Getting One of the Basics Right for Distributed Simulations: A Mobility Service/Server for the Present and Future

Fall 2003 Simulation Interoperability Workshop, Paper Number 123 & Presentation.Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) SIW Conference PaperAs computer hardware and models improve and the use of computer models and simulations (M&S) escalates, users subsequently demand more realism and, thus, fidelity requirements tend to increase. Many standalone, high fidelity, engineering level models have been developed, accepted, and repeatedly used in analysis and studies by the Department of Defense. For example, in the area of ground movement, the NATO Reference Mobility Model (NRMM) is the Army Model and Simulation Office (AMSO) standard for single vehicle ground movement representation. While representation of ground vehicle mobility in both entity- and aggregate-level M&S has typically been simplified, many of the speed limiters incorporated in NRMM are ignored. Developing M&S such as COMBATXXI and OneSAF Objective System (OOS) have functional and operational requirements to portray mobility at a higher fidelity. This paper describes the development of an NRMM-based Standard Mobility Application Programming Interface as a means of readily achieving higher-fidelity movement representation by incorporating terrain-limited speeds into M&S. The Standard Mobility API was written in Java and utilized Extensible Markup Language (XML) for database structures. The API design concept encompassed a range of M&S; this paper will focus on the tactical/entity-level implementation. The US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) and the US Army TRADOC Analysis Center – White Sands Missile Range (TRAC) collaborated on the API development and integration into COMBATXXI as a testbed. By providing a standard interface for applications, this work helps reduce the proliferation of differing mobility models, provides access to standard speed prediction algorithms, and promotes reuse/consistency

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy in diabetic foot ulceration: Useless or useful? A battle

The use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) in the treatment of certain types of diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) has been the topic of much debate and disagreement over the last several decades. In this review, the evidence for its use is presented and discussed by two experts in DFU management. Whereas some randomized controlled trials suggest that HBO may speed the healing of certain ischaemic or neuroischaemic ulcers after the failure of standard of care, most recent trials have been negative. No RCT is perfect, and the weaknesses of RCTs in this therapeutic area are discussed. It can be concluded that the indications for the use of HBO remain unclear, and that large, rigorously designed and executed RCTs are required to clarify the use of HBO in DFU treatment