Development of a Solar Array Drive Assembly for CubeSat

Small satellites and in particular CubeSats, have increasingly become more viable as platforms for payloads typically requiring much larger bus structures. As advances in technology make payloads and instruments for space missions smaller, lighter and more power efficient, a niche market is emerging from the university community to perform rapidly developed, low-cost missions on very small spacecraft - micro, nano, and picosatellites. In just the last few years, imaging, biological and new technology demonstration missions have been either proposed or have flown using variations of the CubeSat structure as a basis. As these missions have become more complex, and the CubeSat standard has increased in both size (number of cubes) and mass, available power has become an issue. Body-mounted solar cells provide a minimal amount of power; deployable arrays improve on that baseline but are still limited. To truly achieve maximum power, deployed tracked arrays are necessary. To this end, Honeybee Robotics Spacecraft Mechanisms Corporation, along with MMA of Nederland Colorado, has developed a solar array drive assembly (SADA) and deployable solar arrays specifically for CubeSat missions. In this paper, we discuss the development of the SADA

The distribution of the effects of genes affecting quantitative traits in livestock

Meta-analysis of information from quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping experiments was used to derive distributions of the effects of genes affecting quantitative traits. The two limitations of such information, that QTL effects as reported include experimental error, and that mapping experiments can only detect QTL above a certain size, were accounted for. Data from pig and dairy mapping experiments were used. Gamma distributions of QTL effects were fitted with maximum likelihood. The derived distributions were moderately leptokurtic, consistent with many genes of small effect and few of large effect. Seventeen percent and 35% of the leading QTL explained 90% of the genetic variance for the dairy and pig distributions respectively. The number of segregating genes affecting a quantitative trait in dairy populations was predicted assuming genes affecting a quantitative trait were neutral with respect to fitness. Between 50 and 100 genes were predicted, depending on the effective population size assumed. As data for the analysis included no QTL of small effect, the ability to estimate the number of QTL of small effect must inevitably be weak. It may be that there are more QTL of small effect than predicted by our gamma distributions. Nevertheless, the distributions have important implications for QTL mapping experiments and Marker Assisted Selection (MAS). Powerful mapping experiments, able to detect QTL of 0.1σp, will be required to detect enough QTL to explain 90% the genetic variance for a quantitative trait

How to Reduce Drought Risk

This guide describes a practical step-by-step process for identifying actions that can be taken to reduce potential drought-related impacts before a drought occurs. Step 1 begins with making sure that the right people are brought together and supplied with adequate data to make informed and equitable decisions during the process. Steps 2 and 3 narrow the focus of the study by identifying high priority drought-related impacts that are relevant to the user’s location or activity. Step 4 demonstrates that in order to reduce the potential for the identified impacts to occur in the future, it is necessary to understand the underlying environmental, economic, and social causes of the impacts. Finally, Steps 5 and 6 utilize all of the previous information to identify feasible, cost-effective, and equitable actions that can be taken to address the identified causes. In this manner, true drought vulnerabilities can be addressed that will subsequently reduce drought-related impacts and risk

The Drought Monitor

There is a need for improved drought monitoring and assessment methods in the United States. Drought is the most costly natural disaster [Federal Emergency Management Agancy (FEMA 1995; Wilhite 2000)], but it is often neglected by developers of assessment and forecast products. Drought is more nebulous than other disasters and does not lend itself to traditional assessments or forecast methods. Its relatively slow onset and the complexity of its impacts are reasons for the new assessment methodology. Improvements in drought monitoring and forecasting techniques will allow for better preparation, lead to better management practices, and reduce the vulnerability of society to drought and its subsequent impacts. The Drought Monitor (additional information available online at http://drought.unl/edu/dm) was created with the goal of tracking and displaying the magnitude and spatial extent of drought and its impacts across the United States. The Drought Monitor is produced weekly and classifies drought severity into four major categories, with a fifth category threshold assigned to locations on a map are determined from a number of indicators, or tools, blended with subjective interpretation

Ontology Summit 2008 Communiqué: Towards an open ontology repository

Each annual Ontology Summit initiative makes a statement appropriate to each Summits theme as part of our general advocacy designed to bring ontology science and engineering into the mainstream. The theme this year is "Towards an Open Ontology Repository". This communiqué represents the joint position of those who were engaged in the year's summit discourse on an Open Ontology Repository (OOR) and of those who endorse below. In this discussion, we have agreed that an "ontology repository is a facility where ontologies and related information artifacts can be stored, retrieved and managed." We believe in the promise of semantic technologies based on logic, databases and the Semantic Web, a Web of exposed data and of interpretations of that data (i.e., of semantics), using common standards. Such technologies enable distinguishable, computable, reusable, and sharable meaning of Web and other artifacts, including data, documents, and services. We also believe that making that vision a reality requires additional supporting resources and these resources should be open, extensible, and provide common services over the ontologies

National survey of the injury prevention activities of children's centres

Children's centres were established across England to provide a range of services including early education, social care and health to pre-school children and their families. We surveyed children's centres to ascertain the activities they were undertaking to prevent unintentional injuries in the under fives. A postal questionnaire was sent to a sample of children's centre managers (n = 694). It included questions on current activities, knowledge and attitudes to injury prevention, health priorities and partnership working. Responses were received from 384 (56%) children's centres. Overall, 58% considered unintentional injury prevention to be one of the three main child health priorities for their centre. Over half the respondents (59%) did not know if there was an injury prevention group in their area, and 21% did not know if there was a home safety equipment scheme. Knowledge of how child injury deaths occur in the home was poor. Only 11% knew the major cause of injury deaths in children under five. Lack of both staff time and funding were seen as important barriers by children's centre staff to undertake injury prevention activities. Nearly all stated that training (97%) and assistance with planning injury prevention (94%) would be helpful to their centres. Children's centres need further support if they are to effectively tackle this important public health area

Gypsy moth in Minnesota: the early years

1 online resource (PDF, 6 pages)This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu

Reducing injuries in the early years: Home safety training

Injury Prevention Briefing. Preventing unintentional injuries to the under fives: a guide for practitioners (IPB) was developed as part of a five year programme of research, Keeping Children Safe at Home, funded by the National Institute for Health Research. The IPB has been endorsed by NICE (resource E0079) (April 2016).Dissemination of the IPB was an integral part of the KCS programme: following a dissemination workshop in Bristol, Bristol City Council (BCC) awarded us ‘Public Health New Investment’ funding for further dissemination workshops across Bristol and to academic and community practitioners further afield, including UWE students (children’s nursing and SCPHN). An initial workshop exit evaluation form was given out at the end of each workshop. With additional competitive funding from the University of the West of England, a six month post-workshop on-line survey was undertaken which aimed to assess the impact of the IPB. This included questions about its use, what aspects were used, who with and with how many families/parents. KCS IPB injury Prevention workshops have been delivered to 332 delegates. The delegates attending covered a wide range of professionals and students: including early years’ practitioners and teaching staff, health visitors, children’s centre staff, community nurses and children’s nursing and Specialist Community Public Health Nurse students at UWE.The immediate feedback following the workshop and evaluation of the IPB at the six months follow-up both indicate that the IPB has been, and is expected to be, of benefit to practitioners within a wide variety of settings . The IPB has been used in face-to-face and one-to-one discussions with parents at home, as well as in group sessions at children’s centres. Teachers and mentors are continuing to use it with families and to educate health visitors and community professionals, students, and colleagues, thus its impact will continue

The Drought Monitor

There is a need for improved drought monitoring and assessment methods in the United States. Drought is the most costly natural disaster [Federal Emergency Management Agancy (FEMA 1995; Wilhite 2000)], but it is often neglected by developers of assessment and forecast products. Drought is more nebulous than other disasters and does not lend itself to traditional assessments or forecast methods. Its relatively slow onset and the complexity of its impacts are reasons for the new assessment methodology. Improvements in drought monitoring and forecasting techniques will allow for better preparation, lead to better management practices, and reduce the vulnerability of society to drought and its subsequent impacts. The Drought Monitor (additional information available online at http://drought.unl/edu/dm) was created with the goal of tracking and displaying the magnitude and spatial extent of drought and its impacts across the United States. The Drought Monitor is produced weekly and classifies drought severity into four major categories, with a fifth category threshold assigned to locations on a map are determined from a number of indicators, or tools, blended with subjective interpretation