March Storm 2017

The commercial space industry is emerging out of the technological advances made in the last half century. Much like the aerospace industry, policy and law are needed to regulate what can and cannot be done in space. This has been known since the launch of the first man-made object put into orbit. Laws and regulations pertaining to the use of space have been drafted and will continue to be necessary. This project examines legislative advocacy tactics and advocate training procedures during a weeklong legislative blitz on Capitol Hill. Through applied research in the planning, execution, and results of citizen advocacy, the impact of a legislative campaign will be examined. The “Citizens’ Space Agenda” consists of pro-space legislative proposals supported by national non-profit space groups. The leaders of the March Storm blitz schedule meetings with congressional offices, committees, and executive offices. With no lobbying experience necessary, volunteers are trained on the agenda and advocacy techniques to employ during congressional meetings. Throughout the week, advocates are tasked with compiling after-action reports for each congressional meeting detailing the agenda items discussed and the offices’ reactions. Upon the resolution of the blitz, organizers will follow up with congressional staff to monitor the results of the specific asks made. The entire process will be analyzed and a critique offered. This research, which will be included in the overall group presentation by the students who are going to March Storm, involves the efforts of the branches of the Federal Government in producing space legislation that will then be placed into the United States Code and the Code of Federal Regulations. Research will include how the statutes affect the policy of the United States for operating in space and the direction it gives to its federal agencies to do so

Breaking Down Traditional Classroom Walls and Studying Spacesuits Abroad

The spacesuit curriculum under development by the Spacesuit Utilization of Innovative Technology Laboratory (S.U.I.T. Lab) in the Spaceflight Operations program of the Applied Aviation Sciences Department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has the unique challenge of educating non-engineering students about extremely technical space systems, highlighted by spacesuits. CSO 399: “Spacesuits and Human Spaceflight Operations” course, taught in Greece each summer, introduces students to human spaceflight topics. This unique offering takes advantage of the clear water visibility in the Aegean Sea with practical underwater demonstrations of space operations. Students live in confined quarters on a sailboat for two weeks to simulate operations in a close-quarter space station, emulating astronaut living experiences. Hiking Mount Astráka in the Zagori region of Greece created an immersed environment to learn about spacewalk preparations for extravehicular activities. This course is innovative by taking students outside of the classroom to do hands-on, or gloveson, learning. Students taking this course have a drive to obtain a career in the spaceflight industry. By taking this course, students developed an understanding of the design process of human-rated spacecraft and spacesuits required to aid humans in exploring the cosmos. Nontraditional learning was reinforced by the uniqueness of the program teaching “anywhere but a classroom and included locales such as an amphitheater on the beach, catacombs, monasteries, a church courtyard, and as micro-lessons along the way, on sailboats, buses, hotels, and underwater. By changing the locations and having students constantly adapt to new learning environments they were able to grasp a feel for the constant changing pace of the space industry and the thrill of exploration

A Three-Pronged Analysis of the Proposal for a United States Space Force

On June 18, 2018, at a meeting of the newly revived National Space Council, President Trump announced that he had directed the Department of Defense and the Pentagon “to immediately begin the process necessary to establish a space force as the sixth branch of the armed forces.” This paper will discuss a three-pronged analysis of the proposal for the United States Space Force. The three topics discussed are legal, political, and military issues that the creation of Space Oriented branch will encounter. The paper has been broken up into four teams consisting of two partners, which comes to a total of nine with one lead overseeing all the teams. The four teams are the legal team which will discuss the legislative components, the military team which will discuss the logistical transfer from the Air Force to the Space Force, the political team which will discuss the effect that the new branch will have on world politics, and the recommendation team which will make the final edits to ensure the entire format, citation, and sources are correct. The paper will be published through the university and hopefully be used in consideration for the creation of the Space Force

Spacesuit Range of Motion Investigations Using Video and Motion Capture Systems at Spaceflight Analogue Expeditions and within the ERAU S.U.I.T. Lab

The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) Spacesuit Utilization of Innovative Technology Laboratory (S.U.I.T. Lab) is dedicated to the pursuit of advancing human spaceflight by contributing to spacesuit and operations research with experiential programs for students. A significant portion of the S.U.I.T. Lab’s portfolio is dedicated to the design and execution of spacesuit range of motion (ROM) investigations using video and motion capture systems. ROM biomechanical angles were measured using these techniques in conjunction with developing protocols for both simulated extravehicular activity suits at spaceflight analogue expeditions, and on ERAU campus with Final Frontier Design (FFD) intravehicular activity pressure suits. Designing protocols ensures effective communication for the analysis of simulated spacesuit performance to a remote crew. With communication delays to Earth, a self-sufficient spacesuit diagnosis is required to provide future astronauts with immediate action to take when dealing with a malfunctioning spacesuit. The video capture methodology is designed so that any crew would be able to conduct recordings with minimal impact to their schedule and with camera resources that are standard equipment. Spaceflight mission analogues involved in this study include: Hawai\u27i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS Mission V, 2017); Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS Crew 188, 2018), and AMADEE-18 in Oman (2018). Video capture can be used to collaborate with several spacesuit manufacturers to offer a snapshot comparison between designs, validate and verify capabilities, and aid with the selection of the right suit for the right job. The analogue locations recorded unsuited and suited data, while the November FFD test focused on motion capture (with video capture taken for validation) of unsuited, suited unpressurized, and suited while pressurized to 3.5 psid conditions. Early results from the motion capture align with values estimated from video capture and future work will compare the accuracy of these techniques

Common, low-frequency, rare, and ultra-rare coding variants contribute to COVID-19 severity

The combined impact of common and rare exonic variants in COVID-19 host genetics is currently insufficiently understood. Here, common and rare variants from whole-exome sequencing data of about 4000 SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals were used to define an interpretable machine-learning model for predicting COVID-19 severity. First, variants were converted into separate sets of Boolean features, depending on the absence or the presence of variants in each gene. An ensemble of LASSO logistic regression models was used to identify the most informative Boolean features with respect to the genetic bases of severity. The Boolean features selected by these logistic models were combined into an Integrated PolyGenic Score that offers a synthetic and interpretable index for describing the contribution of host genetics in COVID-19 severity, as demonstrated through testing in several independent cohorts. Selected features belong to ultra-rare, rare, low-frequency, and common variants, including those in linkage disequilibrium with known GWAS loci. Noteworthily, around one quarter of the selected genes are sex-specific. Pathway analysis of the selected genes associated with COVID-19 severity reflected the multi-organ nature of the disease. The proposed model might provide useful information for developing diagnostics and therapeutics, while also being able to guide bedside disease management. © 2021, The Author(s)

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

CSO 399: Spacesuit Up! Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students final video project Greece 2017

In the summer of 2017, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) students ventured to Greece on a month-long study abroad program (Summer A). 18 bold students enrolled in the ERAU Office of Global Engagement’s Antikythera Mechanism program. 9 explorers signed up to take the first ever “CSO 399: Spacesuits & Human Spaceflight Operations” course, designed and delivered by Professor Ryan L. Kobrick, Ph.D., the ERAU Spacesuit Utilization of Innovative Technology Laboratory (S.U.I.T. Lab) Principal Investigator. This course introduced students to human spaceflight topics including spacesuit history, design, human factors considerations, space life support systems, as well as IVA and EVA operations. The unique offering was designed to take advantage of the clear water visibility in the Aegean Sea by conducting practical underwater demonstrations of spaceflight operations, similar to activities conducted by NASA at Aquarius Reef Base during their NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) campaigns. The ultimate goal of the CSO 399 course was to introduce spacesuits and human spaceflight operations in-situ and build upon that knowledge to provide students with an understanding of the design process required to aid us in exploring the cosmos. The knowledge base presented was be used to help solve problems in future spacesuit development. This video is the student’s summer-long group project and final deliverable