USMA Space Cadets: The First Class

The United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point has been developing leaders of character since 1802. This year’s graduating class, the Class of 2020, includes West Point’s first Space Science majors. The United States Army has officially had space professionals in its ranks since 1997 with the inception Space Operations Officer career field, also known as Functional Area 40 (FA40). It is only recently that the Army has shifted its focus to building the FA40 ranks from officer accessions programs (USMA, ROTC, and OCS). The establishment of the Space and Missile Defense Program under USMA’s Physics and Nuclear Engineering (PaNE) Department shows the heightened priority of building space professionals for the Army. This program, that was first discussed in a paper submitted to the 23rd annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, has been twelve years in the making. Now, West Point has risen to the level of its fellow-service academies in the realm of space education and research

Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Middle Aged Women With a History of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

The final menstrual period defines menopause and signifies depletion of ovarian follicular reserve and endogenous estradiol. Diminished estradiol underscores postmenopausal increases in chronic health conditions of non-reproductive tissues namely the vascular, skeletal, and central nervous systems. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a prevalent disorder associated with an increased risk for type 2 diabetes and an adverse cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk profile evident at younger ages. It is well established that the risk of CVD increases among women following menopause. However, no definitive studies exist demonstrating increased cardiovascular morbidity or mortality among older women with a history of PCOS. Further, the association between menopause and CVD risk factors has not been fully explored in women with a history of PCOS. Women with PCOS report less menstrual cycle irregularity across time that may reflect varying degrees of ovarian function that in turn may augment CVD risk factors. We evaluated the hypotheses that menopause and lifetime menstrual cycle irregularity would have a modifying effect on CVD risk factors and markers of subclinical atherosclerosis in 152 women with PCOS and 169 normal reproductive controls ages 35 to 67 years. We found that the typical reproductive presentation and the adverse lipid profile observed in younger PCOS women was not as apparent in older PCOS cases compared to controls. Twenty-five percent of menopausal cases, however had type 2 diabetes. Coronary artery calcification (CAC) was greater in cases compared to controls and increased with age. PCOS cases reporting the greatest menstrual irregularity across time had higher total and free testosterone levels and greater CAC compared to cases with more frequent cycles. Our studies support the importance of diabetes prevention in aging women with a history of PCOS to reduce risk for early cardiovascular disease. Further, women with PCOS who present with the greater cycle irregularity may be more likely to have cardiovascular consequences. Relevance to Public Health: Because preventing PCOS is unlikely, interventions focused on promoting healthy aging among women with a history of the condition represents an important undertaking that will temper long-term health burden and improve quality of life

Evidence-Based Professional Development of Science Teachers in Two Countries

The focus of this collaborative research project of King?s College London, and the Weizmann Institute, Israel. project is on investigating the ways in which teachers can demonstrate accomplished teaching in a specific domain of science and on the teacher learning that is generated through continuing professional development programs (CPD) that lead towards such practice. The interest lies in what processes and inputs are required to help secondary school science teachers develop expertise in a specific aspect of science teaching. `It focuses on the design of the CPD programmes and examines the importance of an evidence-based approach through portfolioconstruction in which professional dialogue pathes the way for teacher learning. The set of papers highlight the need to set professional challenge while tailoring CPD to teachers? needs to create the environment in which teachers can advance and transform their practice. The cross-culture perspective added to the richness of the development and enabled the researchers to examine which aspects were fundamental to the design by considering similarities and differences between the domains

Urinary Perchlorate and Thyroid Hormone Levels in Adolescent and Adult Men and Women Living in the United States

BACKGROUND: Perchlorate is commonly found in the environment and known to inhibit thyroid function at high doses. Assessing the potential effect of low-level exposure to perchlorate on thyroid function is an area of ongoing research. OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the potential relationship between urinary levels of perchlorate and serum levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and total thyroxine (T(4)) in 2,299 men and women, ≥ 12 years of age, participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) during 2001–2002. METHODS: We used multiple regression models of T(4) and TSH that included perchlorate and covariates known to be or likely to be associated with T(4) or TSH levels: age, race/ethnicity, body mass index, estrogen use, menopausal status, pregnancy status, premenarche status, serum C-reactive protein, serum albumin, serum cotinine, hours of fasting, urinary thiocyanate, urinary nitrate, and selected medication groups. RESULTS: Perchlorate was not a significant predictor of T(4) or TSH levels in men. For women overall, perchlorate was a significant predictor of both T(4) and TSH. For women with urinary iodine < 100 μg/L, perchlorate was a significant negative predictor of T(4) (p < 0.0001) and a positive predictor of TSH (p = 0.001). For women with urinary iodine ≥ 100 μg/L, perchlorate was a significant positive predictor of TSH (p = 0.025) but not T(4) (p = 0.550). CONCLUSIONS: These associations of perchlorate with T(4) and TSH are coherent in direction and independent of other variables known to affect thyroid function, but are present at perchlorate exposure levels that were unanticipated based on previous studies

Nuclear effects in positive pion electroproduction on the deuteron near threshold

Positive pion electroproduction from the deuteron near threshold has been considered within an approach based on the unitary transformation method. The gauge independence of the treatment is provided by using an explicitly gauge independent expression for the reaction amplitude. The results of calculations for kinematics of the experiments on forward-angle $\pi^+$ meson electroproduction accomplished at Saclay and Jefferson Laboratory are discussed and compared with those given by the impulse approximation. It is shown that the observed behaviour of the cross sections is in accordance with the calculations based on the pion-nucleon dynamics. In particular, the pion production rate suppression in the $^2H(e,e'\pi^+)nn$ reaction compared to that for the $^1H(e,e'\pi^+)n$ one can be due to such ``nuclear medium'' effects as nucleon motion and binding along with Pauli blocking in the final $nn$ state.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure

Decreased Births Among Black Female Adolescents Following School Desegregation

Although the socioeconomic impact of school desegregation in the U.S. has been well documented, little is known about the health consequences of this policy. The purpose of this study was to quantify the associations between school desegregation and adolescent births among black and white females. We compared the change in prevalence of adolescent births in areas that implemented school desegregation plans in the 1970s with areas that implemented school desegregation plans in other decades, using difference-in-difference methods with 1970 and 1980 Census microdata. School desegregation policy in the U.S. in the 1970s was associated with a significant reduction of 3.2 percentage points in the prevalence of births among black female adolescents between 1970 and 1980. This association was specific to black female adolescents and was not observed among white adolescents