NASA aviation safety reporting system

The origins and development of the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) are briefly reviewed. The results of the first quarter's activity are summarized and discussed. Examples are given of bulletins describing potential air safety hazards, and the disposition of these bulletins. During the first quarter of operation, the ASRS received 1464 reports; 1407 provided data relevant to air safety. All reports are being processed for entry into the ASRS data base. During the reporting period, 130 alert bulletins describing possible problems in the aviation system were generated and disseminated. Responses were received from FAA and others regarding 108 of the alert bulletins. Action was being taken with respect to 70 of the 108 responses received. Further studies are planned of a number of areas, including human factors problems related to automation of the ground and airborne portions of the national aviation system

Critical Evaluation of Bacteriophage to Prevent and Treat Colibacillosis in Poultry

There is a continuing need to find alternatives to antibiotics in animal and human medicine. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect and kill bacteria, with no known activity to plant and animal cells. We have conducted research to critically evaluate the efficacy of bacteriophage to both prevent and treat colibacillosis in poultry. Bacteriophages lytic to an Escherichia coli pathogenic to poultry were isolated from municipal waste water treatment plants and poultry processing plants. Two bacteriophage isolates were selected to use in studies designed to determine the efficacy of these bacteriophage to prevent and treat severe colibacillosis in poultry. Colibacillosis was induced by injecting 6 X 104 cfu of E. coli into the thoracic airsac when the birds were 1 week of age. Initial studies demonstrated that mortality was significantly reduced when the challenge culture was mixed with bacteriophage prior to challenging the birds. In subsequent studies, we have shown that an aerosol spray of bacteriophage given to the birds prior to this E. coli challenge can prevent the disease, and that an intramuscular injection of bacteriophage provides an effective treatment of this disease. We have demonstrated that bacteriophage can be used to both prevent and treat colibacillosis in poultry and may provide an effective alternative to antibiotic use in animal and human medicine

Nonunion After Hybrid Plating with Locking and Nonlocking Screws in Radius and Ulna Shaft Fractures: Report of Two Cases

Conventional compression plating has been found effective in treating forearm diaphyseal fractures, providing stability as well as resistance to axial, torsional, and bending forces. Locked plating has provided stability without frictional force between the bone-plate interface, which may help preserve periosteal blood supply, and is useful in treating metaphyseal, comminuted, and osteoporotic fractures. Hybrid plating has been used in an attempt to combine the strengths of these two techniques; however, in the context of simple forearm diaphyseal fractures with healthy bone, its effectiveness is only theoretical. We describe two patients in whom open reduction and internal fixation with hybrid plating to treat radius and ulna diaphyseal fractures resulted in nonunion. We performed a revision procedure using conventional compression plating and achieved full healing with complete union in both cases. These findings suggest that hybrid fixation for treating such fractures may not lead to better outcomes than conventional plating

A randomized controlled trial of the impact of body-worn camera activation on the outcomes of individual incidents

Objectives Evaluate the impact of body-worn cameras (BWCs) on officer-initiated activity, arrests, use of force, and complaints. Methods We use instrumental variable analysis to examine the impact of BWC assignment and BWC activation on the outcomes of individual incidents through a randomized controlled trial of 436 officers in the Phoenix Police Department. Results Incidents involving BWC activations were associated with a lower likelihood of officer-initiated contacts and complaints, but a greater likelihood of arrests and use of force. BWC assignment alone was unrelated to arrests or complaints; however, incidents involving officers who were assigned and activated their BWC were significantly more likely to result in an arrest and less likely to result in a complaint. Conclusions Future researchers should account for BWC activation to better estimate the effects of BWCs on officer behavior. To maximize the effects of BWCs, police agencies should ensure that officers are complying with activation policies

A study on aircraft map display location and orientation

Six airline pilots participated in a fixed-base simulator study to determine the effects of two Horizontal Situation Display (HSD/map) panel locations relative to the Vertical Situation Display (VSD), and of three map orientations on manual piloting performance. Pilot comments and opinions were formally obtained. Significant performance differences were found between wind conditions, and among pilots, but not between map locations and orientations. The results also illustrate the potential tracking accuracy of such a display. Recommendations concerning display location and map orientation are made

The Splashback Feature around DES Galaxy Clusters: Galaxy Density and Weak Lensing Profiles

Splashback refers to the process of matter that is accreting onto a dark matter halo reaching its first orbital apocenter and turning around in its orbit. The clustercentric radius at which this process occurs, r_(sp), defines a halo boundary that is connected to the dynamics of the cluster. A rapid decline in the halo profile is expected near r_(sp). We measure the galaxy number density and weak lensing mass profiles around REDMAPPER galaxy clusters in the first-year Dark Energy Survey (DES) data. For a cluster sample with mean M_(200m) mass ≈2.5 × 10^(14) M⊙, we find strong evidence of a splashback-like steepening of the galaxy density profile and measure r_(sp) = 1.13 ± 0.07 h^(−1) Mpc, consistent with the earlier Sloan Digital Sky Survey measurements of More et al. and Baxter et al. Moreover, our weak lensing measurement demonstrates for the first time the existence of a splashback-like steepening of the matter profile of galaxy clusters. We measure r_(sp) = 1.34 ± 0.21 h^(−1) Mpc from the weak lensing data, in good agreement with our galaxy density measurements. For different cluster and galaxy samples, we find that, consistent with ΛCDM simulations, r_(sp) scales with R_(200m) and does not evolve with redshift over the redshift range of 0.3–0.6. We also find that potential systematic effects associated with the REDMAPPER algorithm may impact the location of r_(sp). We discuss the progress needed to understand the systematic uncertainties and fully exploit forthcoming data from DES and future surveys, emphasizing the importance of more realistic mock catalogs and independent cluster samples

Attitudinal Changes Toward Body-Worn Cameras: Perceptions of Cameras, Organizational Justice, and Procedural Justice Among Volunteer and Mandated Officers

Little is known about officer perceptions of body-worn cameras (BWCs), and whether perceptions change following implementation within their agencies. BWC deployment varies, with some agencies mandating officers to wear BWCs and others using volunteers. Researchers have yet to assess attitudinal differences between volunteers and mandated officers. This study addresses these gaps using data from an evaluation of BWCs in the Phoenix Police Department to examine officer perceptions of the utility of BWCs, perceptions of organizational justice, and support for using procedural justice. We use inverse propensity weighted difference-in-difference models to examine changes in officer perceptions over time between randomly selected officers who were mandated to wear a BWC, BWC volunteers, officers who resisted BWCs, and control officers. We identified limited significant differences in perceptions of BWCs over time, though effect sizes suggest that BWC volunteers and mandated officers were more subdued in their expectations about BWCs at the posttest

Quantification of the Impact of Photon Distinguishability on Measurement-Device- Independent Quantum Key Distribution

Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution (MDI-QKD) is a two-photon protocol devised to eliminate eavesdropping attacks that interrogate or control the detector in realized quantum key distribution systems. In MDI-QKD, the measurements are carried out by an untrusted third party, and the measurement results are announced openly. Knowledge or control of the measurement results gives the third party no information about the secret key. Error-free implementation of the MDI-QKD protocol requires the crypto-communicating parties, Alice and Bob, to independently prepare and transmit single photons that are physically indistinguishable, with the possible exception of their polarization states. In this paper, we apply the formalism of quantum optics and Monte Carlo simulations to quantify the impact of small errors in wavelength, bandwidth, polarization and timing between Alice’s photons and Bob’s photons on the MDI-QKD quantum bit error rate (QBER). Using published single-photon source characteristics from two-photon interference experiments as a test case, our simulations predict that the finite tolerances of these sources contribute (4.04±20/√Nsifted )% to the QBER in an MDI-QKD implementation generating an Nsifted-bit sifted key