Hypervelocity impact testing of cables

The physics and electrical results obtained from simulated micrometeoroid testing of certain Skylab cables are presented. The test procedure, electrical circuits, test equipment, and cable types utilized are also explained

Point-of-care measurement of blood lactate in children admitted with febrile illness to an African District Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Lactic acidosis is a consistent predictor of mortality owing to severe infectious disease, but its detection in low-income settings is limited to the clinical sign of "deep breathing" because of the lack of accessible technology for its measurement. We evaluated the use of a point-of-care (POC) diagnostic device for blood lactate measurement to assess the severity of illness in children admitted to a district hospital in Tanzania. METHODS: Children between the ages of 2 months and 13 years with a history of fever were enrolled in the study during a period of 1 year. A full clinical history and examination were undertaken, and blood was collected for culture, microscopy, complete blood cell count, and POC measurement of blood lactate and glucose. RESULTS: The study included 3248 children, of whom 164 (5.0%) died; 45 (27.4%) of these had raised levels of blood lactate (>5 mmol/L) but no deep breathing. Compared with mortality in children with lactate levels of ≤ 3 mmol/L, the unadjusted odds of dying were 1.6 (95% confidence interval [CI].8-3.0), 3.4 (95% CI, 1.5-7.5), and 8.9 (95% CI, 4.7-16.8) in children with blood lactate levels of 3.1-5.0, 5.1-8.0, or >8.0 mmol/L, respectively. The prevalence of raised lactate levels (>5 mmol/L) was greater in children with malaria than in children with nonmalarial febrile illness (P < .001) although the associated mortality was greater in slide-negative children. CONCLUSIONS: POC lactate measurement can contribute to the assessment of children admitted to hospital with febrile illness and can also create an opportunity for more hospitals in resource-poor settings to participate in clinical trials of interventions to reduce mortality associated with hyperlactatemia

Rings and Jets around PSR J2021+3651: the `Dragonfly Nebula'

We describe recent Chandra ACIS observations of the Vela-like pulsar PSR J2021+3651 and its pulsar wind nebula (PWN). This `Dragonfly Nebula' displays an axisymmetric morphology, with bright inner jets, a double-ridged inner nebula, and a ~30" polar jet. The PWN is embedded in faint diffuse emission: a bow shock-like structure with standoff ~1' brackets the pulsar to the east and emission trails off westward for 3-4'. Thermal (kT=0.16 +/-0.02 keV) and power law emission are detected from the pulsar. The nebular X-rays show spectral steepening from Gamma=1.5 in the equatorial torus to Gamma=1.9 in the outer nebula, suggesting synchrotron burn-off. A fit to the `Dragonfly' structure suggests a large (86 +/-1 degree) inclination with a double equatorial torus. Vela is currently the only other PWN showing such double structure. The >12 kpc distance implied by the pulsar dispersion measure is not supported by the X-ray data; spectral, scale and efficiency arguments suggest a more modest 3-4 kpc.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, Accepted to Ap

Business Communication Students Appraisal Of Selected Communication Competencies

The purpose of this study was to determine business communication students perception of selected business communication competencies. Students enrolled in business communication classes at Texas A&amp;M University-Commerce from the summer of 2006 until the spring 2007 were survey. Students were asked to evaluate each of the listed 44 competencies. The two competencies that ranked the highest were Spells Correctly, and Understands the Importance of Business Relationships

Ultra-low noise microwave generation with fiber-based optical frequency comb and application to atomic fountain clock

We demonstrate the use of a fiber-based femtosecond laser locked onto an ultra-stable optical cavity to generate a low-noise microwave reference signal. Comparison with both a liquid Helium cryogenic sapphire oscillator (CSO) and a Ti:Sapphire-based optical frequency comb system exhibit a stability about $3\times10^{-15}$ between 1 s and 10 s. The microwave signal from the fiber system is used to perform Ramsey spectroscopy in a state-of-the-art Cesium fountain clock. The resulting clock system is compared to the CSO and exhibits a stability of $3.5\times10^{-14}\tau^{-1/2}$. Our continuously operated fiber-based system therefore demonstrates its potential to replace the CSO for atomic clocks with high stability in both the optical and microwave domain, most particularly for operational primary frequency standards.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Metrological characterization of the pulsed Rb clock with optical detection

We report on the implementation and the metrological characterization of a vapor-cell Rb frequency standard working in pulsed regime. The three main parts that compose the clock, physics package, optics and electronics, are described in detail in the paper. The prototype is designed and optimized to detect the clock transition in the optical domain. Specifically, the reference atomic transition, excited with a Ramsey scheme, is detected by observing the interference pattern on a laser absorption signal. \ The metrological analysis includes the observation and characterization of the clock signal and the measurement of frequency stability and drift. In terms of Allan deviation, the measured frequency stability results as low as $1.7\times 10^{-13} \ \tau^{-1/2}$, $\tau$ being the averaging time, and reaches the value of few units of $10^{-15}$ for $\tau=10^{4}$ s, an unprecedent achievement for a vapor cell clock. We discuss in the paper the physical effects leading to this result with particular care to laser and microwave noises transferred to the clock signal. The frequency drift, probably related to the temperature, stays below $10^{-14}$ per day, and no evidence of flicker floor is observed. \ We also mention some possible improvements that in principle would lead to a clock stability below the $10^{-13}$ level at 1 s and to a drift of few units of $10^{-15}$ per day

Mapping the Evolution of Optically-Generated Rotational Wavepackets in a Room Temperature Ensemble of D2_2

A coherent superposition of rotational states in D$_2$ has been excited by nonresonant ultrafast (12 femtosecond) intense (2 $\times$ 10$^{14}$ Wcm$^{-2}$) 800 nm laser pulses leading to impulsive dynamic alignment. Field-free evolution of this rotational wavepacket has been mapped to high temporal resolution by a time-delayed pulse, initiating rapid double ionization, which is highly sensitive to the angle of orientation of the molecular axis with respect to the polarization direction, $\theta$. The detailed fractional revivals of the neutral D$_2$ wavepacket as a function of $\theta$ and evolution time have been observed and modelled theoretically.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. A. Full reference to follow.

What College Freshmen Admit To Not Knowing About Personal Finance

The problem of the study was to determine college freshmen&rsquo;s level of financial knowledge through testing, but also to determine what they admit to not knowing with regard to important financial topics. The entire freshman English 101, College Reading and Writing class at Texas A&amp;M University-Commerce was surveyed. There were a total of 407 students enrolled in these classes. The highest test score was 80 percent achieved only by one student and lowest was 0 achieved by six students. The average score was 34.8% for all students and the median score was 32.5%. Unlike previous studies, students were offered the opportunity to respond &ldquo;don&rsquo;t know&rdquo; to each question. On 9 of the 20 questions more students selected the &ldquo;don&rsquo;t know&rdquo; response than those selecting an incorrect answer