Regional Water Planning in Texas

4 pages

Regional Water Planning in Texas

4 pages

Design and Analysis Tools for Supersonic Inlets

Computational tools are being developed for the design and analysis of supersonic inlets. The objective is to update existing tools and provide design and low-order aerodynamic analysis capability for advanced inlet concepts. The Inlet Tools effort includes aspects of creating an electronic database of inlet design information, a document describing inlet design and analysis methods, a geometry model for describing the shape of inlets, and computer tools that implement the geometry model and methods. The geometry model has a set of basic inlet shapes that include pitot, two-dimensional, axisymmetric, and stream-traced inlet shapes. The inlet model divides the inlet flow field into parts that facilitate the design and analysis methods. The inlet geometry model constructs the inlet surfaces through the generation and transformation of planar entities based on key inlet design factors. Future efforts will focus on developing the inlet geometry model, the inlet design and analysis methods, a Fortran 95 code to implement the model and methods. Other computational platforms, such as Java, will also be explored

Factors Influencing Clinical Faculty Participation in a Teacher Professional Development Program During a Pandemic: A Root Cause Analysis

Findings from a needs assessment supported the design and creation of an online, asynchronous teacher professional development program for medical clinical faculty but low participation—due, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic—prompted an investigation into the factors that reduced clinical faculty interest in the pilot program. A secondary purpose of this study was to identify changes that may help improve future participation while taking the short- and long-term realities of the pandemic into consideration. This study took place at a college of medicine affiliated with a large state university in the northeastern United States during the 2020–2021 school year. Participants were 16 key stakeholders at the institution: four departmental and clinical leaders, six curriculum administrators, and four clinical faculty. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used to conduct a root cause analysis by investigating how the equipment, measurement, process, people, materials, and environment domains of cause contributed to the problem of low faculty interest. Data were gathered through semi-structured individual interviews using video conferencing software. Interviews were analyzed using descriptive and pattern coding to identify themes specific to the domains of cause. The main finding was that the COVID-19 pandemic directly and indirectly influenced how faculty perceived and participated in the online program. Indirect effects include the volume of the content included in the program, the asynchronous nature of the program, the perceived value of the program, and the perceived institutional commitment to faculty development. Recommendations for practice include adding synchronous components, using root cause analyses to understand unexpected educational programmatic outcomes, aligning programming with existing intuitional faculty development, and supporting faculty development as a valued institutional activity. Recommendations for future research include evaluation of an updated pilot program, focusing on variations in participation based on faculty experience level

A Multiple Point Recorder for Small Animal Locomotor Activity

This recorder is intended to simplify the assessment of data gathered from photoelectric actometers registering total locomotor movements. The information is presented automatically in two forms: (1) a curve of total activity over a 24 hour period, (2) a bar graph of the activity in each 30 minute time interval. A further trace is used to enable the time of onset of bursts of activity to be judged with reasonable accuracy. A particular advantage lies in the fact that the recording pens are stationary, making it possible to plot the outputs from several activity counters across the whole width of the recording paper. Standard electrical components which are easily available are used throughout the equipment

Interaction between Mu and Delta Opioid Receptor Agonists in an Assay of Capsaicin-Induced Thermal Allodynia in Rhesus Monkeys

Delta opioid agonists enhance antinociceptive effects of mu-opioid agonists in many preclinical assays of acute nociception, but delta/mu interactions in preclinical models of inflammation-associated pain have not been examined. This study examined interactions between the delta agonist SNC80 [(+)-4-[(αR)-α-((2S,5R)-4-allyl-2,5-dimethyl-1-piperazinyl)-3-methoxybenzyl]-N,N-diethylbenzamide] and the mu agonist analgesics methadone, morphine, and nalbuphine in an assay of capsaicin-induced thermal allodynia in rhesus monkeys. Thermal allodynia was produced by topical application of capsaicin to the tail. Antiallodynic effects of methadone, morphine, and nalbuphine were evaluated alone or in combination with fixed proportions of SNC80 identical to proportions previously shown to enhance acute thermal antinociceptive effects of these mu agonists in rhesus monkeys (0.9 : 1 SNC80/methadone; 0.29 : 1 SNC80/morphine; 3.6 : 1 SNC80/nalbuphine). Methadone, morphine, and nalbuphine each produced dose-dependent antiallodynia. SNC80 produced partial antiallodynia up to the highest dose tested (5.6 mg/kg). SNC80 produced a modest, enantioselective, and naltrindole-reversible enhancement of methadone-induced antiallodynia. However, SNC80 did not enhance morphine antiallodynia and only weakly enhanced nalbuphine antiallodynia. Overall, SNC80 produced modest or no enhancement of the antiallodynic effects of the three mu agonists evaluated. These results suggest that delta agonist-induced enhancement of mu agonist antiallodynia may be weaker and less reliable than previously demonstrated enhancement of mu agonist acute thermal nociception