NASA/FRC wake turbulence flight test program: Ride quality aspects

To determine how much the ride quality of the Shuttle Carrier (Boeing 747) Aircraft is affected at various spoiler settings, the PEMS II (Portable Environmental Measuring System) was used to measure onboard motion during a test flight October 15, 1975. The PEMS II measures acceleration in the vertical, transverse and longitudinal directions as well as angular rates of pitch, roll, and yaw. The data acquired by this instrument, combined with an airline passenger comfort model, gives an indication of how passengers would react to the motion induced by flying in a vortex alleviation configuration

A method for the determination of potentially profitable service patterns for commuter air carriers

A methodology for estimating market conception was developed as a part of the short-haul air transportation program. It is based upon an analysis of actual documents which provide a record of known travel history. Applying this methodology a forecast was made of the demand for an air feeder service between Charlottesville, Virginia and Dulles International Airport. Local business travel vouchers and local travel agent records were selected to provide the documentation. The market was determined to be profitable for an 8-passenger Cessna 402B aircraft flying a 2-hour daily service pattern designed to mesh to the best extent possible with the connecting schedules at Dulles. The Charlottesville - Dulles air feeder service market conception forecast and its methodology are documented

Integrated mass transportation system study/definition/implementation program definition

Specific actions needed to plan and effect transportation system improvements are identified within the constraints of limited financial, energy and land use resources, and diverse community requirements. A specific program is described which would develop the necessary generalized methodology for devising improved transportation systems and evaluate them against specific criteria for intermodal and intramodal optimization. A consistent, generalized method is provided for study and evaluation of transportation system improvements

Complete Genome Sequences and Methylome Analyses of Cutibacterium acnes subsp. acnes Strains DSM 16379 and DSM 1897T

Cutibacterium acnes is a member of the normal human skin micro-biome. However, it is also associated with skin disorders and persistent infections of orthopedic implants. Here, we announce complete genome sequences and methyl-omes of the C. acnes subsp. acnes strains DSM 1897(T) and DSM 16379 together with their active restriction-modification systems.Peer reviewe

Antimicrobial use in European acute care hospitals: results from the second point prevalence survey (PPS) of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use, 2016 to 2017

Antimicrobial agents used to treat infections are life-saving. Overuse may result in more frequent adverse effects and emergence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms. In 2016-17, we performed the second point-prevalence survey (PPS) of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial use in European acute care hospitals. We included 1,209 hospitals and 310,755 patients in 28 of 31 European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries. The weighted prevalence of antimicrobial use in the EU/EEA was 30.5% (95% CI: 29.2-31.9%). The most common indication for prescribing antimicrobials was treatment of a community-acquired infection, followed by treatment of HAI and surgical prophylaxis. Over half (54.2%) of antimicrobials for surgical prophylaxis were prescribed for more than 1 day. The most common infections treated by antimicrobials were respiratory tract infections and the most commonly prescribed antimicrobial agents were penicillins with beta-lactamase inhibitors. There was wide variation of patients on antimicrobials, in the selection of antimicrobial agents and in antimicrobial stewardship resources and activities across the participating countries. The results of the PPS provide detailed information on antimicrobial use in European acute care hospitals, enable comparisons between countries and hospitals, and highlight key areas for national and European action that will support efforts towards prudent use of antimicrobials

A Multi-Institutional Meningioma MRI Dataset for Automated Multi-Sequence Image Segmentation

Meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumors and can be associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Radiologists, neurosurgeons, neuro-oncologists, and radiation oncologists rely on brain MRI for diagnosis, treatment planning, and longitudinal treatment monitoring. However, automated, objective, and quantitative tools for non-invasive assessment of meningiomas on multi-sequence MR images are not available. Here we present the BraTS Pre-operative Meningioma Dataset, as the largest multi-institutional expert annotated multilabel meningioma multi-sequence MR image dataset to date. This dataset includes 1,141 multi-sequence MR images from six sites, each with four structural MRI sequences (T2-, T2/FLAIR-, pre-contrast T1-, and post-contrast T1-weighted) accompanied by expert manually refined segmentations of three distinct meningioma sub-compartments: enhancing tumor, non-enhancing tumor, and surrounding non-enhancing T2/FLAIR hyperintensity. Basic demographic data are provided including age at time of initial imaging, sex, and CNS WHO grade. The goal of releasing this dataset is to facilitate the development of automated computational methods for meningioma segmentation and expedite their incorporation into clinical practice, ultimately targeting improvement in the care of meningioma patients

Values of apoptosis of lymphocytes and granulocytes in peripheral blood of Polish mixed-breed rabbits in the annual cycle

The objective of the study was to determine values of apoptosis for peripheral blood lymphocytes and granulocytes, including dependency on the season of the year, in Polish mixed-breed rabbits and in mixed-breed rabbits with the addition of blood of meat-breed rabbits. The study was carried out in four seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn, winter) involving 120 Polish mixed-breed rabbits – group I, and 120 Polish mixed-breed rabbits with addition of meat-breed rabbit blood – group II. Assessment of apoptosis of lymphocytes and granulocytes was performed using as FACScan cytometer by Becton Dickinson with FACSDiva software (USA), using as ApoFluor®Green Caspase reagent kit (MP Biomedicals, USA) to detect the activity of the total caspase pool 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 in granulocytes and lymphocytes of rabbit peripheral blood. The results for apoptosis of lymphocytes and granulocytes in peripheral blood in the animals investigated (group I and II) were subjected to statistical analysis with the t’Student test at p=0.05. It was noted that, in rabbits from group I, the values for apoptosis of lymphocytes were the highest in winter and autumn (36.02% and 31.24%, respectively), and the lowest in spring and summer (26.73% and 22.72%, respectively), whereas in the case of granulocytes the highest values were in summer and spring (14.69% and 12.95%, respectively), and the lowest in winter and autumn (8.16% and 8.57%, respectively). In mixed-breed rabbits with the addition of meat-breed blood (group II), the values for apoptosis of lympocytes were the highest in spring (29.13%), and the lowest in summer (25.43%); whereas in the case of granulocytes the highest values were in summer and spring (14.0% and 11.15%, respectively), and the lowest in autumn and winter (7.46% and 7.64%, respectively)