The Small Payload Access to Space Experiment (SPASE): Using Non-Traditional Aerospace Technology to Enable a New Generation of Low-Cost Missions

Launching on STS-108 Endeavour in late 2001, the Small Payload Access to Space Experiment (SPASE) demonstrates a number of new technologies, efficient ways to conduct a nanospacecraft development program, and how to take such a spacecraft through the Shuttle Hitchhiker safety and integration process. This paper describes the essential “lessons learned” in each of these areas. Commercial solar panels, batteries, imagers, photocells, integrated circuits, and manufacturing techniques are used throughout the vehicle, bringing the low cost and high manufacturing reliability of these products into the space realm. Core personnel carried the program from conception through proposal, requirements definition, design, development, integration, test, and delivery, making the whole program significantly more efficient. Shuttle safety issues were addressed from the beginning and continually throughout the program, as part of (not added to) the development effort. The information learned throughout this process, and the new doors opened by this demonstration – such as the first use of Lithium-Ion batteries in a Shuttle payload – help make space utilization more efficient, more affordable, and easier for future missions. AeroAstro’s Bitsy nanospacecraft kernel will be flight-proven by the SPASE mission

The Effect of Specimen Dimension on Residual Stress Relaxation of the Weldments

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the residual stress relaxation behavior in weldments. The stress relaxation is studied while successively reducing the size of weld specimens. Finite-element modeling was used to simulate the stress relaxation, and then an empirical model was derived based on the experimental and modeling results. The results of this study shall encourage industry users to utilize more plentiful conventional X-ray diffractometers for residual stress measurement of large weld components

Coking-Resistant Sub-Nano Dehydrogenation Catalysts: PtnSnx/SiO2 (n=4, 7)

We present a combined experimental/theoretical study of Pt$_n$/SiO$_2$ and Pt$_n$Sn$_x$/SiO$_2$ (n = 4, 7) model catalysts for the endothermic dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons, using the ethylene intermediate as a model reactant. Supported pure Ptn clusters are found to be highly active toward dehydrogenation of C2D4, quickly deactivating due to a combination of carbon deposition and sintering, resulting in loss of accessible Pt sites. Addition of Sn to Ptn clusters results in the complete suppression of C2D4 dehydrogenation and carbon deposition, and also stabilizes the clusters against thermal sintering. Theory shows that both systems have thermal access to a multitude of cluster structures and adsorbate configurations that form a statistical ensemble. While Pt4/SiO2 clusters bind ethylene in both di-sigma and pi-bonded configurations, Pt$_4$Sn$_3$/SiO$_2$ binds C2H4 only in the pi-mode, with di-sigma bonding suppressed by a combination of electronic and geometric features of the PtSn clusters. Dehydrogenation reaction profiles on the accessible cluster isomers were calculated using the climbing image nudged elastic band (CI-NEB) method

Injustice perceptions about pain: parent–child discordance is associated with worse functional outcomes

Pain is experienced within and influenced by social environments. For children with chronic pain, the child–parent relationship and parental beliefs about pain are particularly important and may influence pain outcomes. Pain-related injustice perceptions have recently been identified as an important cognitive–emotional factor for children with pain. The current study aimed to better understand the pain-related injustice perceptions of children with chronic pain and their parents. The sample consisted of 253 pediatric chronic pain patients (mean age = 14.1 years, 74% female) presenting to a tertiary pain clinic. Patients completed measures of pain intensity, pain-related injustice perceptions, stress, functional disability, and quality of life. Parents completed a measure of pain-related injustice perceptions about their child's pain. Child–parent dyads were categorized into 1 of 4 categories based on the degree of concordance or discordance between their scores on the injustice measures. One-way analysis of variances examined differences in pain intensity, stress, functional disability, and quality of life across the 4 dyad categories. Our findings indicated that both the degree (concordant vs discordant) and direction (discordant low child–high parent vs discordant high child–low parent) of similarity between child and parent injustice perceptions were associated with child-reported pain intensity, stress, functional disability, and quality of life. The poorest outcomes were reported when children considered their pain as highly unjust, but their parents did not. These findings highlight the important role of parents in the context of pain-related injustice perceptions in pediatric chronic pain

Amyloid positron emission tomography candidates may focus more on benefits than risks of results disclosure

IntroductionGiven mounting calls to disclose biomarker test results to research participants, we explored factors underlying decisions by patients with mild cognitive impairment to receive amyloid imaging results.MethodsProspective, qualitative interviews were conducted with 59 participants (30 = mild cognitive impairment patients, 29 = care partners) from the scan arm of a randomized controlled trial on the effects of amyloid PET results disclosure in an Alzheimer Disease Research Center setting.ResultsSixty‐three percent of the participants were female, with an average age of 72.9 years, and most had greater than a high school level of education (80%). Primary motivations included: (1) better understanding one’s mild cognitive impairment etiology and prognosis to plan ahead, and (2) learning one’s brain amyloid status for knowledge’s sake, regardless of whether the information is actionable. Most participants demonstrated an adequate understanding of the scan’s limitations, yet instances of characterizing amyloid PET as a definitive test for Alzheimer’s disease occurred. Mention of potential drawbacks, such as negative psychological outcomes, was minimal, even among care partners.DiscussionFindings demonstrate a risk of disproportionate focus on possible benefits of testing among amyloid scan candidates and suggest a need to clearly emphasize the limitations of amyloid PET when counseling cognitively impaired patients and their families before testing. Future research should examine whether minimizing drawbacks at the pre‐imaging stage has adverse consequences on results disclosure.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152635/1/dad2jdadm201805003.pd

Benefits of Intervention in Managing Chronic Pain

poster abstractAs studies of individuals with chronic pain continue more is being understood about cognitive and behavioral components that drive pain. While the goal of treatment is to reduce or eliminate the locus of pain, another model known as intervention, focuses more on self-management and cognitive change. The presented research is the 12-month results of trails of intervention for chronic pain management. Three hundred participants were recruited from the VA of Indianapolis. All participants were being seen in a primary care setting for severe pain that persisted for more than 3 months. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: the control group, which would continue receiving the usual care for their pain; and the variable group, which would receive intervention. Intervention methods included automated home-based monitoring, selective care manager calls, weekly case review with MD specialist and escalation of therapy using an evidence-based stepped care analgesic algorithm. Participants pain was measured using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), which is a self-report assessing the severity of pain and impact of pain on daily functioning. The trial results showed that a 1-point difference in BPI scores between the intervention and control group. Participants in the intervention group showed a good adherence and satisfaction with automate and nurse components of intervention. These results show pain management through intervention has a positive effect on pain, which in turn has an effect on depression, anxiety, and outlook. Intervention aims to empower patients to become active participants in the management of their illness and feel more in control of their pain in hopes of giving them a better outlook of their situation