Cumulative Distribution of Ballistic Impact Failures of Common Twisted-Pair Data Cables at Orbital Speeds

Data wire cable runs are a significant presence on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS), and continued ISS mission support requires detailed assessment of cables due to micrometeoroid and orbit debris (MMOD) impact. These data wire cables are twisted-pair cables consisting of two 22AWG stranded conductors and fillers inside a tight fitting braided copper shield. The copper shield and its contents are covered with a jacket that has a nominal outer diameter of 3.76 mm and beta-cloth tape. The ISS engineering community has identified two loss-of-function mechanisms for these cables: open circuits due to severed conductors within the cable, and short circuits due to contact between conductors or grounded components. As these data cables are low power systems, short circuits are not expected to burn away the contact, so both open and short circuits are considered permanent loss-of-function for the cable. A total of ninety-seven impact experiments have been performed into these cables to develop a statistical model for the failure of these cables to be used in reliability studies. The experimental work has yielded cumulative distribution functions for these cables for steel and aluminum components of the orbital debris environment at representative speeds and impact obliquities

Prepulse inhibition predicts spatial working memory performance in the inbred Roman high- and low-avoidance rats and in genetically heterogeneous NIH-HS rats: relevance for studying pre-attentive and cognitive anomalies in schizophrenia

Animal models of schizophrenia-relevant symptoms are increasingly important for progress in our understanding of the neurobiological basis of the disorder and for discovering novel and more specific treatments. Prepulse inhibition (PPI) and working memory, which are impaired in schizophrenic patients, are among the symptoms/processes modeled in those animal analogues. We have evaluated whether a genetically-selected rat model, the Roman high-avoidance inbred strain (RHA-I), displays PPI deficits as compared with its Roman low-avoidance (RLA-I) counterpart and the genetically heterogeneous NIH-HS rat stock. We have investigated whether PPI deficits predict spatial working memory impairments (in the Morris water maze; MWM) in these three rat types (Experiment 1), as well as in a separate sample of NIH-HS rats stratified according to their extreme (High, Medium, Low) PPI scores (Experiment 2). The results from Exp. 1 show that RHA-I rats display PPI and spatial working memory deficits compared to both RLA-I and NIH-HS rats. Likewise, in Exp. 2, “Low-PPI” NIH-HS rats present significantly impaired working memory with respect to “Medium-PPI” and “High-PPI” NIH-HS subgroups. Further support to these results comes from correlational, factorial and multiple regression analyses, which reveal that PPI is positively associated with spatial working memory performance. Conversely, cued learning in the MWM was not associated with PPI.Thus, using genetically-selected and genetically heterogeneous rats, the present study shows, for the first time, that PPI is a positive predictor of performance in a spatial working memory task. These results may have translational value for schizophrenia symptom research in humans, as they suggest that either by psychogenetic selection or by focusing on extreme PPI scores from a genetically heterogeneous rat stock, it is possible to detect a useful (perhaps “at risk”) phenotype to study cognitive anomalies linked to schizophrenia

Atmospheric polarimetric effects on GNSS radio occultations: the ROHP-PAZ field campaign

The ROHP-PAZ mission will collect, for the first time, GPS radio occultations at two polarizations with the aim of characterizing rain. Prior to the mission's launch (2016), a field campaign has been conducted to identify and understand the measurements. In this study we present the set-up and the results of such a campaign: the main finding is the confirmation of sensitivity to heavy rain and, unexpectedly, to other frozen hydrometeors. This is key information for the spaceborne experiment.This study was conducted under the Spanish ACI2010-1089 and AYA2011-29183-C02-02 grant, with contributions from EUMETSAT’s ROM SAF CDOP2

Internet gaming disorder clustering based on personality traits in adolescents, and its relation with comorbid psychological symptoms

Altres ajuts: This work was funded by an AIS (Atención e Investigación en Socioaddiciones) intramural research program. This research is partially supported by the Marsden grant E2987-3648 (Royal Society of New Zealand).In recent years, the evidence regarding Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) suggests that some personality traits are important risk factors for developing this problem. The heterogeneity involved in problematic online gaming and differences found in the literature regarding the comorbid psychopathology associated with the problem could be explained through different types of gamers. Clustering analysis can allow organization of a collection of personality traits into clusters based on similarity. The objectives of this study were: (1) to obtain an empirical classification of IGD patients according to personality variables and (2) to describe the resultant groups in terms of clinical and sociodemographic variables. The sample included 66 IGD adolescent patients who were consecutive referrals at a mental health center in Barcelona, Spain. A Gaussian mixture model cluster analysis was used in order to classify the subjects based on their personality. Two clusters based on personality traits were detected: type I "higher comorbid symptoms" (n = 24), and type II "lower comorbid symptoms" (n = 42). The type I included higher scores in introversive, inhibited, doleful, unruly, forceful, oppositional, self-demeaning and borderline tendency traits, and lower scores in histrionic, egotistic and conforming traits. The type I obtained higher scores on all the Symptom Check List-90 items-Revised, all the State-Trait Anxiety Index scales, and on the DSM-5 IGD criteria. Differences in personality can be useful in determining clusters with different types of dysfunctionality

SAT Modulo Linear Arithmetic for Solving Polynomial

Polynomial constraint solving plays a prominent role in several areas of hardware and software analysis and verification, e.g., termination proving, program invariant generation and hybrid system verification, to name a few. In this paper we propose a new method for solving non-linear constraints based on encoding the problem into an SMT problem considering only linear arithmetic. Unlike other existing methods, our method focuses on proving satisfiability of the constraints rather than on proving unsatisfiability, which is more relevant in several applications as we illustrate with several examples. Nevertheless, we also present new techniques based on the analysis of unsatisfiable cores that allow one to efficiently prove unsatisfiability too for a broad class of problems. The power of our approach is demonstrated by means of extensive experiments comparing our prototype with state-of-the-art tools on benchmarks taken both from the academic and the industrial world

NetBenchmark: a bioconductor package for reproducible benchmarks of gene regulatory network inference

Background: In the last decade, a great number of methods for reconstructing gene regulatory networks from expression data have been proposed. However, very few tools and datasets allow to evaluate accurately and reproducibly those methods. Hence, we propose here a new tool, able to perform a systematic, yet fully reproducible, evaluation of transcriptional network inference methods. Results: Our open-source and freely available Bioconductor package aggregates a large set of tools to assess the robustness of network inference algorithms against different simulators, topologies, sample sizes and noise intensities. Conclusions: The benchmarking framework that uses various datasets highlights the specialization of some methods toward network types and data. As a result, it is possible to identify the techniques that have broad overall performances.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Evolution of body parameters of an obese population under a nutritional intervetion with hipocaloric diet and nutritional

Introducción: Factores como la actividad física, el exceso de calorías de la dieta y la falta de educación nutricional pueden modificarse con el objeto de mejorar el pronóstico de la obesidad y comorbilidades asociadas. Material y método: Participaron 20 sujetos con sobrepeso u obesidad (IMC > 25kg/m2) con edades comprendidas entre los 28 y 62 años. La intervención tuvo una duración de 8 semanas, y consistió en una intervención nutricional y física saludable. Para evaluar los cambios producidos tras la intervención se realizaron mediciones de peso, IMC, diámetros de cintura y cadera y porcentajes de grasa y masa muscular. Los análisis estadísticos se realizaron a través del paquete estadístico SPSS 15.0. Se realizó la prueba T de muestras apareadas para la comparación entre pre-test y post-test. Resultados y conclusiones: Los resultados muestran descensos estadísticamente significativos para los parámetros peso (de 90,99 ± 17,27 a 82,69 ± 16,09), porcentaje graso (de 37,28 ± 5,97 a 33,73 ± 6,69), IMC (de 30,81 ± 5,92 a 27.98 ± 5,6), diámetros de cintura de (101,8 ± 16,5 a 95,23 ± 14,12) y cadera de (98,83 ± 14,11 a 95,7 ± 13,58). El parámetro porcentaje de masa muscular muestra un ascenso estadísticamente significativo tras la intervención. Conclusión: Podemos afirmar que intervenciones nutricionales y físicas pueden ayudar a prevenir enfermedades como la obesidad y patologías derivadas de la misma.Introduction: Factors such as physical activity, beyond calories diet and lack of nutrition education can be modified in order to improve the prognosis of obesity and associated comorbidities. Material and method: 20 subjects with overweight or obesity (BMI > 25kg/m2), aged between 28 and 62. The intervention lasted 8 weeks, following an intervention healthy nutrition intervention and physical activity. To evaluate the changes, weight, BMI, waste and hip sizes and percentages of fat and muscle mass were measured. Statistical analysis was performed through SPSS 15.0 statistical package. After verifying the normality of variables, paired samples T-test was made for comparison between pre-test and post-test, Results: The results showed statistically significant declines for the parameters weight (90.99 ± 17.27 to 82.69 ± 9.16), fat percentage (37.28 ± 5.97 to 33.73 ± 6.69), BMI (from 30.81 ± 5.92 to 27.98 ± 5.6), waist diameters (101.8 ± 16.5 to 95.23 ± 14.12) and hip (98.83 ± 14.11 to 95.7 ± 1358). The percentage of muscle mass parameter shows a statistically significant rise after intervention. Conclusion: we can say that physical and nutrition interventions can help prevent diseases such as obesity and disorders arising therefrom

Nutritional assessment of a university population

En este trabajo se ha planteado realizar la evaluación nutricional de un grupo de 50 alumnos de la universidad de Granada, a los que se les han realizado cuestionarios de recuerdo de 24 horas y de frecuencia de consumo de alimentos, durante un período de treinta días. Al objeto de conocer la ingesta de macro y micronutrientes, los resultados se han analizado por medio del programa Dietsource. Paralelamente, se les han realizado también medidas antropométricas para comprobar la posible variación de las mismas durante el período de estudio. Se ha podido observar un consumo proteico ligeramente superior a las ingestas recomendadas, al igual que ocurre con los lípidos. El grupo estudiado valora positivamente los menús con un elevado contenido en carne mientras que se observan deficiencias en el consumo de frutas y verduras. Asimismo, se observa una variación de las medidas antropométricas de dichos individuos durante el tiempo de estudio. También hay que destacar la deficiencia de algunos micronutrientes tales como hierro, zinc, calcio, yodo, cobre, selenio, vitamina E y ácido fólico para toda la población de estudio. Sin embargo, los valores de vitamina C y tiamina en ambos grupos y de riboflavina en mujeres se pueden considerar adecuados. A la vista de los resultados se pone de manifiesto que existen desequilibrios en la alimentación de este grupo de población, ya que se han observado deficiencias en el consumo de micronutrientes importantes para el mantenimiento y promoción de la salud, así como un consumo de macronutrientes que se aleja de las recomendaciones establecidas.In this work, we have planned to perform a nutritional assessment of a group of 50 students from the University of Granada, to which questionnaires have been administered relating to 24-hour remembrance of type and frequency of food consumption, for 30 days. In order to know macro- and micronutrients intake, the results have been analyzed with DietSource software. At the same time, anthropometrical measurements have been taken to verify their possible change during the study period. We have been able to observe a protein intake slightly higher than the recommended intake, similarly to what occurs with lipids. The studied group positively values menus with high content in meat, whereas deficiencies in fruit and vegetable intake are observed. In addition, there is a variation of anthropometrical measurements of these individuals during the study period. We also noticed a deficiency in some micronutrients such as iron, zinc, calcium, iodine, cupper, selenium, vitamin E, and folic acid in all the studied population. However, vitamin C and thiamine levels in both groups and riboflavin levels in women may be considered adequate. From these results, we may highlight a nutrition unbalance in this population group since we have observed some deficiencies in the intake of important micronutrients for health maintenance and promotion, and macronutrient consumption that diverges from the established recommendations

Nutritional assessment in a moroccan university population during Ramadan

En este trabajo se pretende evaluar el estado nutricional de una población musulmana, cada vez más numerosa en nuestras universidades, en un período en el que varían de forma considerable sus hábitos alimenticios. El estudio se ha realizado en una población de estudiantes musulmanes de la Universidad de Granada, comparándola con un grupo de población no musulmán del mismo ámbito. A los sujetos de estudio, se les realizó una encuesta en la que reflejaban la dieta de cada día durante el período del Ramadán. Se realizó el análisis de macronutrientes de dicha dieta mediante el programa Dietsource. De otra parte, se tomaron medidas antropométricas antes y después del período de estudio para así observar la variación de las medidas realizadas y obtener las conclusiones del estudio nutricional. Se ha observado que el aporte de lípidos de los musulmanes en el tiempo del Ramadán era excesivo (48% del total de la energía), a expensas de disminuir el aporte de hidratos de carbono y aún más el de proteínas. Esto se pone de manifiesto en el estudio antropométrico, observándose una disminución de medidas como área muscular del brazo, área del brazo, perímetro muscular del brazo y peso frente a un aumento del área grasa del brazo, perímetro del brazo, circunferencia de pierna y pierna media en el grupo musulmán, medidas que contrastan con las del grupo no musulmán. A la vista de los resultados cabe destacar que durante el tiempo de Ramadán los valores de ingesta de macronutrientes no son adecuados si se comparan con las recomendaciones de referencia en España. Asimismo, llama la atención cómo aumentan las medidas antropométricas que hacen referencia a la grasa a la vez que disminuyen aquéllas que miden la masa muscular.The aim of this work was to assess nutritional status in Muslim population, bigger and bigger in our universities, in a period during which its dietary habits change considerably. The study has been performed in a population of Muslim students from the University of Granada, and has been compared to a non-Muslim population within the same setting. Study subjects undertook a questionnaire in which they reported the diet consumed each day during the Ramadan period. Macronutrient analysis for such diet was performed with Dietsource software. On the other hand, anthropometrical parameters were taken before and after the study period to observe their change and obtain conclusions on nutritional status. It has been observed that lipid intake of Muslims during the Ramadan period was excessive (48% of total energy), by decreasing hydrocarbons and particularly proteins. This is highlighted by means of the anthropometrical study, observing a decrease in measurements such as muscular area of the arm, the arm area, the muscle perimeter of the arm, and weight, with an increase in arm fat, perimeter of the arm, leg and mid-ieg circumference in the Muslim group, which are in contrast with parameters in the non-Muslim group. From our results, we may stress that during the Ramadan period macronutrient intake values are not appropriate as compared to standard recommendations in Spain. Besides, it is striking to observe how anthropometrical measurements related to fat increase whereas those related to muscular mass decrease

Orion Exploration Flight Test Post-Flight Inspection and Analysis

The multipurpose crew vehicle, Orion, is being designed and built for NASA to handle the rigors of crew launch, sustainment and return from scientific missions beyond Earth orbit. In this role, the Orion vehicle is meant to operate in the space environments like the naturally occurring meteoroid and the artificial orbital debris environments (MMOD) with successful atmospheric reentry at the conclusion of the flight. As a result, Orion's reentry module uses durable porous, ceramic tiles on almost thirty square meters of exposed surfaces to accomplish both of these functions. These durable, non-ablative surfaces maintain their surface profile through atmospheric reentry; thus, they preserve any surface imperfections that occur prior to atmospheric reentry. Furthermore, Orion's launch abort system includes a shroud that protects the thermal protection system while awaiting launch and during ascent. The combination of these design features and a careful pre-flight inspection to identify any manufacturing imperfections results in a high confidence that damage to the thermal protection system identified post-flight is due to the in-flight solid particle environments. These favorable design features of Orion along with the unique flight profile of the first exploration flight test of Orion (EFT-1) have yielded solid particle environment measurements that have never been obtained before this flight