Design hazard analysis, and system level testing of a university propulsion system for spacecraft application

The Missouri Science and Technology Satellite (M-SAT) design team on the campus of the Missouri University of Science and Technology has developed a pair of satellites to perform an autonomous formation flight mission. To enable the mission, a unique cold gas propulsion system was developed which utilizes the refrigerant R-134a as propellant. This thesis details the design process and considerations which led to the propulsion system as integrated into the satellite for the Flight Competition Review of the NS4 competition. The design process described flowed from the mission requirements and program restrictions down through component-level requirements and resulted in a system capable of performing the assigned duties. The hazard analysis conducted for this thesis also expanded on previous analyses to address key issues and AFRL concerns --Abstract, page iii

A Wireless Brain-Machine Interface for Real-Time Speech Synthesis

This is the published version, also available here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0008218.Background Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) involving electrodes implanted into the human cerebral cortex have recently been developed in an attempt to restore function to profoundly paralyzed individuals. Current BMIs for restoring communication can provide important capabilities via a typing process, but unfortunately they are only capable of slow communication rates. In the current study we use a novel approach to speech restoration in which we decode continuous auditory parameters for a real-time speech synthesizer from neuronal activity in motor cortex during attempted speech. Methodology/Principal Findings Neural signals recorded by a Neurotrophic Electrode implanted in a speech-related region of the left precentral gyrus of a human volunteer suffering from locked-in syndrome, characterized by near-total paralysis with spared cognition, were transmitted wirelessly across the scalp and used to drive a speech synthesizer. A Kalman filter-based decoder translated the neural signals generated during attempted speech into continuous parameters for controlling a synthesizer that provided immediate (within 50 ms) auditory feedback of the decoded sound. Accuracy of the volunteer's vowel productions with the synthesizer improved quickly with practice, with a 25% improvement in average hit rate (from 45% to 70%) and 46% decrease in average endpoint error from the first to the last block of a three-vowel task. Conclusions/Significance Our results support the feasibility of neural prostheses that may have the potential to provide near-conversational synthetic speech output for individuals with severely impaired speech motor control. They also provide an initial glimpse into the functional properties of neurons in speech motor cortical areas

A Wireless Brain-Machine Interface for Real-Time Speech Synthesis

Background: Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) involving electrodes implanted into the human cerebral cortex have recently been developed in an attempt to restore function to profoundly paralyzed individuals. Current BMIs for restoring communication can provide important capabilities via a typing process, but unfortunately they are only capable of slow communication rates. In the current study we use a novel approach to speech restoration in which we decode continuous auditory parameters for a real-time speech synthesizer from neuronal activity in motor cortex during attempted speech. Methodology/Principal Findings: Neural signals recorded by a Neurotrophic Electrode implanted in a speech-related region of the left precentral gyrus of a human volunteer suffering from locked-in syndrome, characterized by near-total paralysis with spared cognition, were transmitted wirelessly across the scalp and used to drive a speech synthesizer. A Kalman filter-based decoder translated the neural signals generated during attempted speech into continuous parameters for controlling a synthesizer that provided immediate (within 50 ms) auditory feedback of the decoded sound. Accuracy of the volunteer's vowel productions with the synthesizer improved quickly with practice, with a 25% improvement in average hit rate (from 45% to 70%) and 46% decrease in average endpoint error from the first to the last block of a three-vowel task. Conclusions/Significance: Our results support the feasibility of neural prostheses that may have the potential to provide near-conversational synthetic speech output for individuals with severely impaired speech motor control. They also provide an initial glimpse into the functional properties of neurons in speech motor cortical areas.National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (U.S.) (Grant R44-DC007050)National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (U.S.) (Grant R01-DC007683)National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (U.S.) (Grant R01-DC002852)Center of Excellence for Learning in Education, Science, and Technology (SBE-0354378

Overview of the Role for Calreticulin in the Enhancement of Wound Healing through Multiple Biological Effects

Calreticulin (CRT), an intracellular chaperone protein crucial for the proper folding and transport of proteins through the endoplasmic reticulum, has more recent acclaim as a critical regulator of extracellular functions, particularly in mediating cellular migration and as a requirement for phagocytosis of apoptotic cells. Consistent with these functions, we show that the topical application of CRT has profound effects on the process of wound healing by causing a dose-dependent increase in epithelial migration and granulation tissue formation in both murine and porcine normal and impaired animal models of skin injury. These effects of CRT are substantiated, in vitro, as we show that CRT strongly induces cell migration/wound closure of human keratinocytes and fibroblasts, using a wound/scratch plate assay, and stimulates cellular proliferation of human keratinocytes, fibroblasts, and vascular endothelial cells, providing mechanistic insight into how CRT functions in repair. Similarly, in both animal models, the histology of the wounds show marked proliferation of basal keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts, dense cellularity of the dermis with notably increased numbers of macrophages and well-organized collagen fibril deposition. Thus, CRT profoundly affects the wound healing process by recruiting cells essential for repair into the wound, stimulating cell growth, and increasing extracellular matrix production

Communications Biophysics

Contains research objectives and summary of research on thirteen research projects split into four section.National Institutes of Health (Grant 1 RO1 NS10737-01)National Institutes of Health (Grant 1 ROI NS10916-01)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NS11000-02)National Institutes of Health (Grant 1 RO1 NS11153-01)Harvard M.I.T. Rehabilitation Engineering CenterU. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Grant 23-P-55854National Institutes of Health (Grant 1 RO1 NS11680-01)Norlin Music, Inc.Clarence J. LeBel FundNational Institutes of Health (Grant 1 RO1 NS11080-01A1)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 TO1 GM01555-08)M.I.T. Health Sciences FundBoston City Hospital Purchase Order 1176-05-21335-C

Communication Biophysics

Contains reports on six research projects.National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 PO1 NS13126)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NS18682)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NS20322)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 R01 NS20269)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 T32NS 07047)Symbion, Inc.National Science Foundation (Grant BNS 83-19874)National Science Foundation (Grant BNS 83-19887)National Institutes of Health (Grant 6 RO1 NS 12846)National Institutes of Health (Grant 1 RO1 NS 21322

Strong Carbon Features and a Red Early Color in the Underluminous Type Ia SN 2022xkq

We present optical, infrared, ultraviolet, and radio observations of SN 2022xkq, an underluminous fast-declining type Ia supernova (SN Ia) in NGC 1784 ($\mathrm{D}\approx31$ Mpc), from $<1$ to 180 days after explosion. The high-cadence observations of SN 2022xkq, a photometrically transitional and spectroscopically 91bg-like SN Ia, cover the first days and weeks following explosion which are critical to distinguishing between explosion scenarios. The early light curve of SN 2022xkq has a red early color and exhibits a flux excess which is more prominent in redder bands; this is the first time such a feature has been seen in a transitional/91bg-like SN Ia. We also present 92 optical and 19 near-infrared (NIR) spectra, beginning 0.4 days after explosion in the optical and 2.6 days after explosion in the NIR. SN 2022xkq exhibits a long-lived C I 1.0693 $\mu$m feature which persists until 5 days post-maximum. We also detect C II $\lambda$6580 in the pre-maximum optical spectra. These lines are evidence for unburnt carbon that is difficult to reconcile with the double detonation of a sub-Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf. No existing explosion model can fully explain the photometric and spectroscopic dataset of SN 2022xkq, but the considerable breadth of the observations is ideal for furthering our understanding of the processes which produce faint SNe Ia.Comment: 38 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ, the figure 15 input models and synthetic spectra are now available at https://zenodo.org/record/837925

SN 2019ehk: A Double-peaked Ca-rich Transient with Luminous X-Ray Emission and Shock-ionized Spectral Features

We present panchromatic observations and modeling of the Calcium-rich supernova (SN) 2019ehk in the star-forming galaxy M100 (d ≈ 16.2 Mpc) starting 10 hr after explosion and continuing for ~300 days. SN 2019ehk shows a double-peaked optical light curve peaking at t = 3 and 15 days. The first peak is coincident with luminous, rapidly decaying Swift-XRT–discovered X-ray emission (L_x ≈ 10⁴¹ erg s⁻¹ at 3 days; L_x ∝ t⁻³), and a Shane/Kast spectral detection of narrow Hα and He II emission lines (v ≈ 500 km s⁻¹) originating from pre-existent circumstellar material (CSM). We attribute this phenomenology to radiation from shock interaction with extended, dense material surrounding the progenitor star at r (0.1–1) × 10¹⁷ cm. The photometric and spectroscopic properties during the second light-curve peak are consistent with those of Ca-rich transients (rise-time of t_r = 13.4 ± 0.210 days and a peak B-band magnitude of M_B = −15.1 ± 0.200 mag). We find that SN 2019ehk synthesized (3.1 ± 0.11) × 10⁻² M_⊙ of ⁵⁶Ni and ejected M_(ej) = (0.72 ± 0.040) M⊙ total with a kinetic energy E_k = (1.8 ± 0.10) × 10⁵⁰ erg. Finally, deep HST pre-explosion imaging at the SN site constrains the parameter space of viable stellar progenitors to massive stars in the lowest mass bin (~10 M_⊙) in binaries that lost most of their He envelope or white dwarfs (WDs). The explosion and environment properties of SN 2019ehk further restrict the potential WD progenitor systems to low-mass hybrid HeCO WD+CO WD binaries

The social dimension of globalization: A review of the literature

With globalization affecting so many inter-connected areas, it is difficult to grasp its full impact. This literature review of over 120 sources considers the impact of globalization on wages and taxes, poverty, inequality, insecurity, child labour, gender, and migration. Opening with some stylized facts concerning globalization in 1985-2002, the authors then highlight recent findings on these areas, reporting on controversies and on emerging consensus where it exists. There follows a review of national and international policy responses designed to make globalization more sustainable and equitable and to deliver decent jobs, security and a voice in decision-making