Attitude Control for a Solar-Sail Spacecraft

A report discusses the attitude-control system of a proposed spacecraft that would derive at least part of its propulsion from a solar sail. The spacecraft would include a bus module containing three or more reaction wheels, a boom attached at one end to the bus module and attached at its other end to a two-degree-of-freedom (DOF) gimbal at the nominal center of mass of a sail module. Each DOF of the gimbal could be independently locked against rotation or allowed to rotate freely. By using the reaction wheels to rotate the bus when at least one gimbal DOF was in the free state, the center of mass (CM) of the spacecraft could be shifted relative to the center of pressure (CP) on the solar sail. The resulting offset between the CM and CP would result in a solar torque, which could be used to change the attitude of the spacecraft. The report discusses numerous aspects of the dynamics and kinematics of the spacecraft, along with the relationships between these aspects and the designs of such attitude-control- system components as sensors, motors, brakes, clutches, and gimbals

Controlling Attitude of a Solar-Sail Spacecraft Using Vanes

A paper discusses a concept for controlling the attitude and thrust vector of a three-axis stabilized Solar Sail spacecraft using only four single degree-of-freedom articulated spar-tip vanes. The vanes, at the corners of the sail, would be turned to commanded angles about the diagonals of the square sail. Commands would be generated by an adaptive controller that would track a given trajectory while rejecting effects of such disturbance torques as those attributable to offsets between the center of pressure on the sail and the center of mass. The controller would include a standard proportional + derivative part, a feedforward part, and a dynamic component that would act like a generalized integrator. The controller would globally track reference signals, and in the presence of such control-actuator constraints as saturation and delay, the controller would utilize strategies to cancel or reduce their effects. The control scheme would be embodied in a robust, nonlinear algorithm that would allocate torques among the vanes, always finding a stable solution arbitrarily close to the global optimum solution of the control effort allocation problem. The solution would include an acceptably small angle, slow limit-cycle oscillation of the vanes, while providing overall thrust vector pointing stability and performance

Formation-Initialization Algorithm for N Spacecraft

A paper presents an algorithm to initialize a formation of N distributed spacecraft in deep space

Applying cognitively guided instruction through word problem probes

Professional development programs have the opportunity to engage educators with new knowledge and pedagogical implications. Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) is a teacher professional development program focused on elementary mathematics instruction (Carpenter, Fennema, Franke, Levi, & Empson, 1999). The program\u27s foundation is based upon research of how students learn to solve basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division word problems. Using children\u27s common solutions strategies, CGI leads to teaching practices that support children in generating their own meaningful problem-solving skills while naturally learning mathematics. The paper reviews the literature on CGI and examines the initial findings of interrater reliability of CG I-based word problem probes, which were created for this research project. The limitations and implications of this project will also be discussed

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the HIF-1α gene and chemoradiotherapy of locally advanced rectal cancer

The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive impact of polymorphisms in the HIF-1α gene on the response to chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in rectal cancer. This study included two cohorts of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer receiving long-course CRT. The HIF-1α C1772T (rs11549465), G1790A (rs11549467) and c(*)191T>C (rs2057482) polymorphisms were investigated in the test cohort (n=65), and HIF-1α c(*)191T>C was analysed in the validation cohort (n=198). No correlations were identified between the polymorphisms and clinicopathological factors. The HIF-1α C1772T and HIF-1α G1790A polymorphisms demonstrated no correlation with tumour response to CRT in the test cohort. The HIF-1α c(*)191T>C CC genotype was marginally associated with a higher rate of complete tumour response (P=0.05) in the test cohort, while the HIF-1α c(*)191T>C CC genotype was associated with a poor tumour response (P=0.03) in the validation cohort. In conclusion, these results suggest that HIF-1α polymorphisms have no value as predictors of response to neoadjuvant CRT in rectal cancer. The results of the HIF-1α c(*)191T>C in two cohorts differ and emphasise the importance of biomarker validation

Pemetrexed and Gemcitabine for Chemotherapy Refractory Colorectal Cancer-Results of a Phase II and Translational Research Study *

ABSTRACT Introduction: We investigated the safety and efficacy of pemetrexed with gemcitabine in heavily pre-treated, chemotherapy refractory, KRAS mutated colorectal cancer (mCRC) and the prognostic value of quantitative levels of cell free DNA (cfDNA) in plasma. Methods: Inclusion criteria comprised; histopathologically verified, KRAS mutant, chemotherapy resistant mCRC, adequate organ function and performance status. Patients received pemetrexed (initially 500 mg/m 2 q3w) + gemcitabine (1250 mg/m 2 days 1 and 8) until progression or unacceptable toxicity. RECIST version 1.1, NCI-CTCAE version 4.0 and Kaplan-Meier statistics were used for endpoint evaluation. Cell free DNA was quantified from pre-treatment EDTA plasma-samples by an in-house qPCR. Results: Forty patients were included. The median number of cycles was 3 (range 0 -12). Thirty-six percent obtained disease stabilisation, but no objective response was observed. Median PFS and OS were 2.8 (range 2.1 -4.0) and 5.4 (range 4.3 -7.0) months, respectively. Adverse events caused immediate discontinuation of treatment or delay of the next cycle and consequently discontinuation in 5 patients. Translational research revealed a shorter PFS and OS with increasing levels of cfDNA. The median PFS in patients with cfDNA levels above the 75 percentile was 2 months compared to 4 months in the remaining patients, HR 3.23 (1.05 -9.89), p = 0.0008. The median OS was 3 and 6 months, respectively, HR 2.9 (95%CI 0. 98 -8.34). Cox regression analysis confirmed that cfDNA remained a significantly independent prognostic factor for both PFS and OS. Conclusion: Pemetrexed and gemcitabine did not prove sufficient benefit and unacceptable toxicity was observed. The potential value of cfDNA should be investigated further