Inertial Weldment of Rhenium and Inconel 718

Inertia welding has been found to be a successful method for joining pure rhenium to Inconel 718, and with additional experimentation, this process may have great potential for rocket nozzle applications. Refractory metals are ideally suited to this application, where high temperatures and oxidizing environment survivability is required, but not all of the thruster must be made of these materials, only the areas that require them. A bolted joint between the two metals is not ideal, especially for small thrusters where the mess of a bolted join will come at a steep price. A welded joint would be preferred for flight thrusters

Creation and Curation of the Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine Hackathon Dataset

In order to support innovation, the Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) elected to create a collaborative computing experience called a "hackathon." The SIIM Hackathon has always consisted of two components, the event itself and the infrastructure and resources provided to the participants. In 2014, SIIM provided a collection of servers to participants during the annual meeting. After initial server setup, it was clear that clinical and imaging "test" data were also needed in order to create useful applications. We outline the goals, thought process, and execution behind the creation and maintenance of the clinical and imaging data used to create DICOM and FHIR Hackathon resources

Examining the effect of peer helping in a coping skills intervention: a randomized controlled trial for advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients and their family caregivers

PURPOSE: At the end of life, spiritual well-being is a central aspect of quality of life for many patients and their family caregivers. A prevalent spiritual value in advanced cancer patients is the need to actively give. To address this need, the current randomized trial examined whether adding a peer helping component to a coping skills intervention leads to improved meaning in life and peace for advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients and their caregivers. Feasibility and acceptability outcomes were also assessed. METHODS: Advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients and caregivers (n = 50 dyads) were randomly assigned to a 5-session, telephone-based coping skills intervention or a peer helping + coping skills intervention. One or both dyad members had moderate-severe distress. Peer helping involved contributing to handouts on coping skills for other families coping with cancer. Patients and caregivers completed measures of meaning in life/peace, fatigue, psychological symptoms, coping self-efficacy, and emotional support. Patient pain and caregiver burden were also assessed. RESULTS: Small effects in favor of the coping skills group were found regarding meaning in life/peace at 1 and 5 weeks post-intervention. Other outcomes did not vary as a function of group assignment, with both groups showing small decreases in patient and caregiver fatigue and caregiver distress and burden. High recruitment and retention rates supported feasibility, and high participant satisfaction ratings supported acceptability. CONCLUSIONS: Although a telephone-based intervention is feasible and acceptable for this population, peer helping in the context of a coping skills intervention does not enhance spiritual well-being relative to coping skills alone

VUV frequency combs from below-threshold harmonics

Recent demonstrations of high-harmonic generation (HHG) at very high repetition frequencies (~100 MHz) may allow for the revolutionary transfer of frequency combs to the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV). This advance necessitates unifying optical frequency comb technology with strong-field atomic physics. While strong-field studies of HHG have often focused on above-threshold harmonic generation (photon energy above the ionization potential), for VUV frequency combs an understanding of below-threshold harmonic orders and their generation process is crucial. Here we present a new and quantitative study of the harmonics 7-13 generated below and near the ionization threshold in xenon gas. We show multiple generation pathways for these harmonics that are manifested as on-axis interference in the harmonic yield. This discovery provides a new understanding of the strong-field, below-threshold dynamics under the influence of an atomic potential and allows us to quantitatively assess the achievable coherence of a VUV frequency comb generated through below threshold harmonics. We find that under reasonable experimental conditions temporal coherence is maintained. As evidence we present the first explicit VUV frequency comb structure beyond the 3rd harmonic.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

PET probe-guided surgery: applications and clinical protocol

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Trade-Off Between Delineation and Lighting on Freeway Interchanges

DTFH61-85-C-00137The objective was to determine whether, with improved delineation, performance at partially lighted interchanges can approach performance under full lighting, particularly in rain. Two field studies were conducted. The first was to determine whether transient visual adaptation (TVA) influences detection on partially lighted interchanges and could interact with lighting. It was shown that TVA occurs under partial lighting and influences detection up to 600 feet from the last luminaire. The second field study was to determine the effect of lighting, weather, and improved delineation on driver performance. Data were obtained on two exits in dry and wet weather under full lighting with baseline delineation and three improved delineation systems. Partial lighting at one exit was with one luminaire, at the other with three luminaires. Findings support the contention that full lighting is superior to partial lighting in ramp speed-related measures. Analysis of delineation effects on ramp and spot speeds and on speed distributions showed few differences under dry conditions. In rain, effects were stronger but were neither large nor consistent enough to recommend improved delineation over the baseline system. Nonstatistical comparison of the results from two sited provided evidence that three-luminaire partial lighting was superior to single-luminaire. Performance on ramp segments downstream of the last luminaire suggested TVA influenced results