Enlistment standards as applied to the Navy selection process with reference to the Signalman and Radioman ratings

Ihe purpose ox this thesis is to develop manpower selection models to improve the Navy's system of assigning personnel tc the Signalman (Sli) and Radioman (RM) ratings. four Eultivariate models using "success" ana "failure" as criterion variables were developed. The criterion was comprised of; months of total active federal military service (lAFMSI) , achieved Z-4 (ACHVDE4) and recommended for re-enlistment (E1IGRIUPJ . Predictor variables were derived from personal biographical and aptitude data available at enlistment. Cf the models developed , one was designed for application to the entire Signalman rating, another for the entire Radiciai rating. The third model is for application tc the white male segment of the Signalman rating; the fourth, to the white male segment of the Radioman rating. Additionally, the study highlights the link with current seiecticc procedures and characteristics and tneir possible effect cc manpower modeling. The cohort used in the study entered the Navy in 1976, 1977 and 1S73. Results and recommendations for future research are alsc presented.http://archive.org/details/enlistmentstanda00chmiLieutenant Commander, United States NavyLieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Using a runway paradigm to assess the relative strength of rats' motivations for enrichment objects

Laboratory animals should be provided with enrichment objects in their cages; however, it is first necessary to test whether the proposed enrichment objects provide benefits that increase the animals’ welfare. The two main paradigms currently used to assess proposed enrichment objects are the choice test, which is limited to determining relative frequency of choice, and consumer demand studies, which can indicate the strength of a preference but are complex to design. Here, we propose a third methodology: a runway paradigm, which can be used to assess the strength of an animal’s motivation for enrichment objects, is simpler to use than consumer demand studies, and is faster to complete than typical choice tests. Time spent with objects in a standard choice test was used to rank several enrichment objects in order to compare with the ranking found in our runway paradigm. The rats ran significantly more times, ran faster, and interacted longer with objects with which they had previously spent the most time. It was concluded that this simple methodology is suitable for measuring rats’ motivation to reach enrichment objects. This can be used to assess the preference for different types of enrichment objects or to measure reward system processes

Addressing Lupus Health Disparities: The MONARCAS Community and Academic Collaborative Program

Purpose: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Popular Opinion Leader (POL) model was implemented in a lupus education program (MONARCAS) for the Latino community. The program aim was to increase lupus awareness by training high school students, community health workers, and parents. Methods: A curriculum was developed training POLs to disseminate concepts about lupus signs and symptoms. Pre- and post-program questions assessed lupus knowledge and message dissemination. Results: POL groups represented distinct demographic characteristics with Spanish or English language dominance. POLs reported increased lupus knowledge and program satisfaction. Conclusions: Future program goals should aim to increase understanding and improving access to care for Latino communities affected by lupus

The Vitamin D for Enhancing the Immune System in Cystic Fibrosis (DISC) trial: Rationale and design of a multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of high dose bolus administration of vitamin D3 during acute pulmonary exacerbation of cystic fibrosis

Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in children and adults with cystic fibrosis (CF). Recent studies have found an association between vitamin D status and risk of pulmonary exacerbations in children and adults with CF. The ongoing Vitamin D for enhancing the Immune System in Cystic fibrosis (DISC) study, a multi-center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, will test the hypothesis of whether high dose vitamin D given as a single oral bolus of 250,000 IU to adults with CF during a pulmonary exacerbation followed by a maintenance dose of vitamin D will improve time to next pulmonary exacerbation and re-hospitalization, improve survival and lung function compared to placebo and reduce the rates of pulmonary exacerbation. Subjects will be randomized 1:1 at each clinical site to vitamin D or placebo within 72 h of hospital admission for pulmonary exacerbation. Clinical follow-up visits will occur at 1, 2, 3, and 7 days, and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after randomization. Blood and sputum will be collected and determination of clinical outcomes will be assessed at each visit. The primary endpoint will be the time to next pulmonary exacerbation requiring antibiotics, re-hospitalization or death. The secondary endpoints will include lung function assessed by forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), blood markers of inflammatory cytokines, anti-microbial peptide expression by peripheral blood mononuclear cells and circulating concentrations in blood. Other exploratory endpoints will examine the phenotype of neutrophils and monocyte/macrophages in sputum. Nutritional status will be assessed by 3 day food records and food frequency questionnaire

Challenges in assessing the efficacy of systemic corticosteroids for severe wheezing episodes in preschool children

This letter addresses the controversial issue of the use of oral corticosteroids during wheezing exacerbations in preschool-aged children by demonstrating findings of a prematurely terminated multi-center clinical trial, discussing lessons learned, and suggesting future directions

First narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves from known pulsars in advanced detector data

International audienceSpinning neutron stars asymmetric with respect to their rotation axis are potential sources of continuous gravitational waves for ground-based interferometric detectors. In the case of known pulsars a fully coherent search, based on matched filtering, which uses the position and rotational parameters obtained from electromagnetic observations, can be carried out. Matched filtering maximizes the signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio, but a large sensitivity loss is expected in case of even a very small mismatch between the assumed and the true signal parameters. For this reason, narrow-band analysis methods have been developed, allowing a fully coherent search for gravitational waves from known pulsars over a fraction of a hertz and several spin-down values. In this paper we describe a narrow-band search of 11 pulsars using data from Advanced LIGO’s first observing run. Although we have found several initial outliers, further studies show no significant evidence for the presence of a gravitational wave signal. Finally, we have placed upper limits on the signal strain amplitude lower than the spin-down limit for 5 of the 11 targets over the bands searched; in the case of J1813-1749 the spin-down limit has been beaten for the first time. For an additional 3 targets, the median upper limit across the search bands is below the spin-down limit. This is the most sensitive narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves carried out so far

Search for intermediate mass black hole binaries in the first observing run of Advanced LIGO

International audienceDuring their first observational run, the two Advanced LIGO detectors attained an unprecedented sensitivity, resulting in the first direct detections of gravitational-wave signals produced by stellar-mass binary black hole systems. This paper reports on an all-sky search for gravitational waves (GWs) from merging intermediate mass black hole binaries (IMBHBs). The combined results from two independent search techniques were used in this study: the first employs a matched-filter algorithm that uses a bank of filters covering the GW signal parameter space, while the second is a generic search for GW transients (bursts). No GWs from IMBHBs were detected; therefore, we constrain the rate of several classes of IMBHB mergers. The most stringent limit is obtained for black holes of individual mass 100  M⊙, with spins aligned with the binary orbital angular momentum. For such systems, the merger rate is constrained to be less than 0.93  Gpc−3 yr−1 in comoving units at the 90% confidence level, an improvement of nearly 2 orders of magnitude over previous upper limits

First low-frequency Einstein@Home all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves in Advanced LIGO data

International audienceWe report results of a deep all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves from isolated neutron stars in data from the first Advanced LIGO observing run. This search investigates the low frequency range of Advanced LIGO data, between 20 and 100 Hz, much of which was not explored in initial LIGO. The search was made possible by the computing power provided by the volunteers of the Einstein@Home project. We find no significant signal candidate and set the most stringent upper limits to date on the amplitude of gravitational wave signals from the target population, corresponding to a sensitivity depth of 48.7  [1/Hz]. At the frequency of best strain sensitivity, near 100 Hz, we set 90% confidence upper limits of 1.8×10-25. At the low end of our frequency range, 20 Hz, we achieve upper limits of 3.9×10-24. At 55 Hz we can exclude sources with ellipticities greater than 10-5 within 100 pc of Earth with fiducial value of the principal moment of inertia of 1038  kg m2