Re-Architecting the NASA Wire Derating Approach for Space Flight Applications

Mr. Steve Rickman, NASA Technical Fellow for Passive Thermal, proposed a pathfinder study to develop an apparatus for wire and wire bundle thermal testing to measure their performance, and to support development of thermal analytical models. Development of such capability would enable wire and wire bundle amperage capacity. The goal of this study was to assess the feasibility of developing physics-based and regression thermal models of single wires and wire bundles. This report contains the outcome of the NESC assessment

Use of Modal Acoustic Emission to Monitor Damage Progression in Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Tows and Implications for Composite Structures

This slide presentation reviews the use of Modal Acoustic Emission to monitor damage progression to carbon fiber/epoxy tows. There is a risk for catastrophic failure of composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) due to burst-before-leak (BBL) stress rupture (SR) failure of carbon-epoxy (C/Ep) COPVs. A lack of quantitative nondestructive evaluation (NDE) is causing problems in current and future spacecraft designs. It is therefore important to develop and demonstrate critical NDE that can be implemented during stages of the design process since the observed rupture can occur with little of no advanced warning. Therefore a program was required to develop quantitative acoustic emission (AE) procedures specific to C/Ep overwraps, but which also have utility for monitoring damage accumulation in composite structure in general, and to lay the groundwork for establishing critical thresholds for accumulated damage in composite structures, such as COPVs, so that precautionary or preemptive engineering steps can be implemented to minimize of obviate the risk of catastrophic failure. A computed Felicity Ratio (FR) coupled with fast Fourier Transform (FFT) frequency analysis shows promise as an analytical pass/fail criterion. The FR analysis and waveform and FFT analysis are reviewe

Supporting the education and wellbeing of children looked-after: what is the role of the virtual school?

The Children and Families Act (2014) placed a statutory responsibility on local authorities in the United Kingdom to establish a Virtual School Headteacher with the role of championing the education of all children looked-after within that authority. The current research was designed to illuminate how Virtual Schools are currently supporting educational outcomes for children looked-after, not only through educational interventions, but also through supporting broader psychological factors that might impact on attainment such as attachment, relationships and mental health. Virtual School Head Teachers from 29 local authorities completed an online survey about the services they provided to three target groups – children looked-after, foster carers and schools – with a particular focus on the transition years from primary to secondary school, which have been identified as being a difficult time for children looked-after. Using inductive thematic analysis four overarching themes to service provision were identified: Enhanced learning opportunities; Specific Transition Support; Wellbeing and Relationships, and Raising Awareness. Direct work, interprofessional working and the development of supportive environments, particularly guided by attachment theory, were identified as important areas of practice. Practice is discussed in relation to resilience and ecological systems theory and suggestions for future research are identified

An Empirical Comparison of Consumer Innovation Adoption Models: Implications for Subsistence Marketplaces

So called “pro-poor” innovations may improve consumer wellbeing in subsistence marketplaces. However, there is little research that integrates the area with the vast literature on innovation adoption. Using a questionnaire where respondents were asked to provide their evaluations about a mobile banking innovation, this research fills this gap by providing empirical evidence of the applicability of existing innovation adoption models in subsistence marketplaces. The study was conducted in Bangladesh among a geographically dispersed sample. The data collected allowed an empirical comparison of models in a subsistence context. The research reveals the most useful models in this context to be the Value Based Adoption Model and the Consumer Acceptance of Technology model. In light of these findings and further examination of the model comparison results the research also shows that consumers in subsistence marketplaces are not just motivated by functionality and economic needs. If organizations cannot enhance the hedonic attributes of a pro-poor innovation, and reduce the internal/external constraints related to adoption of that pro-poor innovation, then adoption intention by consumers will be lower

Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington's disease progression: a genome-wide association study

Background Huntington's disease is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, HTT. Age at onset has been used as a quantitative phenotype in genetic analysis looking for Huntington's disease modifiers, but is hard to define and not always available. Therefore, we aimed to generate a novel measure of disease progression and to identify genetic markers associated with this progression measure. Methods We generated a progression score on the basis of principal component analysis of prospectively acquired longitudinal changes in motor, cognitive, and imaging measures in the 218 indivduals in the TRACK-HD cohort of Huntington's disease gene mutation carriers (data collected 2008–11). We generated a parallel progression score using data from 1773 previously genotyped participants from the European Huntington's Disease Network REGISTRY study of Huntington's disease mutation carriers (data collected 2003–13). We did a genome-wide association analyses in terms of progression for 216 TRACK-HD participants and 1773 REGISTRY participants, then a meta-analysis of these results was undertaken. Findings Longitudinal motor, cognitive, and imaging scores were correlated with each other in TRACK-HD participants, justifying use of a single, cross-domain measure of disease progression in both studies. The TRACK-HD and REGISTRY progression measures were correlated with each other (r=0·674), and with age at onset (TRACK-HD, r=0·315; REGISTRY, r=0·234). The meta-analysis of progression in TRACK-HD and REGISTRY gave a genome-wide significant signal (p=1·12 × 10−10) on chromosome 5 spanning three genes: MSH3, DHFR, and MTRNR2L2. The genes in this locus were associated with progression in TRACK-HD (MSH3 p=2·94 × 10−8 DHFR p=8·37 × 10−7 MTRNR2L2 p=2·15 × 10−9) and to a lesser extent in REGISTRY (MSH3 p=9·36 × 10−4 DHFR p=8·45 × 10−4 MTRNR2L2 p=1·20 × 10−3). The lead single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TRACK-HD (rs557874766) was genome-wide significant in the meta-analysis (p=1·58 × 10−8), and encodes an aminoacid change (Pro67Ala) in MSH3. In TRACK-HD, each copy of the minor allele at this SNP was associated with a 0·4 units per year (95% CI 0·16–0·66) reduction in the rate of change of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) Total Motor Score, and a reduction of 0·12 units per year (95% CI 0·06–0·18) in the rate of change of UHDRS Total Functional Capacity score. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age of onset. Interpretation The multidomain progression measure in TRACK-HD was associated with a functional variant that was genome-wide significant in our meta-analysis. The association in only 216 participants implies that the progression measure is a sensitive reflection of disease burden, that the effect size at this locus is large, or both. Knockout of Msh3 reduces somatic expansion in Huntington's disease mouse models, suggesting this mechanism as an area for future therapeutic investigation

Depression and anxiety in multisomatoform disorder : prevalence and clinical predictors in primary care

The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.zaObjective. Multisomatoform disorder (MSD) is characterised by ≥3 medically inexplicable, troublesome physical symptoms, together with a ≥2-year history of somatisation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders in a South African sample MSD, and to compare demographic and clinical outcomes in those patients with and without co-morbidity. Methods. Fifty-one adult outpatients with MSD were recruited from primary care clinics in the Cape Town metropole. Participants were assessed for the presence of co-morbid depressive and anxiety disorders using the Mini Neuropsychiatric Interview-Plus (MINI-Plus). Outcomes included somatic symptom severity, disability, reported sick days and health care visits, pain experience, patient satisfaction with health services, and clinician-experienced difficulty. Results. A current co-morbid depressive disorder was present in 29.4% (N=15) of patients, and a current co-morbid anxiety disorder in 52.9% (N=27). MSD patients with a co-morbid depressive disorder (current or lifetime) had significantly higher physical symptom counts, greater functional impairment, higher unemployment rates, more clinician-reported difficulties, and more dissatisfaction with health care services than those without the disorder. A larger number of co-morbid disorders was associated with greater overall disability. Conclusion. High rates of co-morbid depressive and anxiety disorders were present in a South African sample of primary care patients with MSD. Not all patients had co-morbidity, which is consistent with the view that MSD should be viewed as an independent disorder. However, co-morbid depressive disorders were associated with increased symptom severity and functional impairment, consistent with previous reports from developing countries, emphasising the importance of comorbidity in MSD.Publishers' versio

Shared Presence and Collaboration Using a Co-Located Humanoid Robot

ABSTRACT This work proposes the concept of shared presence, where we enable a user to "become" a co-located humanoid robot while still being able to use their real body to complete tasks. The user controls the robot and sees with its vision and sensors, while still maintaining awareness and use of their real body for tasks other than controlling the robot. This shared presence can be used to accomplish tasks that are difficult for one person alone, for example, a robot manipulating a circuit board for easier soldering by the user, lifting and manipulating heavy or unwieldy objects together, or generally having the robot conduct and complete secondary tasks while the user focuses on the primary tasks. If people are able to overcome the cognitive difficulty of maintaining presence for both themselves and a nearby remote entity, tasks that typically require the use of two people could simply require one person assisted by a humanoid robot that they control. In this work, we explore some of the challenges of creating such a system, propose research questions for shared presence, and present our initial implementation that can enable shared presence. We believe shared presence opens up a new research direction that can be applied to many fields, including manufacturing, home-assistant robotics, and education

Shared Presence and Collaboration Using a Co-Located Humanoid Robot

ABSTRACT This work proposes the concept of shared presence, where we enable a user to "become" a co-located humanoid robot while still being able to use their real body to complete tasks. The user controls the robot and sees with its vision and sensors, while still maintaining awareness and use of their real body for tasks other than controlling the robot. This shared presence can be used to accomplish tasks that are difficult for one person alone, for example, a robot manipulating a circuit board for easier soldering by the user, lifting and manipulating heavy or unwieldy objects together, or generally having the robot conduct and complete secondary tasks while the user focuses on the primary tasks. If people are able to overcome the cognitive difficulty of maintaining presence for both themselves and a nearby remote entity, tasks that typically require the use of two people could simply require one person assisted by a humanoid robot that they control. In this work, we explore some of the challenges of creating such a system, propose research questions for shared presence, and present our initial implementation that can enable shared presence. We believe shared presence opens up a new research direction that can be applied to many fields, including manufacturing, home-assistant robotics, and education

Depression and Anxiety in Multisomatoform Disorder: Prevalence and Clinical Predictors in Primary Care

Objective Multisomatoform disorder (MSD) is characterized by ≥3 medically unexplained, bothersome physical symptoms together with a ≥2-year history of somatization. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders in a South African sample with MSD, and compare demographic and clinical outcomes in those with and without comorbidity. Methods Fifty-one adult outpatients with MSD were recruited from primary care clinics in the Cape Town metropole. Participants were assessed for the presence of co-morbid anxiety and depressive disorders using the Mini Neuropsychiatric Interview-Plus (MINI-Plus). Outcomes included somatic symptom severity; disability; reported sick days and health care visits; pain experience; patient satisfaction with health services; and clinician experienced difficulty. Results A current comorbid depressive disorder was present in 29.4% (n=15) of patients, and a current comorbid anxiety disorder in 52.9% (n=27). MSD patients with a comorbid depressive disorder (current or lifetime) had significantly higher physical symptom counts, greater functional impairment, higher unemployment rates, more clinician reported difficulties, and more dissatisfaction with health care services than those without. A larger number of comorbid disorders was associated with greater overall disability. Conclusion High rates of comorbid major depression and anxiety disorders were present in a South African sample of primary care patients with MSD. Not all patients had comorbidity, consistent with the view that MSD should be conceptualised as an independent disorders. Furthermore, comorbid depression was associated with increased symptom severity and functional impairment, consistent with previous reports from developing countries, emphasizing the importance of comorbidity in MSD