The development of test beds to support the definition and evolution of the Space Station Freedom power system

Since the beginning of the Space Station Freedom Program (SSFP), the Lewis Research Center (LeRC) and the Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International have had extensive efforts underway to develop test beds to support the definition of the detailed electrical power system design. Because of the extensive redirections that have taken place in the Space Station Freedom Program in the past several years, the test bed effort was forced to accommodate a large number of changes. A short history of these program changes and their impact on the LeRC test beds is presented to understand how the current test bed configuration has evolved. The current test objectives and the development approach for the current DC Test Bed are discussed. A description of the test bed configuration, along with its power and controller hardware and its software components, is presented. Next, the uses of the test bed during the mature design and verification phase of SSFP are examined. Finally, the uses of the test bed in operation and evolution of the SSF are addressed

4-Methyl-2,6-bis(phosphonomethyl)phenol dihydrate

The 4-methyl-2,6-bis(phosphomethyl)phenol molecule, which crystallizes with two water molecules per asymmetric unit, has approximate twofold symmetry and is involved in extensive three-dimensional hydrogen bonding in which every available OH group participates. The principal dimensions include P--O 1.4981 (13) and 1.5015 (14) ,~, four P--OH distances in the range 1.5395(14) to 1.5688(13) A, P--C 1.7857(17) and 1.7893 (17) ~k, and O...O intramolecular and intermolecular hydro.gen-bond distances in the range 2.458 (2) to 2.866 (2) A

The impact of family planning household service delivery on women\u27s status in Bangladesh

Since 1982, the Maternal and Child Health and Family Planning Extension Project has compiled longitudinal panel data on rural women’s contact with household service providers who visit homes to discuss family planning and offer services to women on request. This study tests the hypothesis that home-based services reinforce customs of purdah (female seclusion) by sustaining the dependency and isolation of the women served by the program. Results show that household services improve women’s status. This effect is largely attributable to the impact of outreach on effective fertility regulation. Findings do not support the hypothesis that household service delivery is detrimental to women’s status in Bangladesh. Policy implications of this research are discussed

Lessons from community-based distribution of family planning in Africa

This paper reviews findings and experiences from efforts to implement community-based family planning services in sub-Saharan Africa. Although research suggests that community-based service delivery can contribute to contraceptive use, the magnitude of impact is often in doubt or is considerably less than was observed in similar projects in Asia in the 1970s and 1980s. Reasons for the constrained impact of community-based family planning in Africa are reviewed and assumptions about the efficacy and mechanism of community-based distribution (CBD) are discussed. Whereas several contrasting approaches to CBD have been tried, little is known about the relative merits of alternative CBD approaches

Determinants of contraceptive use dynamics: research needs on decision and choice

Because of the importance of contraceptive behaviour in most societies today a better understanding is needed of the social and behavioural factors affecting contraceptive decisions and choices of individuals and couples. This paper examines the need for longitudinal, theoretically-based studies of contraceptive use dynamics, including the timing, duration and interaction of reproductive events which may be more important than contraceptive technology in the social, cultural and economic context of fertility control. New research methods and appropriate analysis of data are relevant. Consideration of the social context is essential for the formulation and implementation of effective policies relating to the provision of contraceptive service

Evaluation of Potential Attractants for Six Species of Stored- Product Psocids (Psocoptera: Liposcelididae, Trogiidae)

Psocids have emerged as worldwide pests of stored commodities during the past two decades, and are difficult to control with conventional management tactics such as chemical insecticides. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate alternative management strategies, such as the use of attractants for monitoring and controlling psocids, which can be incorporated into integrated pest management programs for psocids. Using a two-choice pitfall test, we studied the response of adults of different ages and sexes of Liposcelis entomophila (Enderlein) (Psocoptera: Liposcelididae), Liposcelis paeta Pearman, Liposcelis decolor (Pearman), Liposcelis brunnea Motschulsky, Liposcelis corrodens (Heymons), and Lepinotus reticulatus Enderlein (Psocoptera: Trogiidae) to volatiles from different potential attractants including grains, grain-based oils, brewer’s yeast, wheat germ, and commercially available kairomone lures. For all species tested, sex and age did not have a major influence on response to the different potential attractants. Brewer’s yeast most consistently elicited the strongest response for psocids, but this response frequently was not different from that to wheat germ and wheat germ oil. The percentage response to brewer’s yeast varied among the psocid species tested: L. decolor (73–78%), L. entomophila (62–73%), L. brunnea (64–68%), L. paeta (42–57%), Lep. reticulatus (40%), and L. corrodens (15–19%). Two psocids species (L. corrodens and Lep. reticulatus) had low responses to all the potential attractants evaluated compared with the other four species. These results show there is high potential for using these attractants in a psocid-monitoring program. En las ultimas dos decadas los psocidos han emergido como plagas cosmopolitas. Los pso - cidos son difıciles de controlar con metodos convencionales de control como los insecticidas quımicos. Por lo tanto, es necesario investigar estrategias de manejo alternativas, como el uso de atrayentes para monitorear y/o controlar pso cidos, que puedan ser incorporadas a un programa de manejo integrado de plagas (MIP) para psocidos. Por medio de experimentos de libre seleccion, se estudio la respuesta de adultos (diferentes edades y sexos) de Liposcelis entomophila (Enderlein) (Psocoptera: Liposcelididae), Liposcelis paeta Pearman, Liposcelis decolor (Pearman), Liposcelis brunnea Motschulsky, Liposcelis corrodens (Heymons), y Lepinotus reticulatus Enderlein (Psocoptera: Trogiidae) a volatiles de diferentes atrayentes potenciales que incluyeron granos, aceites de diferentes granos, levadura de cerveza, germen de trigo y cebos con kairomonas disponibles comercialmente. En todas las especies evaluadas, el sexo y la edad no tuvieron una mayor influencia en la respuesta a los diferentes atrayentes potenciales. La levadura de cerveza fue el material que consistentemente provoco la respuesta mas fuerte por parte de las especies de psocidos evaluadas, pero en general esta respuesta no fue diferente a la de el germen de trigo y el aceite de germen de trigo. El porcentaje de respuesta a la levadura de cerveza vario entre las especies de psocidos evaluadas: L. decolor (73–78%), L. entomophila (62–73%), L. brunnea (64–68%), L. paeta (42–57%), Lep. reticulatus (40%), y L. corrodens (15–19%). Dos species de psocidos (L. corrodens y Lep. reticulatus) tuvieron baja respuesta a los diferentes atrayentes potenciales evaluados comparados con las otras cuatro especies. Estos resultados indican un alto potencial para incorporar estos atrayentes a un programa de monitoreo de psocidos

Accelerating reproductive and child health program development: The Navrongo initiative in Ghana

Successive global health and development agendas have been embraced by African governments—Alma Ata in 1978, the Bamako Initiative in 1987, the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, and more recently the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—only to be followed by widespread implementation failure. This paper presents an approach to program development in Ghana that is using research to accelerate policy implementation. Originally launched in 1994 as a participatory pilot project of the Navrongo Health Research Centre, a controlled experimental study was initiated in 1996 to assess the fertility and child-survival impact of alternative community health and family planning service strategies. Posting nurses to communities reduced childhood mortality rates by half, accelerating attainment of the childhood-survival MDG within five years. Adding community-mobilization strategies and volunteer outreach to this approach led to a 15-percent reduction in fertility. When a replication project in the Volta Region demonstrated that the Navrongo service model could be transferred to a nonresearch setting, the Government of Ghana adopted the Navrongo approach as the health component of its national poverty-reduction strategy. In 2000, the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) initiative was launched to accelerate implementation of this policy. By mid-2005, CHPS was fully operational in 20 districts and under development in nearly every other district of Ghana. Analysis of successive phases of the Ghana program-development process demonstrates feasible means of improving national access to reproductive and child health services

Determinants of Early Initiation of Breastfeeding in Rural Tanzania.

Breastfeeding is widely known for its imperative contribution in improving maternal and newborn health outcomes. However, evidence regarding timing of initiation of breastfeeding is limited in Tanzania. This study examines the extent of and factors associated with early initiation of breastfeeding in three rural districts of Tanzania. Data were collected in 2011 in a cross-sectional survey of random households in Rufiji, Kilombero and Ulanga districts of Tanzania. From the survey, 889 women who had given birth within 2 years preceding the survey were analyzed. Both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted. Associations between the outcome variable and each of the independent variables were tested using chi-square. Logistic regression was used for multivariate analysis. Early initiation of breastfeeding (i.e. breastfeeding initiation within 1 h of birth) stood at 51 %. The odds of early initiation of breastfeeding was significantly 78 % lower following childbirth by caesarean section than vaginal birth (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.22; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.14, 0.36). However, this was almost twice as high for women who gave birth in health facilities as for those who gave birth at home (OR = 1.75; 95 % CI 1.25, 2.45). Furthermore, maternal knowledge of newborn danger signs was negatively associated with early initiation of breastfeeding (moderate vs. high: OR = 1.73; 95 % CI 1.23, 2.42; low vs. high: OR = 2.06; 95 % CI 1.43, 2.96). The study found also that early initiation of breastfeeding was less likely in Rufiji compared to Kilombero (OR = 0.52; 95 % CI 0.31, 0.89), as well as among ever married than currently married women (OR = 0.46; 95 % CI 0.25, 0.87). To enhance early initiation of breastfeeding, using health facilities for childbirth must be emphasized and facilitated among women in rural Tanzania. Further, interventions to promote and enforce early initiation of breastfeeding should be devised especially for caesarean births. Women residing in rural locations and women who are not currently married should be specifically targeted with interventions aimed at enhancing early initiation of breastfeeding to ensure healthy outcomes for newborns

Hfq binding changes the structure of Escherichia coli small noncoding RNAs OxyS and RprA, which are involved in the riboregulation of rpoS

OxyS and RprA are two small noncoding RNAs (sRNAs) that modulate the expression of rpoS, encoding an alternative sigma factor that activates transcription of multiple Escherichia coli stress-response genes. While RprA activates rpoS for translation, OxyS down-regulates the transcript. Crucially, the RNA binding protein Hfq is required for both sRNAs to function, although the specific role played by Hfq remains unclear. We have investigated RprA and OxyS interactions with Hfq using biochemical and biophysical approaches. In particular, we have obtained the molecular envelopes of the Hfq–sRNA complexes using small-angle scattering methods, which reveal key molecular details. These data indicate that Hfq does not substantially change shape upon complex formation, whereas the sRNAs do. We link the impact of Hfq binding, and the sRNA structural changes induced, to transcript stability with respect to RNase E degradation. In light of these findings, we discuss the role of Hfq in the opposing regulatory functions played by RprA and OxyS in rpoS regulation