Robotics Education: NPS RoboDojo

CRUSER TechCon 2018 Research at NPS. Wednesday 1: Sensin

Ant Weight Battle Bots as Learning Tools [video]

TechCon2017 (CRUSER)Presented by Professor Kristen Tsolis: NPS Defense AnalysisAnt Weight Battlebots are a low-cost high-impact way to be introduced to robots. These combat robots weigh one pound or less, and even with their small size, builders can develop a foundational understanding of robot design, fabrication, control, and electronics. Designs may range from simple Lego-built structures to elegantly designed titanium-caged fighting machines as long as the one pound rule is maintained. In December 2016, CRUSER and the RoboDojo held our first Ant Weight Battlebot competition. This presentation will provide an overview of how ant weight battlebots fit into the ecosystem of competitive learning robotics, our series of workshops leading up to the competition, fabrication of our arena, safety considerations, the competition itself, and learning outcomes from the event.NPS CRUSE

Robotics Education: NPS RoboDojo [video]

CRUSER TechCon 2018 Research at NPS. Wednesday 1: Sensin

Making Friends in Maker-Spaces: From Grassroots Innovation to Great-Power Competition

The article of record as written may be found at https://warontherocks.com/2021/01/making-friends-in-maker-spaces-from-grassroots-innovation-to-great-power-competition

Metrics and Measurement in Additive Manufacturing Domain: Adoption and Return on Investment

N4 - Fleet Readiness & LogisticsNPS-19-N326-

Sociocultural--Geospatial Anthropological Portal (SC-GAP): Enhanced Sociocultural Understanding Through Crowdsourced Service Member Narratives

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2015.07.533Despite the Department of Defense’s (DoD) many investments directed toward developing and fielding programs designed to advance sociocultural knowledge, the DoD nonetheless lacks a shared repository in which all entities can aggregate, visualize, and share sociocultural data across the enterprise. A gap analysis of DoD’s desired and actual states of achieving and implementing a sociocultural understanding reveals three main shortcomings: a data gap, a repository gap, and a collaboration gap. As a consequence, we created a proof of concept, enterprise solution for DoD that bridges the overall sociocultural gap by harnessing the overlooked and untapped potential of today’s deployed DoD service members, who over the course of their daily duties, are exposed to various populations’ cultures. Service member observations and interpretations of service members’ interactions form an untapped set of operationally relevant sociocultural data. The existing wellspring of sociocultural information needs only be collected and indexed using a framework derived from the Five Operational Culture Dimensions model. Residing on a geodatabase and interfaced via a custom multi-client supported web-based Geographic Information System (GIS), this framework integrates the collected data comprised of service member narratives with the greater Joint Force thereby creating a dynamic and collaborative sociocultural living repository. Combining an anthropologically sound framework that is operationally relevant with the capabilities of GIS results in a solution that will allow DoD personnel to uniformly populate, visualize, and share near real-time cultural data relevant to military operations across all services and agencies. This DoD enterprise solution has the potential to enhance the Nation’s armed forces’ strategic performance through the application of culturally adept military powe

Disseminated infections with antibiotic-resistant non-typhoidal Salmonella strains: contributions of host and pathogen factors.

Non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica serovars (NTS) are generally associated with gastroenteritis; however, the very young and elderly, as well as individuals with compromised immunity, are at risk of developing disseminated infection that can manifest as bacteremia or focal infections at systemic sites. Disseminated NTS infections can be fatal and are responsible for over 600 000 deaths annually. Most of these deaths are in sub-Saharan Africa, where multidrug-resistant NTS clones are currently circulating in a population with a high proportion of individuals that are susceptible to disseminated disease. This review considers how genome degradation observed in African NTS isolates has resulted in phenotypic differences in traits related to environmental persistence and host-pathogen interactions. Further, it discusses host mechanisms promoting susceptibility to invasive infection with NTS in individuals with immunocompromising conditions. We conclude that mechanistic knowledge of how risk factors compromise immunity to disseminated NTS infection will be important for the design of interventions to protect against systemic disease

Disseminated infections with antibiotic-resistant non-typhoidal Salmonella strains: contributions of host and pathogen factors.

Non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica serovars (NTS) are generally associated with gastroenteritis; however, the very young and elderly, as well as individuals with compromised immunity, are at risk of developing disseminated infection that can manifest as bacteremia or focal infections at systemic sites. Disseminated NTS infections can be fatal and are responsible for over 600 000 deaths annually. Most of these deaths are in sub-Saharan Africa, where multidrug-resistant NTS clones are currently circulating in a population with a high proportion of individuals that are susceptible to disseminated disease. This review considers how genome degradation observed in African NTS isolates has resulted in phenotypic differences in traits related to environmental persistence and host-pathogen interactions. Further, it discusses host mechanisms promoting susceptibility to invasive infection with NTS in individuals with immunocompromising conditions. We conclude that mechanistic knowledge of how risk factors compromise immunity to disseminated NTS infection will be important for the design of interventions to protect against systemic disease

Malaria Parasite-Mediated Alteration of Macrophage Function and Increased Iron Availability Predispose to Disseminated Nontyphoidal Salmonella Infection.

Disseminated infections with nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) are a significant cause of child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. NTS infection in children is clinically associated with malaria, suggesting that malaria compromises the control of disseminated NTS infection. To study the mechanistic basis for increased NTS susceptibility, we utilized a model of concurrent infection with Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium and Plasmodium yoelii nigeriensis (P. yoelii). Underlying malaria blunted monocyte expression of Ly6C, a marker for inflammatory activation, and impaired recruitment of inflammatory cells to the liver. Hepatic mononuclear phagocytes expressed lower levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and showed increased levels of production of interleukin-10 and heme oxygenase-1, indicating that the underlying malaria modifies the activation state and inflammatory response of mononuclear phagocytes to NTS. P. yoelii infection also increased intracellular iron levels in liver mononuclear cells, as evidenced by elevated levels of ferritin and by the rescue of an S Typhimurium tonB feoB mutant defective for iron uptake. In addition, concurrent P. yoelii infection partially rescued the systemic colonization defect of an S Typhimurium spiB mutant defective for type III secretion system 2 (T3SS-2), indicating that the ability of phagocytic cells to limit the spread of S Typhimurium is impaired during concurrent P. yoelii infection. These results show that concurrent malaria increases susceptibility to disseminated NTS infection by blunting macrophage bactericidal mechanisms and providing an essential nutrient that enhances bacterial growth

Mast cells and histamine alter intestinal permeability during malaria parasite infection.

Co-infections with malaria and non-typhoidal Salmonella serotypes (NTS) can present as life-threatening bacteremia, in contrast to self-resolving NTS diarrhea in healthy individuals. In previous work with our mouse model of malaria/NTS co-infection, we showed increased gut mastocytosis and increased ileal and plasma histamine levels that were temporally associated with increased gut permeability and bacterial translocation. Here, we report that gut mastocytosis and elevated plasma histamine are also associated with malaria in an animal model of falciparum malaria, suggesting a broader host distribution of this biology. In support of mast cell function in this phenotype, malaria/NTS co-infection in mast cell-deficient mice was associated with a reduction in gut permeability and bacteremia. Further, antihistamine treatment reduced bacterial translocation and gut permeability in mice with malaria, suggesting a contribution of mast cell-derived histamine to GI pathology and enhanced risk of bacteremia during malaria/NTS co-infection