Fiber optic control system integration

A total fiber optic, integrated propulsion/flight control system concept for advanced fighter aircraft is presented. Fiber optic technology pertaining to this system is identified and evaluated for application readiness. A fiber optic sensor vendor survey was completed, and the results are reported. The advantages of centralized/direct architecture are reviewed, and the concept of the protocol branch is explained. Preliminary protocol branch selections are made based on the F-18/F404 application. Concepts for new optical tools are described. Development plans for the optical technology and the described system are included

Development of the Spirit III Telescope: from Design through Test

This paper documents the development of the SPIRIT III telescope from the design through its test activities at SSG, Inc. The SPIRIT III Instrument is the primary infrared instrument on the Mid-Course Space Experiment (MSX). The telescope is an all reflective optical system consisting of twelve mirrors. It represents the largest high straylight rejection, cryogenic telescope built by SSG to date. The nominal collecting aperture is 14 inches. It was designed and built to integrate with a multi-color radiometer and a Michelson interferometer built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory at Utah State University. Key performance features are discussed and measured test data is presented. These include: an internal scan mirror assembly, low scatter mirrors and baffle assemblies, cryogenic optical performance and contamination control. The structural/thermal trade-off issues of a satellite-based cryogenic instrument are presented along with a review of the test techniques and test equipment utilized at SSG to qualify the SPIRIT III telescope

Making a splash with water repellency

A 'splash' is usually heard when a solid body enters water at large velocity. This phenomena originates from the formation of an air cavity resulting from the complex transient dynamics of the free interface during the impact. The classical picture of impacts on free surfaces relies solely on fluid inertia, arguing that surface properties and viscous effects are negligible at sufficiently large velocities. In strong contrast to this large-scale hydrodynamic viewpoint, we demonstrate in this study that the wettability of the impacting body is a key factor in determining the degree of splashing. This unexpected result is illustrated in Fig.1: a large cavity is evident for an impacting hydrophobic sphere (1.b), contrasting with the hydrophilic sphere's impact under the very same conditions (1.a). This unforeseen fact is furthermore embodied in the dependence of the threshold velocity for air entrainment on the contact angle of the impacting body, as well as on the ratio between the surface tension and fluid viscosity, thereby defining a critical capillary velocity. As a paradigm, we show that superhydrophobic impacters make a big 'splash' for any impact velocity. This novel understanding provides a new perspective for impacts on free surfaces, and reveals that modifications of the detailed nature of the surface -- involving physico-chemical aspects at the nanometric scales -- provide an efficient and versatile strategy for controlling the water entry of solid bodies at high velocity.Comment: accepted for publication in Nature Physic

Molecular characterization of polish blueberry red ringspot virus isolate

In this study, we determined the complete sequence of the genomic DNA of a Polish isolate of Blueberry red ringspot virus (BRRSV24) and compared it with a Czech (Darrow 5), and the US isolates of the virus and those of other Caulimoviridae family. The genomic DNA of BRRSV24 consists of 8,265 nucleotides and encodes eight open reading frames (ORFs). The sequence homologies of the eight ORFs of BRRSV24 were from 95 to 98% in respect of Darrow 5 and from 91 to 98% in respect of the US isolates at the amino acid level. This high level of amino acid sequence identity within the coding regions among the Czech, the US and Polish BRRSV isolates is suggestive of their common origin

Evaluation of a Tobacco Educational Intervention for Pregnant Alaska Native Women

Tobacco cessation interventions developed and evaluated for Alaska Native women do not exist. As part of routine clinical care provided at a prenatal visit, a brief tobacco educational intervention for Alaska Native pregnant women (N=100; mean ± SD age = 25.9±6.2 years; mean 6.3± 2.6 months gestation) was piloted at the Y-K Delta Regional Hospital in Bethel, Alaska. This retrospective study reports on the evaluation of this clinical program. The intervention was consistent with the clinical practice guidelines (i.e., 5 A’s – ask, advise, assess, assist, arrange), with an average duration of 20.2 ± 6.8 minutes. The self-reported tobacco abstinence rate following the intervention was 11% at the last prenatal visit and 12% at delivery. Delivering a tobacco cessation intervention at a prenatal visit is feasible, but there is a need to identify more effective interventions for Alaska Native pregnant women

Internal Medicine Residents Reject “Longer and Gentler” Training

BACKGROUND: Increasing complexity of medical care, coupled with limits on resident work hours, has prompted consideration of extending Internal Medicine training. It is unclear whether further hour reductions and extension of training beyond the current duration of 3 years would be accepted by trainees. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine if further work-hour reductions and extension of training would be accepted by trainees and whether resident burnout affects their opinions. DESIGN: A postal survey was sent to all 143 Internal Medicine residents at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in May 2004. MEASUREMENTS: The survey contained questions related to opinions on work-hour limits using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Burnout was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory, organized into three subscales: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment, with burnout defined as high EE or DP. RESULTS: Seventy-four percent (106/143) of residents returned the survey. The vast majority (84%) of residents disagreed or strongly disagreed with extending training to 4 or 5 years. Burnout residents were less averse to extending training (strongly agree or agree, 18.9% vs 4.3%, P = .04). The majority of residents (68.9%) disagreed or strongly disagreed with establishing a 60-hour/week limit. Residents who met the criteria for burnout were more likely to agree that a 60-hour limit would be better than an 80-hour limit (strongly agree or agree, 22% vs 8%, P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: In this program, most Internal Medicine residents are strongly opposed to extending their training to 4 or 5 years and would prefer the current 80 hours/week cap. A longer, less intense pace of Internal Medicine training seems to be less attractive in the eyes of current trainees

Real-Time Electronic Health Record Mortality Prediction During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 virus has infected millions of people, overwhelming critical care resources in some regions. Many plans for rationing critical care resources during crises are based on the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score. The COVID-19 pandemic created an emergent need to develop and validate a novel electronic health record (EHR)-computable tool to predict mortality. Research Questions: To rapidly develop, validate, and implement a novel real-time mortality score for the COVID-19 pandemic that improves upon SOFA. Study Design and Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of a regional health system with 12 hospitals in Colorado between March 2020 and July 2020. All patients >14 years old hospitalized during the study period without a do not resuscitate order were included. Patients were stratified by the diagnosis of COVID-19. From this cohort, we developed and validated a model using stacked generalization to predict mortality using data widely available in the EHR by combining five previously validated scores and additional novel variables reported to be associated with COVID-19-specific mortality. We compared the area under the receiver operator curve (AUROC) for the new model to the SOFA score and the Charlson Comorbidity Index. Results: We prospectively analyzed 27,296 encounters, of which 1,358 (5.0%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2, 4,494 (16.5%) included intensive care unit (ICU)-level care, 1,480 (5.4%) included invasive mechanical ventilation, and 717 (2.6%) ended in death. The Charlson Comorbidity Index and SOFA scores predicted overall mortality with an AUROC of 0.72 and 0.90, respectively. Our novel score predicted overall mortality with AUROC 0.94. In the subset of patients with COVID-19, we predicted mortality with AUROC 0.90, whereas SOFA had AUROC of 0.85. Interpretation: We developed and validated an accurate, in-hospital mortality prediction score in a live EHR for automatic and continuous calculation using a novel model, that improved upon SOFA. Study Question: Can we improve upon the SOFA score for real-time mortality prediction during the COVID-19 pandemic by leveraging electronic health record (EHR) data? Results: We rapidly developed and implemented a novel yet SOFA-anchored mortality model across 12 hospitals and conducted a prospective cohort study of 27,296 adult hospitalizations, 1,358 (5.0%) of which were positive for SARS-CoV-2. The Charlson Comorbidity Index and SOFA scores predicted all-cause mortality with AUROCs of 0.72 and 0.90, respectively. Our novel score predicted mortality with AUROC 0.94. Interpretation: A novel EHR-based mortality score can be rapidly implemented to better predict patient outcomes during an evolving pandemic