Health Monitoring of LAV Planet Gear Bushings using Signature Analysis Techniques

The Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies (CIMS) is studying the improvement of military Light Armored Vehicles (LAVs) for the United States Department of Defense. A focus of this study is the Marine Corps LAVs that are experiencing failures in the planetary assembly which serves as the vehicle\u27s final drive system. The primary failure source is the bushings that provide the interface between the planet gears and their respective pins. Currently, to detect a bushing failure, vehicle occupants must exit the LAV and place their hand on the wheel hub cover to check for excessive heat. If the hub feels too hot, travel must stop so the planetary assembly can cool down. These overheating wheel hubs can lead to catastrophic failure of the planetary assembly. Therefore, CIMS is working to analyze these bushing failures and develop a method that will allow occupants to detect potential bushing failures from inside the moving vehicle. In the past, the relationship of pin-bushing interface temperature and wear showed that temperature does not indicate bushing failure soon enough for practical implementation. It was the intention of this current wear study to evaluate bushing failures using vibration signatures as part of an effort to develop failure prognostic tools for (future) in-service use. This thesis was conducted as a feasibility assessment study to evaluate bushing failure from a vibration and signal processing standpoint. Accelero meters were used to collect vibration data from the bushings. Collected vibration signatures were analyzed and examined as bushing wear progressed to determine whether or not remaining bushing life could be predicted using vibration signatures. Vibration data was analyzed from an energy standpoint; that is, the band power was calculated for several frequency bands of interest. Band power was plotted versus bushing wear to reveal any potential relationship between the two. Test results showed that a direct, linear relationship exists between bushing wear and band power in the 2000 to 2100 Hz frequency range. The results of this thesis suggest that vibration data can be used to identify the severity bushing wear. Since this investigation was conducted as a feasibility assessment, additional work is required before this wear detection method can be implemented on an actual LAV. It is recommended that similar bushing wear-vibration studies be conducted where bushings are tested on the Mustang dynamometer (at CIMS) and then on an actual LAV

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks

Resilience engineering on the road: using operator event sequence diagrams and system failure analysis to enhance cyclist and vehicle interactions

Future visions of transport systems include both a drive towards automated vehicles and the need for sustainable, active, modes of travel. The combination of these requirements needs careful consideration to ensure the integration of automated vehicles does not compromise vulnerable road users. Transport networks need to be resilient to automation integration, which requires foresight of possible challenges in their interaction with other road users. Focusing on a cyclist overtake scenario, the application of operator event sequence diagrams and a predictive systems failure method provide a novel way to analyse resilience. The approach offers the opportunity to review how automation can be positively integrated into road transportation to overcome the shortfalls of the current system by targeting organisational, procedural, equipment and training measures

The NHLBI Study on Long-terM OUtcomes after the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome In Children (MUSIC): Design and Objectives

BackgroundThe Long-terM OUtcomes after the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome In Children (MUSIC) study aims to characterize the frequency and time course of acute and long-term cardiac and non-cardiac sequelae in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children associated with COVID-19 (MIS-C), which are currently poorly understood.MethodsThis multicenter observational cohort study will enroll at least 600 patients <21 years old who meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention case definition of MIS-C across multiple North American centers over 2 years. The study will collect detailed hospital and follow-up data for up to 5 years, and optional genetic testing. Cardiac imaging at specific time points includes standardized echocardiographic assessment (all participants) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) in those with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <45% during the acute illness. The primary outcomes are the worst LVEF and the highest coronary artery z-score of the left anterior descending or right coronary artery. Other outcomes include occurrence and course of non-cardiac organ dysfunction, inflammation, and major medical events. Independent adjudication of cases will classify participants as definite, possible, or not MIS-C. Analysis of the outcomes will include descriptive statistics and regression analysis with stratification by definite or possible MIS-C. The MUSIC study will provide phenotypic data to support basic and translational research studies.ConclusionThe MUSIC study, with the largest cohort of MIS-C patients and the longest follow-up period to date, will make an important contribution to our understanding of the acute cardiac and non-cardiac manifestations of MIS-C and the long-term effects of this public health emergency

International Ignatian Reconciliation Conference: From crisis and confrontation to healing and forgiveness, how is reconciliation possible?

El compromiso de la Compañía de Jesús en el quehacer universitario se expresa en el deseo de contribuir efectivamente a hacer posible una vida digna, plena, para todos y cada uno de los seres humanos, en el presente y en el futuro. Para lograr una vida digna, una vida plena, se requiere la reconciliación. Por ello, la Universidad jesuita debe ser una fuente de vida, comprometida a fondo en los procesos de reconciliación. La Universidad Pontificia Comillas y la Pontificia Universidad Javeriana trabajaron bajo la orientación y el estímulo del padre Michael J. Garanzini, S. J. en la organización de la Conferencia Internacional de Reconciliación Ignaciana de la Crisis y el Enfrentamiento a la Sanación y el Perdón: ¿Cómo es Posible la Reconciliación?, que se realizó del 10 al 12 de mayo de 2021, en modalidad combinada (presencial y remota), desde Madrid. En esta, además de abordajes conceptuales sobre la reconciliación, se presentaron experiencias consolidadas en territorios o con comunidades específicas de construcción de paz y reconciliación de instituciones vinculadas a la Compañía de Jesús. Las memorias de la Conferencia que aquí presentamos tienen el fin de contribuir a que las conversaciones de perdón se den y se multipliquen, de modo que la reconstrucción del tejido social deje de ser una utopía para convertirse en una posibilidad palpable. Sin más, esta Conferencia fue el resultado de esa unión por la que tanto propende la reconciliación, pues no debemos olvidar que parte del proceso para llegar a ella nace del amor y de una meta por trascender todo aquello que nos divide y que, en este caso, se hace desde unas universidades comprometidas y de la mano del legado espiritual de san Ignacio.The commitment of the Society of Jesus in university work is expressed in the desire to effectively contribute to making possible a dignified, full life for each and every one of the human beings, in the present and in the future. To achieve a dignified life, a full life, reconciliation is required. For this reason, the Jesuit University must be a source of life, fully committed to reconciliation processes. Comillas Pontifical University and Javeriana Pontifical University worked under the guidance and encouragement of Father Michael J. Garanzini, S.J. in organizing the International Conference on Ignatian Reconciliation from Crisis and Confrontation to Healing and Forgiveness: How is Possible Reconciliation?, which took place from May 10 to 12, 2021, in a combined modality (face-to-face and remote), from Madrid. In this, in addition to conceptual approaches on reconciliation, consolidated experiences in territories or with specific communities of peacebuilding and reconciliation of institutions linked to the Society of Jesus were presented. The Conference proceedings that we present here have the purpose of contributing to the conversations of forgiveness occurring and multiplying, so that the reconstruction of the social fabric ceases to be a utopia and becomes a palpable possibility. Without further ado, this Conference was the result of that union for which reconciliation tends so much, because we must not forget that part of the process to reach it is born of love and of a goal to transcend everything that divides us and that, in this case, it is done from committed universities and hand in hand with the spiritual legacy of Saint Ignatius.Madri

Expanding the diversity of mycobacteriophages: insights into genome architecture and evolution.

Mycobacteriophages are viruses that infect mycobacterial hosts such as Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. All mycobacteriophages characterized to date are dsDNA tailed phages, and have either siphoviral or myoviral morphotypes. However, their genetic diversity is considerable, and although sixty-two genomes have been sequenced and comparatively analyzed, these likely represent only a small portion of the diversity of the mycobacteriophage population at large. Here we report the isolation, sequencing and comparative genomic analysis of 18 new mycobacteriophages isolated from geographically distinct locations within the United States. Although no clear correlation between location and genome type can be discerned, these genomes expand our knowledge of mycobacteriophage diversity and enhance our understanding of the roles of mobile elements in viral evolution. Expansion of the number of mycobacteriophages grouped within Cluster A provides insights into the basis of immune specificity in these temperate phages, and we also describe a novel example of apparent immunity theft. The isolation and genomic analysis of bacteriophages by freshman college students provides an example of an authentic research experience for novice scientists