DEVELOPMENT OF CASE STUDIES FOR THE NAVAL ACADEMY NE 203 ETHICS AND MORAL REASONING FOR NAVAL LEADERS COURSE

This thesis reviews the structure and teaching methods used in the United States Naval Academy’s NE 203 Ethics and Moral Reasoning for Naval Leaders course. We begin with a broad overview of the utility and effectiveness of the case method as a means of instructing undergraduate students in the field of ethics. We then focus on its current implementation in the Naval Academy’s NE 203 course, using interviews with senior faculty to understand the importance of the case method in teaching practical ethics. The culminating products created within this thesis are two ethical case studies, with associated teaching plans, designed for instruction by Naval Academy faculty in the NE 203 ethics course. The first case study narrates the story of Michael Izbicki, a 2008 Naval Academy graduate and designated submarine officer who petitioned for discharge as a conscientious objector upon considering the possibility that his military duty may include launching nuclear-armed weapons against American adversaries. The case study examines the moral tension that one experiences when facing a contradiction between the special obligation incurred by taking the military Oath of Office, and one’s deeply held religious views. The second case study is on when USS Mason was attacked in 2016.Lieutenant, United States NavyCaptain, United States Marine CorpsApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Stories of an Era Not Yet So Very Remote: James Cowan in and out of New Zealand History

This essay provides a critical overview of James Cowan’s writings, his methods, and his publishing history—chiefly in New Zealand but also in Britain and Germany. Cowan was more of an anthologist than a synthesizer. His significance for popular historical consciousness lies in his small stories rather than his larger moral narrative of the New Zealand Wars and their implications for “race relations.” In his historical journalism, Cowan constantly reminded Pākehā that they did not live in a land without a past, and that the exciting colonial past was tantalizingly close

Stream Types

We propose a rich foundational theory of typed data streams and stream transformers, motivated by two high-level goals. First, the type of a stream should be able to express complex sequential patterns of events over time. And second, it should describe the internal parallel structure of the stream, to support deterministic stream processing on parallel and distributed systems. To these ends, we introduce stream types, with operators capturing sequential composition, parallel composition, and iteration, plus a core calculus λST of transformers over typed streams that naturally supports a number of common streaming idioms, including punctuation, windowing, and parallel partitioning, as first-class constructions. λST exploits a Curry-Howard-like correspondence with an ordered variant of the Logic of Bunched Implication to program with streams compositionally and uses Brzozowski-style derivatives to enable an incremental, prefix-based operational semantics. To illustrate the programming style supported by the rich types of λST, we present a number of examples written in Delta, a prototype high-level language design based on λST

ACES RED Experiment #1 Environmental Test Results for Industrial Grade, Non-traditional, and Other Components Lacking Flight Heritage

Results of the thermal vacuum chamber (TVAC) testing and vibrational testing of the ACES RED Experiment #1 are presented. Performance of commercial-off-the-shelf components such as the Avnet PicoZed, the Xiphos Q7, the MAI-400, and a NovaTel GNSS during TVAC testing are provided and analyzed. To our knowledge, this is the first orbital flight of this version of the GNSS, this version of the MAI-400, and the PicoZed. The experiment utilizes a novel structural concept for ease of electronics assembly and disassembly. The health monitoring system measures temperatures, vibration, voltages, and currents for situational awareness of each of these component\u27s relative performance. An assessment and progression of the technology readiness level of the hardware is also presented

Stream Types

We propose a rich foundational theory of typed data streams and stream transformers, motivated by two high-level goals: (1) The type of a stream should be able to express complex sequential patterns of events over time. And (2) it should describe the internal parallel structure of the stream to support deterministic stream processing on parallel and distributed systems. To these ends, we introduce stream types, with operators capturing sequential composition, parallel composition, and iteration, plus a core calculus lambda-ST of transformers over typed streams which naturally supports a number of common streaming idioms, including punctuation, windowing, and parallel partitioning, as first-class constructions. lambda-ST exploits a Curry-Howard-like correspondence with an ordered variant of the logic of Bunched Implication to program with streams compositionally and uses Brzozowski-style derivatives to enable an incremental, prefix-based operational semantics. To illustrate the programming style supported by the rich types of lambda-ST, we present a number of examples written in delta, a prototype high-level language design based on lambda-ST.Comment: Extended Version of the PLDI'24 pape

Development of Query Strategies to Identify a Histologic Lymphoma Subtype in a Large Linked Database System

Background: Large linked databases (LLDB) represent a novel resource for cancer outcomes research. However, accurate means of identifying a patient population of interest within these LLDBs can be challenging. Our research group developed a fully integrated platform that provides a means of combining independent legacy databases into a single cancer-focused LLDB system. We compared the sensitivity and specifi city of several SQL-based query strategies for identifying a histologic lymphoma subtype in this LLDB to determine the most accurate legacy data source for identifying a specifi c cancer patient population.Methods: Query strategies were developed to identify patients with follicular lymphoma from a LLDB of cancer registry data, electronic medical records (EMR), laboratory, administrative, pharmacy, and other clinical data. Queries were performed using common diagnostic codes (ICD-9), cancer registry histology codes (ICD-O), and text searches of EMRs. We reviewed medical records and pathology reports to confirm each diagnosis and calculated the sensitivity and specificity for each query strategy.Results: Together the queries identified 1538 potential cases of follicular lymphoma. Review of pathology and other medical reports confirmed 415 cases of follicular lymphoma, 300 pathology-verifi ed and 115 verified from other medical reports. The query using ICD-O codes was highly specific (96%). Queries using text strings varied in sensitivity (range 7–92%) and specifi city (range 86–99%). Queries using ICD-9 codes were both less sensitive (34–44%) and specific (35–87%).Conclusions: Queries of linked-cancer databases that include cancer registry data should utilize ICD-O codes or employ structured free-text searches to identify patient populations with a precise histologic diagnosis.Abbreviations: LLDB: Large Linked Database; SEER: Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results; EMR: Electronic Medical Record; ICD-9: International Classifi cation of Diseases (9th revision); ICD-O: International Classifi cation of Diseases for Oncology; AP: Anatomical Pathology; WHO: World Health Organization

Prototype Cryospheric Experimental Synthetic Aperture Radiometer (CESAR)

Present satellite microwave radiometers typically have a coarse spatial resolution of several kilometers or more. This is only adequate only over homogenous areas. Significantly enhanced spatial resolution is critically important to reduce the uncertainty of estimated cryospheric parameters in heterogeneous and climatically-sensitive areas. Examples include: (1) dynamic sea ice areas with frequent lead and polynya developments and variable ice thicknesses, (2) mountainous areas that require improved retrieval of snow water equivalent, and (3) melting outlet glacier or ice shelf areas along the coast of Greenland and Antarctica. For these situations and many others, an Earth surface spot size of no more than 100 m is necessary to retrieve the information needed for significant new scientific progress, including the synthesis of field observations with satellite observations with high confidence

In silico trial of simulation-free hippocampal-avoidance whole brain adaptive radiotherapy

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hippocampal-avoidance whole brain radiotherapy (HA-WBRT) can be a time-consuming process compared to conventional whole brain techniques, thus potentially limiting widespread utilization. Therefore, we evaluated the MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten patients previously treated for central nervous system cancers with cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging were included in this study. The CBCT was the adaptive image-of-the-day to simulate first fraction on-board imaging. Initial contours defined on the MRI were rigidly matched to the CBCT. Online ART was used to create treatment plans at first fraction. Dose-volume metrics of these simulation-free plans were compared to standard-workflow HA-WBRT plans on each patient CT simulation dataset. Timing data for the adaptive planning sessions were recorded. RESULTS: For all ten patients, simulation-free HA-WBRT plans were successfully created utilizing the online ART workflow and met all constraints. The median hippocampi D CONCLUSIONS: Simulation-free HA-WBRT, with commercially available systems, was clinically feasible via plan-quality metrics and timing

Management of essential tremor deep brain stimulation-induced side effects

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective surgical therapy for carefully selected patients with medication refractory essential tremor (ET). The most popular anatomical targets for ET DBS are the ventral intermedius nucleus (VIM) of the thalamus, the caudal zona incerta (cZI) and the posterior subthalamic area (PSA). Despite extensive knowledge in DBS programming for tremor suppression, it is not uncommon to experience stimulation induced side effects related to DBS therapy. Dysarthria, dysphagia, ataxia, and gait impairment are common stimulation induced side effects from modulation of brain tissue that surround the target of interest. In this review, we explore current evidence about the etiology of stimulation induced side effects in ET DBS and provide several evidence-based strategies to troubleshoot, reprogram and retain tremor suppression

Clinical application of a template-guided automated planning routine

PURPOSE: Determine the dosimetric quality and the planning time reduction when utilizing a template-based automated planning application. METHODS: A software application integrated through the treatment planning system application programing interface, QuickPlan, was developed to facilitate automated planning using configurable templates for contouring, knowledge-based planning structure matching, field design, and algorithm settings. Validations are performed at various levels of the planning procedure and assist in the evaluation of readiness of the CT image, structure set, and plan layout for automated planning. QuickPlan is evaluated dosimetrically against 22 hippocampal-avoidance whole brain radiotherapy patients. The required times to treatment plan generation are compared for the validations set as well as 10 prospective patients whose plans have been automated by QuickPlan. RESULTS: The generations of 22 automated treatment plans are compared against a manual replanning using an identical process, resulting in dosimetric differences of minor clinical significance. The target dose to 2% volume and homogeneity index result in significantly decreased values for automated plans, whereas other dose metric evaluations are nonsignificant. The time to generate the treatment plans is reduced for all automated plans with a median difference of 9\u27 50″ ± 4\u27 33″. CONCLUSIONS: Template-based automated planning allows for reduced treatment planning time with consistent optimization structure creation, treatment field creation, plan optimization, and dose calculation with similar dosimetric quality. This process has potential expansion to numerous disease sites