Constellation Training Facility Support

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is developing the next set of vehicles that will take men back to the moon under the Constellation Program. The Constellation Training Facility (CxTF) is a project in development that will be used to train astronauts, instructors, and flight controllers on the operation of Constellation Program vehicles. It will also be used for procedure verification and validation of flight software and console tools. The CxTF will have simulations for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), Crew Module (CM), CEV Service Module (SM), Launch Abort System (LAS), Spacecraft Adapter (SA), Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV), Pressurized Cargo Variant CM, Pressurized Cargo Variant SM, Cargo Launch Vehicle, Earth Departure Stage (EDS), and the Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM). The Facility will consist of part-task and full-task trainers, each with a specific set of mission training capabilities. Part task trainers will be used for focused training on a single vehicle system or set of related systems. Full task trainers will be used for training on complete vehicles and all of its subsystems. Support was provided in both software development and project planning areas of the CxTF project. Simulation software was developed for the hydraulic system of the Thrust Vector Control (TVC) of the ARES I launch vehicle. The TVC system is in charge of the actuation of the nozzle gimbals for navigation control of the upper stage of the ARES I rocket. Also, software was developed using C standards to send and receive data to and from hand controllers to be used in CxTF cockpit simulations. The hand controllers provided movement in all six rotational and translational axes. Under Project Planning & Control, support was provided to the development and maintenance of integrated schedules for both the Constellation Training Facility and Missions Operations Facilities Division. These schedules maintain communication between projects in different levels. The CxTF support provided is one that requires continuous maintenance since the project is still on initial development phases

Gendered Sexual Health among Men in India

Background: The term “men who have sex with men” (MSM) provokes the illusion of sexual risk homogeneity among male sexual minorities. The term overemphasizes a single aspect of sex between men (behavior) and overlooks nuanced factors (such as gender/sexual identity) that affect the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Beyond STIs, the expression of gender/sexual identity has observable traits that predispose non-normative sexual minorities to profiling, discrimination and human rights abuses. In India, three subgroups of male sexual minorities differ in gender/sexual identity. Kothis have effeminate gender expressions and often practice receptive anal sex. Panthis have gender expression that reflect more traditional masculine roles and they tend to practice insertive anal intercourse with other men. The gender expression of Double-Deckers is mixed and situational and they practice both insertive and receptive anal sex depending on the specific situation or sexual partner. Methods: Respondent-Driven Sampling was used to recruit 12,022 men in 12 Indian cities from 9/2012 to 7/2013. In a questionnaire, participants were asked to select their gender/sexual identity from a list of locally recognized identities, including Panthis, Kothis, and Double Deckers. HIV and HSV-2 infection were ascertained using ELISA-based IgG assays. Syphilis was ascertained using standard Treponema (Treponema pallidum haemagglutination) and non-Treponema tests (Rapid Plasma Reagin) tests. Random-effects logistic regression was used for all aims. In aim 1, we estimated the associations between gender/sexual identity and serology-ascertained STIs (HIV, HSV-2, syphilis) as well as self-reported STIs (Hepatitis B, chlamydia, trichomonas, gonorrhea). We also estimated the association between gender/identity and concurrent infections (HIV and HSV-2, HSV-2 and syphilis, HIV and syphilis, HIV/HSV-2/syphilis concurrent infections). Associations were adjusted for age, intercourse type, sex work, number of partners, education, marital status, and circumcision. In aim 2, we estimated the association between gender/sexual identity and outcomes related to human/sexual rights (healthcare refusal, healthcare mistreatment, physical and sexual violence). In aim 3, we analyzed if 3 social stratifiers (age, family income and education) modified selected associations between gender/sexual identity and outcomes estimated in aim 1 and aim 2. Results: The parent trial recruited a total of 12,022 men who self-reported sexual encounters with other men. This analysis was restricted to 9,542 (79.37%) men who self-reported the 3 gender/sexual identities of interest: Kothi, Panthi and Double-Deckers. The mean age was 28.45 years, 33.08% were married, and median age at first intercourse with a man was 18 years. Panthis represented the largest subgroup (32.7%), followed by Kothis (23.5%), and Double Deckers (23.3%). In terms of sexually transmitted infections (aim 1), after adjustment for behavioral and social factors, compared to Panthis, Kothis had higher odds of HIV (OR=2.20; 95% CI=1.60, 3.03), HSV-2 (2.55; 2.04, 3.20), syphilis (2.35; 1.42, 3.90), and coinfections with HIV/HSV2 (2.56; 1.74, 3.75), HIV/syphilis (2.93, 1.17, 7.34), HSV2/syphilis (2.97, 1.58, 5.59) and HIV/HSV-2/syphilis (3.84; 1.40, 10.56). In terms of relative differences in human/sexual rights (aim 2), compared to Panthis, Kothis had higher odds of reporting being frequently mistreated by hospital staff (4.59; 3.54, 5.94), of frequently being refused medical care or denied hospital services (5.08; 3.79, 6.80), of frequently being refused housing (5.49; 4.20, 7.16), history of serious physical violence growing up (6.69; 5.97, 7.49), and history of forced attempts at unwanted sexual activity by an intimate partner (4.11; 3.67, 4.61). In aim 3, the differences in the associations between gender identity and HIV showed modification across strata of age, education and income. Men with high family incomes, high education (or both) had lower odds of HIV but these protective effects were largely limited to younger (not older) Kothis and Panthis. Conclusions: Men of different gender/sexual identities in India belong to heterogeneous subgroups. Kothis had elevated odds of HIV, HSV-2, and syphilis as well as higher odds of concurrent epidemics of these infections. Kothis were predisposed to human/sexual rights violations such as discrimination, physical and sexual violence. Education and income were associated with lower odds of HIV for younger but not older Kothis and Panthis. In contrast, sex work and the Kothi identity in India are associated with high risk of adverse sexual health outcomes independently of protective social variables. The role of education and income among younger men in their formative years warrants additional multi-disciplinary HIV research. Gender/sexual identity is an important biopsychosocial determinant of health that is associated with sexual behavior, epidemics of sexually transmitted infections, and the enjoyment of human rights

Balanced Islands in Two Colored Point Sets in the Plane

Let $S$ be a set of $n$ points in general position in the plane, $r$ of which are red and $b$ of which are blue. In this paper we prove that there exist: for every $\alpha \in \left [ 0,\frac{1}{2} \right ]$, a convex set containing exactly $\lceil \alpha r\rceil$ red points and exactly $\lceil \alpha b \rceil$ blue points of $S$; a convex set containing exactly $\left \lceil \frac{r+1}{2}\right \rceil$ red points and exactly $\left \lceil \frac{b+1}{2}\right \rceil$ blue points of $S$. Furthermore, we present polynomial time algorithms to find these convex sets. In the first case we provide an $O(n^4)$ time algorithm and an $O(n^2\log n)$ time algorithm in the second case. Finally, if $\lceil \alpha r\rceil+\lceil \alpha b\rceil$ is small, that is, not much larger than $\frac{1}{3}n$, we improve the running time to $O(n \log n)$

Un framework de programación dinámica para IoT

El crecimiento del Internet of Things está permitiendo la conexión a la red de muchos dispositivos. La tecnología debería permitir a estos dispositivos adaptarse automáticamente a las necesidades de sus usuarios. Con este propósito, desarrollamos en trabajos anteriores la arquitectura de referencia People as a Service, para crear perfiles virtuales de los usuarios almacenados en sus smartphones. Sin embargo, para la obtención de un perfil completo necesitamos información de contexto, que solo pueden proporcionarnos estos dispositivos del entorno. Nuestro objetivo es desarrollar un framework en el que usuarios y dispositivos conectados se integren de manera transparente y dinámica, permitiendo una actualización programática de los perfiles y el comportamiento de los dispositivos. De esta forma, damos un primer paso hacia un Mundo Programable.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Complex event processing for health monitoring

The increase of the life expectancy has become a problem in regions with a low population density. This fact is caused by the existence of small towns all far from one another and with the peculiarity of many elders with special health care living there. This situation increases in a high percentage the health costs of the region having to attend daily all these elders who need a close mon-itoring. We live in a IoT era with a huge quantity of new connected devices with lots of sensors. Taking advantage of this, it is possible to monitor these elders from the distance without having to cover the complete area of the region every day. This way, our approach is using a mobile centric architecture that permits the elders having a device which infers a health virtual profile of them with data from its sensors and from other smart devices like bands with pulsometers. At this point we propose using Complex Event Processing techniques to combine the data coming from all sources and analyze it to extract meaningful information for the doctors and caregivers and even detect important events like falls in real time.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Gini coefficient, dissimilarity index and Lorenz curve for the spanish port system by type of goods

This paper shows the Gini Coefficient, the dissimilarity Index and the Lorenz Curve for the Spanish Port System by type of goods from 1960 to the year 2010 for business units: Total traffic, Liquid bulk cargo, Solid bulk cargo, General Merchandise and Container (TEUs) with the aim of carcaterizar the Spanish port systems in these periods and propose future strategies

A study the degree of concentration of the Spanish bunkering

This paper shows the Gini Coefficient of the Spanish bunkering, for the Spanish Port System 1960 to the year 2010 with the aim to describe the Spanish bunkering in these periods and propose future strategies. The stage of bunkering must change due to new regulations of marine fuels but to predict the future you must know the past On December 17 came into force on community standard marine fuels. After a complicated negotiation with the industry moves forward a project that is fully compliant with the guidelines of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and limiting the sulphur and particulate matter of marine fuels used by ships calling or transit through maritime space of the European Union. The impact of a possible extension at European level of the Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECA) as they are introduced in the Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution From Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978 (MARPOL) adopted by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)