The design of a solar energy collection system to augment heating and cooling for a commercial office building

Analytical studies supported by experimental testing indicate that solar energy can be utilized to heat and cool commercial buildings. In a 50,000 square foot one-story office building at the Langley Research Center, 15,000 square feet of solar collectors are designed to provide the energy required to supply 79 percent of the building heating needs and 52 percent of its cooling needs. The experience gained from the space program is providing the technology base for this project. Included are some of the analytical studies made to make the building design changes necessary to utilize solar energy, the basic solar collector design, collector efficiencies, and the integrated system design

Investigation of Ejection Releases of an MB-1 Rocket from a 0.04956-Scaled Model of the Convair F-106A Airplane at Several Mach Numbers and Simulated Altitudes

As a continuation of an investigation of the ejection release characteristics of an internally carried MB-1 rocket in the Convair F-106A airplane, fin modifications at additional Mach numbers and simulated altitudes have been studied in the 27- by 27-inch preflight jet of the Langley Pilotless Aircraft Research Station at Wallops Island, Va. The MB-1 rocket was ejected with fins open, fins closed, fins closed with a shroud around the fins, and fins folded with a "boattail" placed in between the fins. Dynamically scaled models (0.0^956 scale) were tested at simulated altitudes of 12,000, 18,850, and 27,500 feet at subsonic Mach numbers and at 18,850, 27,500, and 40,000 feet for Mach numbers of 1-39, 1-59, and 1.98. Successful ejections can be obtained for over 10 store diameters from release point by the use of a shroud around the folded fins with the proper ejection velocity and nose-down pitching moment at release. In one case investigated it was found desirable to close off the front one-third of the bomb bay. It appeared that the fins should be opened after release and within 5 "to 6 rocket diameters if no modifications are made on the rocket. An increase in fuselage angle of attack caused higher nose-up pitch rates after release

The Impact of Doctoral Study on University Lecturers’ Construction of Self within a changing Higher Education policy context

This paper explores the impact of lectures’ individual current doctoral study on their own and collective constructions of self in a changing Higher Education (HE) policy context. It focuses on how lecturers, drawn from a professional knowledge background, make sense of new institutional requirements for new lectures to have doctorates. The lecturers themselves, through ‘facilitated collaborative auto-ethnography’, generate the substantial data and analysis for this research. This study exposes the enormous pressure of the doctorate on their lives and reveals different ways in which they resist particular forms of language, affiliations and positioning within their institution. However, of particular significance in this study is their own agency and collective voice, through using their developing cultural tools of research to ‘be’ researchers, in and beyond their own doctoral studies, in order to understand their own changing identities within HE. The study therefore reveals complex, contradictory and unexpected responses to HE policy

Author Correction: Long-term field comparison of multiple low-cost particulate matter sensors in an outdoor urban environment

Correction to: Scientific Reports https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43716-3, published online 16 May 2019. This Article contains a typographical error in the Acknowledgements section. “Natural Environmental Research Council grant number [NE/L002531/1]” should read: “Natural Environment Research Council: NE/N012070/1”

An analytical approach to characterize morbidity profile dissimilarity between distinct cohorts using electronic medical records

AbstractWe describe a two-stage analytical approach for characterizing morbidity profile dissimilarity among patient cohorts using electronic medical records. We capture morbidities using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-9) codes. In the first stage of the approach separate logistic regression analyses for ICD-9 sections (e.g., “hypertensive disease” or “appendicitis”) are conducted, and the odds ratios that describe adjusted differences in prevalence between two cohorts are displayed graphically. In the second stage, the results from ICD-9 section analyses are combined into a general morbidity dissimilarity index (MDI). For illustration, we examine nine cohorts of patients representing six phenotypes (or controls) derived from five institutions, each a participant in the electronic MEdical REcords and GEnomics (eMERGE) network. The phenotypes studied include type II diabetes and type II diabetes controls, peripheral arterial disease and peripheral arterial disease controls, normal cardiac conduction as measured by electrocardiography, and senile cataracts

Conducting a large, multi-site survey about patients' views on broad consent: challenges and solutions

BACKGROUND: As biobanks play an increasing role in the genomic research that will lead to precision medicine, input from diverse and large populations of patients in a variety of health care settings will be important in order to successfully carry out such studies. One important topic is participants’ views towards consent and data sharing, especially since the 2011 Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), and subsequently the 2015 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) were issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). These notices required that participants consent to research uses of their de-identified tissue samples and most clinical data, and allowing such consent be obtained in a one-time, open-ended or “broad” fashion. Conducting a survey across multiple sites provides clear advantages to either a single site survey or using a large online database, and is a potentially powerful way of understanding the views of diverse populations on this topic. METHODS: A workgroup of the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Network, a national consortium of 9 sites (13 separate institutions, 11 clinical centers) supported by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) that combines DNA biorepositories with electronic medical record (EMR) systems for large-scale genetic research, conducted a survey to understand patients’ views on consent, sample and data sharing for future research, biobank governance, data protection, and return of research results. RESULTS: Working across 9 sites to design and conduct a national survey presented challenges in organization, meeting human subjects guidelines at each institution, and survey development and implementation. The challenges were met through a committee structure to address each aspect of the project with representatives from all sites. Each committee’s output was integrated into the overall survey plan. A number of site-specific issues were successfully managed allowing the survey to be developed and implemented uniformly across 11 clinical centers. CONCLUSIONS: Conducting a survey across a number of institutions with different cultures and practices is a methodological and logistical challenge. With a clear infrastructure, collaborative attitudes, excellent lines of communication, and the right expertise, this can be accomplished successfully

Ethical and practical challenges of sharing data from genome-wide association studies: The eMERGE Consortium experience

In 2007, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) established the Electronic MEdical Records and GEnomics (eMERGE) Consortium (www.gwas.net) to develop, disseminate, and apply approaches to research that combine DNA biorepositories with electronic medical record (EMR) systems for large-scale, high-throughput genetic research. One of the major ethical and administrative challenges for the eMERGE Consortium has been complying with existing data-sharing policies. This paper discusses the challenges of sharing genomic data linked to health information in the electronic medical record (EMR) and explores the issues as they relate to sharing both within a large consortium and in compliance with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) data-sharing policy. We use the eMERGE Consortium experience to explore data-sharing challenges from the perspective of multiple stakeholders (i.e., research participants, investigators, and research institutions), provide recommendations for researchers and institutions, and call for clearer guidance from the NIH regarding ethical implementation of its data-sharing policy