RF Roaming System Locator: A Modular Omnidirectional Antenna System

Drones are increasingly common in everything from entertainment to delivery services. Currently, GPS and wireless triangulation are the two main methods of tracking drones and collision avoidance. The main problem with these two methods are accuracy and mobility. This thesis goes into building a system that is able to solve the two main drawbacks, by using a completely contained antenna system. The system is robust and can work in a variety of environments and situations. While the thesis focuses on drone tracking, the system is built with modularity in mind and can be adapted to track other RF signals with proper RF down conversion modules. This thesis will go in depth in how this aforementioned system was conceptualized, designed, built, and evaluated

Where Did The Birds Go?

Birds on campus have had an extremely high death rate near University Inn in past years. The trees on the west side of the building are within the kill zone. The kill zone is 15-30 feet away from the building

Is incident rheumatoid arthritis interstitial lung disease associated with methotrexate treatment? Results from a multivariate analysis in the ERAS and ERAN inception cohorts

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.Objectives To assess predictive factors for rheumatoid arthritis interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) in two early RA inception cohorts with a focus on methotrexate (MTX) exposure. Design Multicenter prospective early RA inception cohort studies; the early RA study (ERAS) and the early RA network (ERAN) Setting Secondary care, ERAS 9 centers, ERAN 23 centers in England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland Participants Patients with new diagnosis of RA, n=2701.Standardised data including demographics, drug therapies and clinical outcomes including the presence of RA-ILD were collected at baseline, within 3- 6 months, at 12 months and annually thereafter. Primary and secondary outcome measures Primary outcome was the association of MTX exposure on RA-ILD diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were the association of demographic, comorbid and RA specific factors on RA-ILD diagnosis and the association of MTX exposure on time to RA-ILD diagnosis. Results Of 92 eligible ILD cases, 39 occurred in 1578 (2.5%) MTX exposed and 53 in 1114 (4.8%) non-MTX exposed cases. The primary analysis of RA-ILD cases only developing after any csDMARD treatment (n=67) showed MTX exposure not to be associated with incident RA-ILD (O.R. 0.85 CI 0.49, 1.49 p=0.578) and a non-significant trend for delayed ILD diagnosis (O.R. 0.54 CI 0.28, 1.06 p=0.072). In an extended analysis including RA-ILD cases present at RA diagnosis (n=92), MTX exposure was associated with a significantly reduced risk of incident RA-ILD (O.R. 0.48, CI 0.3, 0.79 p=0.004) and longer time to ILD diagnosis (O.R. 0.41, CI 0.23, 0.75 p=0.004). Other independent baseline associations with incident RA-ILD were higher age of RA onset, ever smoking, male gender, rheumatoid nodules and longer time from first RA symptom to first out-patient visit. Conclusions MTX treatment was not associated with an increased risk of RA-ILD diagnosis. On the contrary evidence suggested that MTX may delay the onset of ILD.Peer reviewe

Waiver World: A Guided Tour of 1115 and 1332 Waivers

An overview of waivers made possible by Section 1115 of the Social Security Act and Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act. This presentation explains spending and waiver authority and the legal considerations that may arise, the ways that states have used waiver authority, and reviews the limitations and new responsibilities that come with waivers. Under Section 1115 of the Social Security Act, states can pursue waivers to implement pilot or demonstration projects affecting many programs, including Medicaid. Under the Affordable Care Act, Section 1332 allows states to pursue federal waivers for innovation strategies that will expand access to high-quality, affordable health care

Economic Evaluation of Tocilizumab Monotherapy Compared to Adalimumab Monotherapy in the Treatment of Severe Active Rheumatoid Arthritis

AbstractObjectivesTo estimate the cost-effectiveness of tocilizumab (TCZ) monotherapy (Mono) versus adalimumab (ADA) Mono from the US payer perspective in patients with rheumatoid arthritis for whom methotrexate is inappropriate.MethodsWe compared TCZ Mono (8 mg/kg monthly) with ADA Mono (40 mg every other week), using efficacy results from a head-to-head study, ADalimumab ACTemrA (ADACTA). We calculated the incremental cost per responder (achievement of American College of Rheumatology [ACR] 20% improvement criteria, ACR 50% improvement criteria, ACR 70% improvement criteria, or low disease activity score) for TCZ versus ADA at 6 months. A patient-level simulation was used to estimate the lifetime incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) of initiating treatment with TCZ Mono versus ADA Mono. Both drugs are followed by an etanercept-certolizumab-palliative care sequence. Nonresponders discontinue at 6 months; responders experience a constant probability of discontinuation. Discontinuers move to the next treatment. ACR responses produce changes in the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score. We mapped the HAQ score to utility to estimate QALYs. Costs include those related to hospitalization and those related to treatment (drug acquisition, administration, and monitoring). Probabilistic and one-way sensitivity analyses were conducted, along with several scenario analyses.ResultsCompared with ADA, TCZ was more effective, with an estimated 6-month incremental cost ranging from $6,570 per additional low disease activity score achiever to$14,265 per additional ACR 70% improvement criteria responder. The lifetime incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was $36,944/QALY.ConclusionsTCZ Mono is projected to be cost-effective compared with ADA Mono in patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis for whom methotrexate is not appropriate, from a US payer perspective

Starling1: Swarm Technology Demonstration

The Starling series of demonstration missions will test technologies required to achieve affordable, distributed spacecraft (“swarm”) missions that: are scalable to at least 100 spacecraft for applications that include synchronized multipoint measurements; involve closely coordinated ensembles of two or more spacecraft operating as a single unit for interferometric, synthetic aperture, or similar sensor architectures; or use autonomous or semi-autonomous operation of multiple spacecraft functioning as a unit to achieve science or other mission objectives with low-cost small spacecraft. Starling1 will focus on developing technologies that enable scalability and deep space application. The mission goals include the demonstration of a Mobile Ad-hoc NETwork (MANET) through an in-space communication experiment and vision based relative navigation through the Starling Formation-flying Optical eXperiment (StarFOX)

DUF2285 is a novel helix-turn-helix domain variant that orchestrates both activation and antiactivation of conjugative element transfer in proteobacteria.

Horizontal gene transfer is tightly regulated in bacteria. Often only a fraction of cells become donors even when regulation of horizontal transfer is coordinated at the cell population level by quorum sensing. Here, we reveal the widespread 'domain of unknown function' DUF2285 represents an 'extended-turn' variant of the helix-turn-helix domain that participates in both transcriptional activation and antiactivation to initiate or inhibit horizontal gene transfer. Transfer of the integrative and conjugative element ICEMlSymR7A is controlled by the DUF2285-containing transcriptional activator FseA. One side of the DUF2285 domain of FseA has a positively charged surface which is required for DNA binding, while the opposite side makes critical interdomain contacts with the N-terminal FseA DUF6499 domain. The QseM protein is an antiactivator of FseA and is composed of a DUF2285 domain with a negative surface charge. While QseM lacks the DUF6499 domain, it can bind the FseA DUF6499 domain and prevent transcriptional activation by FseA. DUF2285-domain proteins are encoded on mobile elements throughout the proteobacteria, suggesting regulation of gene transfer by DUF2285 domains is a widespread phenomenon. These findings provide a striking example of how antagonistic domain paralogues have evolved to provide robust molecular control over the initiation of horizontal gene transfer

Identification of MIR390a precursor processing defective mutants in Arabidopsis by direct genome sequencing

Transacting siRNA (tasiRNA) biogenesis in Arabidopsis is initiated by microRNA (miRNA) –guided cleavage of primary transcripts. In the case of TAS3 tasiRNA formation, ARGONAUTE7 (AGO7)– miR390 complexes interact with primary transcripts at two sites, resulting in recruitment of RNA-DEPENDENT RNA POLYMERASE6 for dsRNA biosynthesis. An extensive screen for Arabidopsis mutants with specific defects in TAS3 tasiRNA biogenesis or function was done. This yielded numerous ago7 mutants, one dcl4 mutant, and two mutants that accumulated low levels of miR390. A direct genome sequencing-based approach to both map and rapidly identify one of the latter mutant alleles was developed. This revealed a G-to-A point mutation (mir390a-1) that was calculated to stabilize a relatively nonpaired region near the base of the MIR390a foldback, resulting in misprocessing of the miR390/ miR390* duplex and subsequent reduced TAS3 tasiRNA levels. Directed substitutions, as well as analysis of variation at paralogous miR390-generating loci (MIR390a and MIR390b), indicated that base pair properties and nucleotide identity within a region 4–6 bases below the miR390/miR390* duplex region contributed to the efficiency and accuracy of precursor processing

A Hybrid Electrooptic Microring Resonator-Based 1 x 4 x 1 ROADM for Wafer Scale Optical Interconnects

Pairing high-quality factor (Q) silicon-on-insulator microring resonators with rapidly tunable organic electrooptic claddings has allowed the first demonstration of a silicon-organic hybrid electrooptic reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM). A coplanar electrode geometry provides up to 0.36 GHz/V of electrooptic voltage tuning for each channel, corresponding to an electrooptic coefficient of r_(33) = 64 pm/V at wavelengths around 1550 nm. Individual ring resonator devices have 40-µm ring radii, 2.7-nm free spectral range, and tuning ranges of 180 GHz. The 1 × 4 × 1 ROADM has a footprint of less than 1 mm^2 and has been shown to reconfigure in less than a microsecond