Autonomous navigation for artificial satellites

An autonomous navigation system is considered that provides a satellite with sufficient numbers and types of sensors, as well as computational hardware and software, to enable it to track itself. Considered are attitude type sensors, meteorological cameras and scanners, one way Doppler, and image correlator

Utilization of landmark data in attitude/orbit determination

A mathematical model is reported for determination of satellite position, velocity, and attitude using landmark coordinates as observables. This model, although developed with respect to earth stabilized missions, Tiros-N and Nimbus-G in particular, is applicable to any earth stabilized satellite in general

Cosmic Neutrino Bound on the Dark Matter Annihilation Rate in the Late Universe

How large can the dark matter self-annihilation rate in the late universe be? This rate depends on (rho_DM/m_chi)^2 , where rho_DM/m_chi is the number density of dark matter, and the annihilation cross section is averaged over the velocity distribution. Since the clustering of dark matter is known, this amounts to asking how large the annihilation cross section can be. Kaplinghat, Knox, and Turner proposed that a very large annihilation cross section could turn a halo cusp into a core, improving agreement between simulations and observations; Hui showed that unitarity prohibits this for large dark matter masses. We show that if the annihilation products are Standard Model particles, even just neutrinos, the consequent fluxes are ruled out by orders of magnitude, even at small masses. Equivalently, to invoke such large annihilation cross sections, one must now require that essentially no Standard Model particles are produced.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; to appear in the proceedings of the TeV Particle Astrophysics II Workshop, Madison, Wisconsin, 28-31 Aug 200

Medical History for Anesthesiologists: Continuation of a Primer

Editor’s note: The absence of a recognized formal curriculum in anesthesia history means that many of us have known and unknown gaps in our knowledge. These gaps limit our ability to understand how things came to be, how things may become and how we can affect the future. I have asked Dr. Manisha Desai and Dr. Sukumar Desai to provide a primer on the history of medicine and anesthesia history. The goals of this primer are to educate and to help individuals target future study. Below is the second article in a continuing series

Primer on Medical History for Anesthesiologists: Introduction

Editor’s note: The absence of a recognized formal curriculum in anesthesia history means that many of us have known and unknown gaps in our knowledge. These gaps limit our ability to understand how things came to be, how things may become and how we can affect the future. I have asked Dr. Manisha Desai and Dr. Sukumar Desai to provide a survey of medical history. The goals of this primer are 1) to educate, and 2) to help individuals target future study. Below is the first article in a continuing series

Announcing the 19th Spring Meeting of the Anesthesia History Association - May 2-4, 2013, Hartford, Connecticut

Announcement and description of the program for the 19th Spring Meeting of the Anesthesia History Association, May 2-4, 2013, in Hartford, Connecticut

Alternative Methods to Teach History of Anesthesia

Background: History of Anesthesia [HOA] may be taught through lectures, small group discussions, or by one-on-one teaching. HOA competes for scarce time in a busy didactic schedule and for coverage in mainstream medical journals devoted to anesthesiology. These efforts are hampered by the fact that HOA does not have any direct impact on the delivery of modern anesthesia, and the fact that these topics do not appear in written or oral board examinations. We describe three additional modalities to teach HOA to anesthesia residents that have been successfully employed by the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Massachusetts: 1) Tours; 2) Historical Narratives and Novels; and 3) Movies and Video Clips. Conclusions: It is difficult to impart information using lectures due to time constraints and a very busy didactic schedule in residency programs. HOA related material does not get adequate coverage in standard textbooks of anesthesiology. We describe successful use of three modalities of imparting interesting information in an informal setting. Such efforts provide a unique experience during residency training. From preliminary reports we are confident that details from such tours, novels and movies remain imprinted in their memory for many years, perhaps permanently. These individuals are likely to remain advocates of history, and may choose to devote a part of their academic career towards exploration of HOA

The Discovery of Modern Anaesthesia – Contributions of Davy, Clarke, Long, Wells and Morton

While many may argue as to who deserves the most credit for the discovery of modern anaesthesia, events in the late 18 th and early 19 th centuries led to the introduction and development of modern anaesthetic techniques. English physicist and chemist Humphry Davy [1778-1829] first became aware of the sedative and analgesic properties of nitrous oxide in 1795. Although he never experimented with the drug during a surgical procedure, he was the first to suggest that it would be beneficial in relieving pain during surgical procedures. The mind-altering properties of nitrous oxide and ether were often abused for recreational purposes, and the term \u27ether frolics\u27 was coined to describe such use. While physician William Crawford Williamson Long [1815-1878] first used ether during general surgery, medical student William Edward Clarke [1819-1898] was the first to use ether for dental extraction in 1842. Dr. Long neglected to publicize his findings until 1849, thereby denying himself much of the credit he deserved. Dentist Horace Wells [1815-1848] successfully used nitrous oxide for dental procedures, but a public demonstration which he held in January 1845 turned out to be a fiasco. Medical student William Thomas Green Morton [1819-1868] was the first to publicly demonstrate the effectiveness of ether for general surgery on October 16, 1846. This article seeks to give rightful credit to each of these individuals for their unique contributions to the discovery of modern anaesthesia