CONCLUSIONS:Hizentra® is effective in preventing infections, and is well tolerated in children less than age 5 years

Preliminary Implementation of Maine\u27s Proficiency-Based Diploma Program

The Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs of the Maine Legislature requested that the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) undertake a study designed to compile data on the preliminary development, costs, and impacts of standards-based school programs and to report back to the committee in 2013 on the progress Maine schools and school districts were making in transitioning to the new education system. To that end, MEPRI researchers and analysts have conducted a study of a select sample of Maine schools and school districts

Dynamical response of the southwestern Laurentide Ice Sheet to rapid Bølling–Allerød warming

The shift in climate that occurred between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the Early Holocene (ca. 18–12 kyr BP) displayed rates of temperature increase similar to present-day warming trends. The most rapid recorded changes in temperature occurred during the abrupt climate oscillations known as the Bølling–Allerød interstadial (14.7–12.9 kyr BP) and the Younger Dryas stadial (12.9–11.7 kyr BP). Reconstructing ice sheet dynamics during these climate oscillations provides the opportunity to assess long-term ice sheet evolution in reaction to a rapidly changing climate. Here, we use glacial geomorphological inversion methods (flowsets) to reconstruct the ice flow dynamics and the marginal retreat pattern of the southwestern sector of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (SWLIS). We combine our reconstruction with a recently compiled regional deglaciation chronology to depict ice flow dynamics that encompass the time period from pre-LGM to the Early Holocene. Our reconstruction portrays three macroscale reorganizations in the orientation and dynamics of ice streaming followed by regional deglaciation associated with rapid warming during the Bølling–Allerød interstadial. Initial westward flow is documented, likely associated with an early set of ice streams that formed during the advance to the LGM. During the LGM ice streaming displays a dominant north to south orientation. Ice sheet thinning at ∼15 ka is associated with a macroscale reorganization in ice stream flow, with a complex of ice streams recording south-eastward flow. A second macroscale reorganization in ice flow is then observed at ∼14 ka, in which southwestern ice flow is restricted to the Hay, Peace, Athabasca, and Churchill river lowlands. Rates of ice sheet retreat then slowed considerably during the Younger Dryas stadial; at this time, the ice margin was situated north of the Canadian Shield boundary and ice flow continued to be sourced from the northeast. Resulting from these changes in ice sheet dynamics, we recognize a three-part pattern of deglacial landform zonation within the SWLIS characterized by active ice margin recession, stagnation and downwasting punctuated by local surging (terrestrial ice sheet collapse): the outer deglacial zone contains large recessional moraines aligned with the direction of active ice margin retreat; the intermediate deglacial zone contains large regions of hummocky and stagnation terrain, in some areas crosscut by the signature of local surges, reflecting punctuated stagnation and downwasting; and the inner deglacial zone contains inset recessional moraines demarcating progressive regional ice margin retreat. We attribute these macroscale changes in ice flow geometry and associated deglacial behaviour to external climatic controls during the Bølling–Allerød and Younger Dryas but also recognize the role of internal (glaciological, lithological and topographic) controls in SWLIS dynamics

Effects of Common Ravens on Greater Sage-Grouse in the Great Basin, Region, USA

Anthropogenic modification to ecosystems can result in the redistribution of species at higher trophic levels. Humans have re-organized predator-prey dynamics, namely by removing top predators and subsidizing more generalist mesocarnivore species. As a result, some mid-level predator species have increased in abundance and distribution, often to the detriment of lower-level species that are not adapted to increased predation rates. One example of a native avian predator that has experienced population increase following increased anthropogenic subsidization is the common raven (Corvus corax; hereafter, raven).The raven is an ubiquitous predator within sagebrush ecosystems in the western U.S.,and may contribute to suppressed population growth in greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) through disruptions to lekking behavior and top-down influences on nest success and recruitment. Ravens have expanded in distribution and abundance, in large part due to increased resource subsidies from human infrastructure and land use activities. Concurrently, some sage-grouse populations appear to be in decline where habitat conditions should be promoting species persistence. Using long-term monitoring data on sage-grouse and ravens in the northern Great Basin region, we show that ravens disrupt sage-grouse lekking behavior, increased raven density is associated with reduced sage-grouse nest success, and that negative trends in lek counts may be related to elevated raven occurrence and density. Taken together, these results suggest the need to address a growing problem, as ravens continue to expand their distribution, facilitated by anthropogenic subsidies. These findings are preliminary and provided to meet the need for timely best science