The Joint Damping Experiment (JDX)

The Joint Damping Experiment (JDX), flown on the Shuttle STS-69 Mission, is designed to measure the influence of gravity on the structural damping of a high precision three bay truss. Principal objectives are: (1) Measure vibration damping of a small-scale, pinjointed truss to determine how pin gaps give rise to gravity-dependent damping rates; (2) Evaluate the applicability of ground and low-g aircraft tests for predicting on-orbit behavior; and (3) Evaluate the ability of current nonlinear finite element codes to model the dynamic behavior of the truss. Damping of the truss was inferred from 'Twang' tests that involve plucking the truss structure and recording the decay of the oscillations. Results are summarized as follows. (1) Damping, rates can change by a factor of 3 to 8 through changing the truss orientation; (2) The addition of a few pinned joints to a truss structure can increase the damping by a factor as high as 30; (3) Damping is amplitude dependent; (4) As gravity induced preloads become large (truss long axis perpendicular to gravity vector) the damping is similar to non-pinjointed truss; (5) Impacting in joints drives higher modes in structure; (6) The torsion mode disappears if gravity induced preloads are low

Tuberculoma epidural espinal simulando Síndrome de Guillain-Barré: presentación de un caso

ABSTRACTThe central nervous system is one of the most affected focus in extrapulmonary tuberculosis, however, spinal epidural tuberculoma is considered very unusual. We present a clinical report of a four years old patient who presented with clinical symptoms of a progressive quadriparesis. The cerebroespinal fluid examination showed protein-cell dissociation, and the diagnosis of Guillain Barré syndrome was made. However, because it called the attention the appearance of meningeal signs, a magnetic resonance imaging was performed,and evidenced a compressive lesion in the cervicodorsal level. It was explored by neurosurgery, finding an epidural lesion studied by cultures and polymerase chain reaction. Both reported positive results for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The anti-tuberculosis treatment was started and a progressive clinical improvement was observed with recuperation of the gait after the surgical procedure. MÉD.UIS.2016;29(2):155-9.Keywords: Tuberculosis. Central Nervous System. Tuberculoma.El sistema nervioso central es uno de los focos extrapulmonares afectados con mayor frecuencia por tuberculosis, no obstante, el tuberculoma epidural espinal es considerado una rareza. Se presenta el caso de un paciente de cuatro años de edad, quien consulta por cuadro de cuadriparesia progresiva. Al examen de líquido cefalorraquídeo se evidenció disociación proteínico celular diagnosticándose síndrome de Guillain Barré, sin embargo, tras la aparición de signos meníngeos, se realizó una resonancia nuclear magnética de columna en la que se evidenció lesión compresiva a nivel cervicodorsal que fue posteriormente explorada quirúrgicamente por neurocirugía,encontrándose una lesión epidural cuyo estudio microbiológico, cultivo y estudio de reacción en cadena de la polimerasa se reportaron positivos para Mycobacterium tuberculosis, por lo que se inició tratamiento antituberculoso observándose mejoría clínica y progresiva con recuperación de la marcha tras el procedimiento quirúrgico. MÉD.UIS. 2016;29(2):155-9.Palabras clave: Tuberculosis. Sistema Nervioso Central. Tuberculoma

Epidemiology of intra-abdominal infection and sepsis in critically ill patients: “AbSeS”, a multinational observational cohort study and ESICM Trials Group Project

Purpose: To describe the epidemiology of intra-abdominal infection in an international cohort of ICU patients according to a new system that classifies cases according to setting of infection acquisition (community-acquired, early onset hospital-acquired, and late-onset hospital-acquired), anatomical disruption (absent or present with localized or diffuse peritonitis), and severity of disease expression (infection, sepsis, and septic shock). Methods: We performed a multicenter (n = 309), observational, epidemiological study including adult ICU patients diagnosed with intra-abdominal infection. Risk factors for mortality were assessed by logistic regression analysis. Results: The cohort included 2621 patients. Setting of infection acquisition was community-acquired in 31.6%, early onset hospital-acquired in 25%, and late-onset hospital-acquired in 43.4% of patients. Overall prevalence of antimicrobial resistance was 26.3% and difficult-to-treat resistant Gram-negative bacteria 4.3%, with great variation according to geographic region. No difference in prevalence of antimicrobial resistance was observed according to setting of infection acquisition. Overall mortality was 29.1%. Independent risk factors for mortality included late-onset hospital-acquired infection, diffuse peritonitis, sepsis, septic shock, older age, malnutrition, liver failure, congestive heart failure, antimicrobial resistance (either methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Gram-negative bacteria, or carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria) and source control failure evidenced by either the need for surgical revision or persistent inflammation. Conclusion: This multinational, heterogeneous cohort of ICU patients with intra-abdominal infection revealed that setting of infection acquisition, anatomical disruption, and severity of disease expression are disease-specific phenotypic characteristics associated with outcome, irrespective of the type of infection. Antimicrobial resistance is equally common in community-acquired as in hospital-acquired infection

Bilan de trois années de diagnostic étiologique des avortements

During three years, the authors have searched the origin of sporadic and enzootic abortions in somes species (mares, cows, ewes, goats, sows and even dogs) and in different regions. In order to reduce the frequency of checks, they repeal the conditions in which samples must be done and sent to laboratory. Because of the great diversity of the etiology, it seems more and more necessary to request the collaboration of several specialized laboratories, the percentage of positive diagnosis being now-a-days limited by technical, scientific and financial contingences.Pendant 3 ans, les auteurs ont recherché l'origine d'avortements sporadiques ou enzootiques dans plusieurs espèces (juments, vaches, brebis, truies et même chiennes) et dans diverses régions. Afin de diminuer le nombre d'échecs, ils précisent les conditions dans lesquelles les prélèvements doivent être effectués et envoyés au laboratoire. En raison de la grande variété de l'étiologie, il apparaît comme de plus en plus nécessaire de s’assurer la collaboration d'un certain nombre de laboratoires spécialisés, le pourcentage des diagnostics positifs étant limité, actuellement, par des contingences techniques, scientifiques et financières.Tainturier Daniel, Ferney Jean, Royal L. Bilan de trois années de diagnostic étiologique des avortements. In: Bulletin de l'Académie Vétérinaire de France tome 134 n°1, 1981. pp. 97-104

Force-State Characterization of Struts Using Pinned Joints

As part of a research effort to study the microgravity dynamics of a truss with pinned joints, a single strut with a single clevis-tang pinned joint was characterized. Experimental data was collected using a force-state mapping technique. The strut was subjected to axial dynamic loads and the response of the strut was measured. The force-state map aids visualization of the strut dynamics. Finite element modeling of the response was explored. An example is presented that uses a method of manual determination of the finite element model parameters. The finite element model results correspond well with the measured strut response

An investigation of the effect of wave slope on the angle of pitch of ships of various forms

http://www.archive.org/details/investigationofe00mckiU.S. Coast Guard (U.S.C.G.) authorU.S. Navy (U.S.N.) author

NASA Contractor Report 4781

under Contract NAS1-1941