The Capacity of the Air Force Satellite Control Network

The daily mission objective of the Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN) is to support communication with satellite systems. It is critical that the AFSCN operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Previous work on the satellite range scheduling problem has successfully scheduled over 90 percent of the satellite support requests. This research investigates the capacity of the AFSCN using an available satellite scheduling algorithm. This research has three objectives. The first objective is to be able to generate sample data sets which represent a day of satellite support requests for low, medium, and high altitude satellites. The second research objective is to schedule the satellite support requests in the sample data sets. The third objective is to determine an upper bound on the number of support requests which can be supported by the AFSCN. Based on the reported results, the AFSCN is able to support around 175 low altitude satellite support requests and 250 medium/high altitude satellite support requests. At this level of demand, the scheduling algorithm is able to schedule approximately 90 percent of the satellite support requests

Radiographic and computed tomographic evaluation of experimentally induced lung aspiration sites in dogs

This study was performed to radiographically examine the prevalence of aspiration sites and to evaluate their atomical correlation with the bronchial pattens. Ten healthy beagle dogs were repeatedly radiographed, at weekly intervals, in the left and right lateral, ventrodorsal (VD) and dorsoventral (DV) positions. Three mililiters of iohexol distilled with same volume of saline was infused into the tracheal inlet. Which lung lobe was aspirated was decided upon by the presence of a significant alveolar pattern due to the contrast medium. Alveolar patterns were identified at the left (100%) and right cranial lung lobes (77%) with the dogs in dependant lateral recumbency, at the right caudal lung lobe (71%) with the dogs in VD recumbency and at the right middle lung lobe (59%) with the dogs in DV recumbency, respectively. The anatomical correlation was evaluated by performing computed tomography. The right principal bronchus (165.8 ± 1.6°) was more straightly bifurcated than was the left principal bronchus (142.7 ± 1.8°, p < 0.01). In VD position, the right side lung had a greater opertunity to become aspirated. The ventrally positioned right middle lobar bronchial origin was more easily to be aspirated the other laterally positioned ones. We think that these anatomical characteristics can be one of the causes for aspiration pneumonia to occur more frequently in the right side lung

Development of a compact ICRF antenna for high-power and long-pulse plasma heating in the KSTAR

For the high-power and long-pulse ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) heating of the KSTAR plasma, we developed the compact ICRF antenna (CIA). The target injection power of CIA is 2 MW for 300 s. In order to continue injecting the power into plasma even if drastic instantaneous changes occur in the plasma condition, such as ELM events, we adopted the internal conjugate-T method for the load resilience. Between antenna heads and the junction point, impedance transformers were inserted to satisfy the condition of conjugate-T in a limited space keeping the electric field on the transformer low enough. To reduce the risk of water leakage into the vacuum chamber, only the backsides of antenna heads are water-cooled in the in-vessel region

Ultrasonographic evaluation of tracheal collapse in dogs

Tracheal ultrasonography was performed to measure the width of the tracheal ring shadow and to assess the clinical relevance of these measurements for identifying tracheal collapse. The first tracheal ring width (FTRW) and thoracic inlet tracheal ring width (TITRW) were measured on both expiration and inspiration. The mean of the FTRW width (129 dogs) was greater in expiration (10.97 ± 1.02 mm, p = 0.001) than that in inspiration (9.86 ± 1.03 mm). For 51 normal dogs, the mean of the TITRW width was greater in expiration (9.05 ± 1.52 mm, p = 0.001) than in inspiration (8.02 ± 1.43 mm). For 78 tracheal collapse dogs, the mean of the TITRW width was greater in expiration (15.89 ± 1.01 mm, p = 0.001) than in inspiration (14.85 ± 1.17 mm). The TITRW/FTRW ratio of the normal dogs was higher (p = 0.001) in expiration (0.81 ± 0.09) than that in inspiration (0.79 ± 0.10). When compared between the normal and tracheal collapse dogs, the TITRW/FTRW ratio was also increased (p = 0.001) both in expiration (1.54 ± 0.09) and inspiration (1.47 ± 0.08), respectively. Based on these results, the cutoff level of the TITRW/FTRW ratio was statistically analyzed according to the receiver operating characteristic curve and it could be set at 1.16 in expiration and at 1.13 in inspiration. We have demonstrated that tracheal ultrasonography is a useful technique for the evaluation of tracheal collapse and it can be a supportive tool together with the radiographic findings for making the correct diagnosis

EXTRATERRITORIALITY OF STATE TRADE SECRET LAW

According to recent surveys, businesses prefer trade secret protection to patent protection. While many scholars have debated about issues of extraterritoriality of patents, copyrights, and trademarks, scholars relatively alienated the question of the geographic scope of trade secret law. In the absence of clear guidance from either the Supreme Court or both state and federal legislatures, some courts ruled in favor of extending the scope of state trade secret law to conduct abroad. This practice can cause problems in foreign relations, such as the foreign offense or interference with the sovereignty of the foreign nations. To avoid unintended conflicts with foreign nations, issues in the current extraterritorial application of state trade secret law and possible remedies for the issues should be discussed. This Note discusses the geographic scope of trade secret law from the perspective of intellectual property rights and suggests a new approach to reaching foreign conduct. The courts should exercise restraint in extraterritorial application of trade secret law in light of other concerns, such as the presumption against extraterritoriality, choice-of-law issues, and practical problems in enforcing injunctions. First, the presumption against extraterritoriality is applicable to state law. Second, courts’ reliance on choice-of-law analysis deludes courts into disregarding extraterritoriality issues. Third, implementing world-wide injunctions is practically difficult. Furthermore, this Note also addresses remedies to resolve such issues through legislative, judicial, and political branch action. These remedies include enacting a federal trade secret statute at the legislative level, adopting the presumption against extraterritoriality or the ITC approach at the judicial level, and having treaties or agreements at the political level. Through enacting a federal trade secret statute and adopting the presumption or the ITC approach, courts will be able to make more predictable, uniform, and restrained judgments. Once improved trade secret protection is ensured by treaties, agreements, or sanctions, the need to apply U.S. trade secret law abroad will decrease

A Sesquiterpenoid from Farfarae Flos Induces Apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 Human Breast Cancer Cells through Inhibition of JAK–STAT3 Signaling

Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are hard-to-treat breast tumors with poor prognosis, which need to be treated by chemotherapy. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a transcription factor involved in proliferation, metastasis, and invasion of cancer cells. Therefore, research on searching for promising compounds with metabolism that suppress phosphorylation or transcription of STAT3 in TNBC cells is important. Farfarae Flos is well known as a traditional medicine for treating inflammation. However, few studies have shown that sesquiterpenoids from Farfarae Flos have an anticancer effect. In this study, efficient separation methods and an MTT assay were conducted to isolate an anticancer compound from Farfarae Flos against TNBC MDA-MB-231 cells. Here, 7β-(3-Ethyl-cis-crotonoyloxy)-1α-(2-methylbutyryloxy)-3,14-dehydro-Z-notonipetranone (ECN), a compound isolated from Farfarae Flos showed a potent cytotoxic effect on MDA-MB-231 cells. ECN inhibited JAK–STAT3 signaling and suppressed the expression of STAT3 target genes. In addition, ECN induced apoptosis through both extrinsic and intrinsic pathways. Furthermore, we investigated that ECN inhibited the growth of tumors by intraperitoneal administration in mice injected with MDA-MB-231 cells. Therefore, ECN can be an effective chemotherapeutic agent for breast cancer treatment