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Background SGLT2 inhibitors, originally developed as glucose-lowering agents for treatment of type 2 diabetes, have been shown to have cardio- and kidney-protective effects among CKD patients with and without diabetes. However, the mechanisms remain largely unknown. Methods Dapagliflozin on EChOcardiographic Measures of CarDiac StructurE and Function in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (DECODE-CKD) is an investigator-initiated, prospective, single-center, randomized, placebo-controlled trial evaluating the effects of 6 months of treatment with 10 mg of dapagliflozin compared with placebo on cardiac structure and function in 222 adults with CKD. Results The primary objective was to assess whether dapagliflozin improves left ventricular mass index. Secondary and exploratory end points include changes in cardiac and kidney markers, quality of life, depressive symptoms, and cognitive function. Conclusions This is the first study to address the effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on cardiac structure and function in patients with CKD. The results will provide valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying the cardiopro- tective benefits of SGLT2 inhibitors in patients with CKD. Clinical Trial registry name and registration number NCT05359263

Echocardiographic findings in chronic kidney disease (CKD) vary. We sought to estimate the prevalence of abnormal cardiac structure and function in patients with CKD and their association to estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and urine albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR).We prospectively enrolled 825 outpatients with non-dialysis-dependent CKD, mean age 58± 13 yrs, and 175 matched healthy controls, mean age 60±12 yrs. Echocardiography included assessment of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, LV ejection fraction (LVEF), global longitudinal strain (GLS) and diastolic dysfunction according to ASE/EACVI guidelines.LV hypertrophy was found in 9% of patients vs. 1.7% of controls (p=0.005) was independently associated with UACR (p=0.002). Median LVEF was 59.4% (IQR 55.2, 62.8) in patients vs. 60.8% (57.7, 64.1) in controls (p=0.002). GLS was decreased in patients with eGFR60ml/min/1.73m² (-17.6%±3.1%) vs. patients with higher eGFR (19.0%±2.2%, p0.001), who were similar to controls. Diastolic dysfunction was detected in 55% of patients and in 34% of controls.Non-random sampling, cross-sectional analysis.We report lower prevalence of hypertrophy than previous studies, but similar measurements of systolic and diastolic function. Cardiac remodeling in CKD may be influenced by treatment modalities, demographics, comorbidities and renal pathology.

The back-propagation (BP) method consists of diffractive integrals computed over a trajectory path, projecting a signal to different planes. It unwinds the diffraction and multipath, resulting in minimum disturbance to the BP amplitude when the auxiliary plane coincides with the region causing the diffraction. The method has been previously applied in global navigation satellite system (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) measurements to estimate the location of ionospheric irregularities but without complementary data to validate the estimation. In this study, the BP method is applied to a Communications/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) occultation event containing scintillation signatures caused by an equatorial plasma bubble (EPB), which was parameterized with the aid of collocated data and reproduced in a wave optics propagator (WOP) simulation. In addition, a few more test cases were designed to assess the BP method with regard to the size, intensity, and placement of single- and multiple-irregularity regions. The results show a location estimate accuracy following the resolution at which the method is implemented (single bubble, reference case), whereas a bias is observed in multiple-bubble scenarios. The minimum detectable disturbance level and the estimation accuracy depend on the receiver noise level and, in the case of several bubbles, on the distance between them. These remarks provide insight into the BP results for two Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) occultation events.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality amongst patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). This is the first study using 3-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) to investigate associations between adverse changes of the left ventricle, and different stages of CKD. Participants were recruited from the Copenhagen CKD cohort study and the Herlev-Gentofte CKD cohort study. Patients were stratified according to GFR category (G1 + 2: eGFR ≥ 60 mL/min/1.73 m

Culinary practitioners (chefs and healthcare cooks) need tools to systematically assess and improve the sensory quality and acceptance of the food they produce. Sensory science provides these tools to develop, revise and improve foods. However, in the culinary arts educations in Denmark teaching in sensory science is limited. We developed a teaching programme for culinary arts educations, focusing on the use of central practices of sensory science in production kitchens. The teaching programme was tested and developed in dialogue with vocational teachers and culinary students. The material consists of five theoretical and practical teaching modules that cover topics such as the senses, sensory vocabulary development and training, fast sensory methods and factors contributing to palatability. In total, 137 culinary students participated in the teaching programme. The goal was to make culinary students master sensory evaluation techniques and improve their ability to develop food that is liked by consumers. Consequently, these practitioners can improve the sensory quality and acceptance of sustainable and healthy foods. Learning outcomes in a combined sensory knowledge (ten questions) and skills test (eight sensory tasks) were examined. Altogether 89 culinary students participated in both the baseline and follow-up test. Results demonstrate a highly significant effect in both domains. The knowledge scores were significantly higher after than before the course and the scores in the skills tests revealed a significant improvement of culinary students’ vocabulary after completing the course as measured by a higher number and quality of descriptors used to describe four different foods in an open description task. A higher number of descriptors used to describe foods by means of a check-all-that-apply (CATA) sensory descriptive methodology emphasized these findings. Integrating a course on sensory science and methods into the culinary arts educations leads to significant improvement of culinary students’ sensory vocabulary, knowledge and skills. The sensory educational programme is available in Danish with elaborate instructions for teachers through Taste for Life’s online services. Additionally, to train vocational teachers so they can teach it themselves, virtual courses on the sensory educational content were created in 2021 and are accessible online.

Introduction: COVID-19 has spread globally in waves, and Danish treatment guidelines have been updated following the first wave. We sought to investigate whether the prognostic values of echocardiographic parameters changed with updates in treatment guidelines and the emergence of novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants, 20E (EU1) and alpha (B.1.1.7), and further to compare cardiac parameters between patients from the first and second wave. Methods: A total of 305 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were prospectively included, 215 and 90 during the first and second wave, respectively. Treatment in the study was defined as treatment with remdesivir, dexamethasone, or both. Patients were assumed to be infected with the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant at the time of their hospitalization. Results: Mean age for the first versus second wave was 68.7 ± 13.6 versus 69.7 ± 15.8 years, and 55% versus 62% were males. Left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic function was worse in patients hospitalized during the second wave (LV ejection fraction [LVEF] for first vs. second wave = 58.5 ± 8.1% vs. 52.4 ± 10.6%, p < 0.001; and global longitudinal strain [GLS] = 16.4 ± 4.3% vs. 14.2 ± 4.3%, p < 0.001). In univariable Cox regressions, reduced LVEF (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.07 per 1% decrease, p = 0.002), GLS (HR = 1.21 per 1% decrease, p < 0.001), and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (HR = 1.18 per 1 mm decrease, p < 0.001) were associated with COVID-related mortality, but only GLS remained significant in fully adjusted analysis (HR = 1.14, p = 0.02). Conclusion: Reduced GLS was associated with COVID-related mortality independently of wave, treatment, and the SARS-CoV-2 variant. LV function was significantly impaired in patients hospitalized during the second wave.

Skolerne i Danmark og i stort set alle andre lande verden over blev lukket ned i foråret 2020 og igen i slutningen af 2020 og i dele af 2021. I stedet blev der gennemført forskellige former for nødundervisning, ofte i form af digitalt understøttet hjemmeundervisning. Dette havde store konsekvenser for elevernes situation og for deres trivsel og læring, for lærerne der skulle omlægge undervisningen, for forældre og hjem som skulle påtage sig nye opgaver i forbindelse med den hjemmebaserede nødundervisning, og for skolerne som institutioner (ledelse, organisering, forvaltning osv.). Alt dette udløste en omfattende forskningsaktivitet, som nok især havde fokus på konsekvenserne for eleverne (trivsel; læring; betydning af social ulighed; osv.). Forskningen kan forsøgsvist indledes i tre faser: 1. Undersøgelser af den første nedlukningsbølge, ofte med data indhentet mens nedlukningen stod på. 2. Undersøgelser af de følgende nedlukningsbølger, igen ofte med data indhentet mens nedlukningerne stod på. Her blev der tilføjet en longitudinal dimension. 3. Oversigts- og metastudier, ofte af international karakter. Hertil kommer, at der også begynder at dukke undersøgelser op, som forsøger at identificere erfaringer fra coronanedlukninger med henblik på institutionelle forandringer og fremtidigt beredskab.Hensigten med sessionen er dels at præsentere og diskutere nogle af de allerede gennemførte undersøgelser, dels at tage hul på diskussionen af, om det er muligt at identificere generelle og generaliserbare konsekvenser af skolenedlukningerne.

Background: Lung ultrasound (LUS) is a useful tool for diagnosis and monitoring in patients with active COVID-19-infection. However, less is known about the changes in LUS findings after a hospitalization for COVID-19. Methods: In a prospective, longitudinal study in patients with COVID-19 enrolled from non-ICU hospital units, adult patients underwent 8-zone LUS and blood sampling both during the hospitalization and 2–3 months after discharge. LUS images were analyzed blinded to clinical variables and outcomes. Results: A total of 71 patients with interpretable LUS at baseline and follow up (mean age 64 years, 61% male, 24% with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)) were included. The follow-up LUS was performed a median of 72 days after the initial LUS performed during hospitalization. At baseline, 87% had pathologic LUS findings in ≥1 zone (e.g. ≥3 B-lines, confluent B-lines or subpleural or lobar consolidation), whereas 30% had pathologic findings at follow-up (p < 0.001). The total number of B-lines and LUS score decreased significantly from hospitalization to follow-up (median 17 vs. 4, p < 0.001 and 4 vs. 0, p < 0.001, respectively). On the follow-up LUS, 28% of all patients had ≥3 B-lines in ≥1 zone, whereas in those with ARDS during the baseline hospitalization (n = 17), 47% had ≥3 B-lines in ≥1 zone. Conclusion: LUS findings improved significantly from hospitalization to follow-up 2–3 months after discharge in COVID-19 survivors. However, persistent B-lines were frequent at follow-up, especially among those who initially had ARDS. LUS seems to be a promising method to monitor COVID-19 lung changes over time. Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT04377035.

Background: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality amongst patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). This is the first study using 3-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) to investigate associations between adverse changes of the left ventricle, and different stages of CKD. Methods: Participants were recruited from the Copenhagen CKD cohort study and the Herlev-Gentofte CKD cohort study. Patients were stratified according to GFR category (G1+2: eGFR≥60mL/min/1.73m 2 , G3: eGFR = 30-59mL/min/1.73m 2 , and G4+5: eGFR≤29mL/min/1.73m 2 ), and according to albuminuria (A1: UACR300 mg/g). Echocardiograms were analysed for left ventricular (LV) mass index (LVMi), LV ejection fraction (LVEF), and global strain measures. In adjusted analysis, eGFR groups were adjusted for confounders and albuminuria category, while albuminuria groups were adjusted for confounders and GFR category. Results: The study population consisted of 662 outpatients with CKD and 169 controls. Mean age was 57±13 years, and 61% were males. Mean LVEF and global longitudinal strain (GLS) were increasingly impaired across eGFR groups: LVEF = 60.1%, 58.4%, and 57.8% ( p =0.013), GLS = -16.1%, -14.8%, and -14.6% ( p 2 , 88.1g/m 2 , and 92.1g/m 2 ( p =0.007) from A1-3. Adjusted analysis confirmed reduced LVEF in G3 compared with G1+2, and increased LVMi in A3 compared with A1. Conclusion: Increasingly impaired eGFR was associated with adverse changes in LV systolic function, while albuminuria was associated with adverse changes in LV mass assessed by 3DE. Their associations were independent of each other.

AIMS: The degree of cardiovascular sequelae following COVID-19 remains unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate whether cardiac function recovers following COVID-19. METHODS AND RESULTS: A consecutive sample of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 was prospectively included in this longitudinal study. All patients underwent an echocardiographic examination during hospitalization and 2 months later. All participants were successfully matched 1:1 with COVID-19-free controls by age and sex. A total of 91 patients were included (mean age 63 ± 12 years, 59% male). A median of 77 days (interquartile range: 72-92) passed between the two examinations. Right ventricular (RV) function improved following resolution of COVID-19: tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) (2.28 ± 0.40 cm vs. 2.11 ± 0.38 cm, P < 0.001) and RV longitudinal strain (RVLS) (25.3 ± 5.5% vs. 19.9 ± 5.8%, P < 0.001). In contrast, left ventricular (LV) systolic function assessed by global longitudinal strain (GLS) did not significantly improve (17.4 ± 2.9% vs. 17.6 ± 3.3%, P = 0.6). N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide decreased between the two examinations [177.6 (80.3-408.0) ng/L vs. 11.7 (5.7-24.0) ng/L, P < 0.001]. None of the participants had elevated troponins at follow-up compared to 18 (27.7%) during hospitalization. Recovered COVID-19 patients had significantly lower GLS (17.4 ± 2.9% vs. 18.8 ± 2.9%, P < 0.001 and adjusted P = 0.004), TAPSE (2.28 ± 0.40 cm vs. 2.67 ± 0.44 cm, P < 0.001 and adjusted P < 0.001), and RVLS (25.3 ± 5.5% vs. 26.6 ± 5.8%, P = 0.50 and adjusted P < 0.001) compared to matched controls. CONCLUSION: Acute COVID-19 affected negatively RV function and cardiac biomarkers but recovered following resolution of COVID-19. In contrast, the observed reduced LV function during acute COVID-19 did not improve post-COVID-19. Compared to the matched controls, both LV and RV function remained impaired.

Background COVID‐19 is known to cause an acute respiratory illness, although clinical manifestations outside of the respiratory tract may occur. Early reports have identified SARS‐CoV‐2 as a cause of subacute thyroiditis (SAT). Methods A systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. MEDLINE, Web of Science and PubMed databases were queried in February 2021 for studies from December 2019 to February 2021. MeSH search terms “COVID‐19”, “SARS‐CoV‐2” and “coronavirus” along with search terms “thyroiditis”, “thyrotoxicosis”, “thyroid” were used. Descriptive statistics for continuous variables and proportions for categorical variables were calculated. Results 15 publications reporting on 17 individual cases of COVID‐19 induced SAT were identified. Age ranged from 18 to 69 years old. The majority of the cases were female (14 of 17, 82%). The delay between onset of respiratory symptoms and diagnosis of SAT ranged from 5 to 49 days (mean, 26.5). Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) related to viral infection was uncommonly reported at the time of SAT diagnosis. Thyroid ultrasonography frequently reported an enlarged hypoechoic thyroid with decreased vascularity and heterogenous echotexture. Elevated CRP was common at the time of SAT diagnosis, with results ranging from 4.5 to 176 mg/L (mean, 41 mg/L). Anti‐thyroid antibodies were frequently negative. SAT specific treatment included corticosteroids for 12/17 (70.5%) patients. Most return to normal thyroid status. Conclusion COVID‐19 associated SAT may be difficult to identify in a timely manner due to potential absence of classic symptoms, as well as cross‐over of common clinical features between COVID‐19 and thyrotoxicosis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

In Denmark as well as other countries, recent years have seen a ‘turn’ in Home Economics Education in compulsory school. Previously, the focus was on practical skills, health and nutrition. Today, there is more focus on taste as a quality of food and meals, and on sustainability and health as more than something bodily or nutritional. This symposium focuses on taste and sustainable development, which will be explored and discussed. The symposium is based on Wistoft & Qvortrup (2019) Teaching Taste; and Wistoft & Qvortrup (2020) Seven dimensions of taste: taste in a sociological and educational perspective. The panel will include short presentations by Wistoft (systems and dimensions of taste), Qvortrup (structural links between taste dimensions: How sustainability as an aspect of moral taste influences cooking and food aesthetics, i.e. pleasant taste) and Christensen (empirical examples and research findings of teaching taste for sustainable development). Other contributions are very welcome.The research symposium combines theoretical and empirical approaches, including taste philosophy, systems theory, didactics and empirical studies with a focus on effectiveness research. The theoretical findings include a) the development of a systematic model of taste dimensions that can be directly translated into a HHE curriculum b) students’ understanding of the differentiation of knowledge forms related to different taste dimensions, with a particular focus on the importance of education for sustainable development. The empirical findings demonstrate that teaching taste is an effective didactic approach that all students can benefit from in achieving learning objectives.Conclusion: Home Economics Education with a focus on taste has significant positive effects on the inclusion of students with different socio-economic backgrounds, on the understanding of taste as a broad cultural phenomenon, on the ability to use different forms of argument for different taste dimensions, and – not least – on students’ understanding of sustainable development as an integrated element in all links of the food chain.

Driving an automobile has inherent danger, and driving after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI)/sports-related concussion (SRC) can make this task even more hazardous. There is evidence to suggest that restriction from driving for the first 24 to 48 h after mTBI/SRC is probably reasonable. However, after the first 48 h have passed, there is insufficient evidence to make a recommendation regarding return to driving. Clinicians need to weigh the evidence and make decisions on how to advise their patients on a case by case basis. Further research is required to provide a standardized recommendation.

The overarching objective for Flexible Weapons is to replace current inventory weapons that will not fully utilize the increased capabilities of 6th generation platforms, with a single weapons kit made up of flexible, open architecture components. Flexible Weapon will develop a common architecture to enable modular subsystems to achieve flexible weapons capability while allowing technology refresh at the pace of technology discovery in an affordable and sustainable design. The various combinations of weapons to address multiple missions must be 100% compatible with 6th generation delivery platforms (fighters, bombers, RPAs) and backwards compatible with 4th and 5th generation platforms.

Study objective Children with congenital or acquired heart disease have an increased risk of anesthesia related morbidity and mortality. The child's anesthetic risk is related to the severity of their underlying cardiac disease, associated comorbidities, and surgical procedure. The goal of this project was to determine the ease of use of a preoperative risk stratification tool for assigning pediatric cardiac staff and to determine the relative frequency that children with low, moderate, and high risk cardiac disease present for non-cardiac surgery at a tertiary pediatric hospital. Design A risk-stratification tool was prospectively applied to children with congenital heart disease who presented for non-cardiac surgery. Setting Perioperative. Patients We identified a subset of 100 children with congenital heart disease out of 2200 children who required general anesthesia for surgical or radiological procedures over a 6 week period. Interventions A risk stratification tool was utilized to place the patient into low, moderate, or high risk categories to help predict anticipated anesthetic risk. Each grouping specified assignment of staff caring for the patient, clarified preoperative expectations for cardiac assessment, and determined if patient care could be performed at our freestanding ambulatory surgical center. Measurements Electronic perioperative records were reviewed to obtain demographic information, the underlying heart disease, prior cardiac surgery, associated conditions, anesthetic management, complications, and provider type. Main results Approximately 4.5% of children presented with cardiac disease over a 6 week period. In 100 consecutive children with cardiac disease, 23 of the children were classified as low risk, 66 patients were classified as moderate risk, and 11 of the patients were classified as high risk. Pediatric cardiac anesthesiologists provided care to all high risk patients. There were no serious adverse events. Conclusions We found this risk stratification method an effective method to differentiate children into low, moderate, and high risk categories for anesthesia planning and management.

The GRAS instrument on the Metop-A satellite provides more than 600 radio occultation measurement profiles per day. The instrument is characterized by its wide antenna coverage, high signal-to-noise ratio and an ultra-stable clock reference. The conventional dual-frequency tracking of GPS signals is under dynamic atmosphere conditions complemented by open loop tracking with sampling of the signal at a 1 kHz rate, providing an unprecedented view of the signal spectral environment. This paper presents the instrument performance as derived from analysis of in-orbit measurement data. We show that the noise figure is low enough to enable mapping of external radio noise variations over the earth’s surface. An error propagation model is presented to relate instrument characteristics to bending angle performance. This model is also used to illustrate the relation between filter bandwidth, resolution and measurement noise. The Doppler model, guiding open loop measurements, is found to be accurate to better than 20 Hz with a possibility for improvement to 10 Hz. The high performance at low altitudes enables the presence of surface reflections at the −20-dB level to be identified in more than 50% of the occultations. The potential performance improvements for next generation receivers are discussed.

High-energy blunt or penetrating impact leads to great variability in facial injury patterns. Although the mechanism, pattern, and distribution of forces vary, the resultant damage to hard and soft tissues requires dedicated planning and execution of debridement and reconstructive procedures. This article evaluates the initial management of patients sustaining high-energy facial impact injuries resulting in one or more comminuted or displaced facial fractures, with accompanying severe facial lacerations and/or soft tissue defects and avulsion injuries. Seventy-three patients met the criteria for high-energy traumatic injuries at Jackson Memorial/University of Miami Medical Center between 2003 and 2013 and are included in this article. Thirty-nine patients sustained one or more gunshot wounds to the face, and 34 patients were involved in high-speed motor vehicle collisions; all patients met our criteria for high-energy trauma. The treatment protocol for these injuries involves meticulous surgical exploration and assessment, aggressive debridement, early definitive reduction/fixation, and reconstruction as necessary.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has postulated a new weapons concept known as Flexible Weapons to define and develop technologies addressing a number of challenges. Initial studies on capability attributes of this concept have been conducted and AFRL plans to continue systems engineering studies to quantify metrics against which the value of capabilities can be assessed. An important aspect of Flexible Weapons is having a modular “plug-n-play” hardware and software solution, supported by an Open Architecture and Universal Armament Interface (UAI) common interfaces. The modular aspect of Flexible Weapons is a means to successfully achieving interoperability and composability at the weapon level. Interoperability allows for vendor competition, timely technology refresh, and avoids costs by ensuring standard interfaces widely supported in industry, rather than an interface unique to a particular vendor. Composability provides for the means to arrange an open end set of useful weapon systems configurations. The openness of Flexible Weapons is important because it broadens the set of computing technologies, software updates, and other technologies to be introduced into the weapon system, providing the warfighter with new capabilities at lower costs across the life cycle. One of the most critical steps in establishing a Modular, Open Systems Architecture (MOSA) for weapons is the validation of compliance with the standard.

Given today's challenging budget environment for the Department of Defense, the National Security Space Enterprise is seeking unique and affordable ways to gain access to space. An emerging solution is aimed at addressing the fiscal challenges using commercially hosted payloads for military missions. With the success of Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload (CHIRP) in 2011, the United States Air Force is continuing to pursue new and innovative concepts and technologies to ensure hosted payloads remain an affordable avenue for resilient future space architectures. A specific enabling concept is a Modular, Open Networked Architecture (MONA) which is an outgrowth of two Department of Defense policy documents: the DODI 5000.02 and DoDD 8320.02. An emerging technology demonstration of MONA for the Hosted Payload Office is the Standard Network Adapter for Payloads (SNAP).

The next generation GNSS radio occultation instrument under development at RUAG Space will take advantage of the new signals of Galileo, GPS, GLONASS, and Compass. The measurement performance is improved as compared to the present instrument generation that operates on the MetOp satellites. A tracking algorithm has been developed which ensures that all signal information throughout the atmosphere is made available for ground processing with a minimum of losses. Simulation results are presented for a demanding case of a rising occultation.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is sponsoring an effort to develop Plug-and-Play (PnP) technology for spacecraft systems. The Space PnP Architecture (SPA) supports a method of constructing arbitrarily complex arrangements of components. SPA is a networked data exchange model. This paper presents the SPA network architecture in relation to the standard five layers of the Open System Interconnect (OSI) model. The responsibilities and functionality of each layer are described. The SPA networking provides a unified methodology for self-discovery and self-configuration of heterogeneous PnP networks. The SPA networking approach is shown to be elegant, robust, and scalable.

The Space Plug-and-play Architecture (SPA) concept of rapid satellite development has progressed exponentially over the past several years. The team at the Configurable Space Microsystems Innovations and Applications Center (COSMIAC) in conjunction with the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) and the Air Force Research Laboratory have trained over 500 individuals on this rapid bus architecture related to satellite development. This paper will outline the first CubeSat satellite proof of concept flight for a SPA only spacecraft. The Trailblazer mission is designed to fly a 1U CubeSat that is based entirely on a SPA bus implementation. Trailblazer will consist of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) parts converted to be SPA compliant. This allows not only a demonstration of the bus reliability in a space environment, but also the ease in converting existing components to be SPA compliant. With the dimensional constraints and power budget of Trailblazer, we have elected to use the SPA-1 standard. SPA-1 is the most recent addition to the AFRL SPA family. The SPA-1 data transfer protocol is based on 400 kbit/s I2C making it the lowest power, and lowest bandwidth option for SPA. Given the power constraints of typical satellite architecture, it is generally advantageous to interface devices/modules which do not require high data transfer rates to a SPA network via the SPA-1 Applique Sensor Interface Module (ASIM). This ASIM is logic that enables SPA Plug-and-Play for hardware components. It contains all the information needed for the system to automatically discover and automatically configure the hardware component. SPA-1 ASIMs can be any microcontroller that supports I2C and has enough memory to contain the needed logic. This allows the standard to remain open to a variety of dynamic implementations. The Trailblazer mission is being launched under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Educational Launch of Nanosatellite (ELaNA) program. This NASA program is designed to provide affordable access to space through collaborative efforts with academic institutions. The ELaNA program provides manifesting and launch of CubeSats for $30,000 per 1U module. The proposed orbit is 325 km with an inclination of 51 degrees for a launch in 2011.

Summary The effect on clearance of levetiracetam (LEV) was estimated in women with epilepsy of childbearing potential using oral contraceptives (OCs). The estimated clearance (plasma concentration/daily dose) was 39 nmol/L/mg (range 14–88 nmol/L/mg) among women who did not use OC (n = 30) and 38 nmol/L/mg (range 18–103 nmol/L/mg) among OC users (n = 23) (p = 0.8). In conclusion, combing LEV and OCs seems safe from a pharmacokinetic perspective.

The GRAS radio occultation instrument on board MetOp has continuously provided measurement data during almost four years. The measurement data are here used as a means to analyze the signal tracking performance of the GRAS instrument. The results demonstrate that the atmospheric Doppler shift is measured to an accuracy of 1.1 mm/s and that the on-board Doppler model is accurate within 4 m/s (or 20 Hz). It is also found that rapid signal amplitude fluctuation, exceeding 10 dB, frequently occur at higher altitudes than expected and that it is possible to improve the signal tracking during such events.

Many organizations (academia, industry and government) make high quality satellite components; however, very few organizations make entire satellites well. Those that can successfully create entire satellites, often take years to design and deploy “Swiss watch,” one-of-a-kind satellites. The federal government wants a way to capitalize on all of these organization’s quality components in a quick and efficient manner. To be more responsive to the military and emergency responder’s needs, rapid satellite development and deployment is critical. There is a need for a method to go from pushbutton mission design to off the shelf components (that all seamlessly integrate) in a rapid fashion. Under sponsorship by the Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) developed a modular, nanosatellite, plug-and-play (PnP) approach where hardware and software modules can be rapidly merged to form functional satellites. The Stanford/Cal Poly CubeSat and Poly-Picosatellite Orbital Dispenser (PPOD) standards have revolutionized the way that small satellites are developed and deployed. AFRL wants to capitalize on this momentum to advance the concepts and goals of rapid space. Small satellites are an excellent test bed for larger spacecraft. The combination of the AFRL’s PnP design paradigm and the CubeSat standards has resulted in the creation of a CubeFlow program and CubeFlow training. The basis of the electrical and software infrastructure is the AFRL Space PnP Avionics (SPA) technology. Many have complained about the complexity of developing components that conform to the SPA standards. To alleviate this, a secure, web-based, design system has been created that allows convenient access for developing design configurations and coordinating the offerings of a community of component developers. This system provides a simple development flow through which component manufacturers can easily and efficiently create a PnP module. This stems from the idea that minimizing the amount of code that a developer must produce and also minimizing human error through constant validation will greatly increase efficiency. The hope is that those trained in the CubeFlow courses will gain the skills needed to produce useful PnP components and allow the PnP community to expand. Currently, there are a number of organizations and universities that have expressed interest in nano-satellite programs and rapid space development. CubeFlow is intended to address the issue that, due to lack of funding or capability, it is rare that a single organization or university would be able to research and develop all the necessary components for a small satellite. If a community can be built around an accepted standard such as PnP, then it may be possible to coordinate efforts in such a way that no longer would a single entity be tasked with the development of an entire satellite - but rather a single module or component. It is believed that this will not only lead to faster development, but higher quality satellites.

The Satellite Data Model (SDM) developed at Utah State University (USU) is a plugand-play system for satellites. An xTEDS must be written for each sensor device that participates with the SDM. An interface module called an Appliqu e Sensor Interface Module (ASIM) must be developed to interface between the SDM and the sensor device. The program code that runs on an ASIM can be di cult to develop. This paper presents a technique for automatically generating ASIM program code by extrapolating the needed information from the sensor device’s xTEDS. This technique has been implemented in a tool called the ASIM Wizard. The ASIM Wizard reduces the time and e ort required to develop an ASIM.

Millimeter and sub-millimeter-wave imagers and sounders are considered for future meteorological and climate observation satellites [1]. The Geostationary Atmospheric Sounder (GAS) [2], is a development project for an imaging sounder at frequency bands around 53 GHz, 118 GHz, 183 GHz, and 380 GHz. These frequency bands are included to satisfy the user requirements for vertical profiles of temperature and humidity under all weather conditions. The primary advantage of a Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) for remote sensing, compared with a Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), is that continuous monitoring is possible over a large area of the Earth's surface and atmosphere. This is desirable for nowcasting, and short range forecasting of rapidly evolving meteorological phenomena.

Broadcasting is an efficient alternative to unicast for delivering popular on-demand media requests. Broadcasting schemes that are based on windows scheduling algorithms provide a way to satisfy all requests with both low bandwidth and low latency. Consider a system of n pages that need to be scheduled (transmitted) on identical channels an infinite number of times. Time is slotted, and it takes one time slot to transmit each page. In the windows scheduling problem (WS) each page i , 1 ≤ i ≤ n , is associated with a request window w i . In a feasible schedule for WS, page i must be scheduled at least once in any window of w i time slots. The objective function is to minimize the number of channels required to schedule all the pages. The main contribution of this paper is the design of a general buffer scheme for the windows scheduling problem such that any algorithm for WS follows this scheme. As a result, this scheme can serve as a tool to analyze and/or exhaust all possible WS-algorithms. The buffer scheme is based on modelling the system as a nondeterministic finite state machine in which any directed cycle corresponds to a legal schedule and vice-versa. Since WS is NP-hard, we present some heuristics and pruning-rules for cycle detection that ensure reasonable cycle-search time. By introducing various rules, the buffer scheme can be transformed into deterministic scheduling algorithms. We show that a simple page-selection rule for the buffer scheme provides an optimal schedule to WS for the case where all the w i 's have divisible sizes, and other good schedules for some other general cases. By using an exhaustive-search, we prove impossibility results for other important instances. We also show how to extend the buffer scheme to more generalized environments in which ( i ) pages are arriving and departing on-line, ( ii ) the window constraint has some jitter , and ( iii ) different pages might have different lengths.

Synthetic aperture radiometers with a rotating thinned array can effectively reduce the number of antenna units required for the applications with very high spatial resolution, like GEO atmospheric sounding. The rotating array results in non-regular distributed visibility samples. A grid-based measurement approach is proposed in this paper to facilitate the image reconstruction and system performance evaluation, especially the radiometric sensitivity computation.

Millimeter and Sub-mm-wave imagers/sounders are considered for future meteorological geostationary satellite missions. A novel interferometric Geostationary Atmospheric Sounder (GAS) has been developed and a concept demonstrator is under construction. The concept is a response to the requirements of observations for nowcasting and short range forecasting in 2015-2025, as determined by EUMETSAT for post-MSG operational satellites observations. Prioritized parameters include vertical profiles of temperature and humidity with high temporal and horizontal resolution (15 min and 30 km) under all weather conditions. Frequency bands around 53GHz, 118GHz, 183GHz, 380GHz have the highest user priority and are all supported by GAS. The instrument relies on an innovative configuration of interferometer elements which enables the use of a sparse array and simplifies calibration.

The primary advantage of a geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) for remote sensing, compared with a low-Earth orbit (LEO), is that continuous monitoring is possible over a large area of the Earth's surface and atmosphere. The main technical challenges are the very large antenna aperture required for achieving the required spatial resolution (40 folds increase in the distance to the Earth as compared to the LEO) and the necessity for imaging of two-dimensional scanning due to the absence of a relative spacecraft-Earth movement. The requirements derived from this application includes an effective aperture diameter of more than 8 m, which can not be fulfilled by a classical reflector-based instrument. Hence, an interferometric concept has been studied. In this paper a theoretical derivation of the minimum number of receivers that is required is presented along with a discussion on the implementation of such a system in space within a 10-year time frame.

Broadcasting is an efficient alternative to unicast for delivering popular on-demand media requests. Windows scheduling algorithms provide a way to satisfy all requests with both low bandwidth and low latency. Consider a system of n pages that need to be scheduled (transmitted) on identical channels an infinite number of times. Time is slotted, and it takes one time slot to transmit each page. In the windows scheduling problem (WS) each page i, 1 ≤ i ≤ n, is associated with a request windowwi. In a feasible schedule for WS, page i must be scheduled at least once in any window of wi time slots. The objective function is to minimize the number of channels required to schedule all the pages. The main contribution of this paper is the design of a general buffer scheme for the windows scheduling problem such that any algorithm for WS follows this scheme. As a result, this scheme can serve as a tool to analyze and/or exhaust all possible WS-algorithms. The buffer scheme is based on modelling the system as a nondeterministic finite state channel in which any directed cycle corresponds to a legal schedule and vice-versa. Since WS is NP-hard, we present some heuristics and pruning-rules for cycle detection that ensure reasonable cycle-search time. By introducing various rules, the buffer scheme can be transformed into deterministic scheduling algorithms. We show that a simple page-selection rule for the buffer scheme provides an optimal schedule to WS for the case where all the wi's have divisible sizes, and other good schedules for some other general cases. By using an exhaustive-search, we prove impossibility results for other important instances. We also show how to extend the buffer scheme to more generalized environments in which (i) pages are arriving and departing on-line, (ii) the window constraint has some jitter, and (iii) different pages might have different lengths.

We have manufactured a small circular superconducting coil impregnated with epoxy fibreglass. The coil was wound from a Bi-2223/Ag superconducting wire and it was tested in liquid nitrogen at 77 K. Current-voltage characteristic and the AC losses of the coil were measured and compared with the measurements on the original tape. The AC losses of the coil are approximately 10 times higher than the losses of the tape and they have been measured in two different experimental arrangements, one with directly connected and the other with transformer coupled power supply. Measurements in both arrangements resulted in the same AC loss characteristic. This work was done as a part of the Superwind project which aims to build a series of test coils and a spinning model of a generator to investigate AC loss and stability of the coils in wind turbine like conditions.