Design, building, and testing of the postlanding systems for the assured crew return vehicle

The design, building, and testing of the postlanding support systems for a water-landing Assured Crew Return Vehicle (ACRV) are presented. One ACRV will be permanently docked to Space Station Freedom, fulfilling NASA's commitment to Assured Crew Return Capability in the event of an accident or illness. The configuration of the ACRV is based on an Apollo Command Module (ACM) derivative. The 1990-1991 effort concentrated on the design, building, and testing of a one-fifth scale model of the egress and stabilization systems. The objective was to determine the feasibility of (1) stabilizing the ACM out of the range of motions that cause seasickness and (2) the safe and rapid removal of a sick or injured crew member from the ACRV. The development of the ACRV postlanding systems model was performed at the University of Central Florida with guidance from the Kennedy Space Center ACRV program managers. Emphasis was placed on four major areas. First was design and construction of a one-fifth scale model of the ACM derivative to accommodate the egress and stabilization systems for testing. Second was the identification of a water test facility suitable for testing the model in all possible configurations. Third was the construction of the rapid egress mechanism designed in the previous academic year for incorporation into the ACRV model. The fourth area was construction and motion response testing of the attitude ring and underwater parachute systems

Risk of Unintentional Opioid-involved Overdose Death Among Decedents of Industries with a High Risk of Non-fatal Work-related Injury, Georgia, 2014

INTRODUCTION: The opioid epidemic continues to be a major public health issue across the United States. From 2010 – 2018 the rate of opioid overdose death in the state of Georgia increased more than 70%. Until 2013 prescription opioids were the driving force of this increase, although in recent years illicit opioids such as heroin and fentanyl have been rapidly increasing. The literature has demonstrated nationally that certain occupations that have an increased risk of injury also have a higher risk of opioid-involved death. Occupational data for the state of Georgia has never been analyzed for a potential relationship with opioid-involved death but could be a valuable resource for identifying populations at an increased risk of opioid-involved death and informing public health action and intervention. AIM: To determine the risk of opioid-involved overdose death compared to other causes of death for residents of the state of Georgia who died in 2014 and previously worked in industries with a high risk of non-fatal work-related injury. METHODS: Death certificate data for 2014 was obtained from the Office of Vital Records at the Georgia Department of Public Health and SAS Enterprise Guide 7.1 was used to clean, manage, and analyze the data. The dataset analyzed contained records for all residents in the state of Georgia who died during the 2014 calendar year. Opioid-involved overdose death was the dependent variable of interest. Deaths were identified using the international classification of diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10), and deaths identified as intentional (suicides and assault) were excluded due to poor data quality. The independent variable of interest was industries with a high risk of non-fatal work-related injury and were identified using the Georgia Occupational Health Surveillance Report, 2008 – 2012 (Lavender, Benson, & Bayakly, 2015). Covariates sex, age at death, marital status, and maximum education level obtained at death were coded as categorical variables and analyzed for possible confounding and effect modification of the relationship between occupational type and opioid-involved death. The independent and dependent variables of interest were coded as dichotomous variables and analyzed along with covariates using a multivariate logistic regression model. RESULTS: Decedents previously working in industries with a high risk of non-fatal work-related injury had an increased odds of opioid-related death compared to decedents with other causes of death (OR = 1.10, 95% CI: [0.97, 1.26]) when compared to all other industries (OR = 0.91, 95% CI [0.79, 1.03]); however this association was not statistically significant. Sex, marital status at death and maximum education level obtained at death were determined to be confounders with sex acting as an effect modifier. After adjusting for these confounders, male decedents in industries with a high risk of non-fatal work-related injury were found to have a 25% increased odds of opioid-involved overdose death (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: [1.06, 1.48]) when compared to males employed in all other industries (OR = 0.8, 95% CI [0.68, 0.95]). Female decedents from industries with a high risk of non-fatal work-related injury had decreased odds of opioid-involved overdose death (OR = 0.94, 95% CI [0.76, 1.17]) that was not statistically significant when compared to female decedents who previously worked in all other industries (OR = 1.06, 95% CI [0.85, 1.33]). Additionally, those who were married had 33% decreased odds of opioid-involved overdose death (OR = 0.67, 95% CI: [0.59, 0.77]) when compared to those who were not married, and those with a high school diploma had 24% greater odds (OR = 1.24, 95% CI: [1.06, 1.46]) of opioid-involved death compared to those with a college degree. DISCUSSION: The results of this study support previous research that demonstrated males have a higher odds of opioid-involved overdose death compared to females and that persons in industries with a high-risk of non-fatal work-related injury have increased odds of opioid-involved overdose death compared to all industries. This indicates a likely relationship between occupational injury and opioid-involved overdose death and that prevention efforts may be made more efficient by targeting persons employed in specific industries or occupations. More research should also be done to better understand the role of sex in this relationship to determine why males appear to have higher odds of opioid-involved overdose death compared to females. A more thorough understanding of the role occupation plays in the opioid epidemic could also be valuable for improving public health interventions to more efficiently combat the opioid epidemic in Georgia and the United States

Micro-Raman spectroscopic study of the corrosion of stainless steel by lead-bismuth eutectic

Lead-Bismuth Eutectic (LBE) has been proposed as a possible coolant and/or spallation target for the transmutation of nuclear waste. The corrosion of stainless steel from exposure to LBE must be understood if any transmutation scheme is to move forward. Annealed 316L, cold-rolled 316L, and D9 stainless steels corroded in a LBE environment were studied using Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy will allow identification of oxides within the corrosion layer. A micro-Raman system was constructed for these studies. The resulting Raman spectra, from annealed 316L samples show evidence for the formation of Fe3O4, instead of Fe2O3, within the corrosion layer. The main feature at 670 cm-1 matches well with the main peak of Fe3O4. Spectra from D9 samples show, in addition to a peak at 670 cm-1, a second peak at approximately 606 cm-1 that does not correlate to any oxide standards studied in this work. Raman spectra taken on iron, steel, and iron-silicon samples exposed to oxygen for short time periods also show evidence of Fe3O 4 formation

Advanced Wind Conducting Project

Contents include: 1. Introduction2. An American in Paris by George Gershwin, arranged by John Krance3. Danse Bacchannale from Samson and Delilah by Saint-Saëns4. Flourish for Wind Band by Ralph Vaughan Williams5. Cajun Folk Songs II by Frank Ticheli6. Russian Christmas Music by Alfred Reed7. Endnotes/References

Parent and Principals\u27 Perceptions of Cyberbullying in 21st Century Rural Elementary Schools

Cyberbullying is a common form of harassment and aggression engaged in by today\u27s youth. This phenomenon is affecting primary-school-aged children as technology devices are now made available to elementary school students in rural settings. Based on the framework of Bandura\u27s social cognitive theory, this mixed methods project study included a survey to quantitatively investigate the associations between parental knowledge of the phenomenon of cyberbullying and children\u27s grade levels, and a focus group to gather qualitative data from school principals regarding their perceptions of the extent and impact of cyberbullying in 4 rural elementary schools in Massachusetts. Due to highly skewed survey responses, basic assumptions for chi-square analyses were not met; therefore, frequencies were examined along with the qualitative data that were coded and analyzed for patterns and themes. The 4 principals reported ongoing concerns at the school level that cyberbullying was clearly affecting the school day, school resources, and peer relationships. Survey responses from 162 parents indicated they were not fully aware of the dangers of cyberbullying at all grade levels. In concert with the literature review, these findings were applied to the development of a 12-month online cyber training curriculum for parents and students. Social change implications include minimizing the effects of cyberbullying in schools by training parents to understand social media sites and associated dangers for their children

Raman Spectroscopic Study of Solid Solution Spinel Oxides

Solid solution spinel oxides of composition MgxNi1−xCr2O4, NiFexCr2−xO4, and FexCr3−xO4 were synthesized and characterized using x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Frequencies of the Raman-active modes are tracked as the metal cations within the spinel lattice are exchanged. This gives information about the dependence of the lattice vibrations on the tetrahedral and octahedral cations. The highest-frequency Raman-active mode, A1g, is unaffected by substitution of the divalent tetrahedral cation, whereas the lower frequency vibrations are more strongly affected by substitution of the tetrahedral cation. The change in wavenumber of many phonons is nonlinear upon cation exchange. All detected modes of MgxNi1−xCr2O4 and FexCr3−xO4 exhibit one-mode behavior. Additional modes are detected in the NiFexCr2−xO4 series due to cation inversion of the spinel lattice. Results from the FexCr3−xO4 spinels are then applied to identifying the corrosion layers of three stainless steel samples exposed to lead-bismuth eutectic in a high temperature, oxygen-controlled environment. The Raman spectrum of the outer corrosion layer in all steels is identified as Fe3O4. The wavenumber of the A1g mode for the inner corrosion layer indicates an iron chromium spinel oxide. Micro-Raman spectroscopy proves capable of determining structural and compositional differences between complex corrosion layers of stainless steels

CHANGES IN STATE SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION PROGRAM FOR WOMEN, INFANTS AND CHILDREN PARTICIPATION AND STATE IMPLEMENTATION OF FEDERAL POLICY

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a federally funded program that provides healthy foods, nutrition education, and breastfeeding support to eligible low-income women and children in the United States. Over 50% of infants, 25% of children under 5 years old, and 25% of pregnant and postpartum women receive WIC benefits. Despite the WIC program’s reach, participation began to decline in 2009 for unknown reasons. In this observational study, the objective was to examine if state implementation of three Federal policies, the 2009 WIC Food Package Changes, WIC Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), and REAL ID, were associated with changes in state WIC participation from 2005-2017. The study database was comprised of annual state-level measures of WIC participation in 50 states and Washington DC and covariates obtained from publicly available government sources. Two quasi-experimental statistical methods, interrupted time-series (ITS) and difference-in-differences (DID), were employed in analysis. Compared to pre-policy WIC participation, ITS analysis revealed the immediate change in participation after the 2009 Food Package changes was not significant in most states. Two of the ten states whose models displayed negative level trends, or in other words the immediate change in the number of WIC participants post-policy was less than predicted by pre-policy trends. A positive level change was observed in the null ITS models of the remaining 41 states, but only five states displayed significant coefficients (p 0.05). The average treatment effect (ATT) calculated in DID analysis indicated a possible positive but not significant effect of WIC EBT implementation on state WIC participation. The WIC EBT ATT was 8,447 participants (p=0.19) in the null model, and 6,973 participants (p=0.32) in the extended model. State REAL ID implementation exhibited a possible positive, but not significant, effect on state WIC participation. The REAL ID ATT was 8,020 participants (p=0.32) in the null model, and 924 participants (p=0.80) in the extended model. Few researchers have examined if state implementation of Federal policy is associated with changes in state WIC participation. This novel study revealed the 2009 WIC Food Package changes were associated with long-term participation changes in the majority of states. State WIC EBT and REAL ID implementation appeared to have a positive impact on WIC participation, but study results were not significant

Laser microraman study of reduced synthesized spinel powders

The Raman effect is the excitation or de-excitation of vibrational modes resulting from the inelastic scattering of light from a gas, liquid, or solid with a shift in energy from that of the usually incident radiation. Raman microscopy was performed on synthesized spinel powders of solid solution FexCr3-xO4 to determine the dependence of the vibrational modes upon the metal cations. The powders were synthesized in a combustion reaction using metal nitrates and urea. The oxide powders were reduced in a hydrogen/argon gas flow at high temperature

Spectroscopic and Microscopic Investigation of the Corrosion of 316/316L Stainless Steel by Lead-Bismuth Eutectic (LBE) at Elevated Temperatures: Importance of Surface Preparation

The corrosion of steel by lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) is an important issue in proposed nuclear transmutation schemes. Russian scientists at the IPPE exposed steel samples to oxygen-controlled LBE at temperatures up to 823 K and exposure times up to 3000 h. We have characterized these post-exposure steel samples and unexposed controls, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Previous researchers have investigated the corrosion by LBE of steel of varying composition. In the present work, we compared two samples having the same composition (standard nuclear grade 316/316L) but different surface preparation: a cold-rolled sample was compared with an annealed sample. The cold-rolled sample had an order of magnitude less corrosion (i.e., both lower oxidation and less weight change) than the annealed sample. Sputter depth profiling of the exposed annealed sample and cold-rolled sample showed a marked difference in oxide layer composition between the annealed and cold-rolled samples. The annealed sample showed a complex oxide structure (iron oxide over chromium/iron oxide mixtures) of tens of microns thickness, while the cold-rolled sample was covered with a rather simple, primarily chromium oxide layer of ∼1 μm thickness