Antimicrobial Drug Prescribing for Pneumonia in Ambulatory Care

Higher levels of fluoroquinolone use were associated with increasing age and later study year

UW Dawgstar: One Third of ION-F - An element of the Ionospheric Observation Nanosatellite Formation (ION-F)

The preliminary design for the UW Dawgstar nanosatellite is presented. The Dawgstar is a 13 kg satellite designed as a part of the University Nanosatellite Program funded by AFOSR, DARPA, AFRL, and NASA. The goal of this two-year program is to design, build, and fly nanosatellites. The mission overview is detailed, including the coupling with the University partners Utah State and Virginia Tech in the Ionospheric Observation Nanosatellite Formation (ION-F). The mission includes several formations and formation keeping experiments, and distributed ionospheric measurements. Each of the subsystems is also detailed, including the design and integration of eight miniature pulsed plasma thrusters for attitude control and formation flying

Results of QuickReach™ Small Launch Vehicle Propulsion Testing and Next Steps to Demonstration Flights

For the past four years, AirLaunch LLC has been developing the QuickReach™ Small Launch Vehicle (SLV) under the DARPA/ Air Force Falcon SLV program. The company has successfully completed Phases 1, 2A and 2B of the program. Phase 2C began in June 2007 and continues through fall of 2008. Phase 2C focuses on propulsion characterization of AirLaunch’s innovative liquid oxygen (LOX)/propane vapor pressurization (VaPak) propulsion system used on the second stage of its QuickReach™ SLPhase 2C Milestones include upgrades to hardware, instrumentation, and test stands; and a series of test fires on the Horizontal Test Stand (HTS) to gather data on engine performance and on the Vertical Test Stand (VTS) to more comprehensively characterize second stage performance. The QuickReach™ booster is designed to deliver 1,000 pounds to low earth orbit for $5 million per launch, with less than 24-hour response time. AirLaunch’s approach achieves responsiveness by flying the two-stage, pressurized QuickReach™ system inside an unmodified C-17A or other large cargo aircraft. AirLaunch has also been exploring applications of its second stage propulsion system to other launch vehicles, configurations, and markets. An air-launched rocket enables new concepts of operations (CONOPS) that lead to Operationally Responsive Spacelift (ORS) capability. This paper shares the results of Phase 2C to date and identifies various applications of AirLaunch’s propulsion technology and vehicle configurations to enable the earliest possible flight demonstration

Elaboration of Consensus Clinical Endpoints to Evaluate Antimicrobial Treatment Efficacy in Future Hospital-acquired/Ventilator-associated Bacterial Pneumonia Clinical Trials

Background: Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (HABP and VABP, respectively) are important for the evaluation of new antimicrobials. However, the heterogeneity in endpoints used in RCTs evaluating treatment of HABP/VABP may puzzle clinicians. The aim of this work was to reach a consensus on clinical endpoints to consider in future clinical trials evaluating antimicrobial treatment efficacy for HABP/VABP. Methods: Twenty-six international experts from intensive care, infectious diseases, and the pharmaceutical industry were polled using the Delphi method. Results: The panel recommended a hierarchical composite endpoint including, by priority order, (1) survival at day 28, (2) mechanical ventilation-free days through day 28, and (3) clinical cure between study days 7 and 10 for VABP; and (1) survival (day 28) and (2) clinical cure (days 7-10) for HABP. Clinical cure was defined as the combination of resolution of signs and symptoms present at enrollment and improvement or lack of progression of radiological signs. More than 70% of the experts agreed to assess survival and mechanical ventilation-free days though day 28, and clinical cure between day 7 and day 10 after treatment initiation. Finally, the hierarchical order of endpoint components was reached after 3 Delphi rounds (72% agreement). Conclusions: We provide a multinational expert consensus on separate hierarchical composite endpoints for VABP and HABP, and on a definition of clinical cure that could be considered for use in future HABP/VABP clinical trials