Virtual SATCOM, Long Range Broadband Digital Communications

The current naval strategy is based on a distributed force, networked together with high-speed communications that enable operations as an intelligent, fast maneuvering force. Satellites, the existing network connector, are weak and vulnerable to attack. HF is an alternative, but it does not have the information throughput to meet the distributed warfighting need. The US Navy does not have a solution to reduce dependency on space-based communication systems while providing the warfighter with the required information speed. Virtual SATCOM is a solution that can match satellite communications (SATCOM) data speed without the vulnerable satellite. It is wireless communication on a High Frequency (HF) channel at SATCOM speed. We have developed an innovative design using high power and gain, ground-based relay systems. We transmit extremely wide-wideband HF channels from ground stations using large directional antennas. Our system starts with a highly directional antenna with a narrow beam that enables increased bandwidth without interfering with other spectrum users. The beam focus and power provide a high SNR across a wideband channel with data rates of 10 Mbps; 1000 times increase in HF data speed. Our modeling of the ionosphere shows that the ionosphere has more than adequate bandwidth to communicate at 3000 km and high speeds while avoiding detection. We designed a flexible structure adjustable to the dynamic ionosphere. Our design provides a high-speed communications path without the geo-location vulnerability of legacy HF methods. Our invention will benefit mobile users using steerable beam forming apertures with wide bandwidth signals. This dissertation will focus on three areas: an examination of the ionosphere’s ability to support the channel, design of a phased array antenna that can produce the narrow beam, and design of signal processing that can accommodate the wideband HF frequency range. Virtual SATCOM is exciting research that can reduce cost and increase access to long-range, high data rate wireless communications

Homeless Over 50: The Graying of Chicago's Homeless Population - Final Technical Report

CURL, in collaboration with the Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness and the financial support of the Retirement Research Foundation, embarked on a project to better understand the stories and the needs of this aging population. The Chicago Alliance to End Hopelessness plans to use the findings to help shape the implementations of the Chicago Plan to End Homelessness.  Currently, a group of 10 providers are meeting every other month and planning how to implement the recommendations of the report. The project itself aimed to increase public awareness and influence public policy on homelessness in Chicago

Homeless over 50: The Graying of Chicago\u27s Homeless Population

This is a report of a 2-year collaborative study of homeless people aged 50 to 64 in Chicago between Loyola University Center for Urban Research and Learning and the Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness. This study had three goals: To obtain a demographic profile of people who are homeless in Chicago and are between the ages of 50 and 64; to understand how the various systems designed to serve this population do and do not meet their needs; and to begin to suggest a range of policy and programmatic responses to meet the needs of this population. Information for this research was gathered from a variety of sources: archival survey data from the 2001 Illinois Regional Roundtable study, homeless agencies administrative data; focus groups with individuals who were homeless; life histories of homeless individuals; and interviews with providers. The broad range of data, both quantitative and qualitative, and from differing perspectives allowed the researchers to explore the complexity of experiences facing older homeless individuals. One of the most surprising findings from the study is that a majority of people aged 50-64 in the Roundtable study became homeless for the first time in middle age. The median age for first homelessness was 47. A second key finding is that the number of people who are homeless in Chicago between the ages of 50 and 65 increased between 2001 and 2006. A broad range of homeless service agencies saw, in total, a 26% increase in the older individuals they were serving. The study found that a sizable portion (possibly 40%) of this population have the will, ability, and work history to become employed, but are hampered from obtaining employment. There are three likely reasons for this: 1) a mismatch of their skills to the job market; 2) the decrease of jobs paying a living wage and 3) ageism in the employment market. Conversely, the employment prospects for the remaining 60% of individuals are very limited. We found that many have one or more factors, such as chronic illness, that limit their ability to hold employment. Finally, safety net social welfare programs fail this population. The meager safety net programs in place for single adults such as Earnfare target individuals younger than 48, and most programs for seniors cannot be accessed until 62 (housing) and 65 (SSI

Essential Components of Cancer Education

Modern cancer therapy/care involves the integration of basic, clinical, and population-based research professionals using state-of-the-art science to achieve the best possible patient outcomes. A well-integrated team of basic, clinical, and population science professionals and educators working with a fully engaged group of creative junior investigators and trainees provides a structure to achieve these common goals. To this end, the structure provided by cancer-focused educational programs can create the integrated culture of academic medicine needed to reduce the burden of cancer on society. This summary outlines fundamental principles and potential best practice strategies for the development of integrated educational programs directed at achieving a work force of professionals that broadly appreciate the principals of academic medicine spanning the breadth of knowledge necessary to advance the goal of improving the current practice of cancer care medicine

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

What Every Business Student Needs to Know About Information Systems

Whether Information Systems should or should not be part of the core business school curriculum is a recurring discussion in many universities. In this article, a task force of 40 prominent information systems scholars address the issue. They conclude that information systems is absolutely an essential body of knowledge for business school students to acquire as well as a key element of the business school\u27s long-run strategic positioning within the university. Originally prepared in response to draft accreditation guidelines prepared by AACSB International, the article includes a compilation of the concepts that the authors believe to be the core information systems knowledge that all business school students should be familiar with

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal