Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) coupling to complex systems : aperture coupling into canonical cavities in reverberant and anechoic environments and model validation.

Mode-stirred chamber and anechoic chamber measurements were made on two sets of canonical test objects (cylindrical and rectangular) with varying numbers of thin slot apertures. The shielding effectiveness was compared to determine the level of correction needed to compensate the mode-stirred data to levels commensurate with anechoic data from the same test object

Measurement and modeling of transfer functions for lightning coupling into the Sago mine.

This report documents measurements and analytical modeling of electromagnetic transfer functions to quantify the ability of cloud-to-ground lightning strokes (including horizontal arc-channel components) to couple electromagnetic energy into the Sago mine located near Buckhannon, WV. Two coupling mechanisms were measured: direct and indirect drive. These transfer functions are then used to predict electric fields within the mine and induced voltages on conductors that were left abandoned in the sealed area of the Sago mine

EXOGEN ultrasound bone healing system for long bone fractures with non-union or delayed healing: a NICE medical technology guidance

Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.A routine part of the process for developing National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) medical technologies guidance is a submission of clinical and economic evidence by the technology manufacturer. The Birmingham and Brunel Consortium External Assessment Centre (EAC; a consortium of the University of Birmingham and Brunel University) independently appraised the submission on the EXOGEN bone healing system for long bone fractures with non-union or delayed healing. This article is an overview of the original evidence submitted, the EAC’s findings, and the final NICE guidance issued.The Birmingham and Brunel Consortium is funded by NICE to act as an External Assessment Centre for the Medical Technologies Evaluation Programme

Association between pain outcomes and race and opioid treatment: Retrospective cohort study of Veterans

We examined whether pain outcomes (pain interference, perceived pain treatment effectiveness) vary by race and then whether opioid use moderates these associations. These analyses are part of a retrospective cohort study among 3,505 black and 46,203 non-Hispanic, white Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) patients with diagnoses of chronic musculoskeletal pain who responded to the 2007 VA Survey of Healthcare Experiences of Patients (SHEP). We used electronic medical record data to identify prescriptions for pharmacologic pain treatments in the year after diagnosis (Pain Diagnosis index visit) and before the SHEP index visit (the visit that made one eligible to complete the SHEP); pain outcomes came from the SHEP. We found no significant associations between race and pain interference or perceived effectiveness of pain treatment. VA patients with opioid prescriptions between the Pain Diagnosis index visit and the SHEP index visit reported greater pain interference on the SHEP than those without opioid prescriptions during that period. Opioid prescriptions were not associated with perceived treatment effectiveness for most patients. Findings raise questions about benefits of opioids for musculoskeletal pain and point to the need for alternative treatments for addressing chronic noncancer pain

Assessing the impact of drinking water and sanitation on diarrhoeal disease in low- and middle-income settings: Systematic review and meta-regression

Objective: To assess the impact of inadequate water and sanitation on diarrhoeal disease in low- and middle-income settings. Methods: The search strategy used Cochrane Library, MEDLINE & PubMed, Global Health, Embase and BIOSIS supplemented by screening of reference lists from previously published systematic reviews, to identify studies reporting on interventions examining the effect of drinking water and sanitation improvements in low- and middle-income settings published between 1970 and May 2013. Studies including randomised controlled trials, quasi-randomised trials with control group, observational studies using matching techniques and observational studies with a control group where the intervention was well defined were eligible. Risk of bias was assessed using a modified Ottawa-Newcastle scale. Study results were combined using meta-analysis and meta-regression to derive overall and intervention-specific risk estimates. Results: Of 6819 records identified for drinking water, 61 studies met the inclusion criteria, and of 12 515 records identified for sanitation, 11 studies were included. Overall, improvements in drinking water and sanitation were associated with decreased risks of diarrhoea. Specific improvements, such as the use of water filters, provision of high-quality piped water and sewer connections, were associated with greater reductions in diarrhoea compared with other interventions. Conclusions: The results show that inadequate water and sanitation are associated with considerable risks of diarrhoeal disease and that there are notable differences in illness reduction according to the type of improved water and sanitation implemented

Assessment of the non-destructive nature of PASD on wire insulation integrity.

The potential of a new cable diagnostic known as Pulse-Arrested Spark Discharge technique (PASD) is being studied. Previous reports have documented the capability of the technique to locate cable failures using a short high voltage pulse. This report will investigate the impact of PASD on the sample under test. In this report, two different energy deposition experiments are discussed. These experiments include the PASD pulse ({approx}6 mJ) and a high energy discharge ({approx}600 mJ) produced from a charged capacitor source. The high energy experiment is used to inflict detectable damage upon the insulators and to make comparisons with the effects of the low energy PASD pulse. Insulator breakdown voltage strength before and after application of the PASD pulse and high energy discharges are compared. Results indicate that the PASD technique does not appear to degrade the breakdown strength of the insulator or to produce visible damage. However, testing of the additional materials, including connector insulators, may be warranted to verify PASDs non-destructive nature across the full spectrum of insulators used in commercial aircraft wiring systems

Capacitance and effective area of flush monopole probes.

Approximate formulas are constructed and numerical simulations are carried out for electric field derivative probes that have the form of flush mounted monopoles. Effects such as rounded edges are included. A method is introduced to make results from two-dimensional conformal mapping analyses accurately apply to the three-dimensional axisymmetric probe geometr

Final report on development of Pulse Arrested Spark Discharge (PASD) for aging aircraft wiring application.

Pulsed Arrested Spark Discharge (PASD) is a Sandia National Laboratories Patented, non-destructive wiring system diagnostic that has been developed to detect defects in aging wiring systems in the commercial aircraft fleet. PASD was previously demonstrated on relatively controlled geometry wiring such as coaxial cables and shielded twisted-pair wiring through a contract with the U.S. navy and is discussed in a Sandia National Laboratories report, SAND2001-3225 ''Pulsed Arrested Spark Discharge (PASD) Diagnostic Technique for the Location of Defects in Aging Wiring Systems''. This report describes an expansion of earlier work by applying the PASD technique to unshielded twisted-pair and discrete wire configurations commonly found in commercial aircraft. This wiring is characterized by higher impedances as well as relatively non-uniform impedance profiles that have been found to be challenging for existing aircraft wiring diagnostics. Under a three year contract let by the Federal Aviation Administration, Interagency Agreement DTFA-03-00X90019, this technology was further developed for application on aging commercial aircraft wiring systems. This report describes results of the FAA program with discussion of previous work conducted under U.S. Department of Defense funding