Approach range and velocity determination using laser sensors and retroreflector targets

Rockwell International is conducting an ongoing program to develop Laser Docking Sensors (LDS) that provide high performance and high intrinsic value while meeting all mission objectives. These LDS systems are now being required to aid future spacecraft docking, station keeping, and berthing/capture systems. Improved automated tracking, rendezvous, soft docking, and capture will be required in the construction and support of SSF and future orbiting platforms. The development of a practical LDS requires an easy-to-operate, low-cost, compact system. A wide range of options for laser range detection equipment, ranging from commercial technology to specialized military systems, was evaluated. This evaluation focused on both direct applicability of existing systems and usability of specific technologies contained in these systems. From these efforts it was determined that a new approach provided the greatest promise of fulfilling all mission requirements at the lowest life-cycle cost

Social inclusion and valued roles : a supportive framework

The aim of this paper is to examine the concepts of social exclusion, social inclusion and their relevance to health, well-being and valued social roles. The article presents a framework, based on Social Role Valorization (SRV), which was developed initially to support and sustain socially valued roles for those who are, or are at risk of, being devalued within our society. The framework incorporates these principles and can be used by health professionals across a range of practice, as a legitimate starting point from which to support the acquisition of socially valued roles which are integral to inclusio

Family support and cardiac rehabilitation: A comparative study of the experiences of South Asian and White-European patients and their carer's living in the United Kingdom

Background: Effective lifestyle modification facilitated by cardiac rehabilitation is known to reduce the occurrence of adverse coronary events and mortality. South Asians have poorer outcomes after a myocardial infarction than the general UK population, but little is known about their experiences of family support, cardiac rehabilitation and lifestyle change. Aims: To explore the nature of family support available to a sample of South Asian and White-European cardiac patients and to highlight similarities and differences between these groups with regard to cardiac rehabilitation and lifestyle modification. Methods: Using a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews (in 1 of 6 languages) were conducted by researchers with; 45 South Asian patients and 37 carers and 20 White-European patients and 17 carers. Interviews were conducted in a home setting, up to eighteen months after discharge from hospital following myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass surgery or unstable angina. Results: The main themes that emerged related to the provision of advice and information, family support and burden, dietary change and exercise regimes. Conclusions: Several cultural and ethnic differences were identified between patients and their families alongside similarities, irrespective of ethnicity. These may represent generic characteristics of recovery after a cardiac event. Health professionals should develop a cultural repertoire to engage with diversity and difference. Not every difficulty a person encounters as they try to access appropriate service delivery can be attributed to ethnic background. By improving services generally, support for South Asian populations can be improved. The challenge is to know when ethnicity makes a difference and mediates a person's relationship with service support and when it does not. (C) 2007 European Society of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Barebacking and sexual position

Bareback sex continues to fuel the HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men but despite the fact that much academic attention has been focused on the sexual behaviour of this population few authors have considered the significance of sexual position. In order to explore this relatively under-examined factor, interviews were conducted with 13 HIV-negative and unknown status gay men who had recently engaged in bareback sex. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and through the lens of sexual position, the findings were organised across three super-ordinal themes. There were some areas in which there was little difference between the men’s experiences of engaging in bareback as tops or bottoms (for instance, how participants connected with barebacking partners). In other areas, however, there were clear differences in men’s experiences according to sexual position, particularly in the interpersonal dynamic between tops and bottoms during bareback sex encounters, which it is argued were acted out in accordance with a barebacking ‘sexual script’. There were further differences by position in how individuals overcame ‘cognitive dissonance’ by invoking strategies to make their engagement in bareback sex safer and in the meanings men ascribed to bareback sex and semen exchange. These findings provide valuable insights for those working with MSM around HIV prevention

Near-Earth asteroid sample return missions

The rate of discovery of new NEAs and the success of D-S 1 and NEAR-Shoemaker, suggest that sample return from NEAs is now technically feasible. Here we present a summary of a recent workshop on the topic

Local variation in endoparasite intensities of bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus )from ecologically similar sites: morphometric and endocrine correlates

Much interest has centred recently on the role of adaptive trade-offs between the immune system and other components of life history in determining resistance and parasite intensities among hosts. Steroid hormones, particularly glucocorticoids and sex steroids, provide a plausible mechanism for mediating such trade-offs. A basic assumption behind the hypothesis, however, is that steroid activity will generally correlate with reduced resistance and thus greater parasite intensities. Here, we present some findings from a field study of bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus ) in which we have looked at associations between parasite intensities, anatomical and morphometric measures relating to endocrine function and life history variation in three local populations inhabiting similar but mutually isolated woodland habitats. In general, sites with greater parasite intensities were those in which male C. glareolus had significantly larger adrenal glands, testes and seminal vesicles for their age and body size. Females also showed a site difference in adrenal gland weight. Some aspects of site-related parasite intensity were associated with asymmetry in adrenal gland weight and hind foot length, which may have reflected developmental effects on glucocorticoid activity

Variation in the helminth community structure in bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) from three comparable localities in the Mazury Lake District region of Poland

We tested the null hypothesis that populations of hosts trapped in isolated neighbouring locations showing comparable habitat quality, should support similar helminth parasite communities. The study was undertaken in a 2-week period in late summer in NE Poland in a single year, thereby eliminating seasonal and between-year variation in parasite burdens. A total of 139 Clethrionomys glareolus (bank vole) were sampled from 3 forest sites of similar habitat quality. Total species richness was 11 (6 nematodes and 5 cestodes) with 85±6% of the voles carrying at least 1 species and an overall mean species richness of 1±4. At the component community level, the fewest species of helminths were recorded from site 2 (n=6, compared with 9 at each of the other sites), but site 3 had the lowest Berger-Parker Dominance Index and the highest Simpson's Index of Diversity. At the infracommunity level, site 3 had the highest mean no. of helminthspecies}vole, the highest mean Brillouin's Index of Diversity but the lowest mean no. of helminths/vole. Voles from sites 1 and 3 differed in the nematodes that were most common (site 1, Heligmosomum mixtum ± 95%; site 3, Heligmosomoides glareoli ± 79±3%). At site 2 no species exceeded 50% but prevalence of Syphacia petrusewiczi was higher than at the other sites. The prevalence of cestodes was too low to test reliably (12±9%), but the highest prevalence of adult cestodes was recorded at site 1 (22±5%compared with 4±9 and 1±7%for sites 2 and 3 respectively). Host sex did not ifluence infection, but mean species richness increased with age. The different sites were responsible for most of the variation in our data, and the intrinsic factors (sex and age) were less important in shaping the component community structure of helminths. We conclude that even locations in relative close proximity to one another (13±25 km), selected on the basis of similar habitat quality, have rodent populations that differ in their helminth parasite communities, although for reasons other than the factors quantified in the present study

Stratospheric X‐rays detected at mid‐latitudes with a miniaturized balloon‐borne microscintillator‐PiN diode system

A miniaturized scintillator (“microscintillator”), was flown on a meteorological radiosonde to observe energetic particles in the lower atmosphere. A PiN diode was used to measure the light from the microscintillator to count rates and energies of ionizing radiation from the ground up to the stratosphere (32 km). The flight, over the southern UK on August 27, 2018, occurred during a geomagnetic storm. Low-energy (50–150 keV) particles in the stratosphere were detected in addition to the usual signal from higher-energy cosmic rays. Unusually for these miniaturized radiosonde systems, which are designed to be disposable, the payload was retrieved. This allowed for re-calibration of the microscintillator, which confirmed the low-energy particle detection. Laboratory tests excluded thermal effects on the microscintillator instrument as the origin of the signal. Data from the NOAA POES spacecraft offer the explanation that the microscintillator detected bremstrahhlung X-rays from energetic electron precipitation (EEP). EEP events may affect weather and climate through a range of physical mechanisms, and this midlatitude observation, well away from the auroral oval, extends the region over which meteorological effects of EEPs need to be assessed. Our findings underline the value of balloon measurements in providing rapid response to space weather events. The energy-discriminating and altitude-sensitive capability of the microscintillator augments spacecraft observations from below

Functional interface micromechanics of 11 en-bloc retrieved cemented femoral hip replacements

Contains fulltext : 88556.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Despite the longstanding use of micromotion as a measure of implant stability, direct measurement of the micromechanics of implant/bone interfaces from en bloc human retrievals has not been performed. The purpose of this study was to determine the stem-cement and cement-bone micromechanics of functionally loaded, en-bloc retrieved, cemented femoral hip components. METHODS: 11 fresh frozen proximal femurs with cemented implants were retrieved at autopsy. Specimens were sectioned transversely into 10-mm slabs and fixed to a loading device where functional torsional loads were applied to the stem. A digital image correlation technique was used to document micromotions at stem-cement and cement-bone interfaces during loading. RESULTS: There was a wide range of responses with stem-cement micromotions ranging from 0.0006 mm to 0.83 mm (mean 0.17 mm, SD 0.29) and cement-bone micromotions ranging from 0.0022 mm to 0.73 mm (mean 0.092 mm, SD 0.22). There was a strong (linear-log) inverse correlation between apposition fraction and micromotion at the stem-cement interface (r(2) = 0.71, p < 0.001). There was a strong inverse log-log correlation between apposition fraction at the cement-bone interface and micromotion (r(2) = 0.85, p < 0.001). Components that were radiographically well-fixed had a relatively narrow range of micromotions at the stem-cement (0.0006-0.057 mm) and cement-bone (0.0022-0.029 mm) interfaces. INTERPRETATION: Minimizing gaps at the stem-cement interface and encouraging bony apposition at the cement-bone interface would be clinically desirable. The cement-bone interface does not act as a bonded interface in actual use, even in radiographically well-fixed components. Rather, the interface is quite compliant, with sliding and opening motions between the cement and bone surfaces.1 juni 201