The 1983 Goddard Space Flight Center Battery Workshop

Subjects covered included advanced energy storage programs, lithium cell technology, nickel cadmium technology, testing and flight experience and metal hydrogen technology

Comparison of multidrug resistant Salmonella between intensively - and extensively-reared antimicrobial - free (ABF) swine herds

This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella species in swine reared in the intensive (indoor) and extensive (outdoor) ABF production systems at farm and slaughter in North Carolina, U.S.A. We sampled a total of 279 pigs at farm (Extensive 107; Intensive 172) and collected 274 carcass swabs (Extensive 124; Intensive 150) at slaughter. Salmonella species were tested for their susceptibility against 12 antimicrobial agents using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Serogrouping was done using polyvalent and group specific antisera. A total of 400 salmonellae were isolated in this study with a significantly higher Salmonella prevalence from the Intensive (30%) than the extensive farms (0.9%) (P \u3c 0.001 ). At slaughter, significantly higher Salmonella was isolated at the pre and post-evisceration stages from extensively (29 % pre-evisceration and 33.3 % post-evisceration) than the intensively (2 % pre-ev1sceration and 6 % post-evisceration) reared swine (P \u3c 0.001 ). The isolates were clustered in six serogroups including B, C, E1, E4, G and R. Highest frequency of antimicrobial resistance was observed against tetracycline (78.5%) and streptomycin (31 .5%). A total of 13 antimicrobial resistance patterns were observed including the pentaresistant strains with ampicillin, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline resistance pattern observed only among isolates from the intensive farms (n=28) and all belonged to serogroup B. This study shows that multidrug resistant Salmonella are prevalent in ABF production systems despite the absence of antimicrobial selection pressure

Light emitting diodes as a plant lighting source

Electroluminescence in solid materials is defined as the generation of light by the passage of an electric current through a body of solid material under an applied electric field. A specific type of electroluminescence, first noted in 1923, involves the generation of photons when electrons are passed through a p-n junction of certain solid materials (junction of a n-type semiconductor, an electron donor, and a p-type semiconductor, an electron acceptor). The development of this light emitting semiconductor technology dates back less than 30 years. During this period of time, the LED has evolved from a rare and expensive light generating device to one of the most widely used electronic components. A number of LED characteristics are of considerable importance in selecting a light source for plant lighting in a controlled environment facility. Of particular importance is the characteristic that light is generated by an LED at a rate far greater than the corresponding thermal radiation predicted by the bulk temperature of the device as defined by Plank's radiation law. This is in sharp contrast to other light sources, such as an incandescent or high intensity discharge lamp. A plant lighting system for controlled environments must provide plants with an adequate flux of photosynthetically active radiation, plus providing photons in the spectral regions that are involved in the photomorphogenic and phototropic responses that result in normal plant growth and development. Use of light sources that emit photons over a broad spectral range generally meet these two lighting requirements. Since the LED's emit over specific spectral regions, they must be carefully selected so that the levels of photsynthetically active and photomorphogenic and phototropic radiation meet these plant requirements

Hyperfine frequency shift in two-dimensional atomic hydrogen

We propose the explanation of a surprisingly small hyperfine frequency shift in the two-dimensional (2D) atomic hydrogen bound to the surface of superfluid helium below 0.1 K. Owing to the symmetry considerations, the microwave-induced triplet-singlet transitions of atomic pairs in the fully spin-polarized sample are forbidden. The apparent nonzero shift is associated with the density-dependent wall shift of the hyperfine constant and the pressure shift due to the presence of H atoms in the hyperfine state $a$ not involved in the observed $b\to c$ transition. The interaction of adsorbed atoms with one another effectively decreases the binding energy and, consequently, the wall shift by the amount proportional to their density. The pressure shift of the $b\to c$ resonance comes from the fact that the impurity $a$-state atoms interact differently with the initial $b$-state and final $c$-state atoms and is also linear in density. The net effect of the two contributions, both specific for 2D hydrogen, is comparable with the experimental observation. To our knowledge, this is the first mentioning of the density-dependent wall shift. We also show that the difference between the triplet and singlet scattering lengths of H atoms, $a_t-a_s=30(5)$ pm, is exactly twice smaller than the value reported by Ahokas {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf101}, 263003 (2008).Comment: 4 pages, no figure

Transistors

Contains reports on six research projects

Use of Extinguish Plus™ to Reduce Red Imported Fire Ants and Increase Northern Bobwhite Abundance

Populations of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) have been declining throughout Texas since at least the 1970s. The red imported fire ant (RIFA, Solenopsis invicta) was introduced from South America and reached Texas by the 1950s. Previous studies have documented the negative effects of RIFA on northern bobwhite populations through both direct predation and indirect reduction of small invertebrates. In 2013, 2014, and 2015, large areas (1,490 ha in 2013 and 2,380 ha in 2014 and 2015) of the 3,744-ha portion of the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge (APCNWR) in Colorado County, Texas, were aerially treated with Extinguish Plus™, a chemical pesticide and reproductive inhibitor that targets ants. Our study took place on APCNWR and our objectives included evaluation of the impacts of RIFA treatment on 1) RIFA abundance, and 2) northern bobwhite nest success and brood survival. We trapped, banded, and radiocollared northern bobwhites in areas treated and not treated with Extinguish Plus from May 2014 through August 2016. We also collected RIFA abundance data using baited Petri dishes on areas treated and nontreated areas during these periods. Treatment reduced RIFA presence on the refuge by 73.4% during 2014 and 2015, but did not reduce RIFA presence during 2016 possibly because of displacement of RIFA colonies due to heavy flooding on the refuge. We detected a difference (χ21 = 11,009, P = 0.0009) in the number of females sighted with and without broods between treated (19.5% F with broods) and nontreated areas (35.7% F with broods). We also found a difference (t12 = 2.51, P = 0.027) in mean number of chicks per brood sighted within treated (4.7) versus nontreated (9.3) areas for 2014 and 2014; but in 2016, we found no difference (t12 = 0.32, P = 0.754) in mean number of chicks per brood sighted within treated (7.7) and nontreated (8.4) areas, which was possibly due to extensive flooding in the nontreated area in April that destroyed most first nests. Our data suggested treatment with Extinguish Plus did not increase northern bobwhite abundance on the APCNWR during the 2014, 2015, and 2016 bobwhite nesting seasons. Our results differ from previous studies, possibly because of time since treatment and differences in environmental factors between treated and nontreated areas such as ecological site, vegetation composition, and predator abundance

Factors Associated With Exacerbation of Heart Failure Include Treatment Adherence and Health Literacy Skills

We determined the factors associated with exacerbation of heart failure, using a cohort (n = 192) nested within a randomized trial at a university-affiliated ambulatory practice. Factors associated with emergency or hospital care included left ventricular ejection fraction, hematocrit and serum sodium levels, refill adherence, and the ability to read a prescription label. Refill adherence of <40% was associated with a threefold higher incidence of hospitalization for heart failure than a refill adherence of ≥80% (P = 0.002). In multivariable analysis, prescription label reading skills were associated with a lower incidence of heart failure–specific emergency care (incidence rate ratio, 0.76; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.19–0.69), and participants with adequate health literacy had a lower risk of hospitalization for heart failure (incidence rate ratio, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.15–0.76). We conclude that inadequate treatment adherence and health literacy skills are key factors in the exacerbation of heart failure. These findings emphasize the need for careful instruction of patients about their medications

Deriving a Generic Energy Consumption Model for Network Enabled Devices

Abstract-Energy saving has become a global issue when people use network enabled equipment in the office or at home. However few methods exist to measure and monitor energy use per user or per application, or to control equipment power states. We propose a generic energy consumption model that is based on the power state of network attached equipment, and that supports power management capabilities. This includes measures for each power state (on/off/sleep) and for per bit energy consumption, per interface, per application and at the network QoS (Quality of Services) level. Given the power state of a network device, a network manger could remotely inspect the energy consumption and make changes to the power management setting; for this to happen we introduce a new MIB (Management Information Base) schema to capture the attributes of relevance. Using an agent based modeling framework, we introduce the overall autonomic architecture that makes it possible to minimize energy consumption of network enabled equipment

Practice Parameter: Therapies for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (An Evidence-Based Review): Report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurologysymbol Symbol

American Academy of Neurology; BPPV = benign paroxysmal positional vertigo; CONSORT = Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials; CRP = canalith repositioning procedure; NNT = number needed to treat