Implication of Additive Manufacturing on United States Air Force Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Supply Chain

Additive manufacturing is mandated as a technology for the Department of Defense to consider to implement. Previous efforts have shown positive potential for additive manufacturing (AM) for United States Air Force Civil Engineering but do not explore the economic impact. This research examines implementation by investigating a specific Explosive Ordnance Disposal repair part supply chain in the current combat theater of operations. A framework to capture the basic financial savings AM could realize was developed to aid AM decision making. This research established a Scenario Planning and Monte Carlo simulation based framework to produce an estimated annual cost for a system with various configurations and machine capabilities under varied machine life lengths. The model informs the baseline value of AM replacement and what this represents for an associated machine cost. Further, the research presents potential roadblocks and additional cost areas that would impact an AM decision. The overall results take the next step to understand AMs implementation for the United States Air Force and Civil Engineer Squadrons

Development of Liquid Chromatography-tandem Mass Spectrometry (Lc-ms/Ms) Methods for Exploration of Currency Contamination with Controlled Substances

The purpose of this research was to develop and validate a method for the quantitation of controlled substances on currency using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The LC-MS/MS instrument was optimized for the quantitation of cocaine, codeine, heroin, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), methamphetamine, and morphine in methanol by adjusting instrument parameters in the ion path and the source. Validation was performed to determine precision, accuracy, sensitivity and selectivity of the analytical method. Filters to be analyzed were obtained through vacuum extraction of sets of ten bills of each of the following denominations: $1,$5, $10,$20, $50, and$100. The filters were extracted in methanol containing deuterated internal standard and the concentrations of controlled substances on the filter were determined through LC-MS/MS. Domestic and foreign currencies were analyzed in this study. The LC-MS/MS method was successfully developed to quantitate cocaine, codeine, heroin, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), methamphetamine, and morphine and was subsequently validated. The method utilized a gradient LC method with electrospray ionization and three ions per analyte in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The limit of quantitation for cocaine was 0.0664 ng/bill, codeine was 0.0742 ng/bill, heroin was 0.0743 ng/bill, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) was 0.0730 ng/bill, methamphetamine was 0.0639 ng/bill, and morphine was 0.0268 ng/bill. There was a total of 2,100 domestic bills sampled and contamination percentage was 81.43% for cocaine, 0.48% for codeine, 1.43% for heroin, 1.90% for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), 4.29% for methamphetamine, and 3.34% for morphine. Cocaine was detected from 4 of 32 foreign currency locations and no other controlled substances were detected.Chemistry Departmen

Taxonomic composition of mollusks collected from the stomach content of Astropecten brasiliensis (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) in Santa Catarina, Brazil

The stomach content of 58 individuals of Astropecten brasiliensis Müller & Troschel, 1842, trawled by commercial shrimp vessels in Santa Catarina (Brazil), revealed that this starfish feeds upon a variety of mollusk species. A total of 542 mollusk specimens were found in the stomach content and classified into 24 families, 32 genera, and 35 species. The mollusks were usually well preserved and intact, which facilitated their correct identification. Bivalves and gastropods accounted for 72% and 27% of the mollusks collected in the stomachs, respectively. Three mollusk species (Corbula caribaea, Transenella stimpsoni, and Natica pusilla) occurred most frequently in the stomach content, for all sampling periods, locations, and size classes of starfish. Statistical analysis revealed that the average number of individual mollusks found in the stomachs of A. brasiliensis was higher during the warmer periods

Malacofauna terrestre e arborícola em duas trilhas ecológicas do Parque Estadual de Itapuã, Viamão, RS : resultados preliminares

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Intrathecal reboxetine suppresses evoked and ongoing neuropathic pain behaviours by restoring spinal noradrenergic inhibitory tone.

The descending noradrenergic (NAergic) projection to the spinal cord forms part of an endogenous analgesic system. After nerve injury, a localised failure in this compensatory system has been implicated as a permissive factor in the development of neuropathic sensitisation. We investigated whether restoring descending NAergic tone with intrathecal reboxetine can oppose the development of the neuropathic pain phenotype after tibial nerve transection (TNT). Rats had a lumbar intrathecal catheter implanted at the time of nerve injury for administration of reboxetine (10 μg) in both acute and chronic dosing experiments. In acute dosing experiments, both intrathecal and systemic (30 mg/kg) reboxetine partially reversed mechanical allodynia. This antiallodynic effect of intrathecal reboxetine was blocked by prior administration of yohimbine (α2-adrenoceptor antagonist, 30 μg) but not by prazosin (α1-adrenoceptor antagonist, 30 μg) or propranolol (β-adrenoceptor antagonist, 100 μg). Chronic intrathecal reboxetine (10 μg, intrathecally, twice daily for 2 weeks) suppressed the development of cold and mechanical allodynia. Nerve-injured animals demonstrated a place preference for intrathecal reboxetine, suggesting that it also reduced spontaneous pain. In contrast, an equivalent antiallodynic dose of systemic reboxetine (30 mg/kg) was aversive in both naive and TNT rats. On cessation of chronic intrathecal reboxetine, there was a gradual development of allodynic sensitisation that was indistinguishable from control TNT animals by 7 days after the end of dosing. Our results suggest that pharmacological restoration of spinal NAergic tone with intrathecal reboxetine can suppress both allodynia and spontaneous pain in the TNT model

Endogenous analgesic action of the pontospinal noradrenergic system spatially restricts and temporally delays the progression of neuropathic pain following tibial nerve injury

Pontospinal noradrenergic neurons form part of an endogenous analgesic system that suppresses acute pain, but there is conflicting evidence about its role in neuropathic pain. We investigated the chronology of descending noradrenergic control during the development of a neuropathic pain phenotype in rats following tibial nerve transection (TNT). A lumbar intrathecal cannula was implanted at the time of nerve injury allowing administration of selective α-adrenoceptor (α-AR) antagonists to sequentially assay their effects upon the expression of allodynia and hyperalgesia. Following TNT animals progressively developed mechanical and cold allodynia (by day 10) and subsequently heat hypersensitivity (day 17). Blockade of α2-AR with intrathecal yohimbine (30 μg) revealed earlier ipsilateral sensitization of all modalities while prazosin (30 μg, α1-AR) was without effect. Established allodynia (by day 21) was partly reversed by the re-uptake inhibitor reboxetine (5 μg, i.t.) but yohimbine no longer had any sensitising effect. This loss of effect coincided with a reduction in the descending noradrenergic innervation of the ipsilateral lumbar dorsal horn. Yohimbine reversibly unmasked contralateral hindlimb allodynia and hyperalgesia of all modalities and increased dorsal horn c-fos expression to an innocuous brush stimulus. Contralateral thermal hyperalgesia was also reversibly uncovered by yohimbine administration in a contact heat ramp paradigm in anaesthetised TNT rats. Following TNT there is an engagement of inhibitory α2-AR-mediated noradrenergic tone which completely masks contralateral and transiently suppresses the development of ipsilateral sensitization. This endogenous analgesic system plays a key role in shaping the spatial and temporal expression of the neuropathic pain phenotype after nerve injury