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Sample records for monitoring astronaut health

  1. Safeguarding the Health of the NASA Astronaut Community: the Need for Expanded Medical Monitoring for Former NASA Astronauts Under the Astronaut Occupational Health Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rossi, Meredith; Lee, Lesley; Wear, Mary; Van Baalen, Mary; Rhodes, Bradley

    2016-01-01

    The astronaut community is unique, and may be disproportionately exposed to occupational hazards not commonly seen in other communities. The extent to which the demands of the astronaut occupation and exposure to spaceflight-related hazards affect the health of the astronaut population over the life course is not completely known. Provision of health screening services to active and former astronauts ensures individual, mission, and community health and safety. Currently, the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) Flight Medicine Clinic (FMC) provides extensive medical monitoring to active astronauts throughout their careers. Upon retirement, astronauts may voluntarily return to the JSC FMC for an annual preventive exam. However, current retiree monitoring includes only selected screening tests, representing an opportunity for augmentation. The potential latent health effects of spaceflight demand an expanded framework of testing for former astronauts. The need is two-fold: screening tests widely recommended for other aging communities are necessary for astronauts to rule out conditions resulting from the natural aging process (e.g., colonoscopy, mammography), as opposed to conditions resulting directly from the astronaut occupation; and increased breadth of monitoring services will improve the understanding of occupational health risks and longitudinal health of the astronaut community, past, present, and future. To meet this need, NASA has begun an extensive exploration of the overall approach, cost, and policy implications of expanding existing medical monitoring under the Astronaut Occupational Health program for former NASA astronauts.

  2. Multifunctional Integrated Photonic Lab-on-a-Chip for Astronaut Health Monitoring, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Astronauts do not have a simple and reliable method to accurately and in real-time monitor their health during missions. IFOS proposes an innovative miniaturized...

  3. Radiation health consequences for astronauts: mechanisms, monitoring and prevention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neyfakh, E.

    During space flights crews are exposed chronically to uneven irradiation of enhanced bioefficiency following with significant elevation for chromosomal aberrations as minimum. To protect in space rationally monitoring and preventing of health radiogenic individual primary consequences for astronauts are of high importance. Majority of Chernobyl-touched population has some common etiologic radiogenic mechanisms and radioloads with astronauts ones during long-term missions and former is able to be used well as the close ground-level model. Primary radiogenic deviations. Two radiogenic pathologies as lipoperoxic ( LP ) stress with coupled deficits for essential bioantioxidants ( BAO ) were typical for chronic low-dose Chernobyl-touched contingents. When BAO expenditure had led to their subnormal levels, radiogenic free radical chain -b ranched LP processes occurred in vivo hyperbolically. Catabolites and their free radicals of the abnormal LP cascade are known to be toxic, mutagenic / carcinogenic and teratogenic factors as such, as they are for retinol and tocopherol deficiencies. Both coupled pathogenic factors interrelated synergistically. Simultaneous dysbalances for LP and / or BAO systems were evaluated as the cause and markers for metabolic disregulations. Human LP stress was proved to be the most radiosensible known marker to mo nitor least invasively of blood microsamples in a ground lab via the developed PC Program. But for capsule conditions the best approach is assumed to be LP monitoring via skin ultraweak green-blue chemiluminescence ( CL ) caused by recombination of peroxyl radicals. CL from surfaces of organs was embedded first ( E. Neyfakh, 1964 - 71 ) to reflect their internal LP velocities in vivo and it is the non-invasive on-line simple method of the highest sensitivity, supplying with data transmissible to the ground directly. Related deviations. a) Radiogenic hypermutagenesis: LP catabolites and their free radicals are responsible for direct DNA

  4. Advanced biosensors for monitoring astronauts' health during long-duration space missions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roda, Aldo; Mirasoli, Mara; Guardigli, Massimo; Zangheri, Martina; Caliceti, Cristiana; Calabria, Donato; Simoni, Patrizia

    2018-07-15

    Long-duration space missions pose important health concerns for astronauts, especially regarding the adverse effects of microgravity and exposure to high-energy cosmic rays. The long-term maintenance of crew health and performance mainly relies on prevention, early diagnoses, condition management, and medical interventions in situ. In-flight biosensor diagnostic devices and medical procedures must use few resources and operate in a microgravity environment, which complicates the collection and management of biological samples. Moreover, the biosensors must be certified for in-flight operation according to strict design and safety regulations. Herein, we report on the state of the art and recent advances in biosensing diagnostic instrumentation for monitoring astronauts' health during long-duration space missions, including portable and wearable biosensors. We discuss perspectives on new-format biosensors in autonomous space clinics. We also describe our own work in developing biosensing devices for non-invasively diagnosing space-related diseases, and how they are used in long-duration missions. Finally, we discuss the benefits of space exploration for Earth-based medicine. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. NASA Astronaut Occupational Surveillance Program and Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health, LSAH, Astronaut Exposures and Risk in the Terrestrial and Spaceflight Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keprta, Sean R.; Tarver, William; Van Baalen, Mary; McCoy, Torin

    2015-01-01

    United States Astronauts have a very unique occupational exposure profile. In order to understand these risks and properly address them, the National Aeronautics and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, originally created the Longitudinal Study of Astronaut Health, LSAH. The first LSAH was designed to address a variety of needs regarding astronaut health and included a 3 to 1 terrestrial control population in order to compare United States "earth normal" disease and aging to that of a microgravity exposed astronaut. Over the years that program has been modified, now termed Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health, still LSAH. Astronaut spaceflight exposures have also changed, with the move from short duration shuttle flights to long duration stays on international space station and considerable terrestrial training activities. This new LSAH incorporates more of an occupational health and medicine model to the study of occupationally exposed astronauts. The presentation outlines the baseline exposures and monitoring of the astronaut population to exposures, both terrestrial, and in space.

  6. Radiation monitoring system for astronauts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomson, I.; MacKay, G.; Ng, A.; Tomi, L.

    1996-01-01

    Astronauts in space are constantly under the bombardment of radiation particles from trapped electrons, and trapped proton. In addition, cosmic rays, while penetrating the spacecraft shell, generate secondary radiation of neutrons. As astronauts' stay in space is getting longer, the need for a real-time radiation monitoring device has become critical. Thermoluminescent dosemeter (TLD), used onboard both the MIR and the Space Transportation System (STS), cannot provide real-time dose reading. This paper describes a real-time direct read-out device, currently under development, which can measure skin, eye, and Blood Forming Organ (BFO) doses separately. (author)

  7. Lunar Health Monitor, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — During the Phase II Lunar Health Monitor program, Orbital Research will develop a second generation wearable sensor suite for astronaut physiologic monitoring. The...

  8. Problems of psychological monitoring in astronaut training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morgun, V V

    1997-10-01

    Monitoring of the goal-oriented psychological changes of a man during professional training is necessary. The level development of the astronaut psychic features is checked by means of psychological testing with the final aim to evaluate each professionally important psychological qualities and to evaluate in general. The list of psychological features needed for evaluation is determined and empirically selected weight factors based on wide statistical sampling is introduced. Accumulation of psychological test results can predict an astronaut's ability of solving complicated problems in a flight mission. It can help to correct the training process and reveal weakness.

  9. Monitoring Bone Health after Spaceflight: Data Mining to Support an Epidemiological Analysis of Age-related Bone Loss in Astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, K. S,; Amin, S.; Sibonga, Jean D.

    2009-01-01

    Through the epidemiological analysis of bone data, HRP is seeking evidence as to whether the prolonged exposure to microgravity of low earth orbit predisposes crewmembers to an earlier onset of osteoporosis. While this collaborative Epidemiological Project may be currently limited by the number of ISS persons providing relevant spaceflight medical data, a positive note is that it compares medical data of astronauts to data of an age-matched (not elderly) population that is followed longitudinally with similar technologies. The inclusion of data from non-ISS and non-NASA crewmembers is also being pursued. The ultimate goal of this study is to provide critical information for NASA to understand the impact of low physical or minimal weight-bearing activity on the aging process as well as to direct its development of countermeasures and rehabilitation programs to influence skeletal recovery. However, in order to optimize these results NASA needs to better define the requirements for long term monitoring and encourage both active and retired astronauts to contribute to a legacy of data that will define human health risks in space.

  10. Automated Miniaturized Instrument for Space Biology Applications and the Monitoring of the Astronauts Health Onboard the ISS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karouia, Fathi; Peyvan, Kia; Danley, David; Ricco, Antonio J.; Santos, Orlando; Pohorille, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    Human space travelers experience a unique environment that affects homeostasis and physiologic adaptation. The spacecraft environment subjects the traveler to noise, chemical and microbiological contaminants, increased radiation, and variable gravity forces. As humans prepare for long-duration missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and beyond, effective measures must be developed, verified and implemented to ensure mission success. Limited biomedical quantitative capabilities are currently available onboard the ISS. Therefore, the development of versatile instruments to perform space biological analysis and to monitor astronauts' health is needed. We are developing a fully automated, miniaturized system for measuring gene expression on small spacecraft in order to better understand the influence of the space environment on biological systems. This low-cost, low-power, multi-purpose instrument represents a major scientific and technological advancement by providing data on cellular metabolism and regulation. The current system will support growth of microorganisms, extract and purify the RNA, hybridize it to the array, read the expression levels of a large number of genes by microarray analysis, and transmit the measurements to Earth. The system will help discover how bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics and how pathogenic bacteria sometimes increase their virulence in space, facilitating the development of adequate countermeasures to decrease risks associated with human spaceflight. The current stand-alone technology could be used as an integrated platform onboard the ISS to perform similar genetic analyses on any biological systems from the tree of life. Additionally, with some modification the system could be implemented to perform real-time in-situ microbial monitoring of the ISS environment (air, surface and water samples) and the astronaut's microbiome using 16SrRNA microarray technology. Furthermore, the current system can be enhanced

  11. Lunar Health Monitor (LHM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lisy, Frederick J.

    2015-01-01

    Orbital Research, Inc., has developed a low-profile, wearable sensor suite for monitoring astronaut health in both intravehicular and extravehicular activities. The Lunar Health Monitor measures respiration, body temperature, electrocardiogram (EKG) heart rate, and other cardiac functions. Orbital Research's dry recording electrode is central to the innovation and can be incorporated into garments, eliminating the need for conductive pastes, adhesives, or gels. The patented dry recording electrode has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The LHM is easily worn under flight gear or with civilian clothing, making the system completely versatile for applications where continuous physiological monitoring is needed. During Phase II, Orbital Research developed a second-generation LHM that allows sensor customization for specific monitoring applications and anatomical constraints. Evaluations included graded exercise tests, lunar mission task simulations, functional battery tests, and resting measures. The LHM represents the successful integration of sensors into a wearable platform to capture long-duration and ambulatory physiological markers.

  12. Screening and Management of Asymptomatic Renal Stones in Astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reyes, David; Locke, James; Sargsyan, Ashot; Garcia, Kathleen

    2017-01-01

    Management guidelines were created to screen and manage asymptomatic renal stones in U.S. astronauts. The true risk for renal stone formation in astronauts due to the space flight environment is unknown. Proper management of this condition is crucial to mitigate health and mission risks. The NASA Flight Medicine Clinic electronic medical record and the Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health databases were reviewed. An extensive review of the literature and current aeromedical standards for the monitoring and management of renal stones was also done. This work was used to develop a screening and management protocol for renal stones in astronauts that is relevant to the spaceflight operational environment. In the proposed guidelines all astronauts receive a yearly screening and post-flight renal ultrasound using a novel ultrasound protocol. The ultrasound protocol uses a combination of factors, including: size, position, shadow, twinkle and dispersion properties to confirm the presence of a renal calcification. For mission-assigned astronauts, any positive ultrasound study is followed by a low-dose renal computed tomography scan and urologic consult. Other specific guidelines were also created. A small asymptomatic renal stone within the renal collecting system may become symptomatic at any time, and therefore affect launch and flight schedules, or cause incapacitation during a mission. Astronauts in need of definitive care can be evacuated from the International Space Station, but for deep space missions evacuation is impossible. The new screening and management algorithm has been implemented and the initial round of screening ultrasounds is under way. Data from these exams will better define the incidence of renal stones in U.S. astronauts, and will be used to inform risk mitigation for both short and long duration spaceflights.

  13. Improving Bone-Health Monitoring in Astronauts: Recommended Use of Quantitative Computed Tomography [QCT] for Clinical and Operational Decisions by NASA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sibonga, J. D.; Truszkowski, P.

    2010-01-01

    DXA measurement of areal bone mineral density [aBMD,g/cm2] is required by NASA for assessing skeletal integrity in astronauts. Due to the abundance of population-based data that correlate hip and spine BMDs to fragility fractures, BMD is widely applied as a predictor of fractures in the general aging population. In contrast, QCT is primarily a research technology that measures three-dimensional , volumetric BMD (vBMD,mg/cm3) of bone and is therefore capable of differentiating between cortical and trabecular components. Additionally, when combined with Finite Element Modeling [FEM], a computational tool, QCT data can be used to estimate the whole bone strength of the hip [FE strength] for a specific load vector. A recent report demonstrated that aBMD failed to correlate with incurred changes in FE strength (for fall and stance loading) by astronauts over typical 180-day ISS (International Space Station) missions. While there are no current guidelines for using QCT data in clinical practice, QCT increases the understanding of how bone structure and mineral content are affected by spaceflight and recovery on Earth. In order to understand/promote/consider the use of QCT, NASA convened a panel of clinicians specializing in osteoporosis. After reviewing the available, albeit limited, medical and research information from long-duration astronauts (e.g., data from DXA, QCT, FEM, biochemistry analyses, medical records and in-flight exercise performance) the panelists were charged with recommending how current and future research data and analyses could inform clinical and operational decisions. The Panel recommended that clinical bone tests on astronauts should include QCT (hip and lumbar spine) for occupational risk surveillance and for the estimation of whole hip bone strength as derived by FEM. FE strength will provide an improved index that NASA could use to select astronauts of optimal bone health for extended duration missions, for repeat missions or for specific

  14. Structural health monitoring 2012. Proceedings. Vol. 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boller, Christian

    2012-01-01

    Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is an emerging technology, dealing with the development and implementation of techniques and systems where monitoring, inspection and damage detection become an integral part of structures and thus a matter of automation. It further merges with a variety of techniques related to diagnostics and prognostics. SHM emerged from the field of smart structures and laterally encompasses disciplines such as structural dynamics, materials and structures, fatigue and fracture, non-destructive testing and evaluation, sensors and actuators, microelectronics, signal processing and much more. To be effective in the development of SHM systems, a multidisciplinary approach is therefore required. Without this global view it will be difficult for engineers to holistically manage the operation of an engineering structure through its life cycle in the future and to generate new breakthroughs in structural engineering. The second volume of the proceedings contains topics dealing with applications in the field of aeronautics, astronautic, civil engineering (bridges), energy (wind power), structural health monitoring (transportation), and poster presentations. Ten of the contributions are separately analyzed for the ENERGY database.

  15. Management of Asymptomatic Renal Stones in Astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reyes, David; Locke, James

    2016-01-01

    Introduction: Management guidelines were created to screen and manage asymptomatic renal stones in U.S. astronauts. The risks for renal stone formation in astronauts due to bone loss and hypercalcuria are unknown. Astronauts have a stone risk which is about the same as commercial aviation pilots, which is about half that of the general population. However, proper management of this condition is still crucial to mitigate health and mission risks in the spaceflight environment. Methods: An extensive review of the literature and current aeromedical standards for the monitoring and management of renal stones was done. The NASA Flight Medicine Clinic's electronic medical record and Longitudinal Survey of Astronaut Health were also reviewed. Using this work, a screening and management algorithm was created that takes into consideration the unique operational environment of spaceflight. Results: Renal stone screening and management guidelines for astronauts were created based on accepted standards of care, with consideration to the environment of spaceflight. In the proposed algorithm, all astronauts will receive a yearly screening ultrasound for renal calcifications, or mineralized renal material (MRM). Any areas of MRM, 3 millimeters or larger, are considered a positive finding. Three millimeters approaches the detection limit of standard ultrasound, and several studies have shown that any stone that is 3 millimeters or less has an approximately 95 percent chance of spontaneous passage. For mission-assigned astronauts, any positive ultrasound study is followed by low-dose renal computed tomography (CT) scan, and flexible ureteroscopy if CT is positive. Other specific guidelines were also created. Discussion: The term "MRM" is used to account for small areas of calcification that may be outside the renal collecting system, and allows objectivity without otherwise constraining the diagnostic and treatment process for potentially very small calcifications of uncertain

  16. Evaluation of the Accuracy of Astroskin as a Behavioral Health Self-Monitoring System for Spaceflight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Arun; Levin, Edwin; Cowings, Patricia; Toscano, William B.

    2015-01-01

    In space, there is a need to monitor astronauts' vital signs and assess their readiness to perform specific tasks during a mission. Currently, NASA does not have the capability to noninvasively monitor crew for extended periods of time. The Canadian Space Agency is working with the Psychophysiology Lab at NASA ARC to determine if the Astroskin could be used as a solution to this problem. Astroskin, a commercially available garment with built-in biosensors, can be comfortably worn under clothing or a spacesuit and relay information to the crewman's own mobile device. Data can also be sent wirelessly to the on-board Exploration Medical System. To determine if Astroskin meets requirements for health monitoring, it must first be validated in spaceflight analog environments. In the current study Astroskin data will be compared to traditional biomedical instrument measures of electrocardiography (ECG), respiration rate, and systolic blood pressure. The data will be recorded during Autogenic Feedback Training Exercise (AFTE), which is a type of physiological self-regulation training designed for astronauts. The data will also be recorded during simulations of the Orion spacecraft re-entry. The results to date suggest that Astroskin is a suitable ambulatory monitoring system that allows astronauts to self-diagnose and self-regulate adverse autonomic nervous system responses to sustained exposure to microgravity of spaceflight.

  17. Psychophysiological monitoring of operator's emotional stress in aviation and astronautics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simonov, P V; Frolov, M V; Ivanov, E A

    1980-01-01

    The level of emotional stress depending on the power of motivation and the estimation by the subject of the probability (possibility) of goal achievement, largely influences the operator's skill performance (that of a pilot, controller, astronaut). A decrease in the emotional tonus leads to drowsiness, lack of vigilance, missing of significant signals, and to slower reactions. The extremely high stress level disorganizes the activity, complicates it with a trend toward untimely acts and reactions to the insignificant signals (false alarms). The best methods to monitor the degree of the operator's emotional state during his skill performance are the integral estimation of the changes in heart-rate and T-peak amplitude, as well as the analysis of spectral and intonational characteristics of the human voice during radio conversation. These methods were tested on paratroopers, pilots in civil aviation, and airport controllers.

  18. Preliminary application of a novel algorithm to monitor changes in pre-flight total peripheral resistance for prediction of post-flight orthostatic intolerance in astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arai, Tatsuya; Lee, Kichang; Stenger, Michael B.; Platts, Steven H.; Meck, Janice V.; Cohen, Richard J.

    2011-04-01

    Orthostatic intolerance (OI) is a significant challenge for astronauts after long-duration spaceflight. Depending on flight duration, 20-80% of astronauts suffer from post-flight OI, which is associated with reduced vascular resistance. This paper introduces a novel algorithm for continuously monitoring changes in total peripheral resistance (TPR) by processing the peripheral arterial blood pressure (ABP). To validate, we applied our novel mathematical algorithm to the pre-flight ABP data previously recorded from twelve astronauts ten days before launch. The TPR changes were calculated by our algorithm and compared with the TPR value estimated using cardiac output/heart rate before and after phenylephrine administration. The astronauts in the post-flight presyncopal group had lower pre-flight TPR changes (1.66 times) than those in the non-presyncopal group (2.15 times). The trend in TPR changes calculated with our algorithm agreed with the TPR trend calculated using measured cardiac output in the previous study. Further data collection and algorithm refinement are needed for pre-flight detection of OI and monitoring of continuous TPR by analysis of peripheral arterial blood pressure.

  19. Astronaut Demographic Database: Everything You Want to Know About Astronauts and More

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keeton, Kathryn; Patterson, Holly

    2011-01-01

    A wealth of information regarding the astronaut population is available that could be especially useful to researchers. However, until now, it has been difficult to obtain that information in a systematic way. Therefore, this "astronaut database" began as a way for researchers within the Behavioral Health and Performance Group to keep track of the ever growing astronaut corps population. Before our effort, compilation of such data could be found, but not in a way that was easily acquired or accessible. One would have to use internet search engines, read through lengthy and potentially inaccurate informational sites, or read through astronaut biographies compiled by NASA. Astronauts are a unique class of individuals and, by examining such information, which we dubbed "Demographics," we hoped to find some commonalities that may be useful for other research areas and future research topics. By organizing the information pertaining to astronauts1 in a formal, unified catalog, we believe we have made the information more easily accessible, readily useable, and user friendly. Our end goal is to provide this database to others as a highly functional resource within the research community. Perhaps the database can eventually be an official, published document for researchers to gain full access.

  20. Astronauts Exercising in Space Video

    Science.gov (United States)

    2001-01-01

    To minimize the effects of weightlessness and partial gravity, astronauts use several counter measures to maintain health and fitness. One counter measure is exercise to help reduce or eliminate muscle atrophy and bone loss, and to improve altered cardiovascular function. This video shows astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) using the stationary Cycle/ Ergometer Vibration Isolation System (CVIS), the Treadmill Vibration Isolation System (TVIS), and the resistance exercise device. These technologies and activities will be crucial to keeping astronauts healthy and productive during the long missions to the Moon. Mars, and beyond.

  1. Getting to the Heart of Cardiovascular Risk Assessment in Astronauts for Exploration Class Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elgart, S. R.; Shavers, M. R.; Chappell, L.; Milder, C. M.; Huff, J. L.; Semones, E. J.; Simonsen, L. C.; Patel, Z. S.

    2017-01-01

    average expected 70 years of age in the general population. Remarkably, all 41 living early astronauts outlived our calculated expected age at death for members of their birth cohort; furthermore, 13 of the 20 deceased astronauts who did not die in NASA/non-NASA accidents exceeded this age. There was no difference in IHD between the astronaut cohort and the comparison population; therefore, it is not possible to associate IHD mortality with radiation in that astronaut cohort. As NASA looks toward future exploration-class missions, early astronaut cohorts provide a convenient option for assessing these risks and for developing mitigation strategies. However, many challenges still exist when assessing such limited evidence, including small cohort size, health and lifestyle confounders (such as smoking and drinking), the high accident mortality rate, and the fact that many of these astronauts are still alive, outliving many of their birth-cohort peers. Future analysis should include a longitudinal study, monitoring cases as they occur in the cohort. As this cohort is currently followed-up over time, and as more IHD cases are anticipated in a population of this age, this type of study is not as resource-intensive as would normally be the case.

  2. Astronaut James Lovell checks body temperature with oral temperature probe

    Science.gov (United States)

    1965-01-01

    Gemini 7 pilot Astronaut James A. Lovell Jr. has temperature check with oral temperature probe attached to his space suit during final preflight preparations for the Gemini 7 space mission. The temperature probe allows doctors to monitor astronauts body temperature at any time during the mission.

  3. Multiphoton tomography of astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    König, Karsten; Weinigel, Martin; Pietruszka, Anna; Bückle, Rainer; Gerlach, Nicole; Heinrich, Ulrike

    2015-03-01

    Weightlessness may impair the astronaut's health conditions. Skin impairments belong to the most frequent health problems during space missions. Within the Skin B project, skin physiological changes during long duration space flights are currently investigated on three European astronauts that work for nearly half a year at the ISS. Measurements on the hydration, the transepidermal water loss, the surface structure, elasticity and the tissue density by ultrasound are conducted. Furthermore, high-resolution in vivo histology is performed by multiphoton tomography with 300 nm spatial and 200 ps temporal resolution. The mobile certified medical tomograph with a flexible 360° scan head attached to a mechano-optical arm is employed to measure two-photon autofluorescence and SHG in the volar forearm of the astronauts. Modification of the tissue architecture and of the fluorescent biomolecules NAD(P)H, keratin, melanin and elastin are detected as well as of SHG-active collagen. Thinning of the vital epidermis, a decrease of the autofluoresence intensity, an increase in the long fluorescence lifetime, and a reduced skin ageing index SAAID based on an increased collagen level in the upper dermis have been found. Current studies focus on recovery effects.

  4. Astronaut Bones: Stable Calcium Isotopes in Urine as a Biomarker of Bone Mineral Balance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skulan, J.; Gordon, G. W.; Romaniello, S. J.; Anbar, A. D.; Smith, S. M.; Zwart, S.

    2016-12-01

    Bone loss is a common health concern, in conditions ranging from osteoporosis to cancer. Bone loss due to unloading is also an important health issue for astronauts. We demonstrate stable calcium isotopes, a tool developed in geochemistry, are capable of detecting real-time quantitative changes in net bone mineral balance (BMB) using serum and urine [1]. We validated this technique by comparing with DEXA and biomarker data in subjects during bed rest, a ground-based analog of space flight effects [2-4]. We now apply this tool to assess changes in astronauts' BMB before, during and after 4-6 month space missions. There is stable isotope fractionation asymmetry between bone formation and resorption. During bone formation there is a mass-dependent preference for "lighter" calcium isotopes to be removed from serum and incorporated into bone mineral. During bone resorption, there is no measurable isotopic discrimination between serum and bone. Hence, when bone formation rates exceed that of resorption, serum and urine become isotopically "heavy" due to the sequestration of "light" calcium in bone. Conversely, when bone resorption exceeds bone formation, serum and urine become isotopically "light" due to the release of the sequestered light calcium from bone. We measured Ca isotopes in urine of thirty International Space Station astronauts. Average Ca isotope values in astronauts' urine shift isotopically lighter during microgravity, consistent with negative net BMB. Within a month of return to Earth, astronauts returned to within error of their δ44Ca value prior to departure. Urine samples from astronauts testing bone loss countermeasures showed bisphosphonates provide a viable pharmacological countermeasure. Some, but not all, individuals appear able to resist bone loss through diet and intensive resistive exercise alone. This is a promising new technique for monitoring BMB in astronauts, and hopefully someday on the way to/from Mars, this also has important clinical

  5. Space Radiation: The Number One Risk to Astronaut Health beyond Low Earth Orbit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chancellor, Jeffery C.; Scott, Graham B. I.; Sutton, Jeffrey P.

    2014-01-01

    Projecting a vision for space radiobiological research necessitates understanding the nature of the space radiation environment and how radiation risks influence mission planning, timelines and operational decisions. Exposure to space radiation increases the risks of astronauts developing cancer, experiencing central nervous system (CNS) decrements, exhibiting degenerative tissue effects or developing acute radiation syndrome. One or more of these deleterious health effects could develop during future multi-year space exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). Shielding is an effective countermeasure against solar particle events (SPEs), but is ineffective in protecting crew members from the biological impacts of fast moving, highly-charged galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) nuclei. Astronauts traveling on a protracted voyage to Mars may be exposed to SPE radiation events, overlaid on a more predictable flux of GCR. Therefore, ground-based research studies employing model organisms seeking to accurately mimic the biological effects of the space radiation environment must concatenate exposures to both proton and heavy ion sources. New techniques in genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and other “omics” areas should also be intelligently employed and correlated with phenotypic observations. This approach will more precisely elucidate the effects of space radiation on human physiology and aid in developing personalized radiological countermeasures for astronauts. PMID:25370382

  6. Space Radiation: The Number One Risk to Astronaut Health beyond Low Earth Orbit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeffery C. Chancellor

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Projecting a vision for space radiobiological research necessitates understanding the nature of the space radiation environment and how radiation risks influence mission planning, timelines and operational decisions. Exposure to space radiation increases the risks of astronauts developing cancer, experiencing central nervous system (CNS decrements, exhibiting degenerative tissue effects or developing acute radiation syndrome. One or more of these deleterious health effects could develop during future multi-year space exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO. Shielding is an effective countermeasure against solar particle events (SPEs, but is ineffective in protecting crew members from the biological impacts of fast moving, highly-charged galactic cosmic radiation (GCR nuclei. Astronauts traveling on a protracted voyage to Mars may be exposed to SPE radiation events, overlaid on a more predictable flux of GCR. Therefore, ground-based research studies employing model organisms seeking to accurately mimic the biological effects of the space radiation environment must concatenate exposures to both proton and heavy ion sources. New techniques in genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and other “omics” areas should also be intelligently employed and correlated with phenotypic observations. This approach will more precisely elucidate the effects of space radiation on human physiology and aid in developing personalized radiological countermeasures for astronauts.

  7. Radiation hazards to astronauts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bergmann, R.; Hajek, M.; Berger, T.; Reitz, G.; Bilski, P.; Puchalska, M.

    2009-01-01

    Reliable assessment of health risks to astronaut crews is pivotal in the design of future expeditions into interplanetary space and requires knowledge of absorbed radiation doses at the level of critical radiosensitive organs and tissues. Within the European MATROSHKA experiment, the dose profile in an anthropomorphic phantom body was investigated at intra- and extravehicular activities on the International Space Station. The effective scientific exploitation of obtained dosimetric data is ensured within the 7 th EU Framework Programme project HAMLET. Based on experimental data and radiation transport calculations, a three-dimensional model for the distribution of radiation dose in an astronaut's body shall be developed to further refine estimations of radiation risks on interplanetary long-term missions. (orig.)

  8. Skeletal health in long-duration astronauts: nature, assessment, and management recommendations from the NASA Bone Summit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orwoll, Eric S; Adler, Robert A; Amin, Shreyasee; Binkley, Neil; Lewiecki, E Michael; Petak, Steven M; Shapses, Sue A; Sinaki, Mehrsheed; Watts, Nelson B; Sibonga, Jean D

    2013-06-01

    Concern about the risk of bone loss in astronauts as a result of prolonged exposure to microgravity prompted the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to convene a Bone Summit with a panel of experts at the Johnson Space Center to review the medical data and research evidence from astronauts who have had prolonged exposure to spaceflight. Data were reviewed from 35 astronauts who had served on spaceflight missions lasting between 120 and 180 days with attention focused on astronauts who (1) were repeat fliers on long-duration missions, (2) were users of an advanced resistive exercise device (ARED), (3) were scanned by quantitative computed tomography (QCT) at the hip, (4) had hip bone strength estimated by finite element modeling, or (5) had lost >10% of areal bone mineral density (aBMD) at the hip or lumbar spine as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Because of the limitations of DXA in describing the effects of spaceflight on bone strength, the panel recommended that the U.S. space program use QCT and finite element modeling to further study the unique effects of spaceflight (and recovery) on bone health in order to better inform clinical decisions. Copyright © 2013 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

  9. Astronaut Gordon Cooper during flight tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    1963-01-01

    Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, prime pilot for the Mercury-Atlas 9 mission, relaxes while waiting for weight and balance tests to begin (03974); Cooper prior to entering the Mercury Spacecraft for a series of simulated flight tests. During these tests NASA doctors, engineers and technicians monitor Cooper's performance (03975); Cooper undergoing suit pressurization tests (03976).

  10. VESsel GENeration Analysis (VESGEN): Innovative Vascular Mappings for Astronaut Exploration Health Risks and Human Terrestrial Medicine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parsons-Wingerter, Patricia; Kao, David; Valizadegan, Hamed; Martin, Rodney; Murray, Matthew C.; Ramesh, Sneha; Sekaran, Srinivaas

    2017-01-01

    Currently, astronauts face significant health risks in future long-duration exploration missions such as colonizing the Moon and traveling to Mars. Numerous risks include greatly increased radiation exposures beyond the low earth orbit (LEO) of the ISS, and visual and ocular impairments in response to microgravity environments. The cardiovascular system is a key mediator in human physiological responses to radiation and microgravity. Moreover, blood vessels are necessarily involved in the progression and treatment of vascular-dependent terrestrial diseases such as cancer, coronary vessel disease, wound-healing, reproductive disorders, and diabetes. NASA developed an innovative, globally requested beta-level software, VESsel GENeration Analysis (VESGEN) to map and quantify vascular remodeling for application to astronaut and terrestrial health challenges. VESGEN mappings of branching vascular trees and networks are based on a weighted multi-parametric analysis derived from vascular physiological branching rules. Complex vascular branching patterns are determined by biological signaling mechanisms together with the fluid mechanics of multi-phase laminar blood flow.

  11. Den danske astronaut

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jakobsen, Lars Sejersgård

    2014-01-01

    Undervisningsmateriale til mellemtrinnet om raketter, astronauter og rummet lavet for Planetariet i anledning af opsendelsen af den første danske astronaut, Andreas Mogensen, til Den Internationale Rumstation (ISS) i sensommeren 2015......Undervisningsmateriale til mellemtrinnet om raketter, astronauter og rummet lavet for Planetariet i anledning af opsendelsen af den første danske astronaut, Andreas Mogensen, til Den Internationale Rumstation (ISS) i sensommeren 2015...

  12. Den danske astronaut

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jakobsen, Lars Sejersgård

    2014-01-01

    Undervisningsmateriale til udskolingen om raketter, astronauter og rummet lavet for Planetariet i anledning af opsendelsen af den første danske astronaut, Andreas Mogensen, til Den Internationale Rumstation (ISS) i sensommeren 2015......Undervisningsmateriale til udskolingen om raketter, astronauter og rummet lavet for Planetariet i anledning af opsendelsen af den første danske astronaut, Andreas Mogensen, til Den Internationale Rumstation (ISS) i sensommeren 2015...

  13. Space-Proven Medical Monitor: The Total Patient-Care Package

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-01-01

    The primary objective of the Gemini Program was to develop techniques that would allow for advanced, long-duration space travel, a prerequisite of the ensuing Apollo Program that would put man safely on the Moon before the end of the decade. In order to carry out this objective, NASA worked with a variety of innovative companies to develop propulsion systems, onboard computers, and docking capabilities that were critical to the health of Gemini spacecraft, as well as life-support systems and physiological-monitoring devices that were critical to the health of Gemini astronauts. One of these companies was Spacelabs Medical, Inc., the pioneer of what is commonly known today as medical telemetry. Spacelabs Medical helped NASA better understand man s reaction to space through a series of bioinstrumentation devices that, for the first time ever, were capable of monitoring orbiting astronauts physical conditions in real time, from Earth. The company went on to further expand its knowledge of monitoring and maintaining health in space, and then brought it down to Earth, to dramatically change the course of patient monitoring in the field of health care.

  14. Improvements to the Ionizing Radiation Risk Assessment Program for NASA Astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Semones, E. J.; Bahadori, A. A.; Picco, C. E.; Shavers, M. R.; Flores-McLaughlin, J.

    2011-01-01

    To perform dosimetry and risk assessment, NASA collects astronaut ionizing radiation exposure data from space flight, medical imaging and therapy, aviation training activities and prior occupational exposure histories. Career risk of exposure induced death (REID) from radiation is limited to 3 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. The Radiation Health Office at Johnson Space Center (JSC) is implementing a program to integrate the gathering, storage, analysis and reporting of astronaut ionizing radiation dose and risk data and records. This work has several motivations, including more efficient analyses and greater flexibility in testing and adopting new methods for evaluating risks. The foundation for these improvements is a set of software tools called the Astronaut Radiation Exposure Analysis System (AREAS). AREAS is a series of MATLAB(Registered TradeMark)-based dose and risk analysis modules that interface with an enterprise level SQL Server database by means of a secure web service. It communicates with other JSC medical and space weather databases to maintain data integrity and consistency across systems. AREAS is part of a larger NASA Space Medicine effort, the Mission Medical Integration Strategy, with the goal of collecting accurate, high-quality and detailed astronaut health data, and then securely, timely and reliably presenting it to medical support personnel. The modular approach to the AREAS design accommodates past, current, and future sources of data from active and passive detectors, space radiation transport algorithms, computational phantoms and cancer risk models. Revisions of the cancer risk model, new radiation detection equipment and improved anthropomorphic computational phantoms can be incorporated. Notable hardware updates include the Radiation Environment Monitor (which uses Medipix technology to report real-time, on-board dosimetry measurements), an updated Tissue-Equivalent Proportional Counter, and the Southwest Research Institute

  15. A platform for real-time online health analytics during spaceflight

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGregor, Carolyn

    Monitoring the health and wellbeing of astronauts during spaceflight is an important aspect of any manned mission. To date the monitoring has been based on a sequential set of discontinuous samplings of physiological data to support initial studies on aspects such as weightlessness, and its impact on the cardiovascular system and to perform proactive monitoring for health status. The research performed and the real-time monitoring has been hampered by the lack of a platform to enable a more continuous approach to real-time monitoring. While any spaceflight is monitored heavily by Mission Control, an important requirement within the context of any spaceflight setting and in particular where there are extended periods with a lack of communication with Mission Control, is the ability for the mission to operate in an autonomous manner. This paper presents a platform to enable real-time astronaut monitoring for prognostics and health management within space medicine using online health analytics. The platform is based on extending previous online health analytics research known as the Artemis and Artemis Cloud platforms which have demonstrated their relevance for multi-patient, multi-diagnosis and multi-stream temporal analysis in real-time for clinical management and research within Neonatal Intensive Care. Artemis and Artemis Cloud source data from a range of medical devices capable of transmission of the signal via wired or wireless connectivity and hence are well suited to process real-time data acquired from astronauts. A key benefit of this platform is its ability to monitor their health and wellbeing onboard the mission as well as enabling the astronaut's physiological data, and other clinical data, to be sent to the platform components at Mission Control at each stage when that communication is available. As a result, researchers at Mission Control would be able to simulate, deploy and tailor predictive analytics and diagnostics during the same spaceflight for

  16. Biofeedback monitoring-devices for astronauts in space environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rotondo, G.; Pancheri, P.; Monesi, F.; Grantaliano, G.; DePascalis, V.

    After a reconsideration of the state-of-the-art in biofeedback research the implementation of biofeedback systems is envisioned as a countermeasure of stress for the psychoprophylaxis of the astronaut. A one-session experiment performed on two groups of subjects to assess the interference from EMG-feedback on the performance in a simultaneous psychomotor trial with a view to expanding biofeedback application is described. The results show that the experimental group performed in the same way as the control without feedback, but with less CNS activation. Some general conclusions are drawn from the advances in technology.

  17. Astronauts For Hire The Emergence of a Commercial Astronaut Corps

    CERN Document Server

    Seedhouse, Erik

    2012-01-01

    The spaceflight industry is being revolutionized. It is no longer the sole preserve of professional astronauts working on government-funded manned spaceflight programs. As private companies are being encouraged to build and operate launch vehicles, and even spacecraft that can be hired on a contract basis, a new breed of astronauts is coming into being. Astronauts for Hire describes how this commercial astronaut corps will be selected and trained. It provides a unique insight into the kinds of missions and tasks that the astronauts will be involved in, from suborbital science missions to commercial trips to low Earth orbit. The book also describes the new fleet of commercial spaceships being developed - reusable rocket-propelled vehicles that will offer quick, routine, and affordable access to the edge of space. The author also explores the possibility of private enterprise establishing interplanetary spaceports, lunar bases, and outposts on the surface of Mars.

  18. Astronaut Bone Medical Standards Derived from Finite Element (FE) Models of QCT Scans from Population Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sibonga, J. D.; Feiveson, A. H.

    2014-01-01

    This work was accomplished in support of the Finite Element [FE] Strength Task Group, NASA Johnson Space Center [JSC], Houston, TX. This group was charged with the task of developing rules for using finite-element [FE] bone-strength measures to construct operating bands for bone health that are relevant to astronauts following exposure to spaceflight. FE modeling is a computational tool used by engineers to estimate the failure loads of complex structures. Recently, some engineers have used this tool to characterize the failure loads of the hip in population studies that also monitored fracture outcomes. A Directed Research Task was authorized in July, 2012 to investigate FE data from these population studies to derive these proposed standards of bone health as a function of age and gender. The proposed standards make use of an FE-based index that integrates multiple contributors to bone strength, an expanded evaluation that is critical after an astronaut is exposed to spaceflight. The current index of bone health used by NASA is the measurement of areal BMD. There was a concern voiced by a research and clinical advisory panel that the sole use of areal BMD would be insufficient to fully evaluate the effects of spaceflight on the hip. Hence, NASA may not have a full understanding of fracture risk, both during and after a mission, and may be poorly estimating in-flight countermeasure efficacy. The FE Strength Task Group - composed of principal investigators of the aforementioned population studies and of FE modelers -donated some of its population QCT data to estimate of hip bone strength by FE modeling for this specific purpose. Consequently, Human Health Countermeasures [HHC] has compiled a dataset of FE hip strengths, generated by a single FE modeling approach, from human subjects (approx.1060) with ages covering the age range of the astronauts. The dataset has been analyzed to generate a set of FE strength cutoffs for the following scenarios: a) Qualify an

  19. Philosophy on astronaut protection: Perspective of an astronaut

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baker, E.

    1997-01-01

    There are significant differences in the risks during the launch of a spacecraft, its journey, and its subsequent return to earth, as contrasted to the risks of latent cancers that may develop as a result of the associated radiation exposures. Once the spacecraft has landed, following a successful mission, the risks of accidental death are over. The risks of latent cancers, however, will remain with the astronauts for the rest of their lives. The same may be true for many of the effects of the space environment, including microgravity. Compounding the problem with respect to radiation are the large uncertainties accompanying the estimates of the associated latent cancer risks. In addition to radiation doses received as a result of being exposed in space, astronauts have received significant does of radiation in conjunction with medical examinations and experiments conducted to obtain data on the effects of the space environment on humans. The experiments were considered to be a part of the 'job' of being an astronaut, and the resulting doses were included in the medical records. Following this approach, the accompanying doses were counted against the career limits being imposed on each astronaut. As a result, volunteering for such experiments could cause an earlier termination of the career of an astronaut than would otherwise have occurred and add to the total radiation exposure, thereby increasing one's risk of subsequent illness. Through cooperative efforts, these does have been significantly reduced in recent years. In fact, one of the outcomes of these efforts has been the incorporation of the ALARA concept into the radiation protection program for the astronauts. The fact that a space mission has a range of risks, including some that are relatively large, is no justification for failing to reduce the accompanying radiation risk

  20. Non-Invasive, Quantitative, and Remote Detection of Early Radiation Cataracts for Applications in Bio-Astronautics and Bio-Informatics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ansari, Rafat R.; Giblin, Frank J.; King, James F.; Singh, B. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    Human exploration of Mars may be a possibility in the next twenty years. Maintaining good vision is an essential aspect of achieving a successful mission. Continuous radiation exposure is a risk factor for radiation-induced cataracts in astronauts. A compact device based on the technique of dynamic light scattering (DLS) is designed for monitoring an astronaut's ocular health during long-duration space travel. Preliminary data on the simulated effects of ionizing radiation exposure to the ocular tissues of nonhuman animals and results on the sensitivity of DLS over established clinical procedures in investigating cataracts are presented. This capability of early diagnosis, unmatched by any other clinical technique in use today, may enable prompt initiation of preventive/curative therapy. An internet web based system integrating photon correlation data and controlling the hardware to monitor cataract development in vivo at a remote site in real time (teleophthalmology) is currently being developed. Cataract studies on-board the International Space Station (ISS) will be helpful in designing better protective radiation shields for future space vehicles and space suits.

  1. Calculation of Radiation Protection Quantities and Analysis of Astronaut Orientation Dependence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clowdsley, Martha S.; Nealy, John E.; Atwell, William; Anderson, Brooke M.; Luetke, Nathan J.; Wilson, John W.

    2006-01-01

    Health risk to astronauts due to exposure to ionizing radiation is a primary concern for exploration missions and may become the limiting factor for long duration missions. Methodologies for evaluating this risk in terms of radiation protection quantities such as dose, dose equivalent, gray equivalent, and effective dose are described. Environment models (galactic cosmic ray and solar particle event), vehicle/habitat geometry models, human geometry models, and transport codes are discussed and sample calculations for possible lunar and Mars missions are used as demonstrations. The dependence of astronaut health risk, in terms of dosimetric quantities, on astronaut orientation within a habitat is also examined. Previous work using a space station type module exposed to a proton spectrum modeling the October 1989 solar particle event showed that reorienting the astronaut within the module could change the calculated dose equivalent by a factor of two or more. Here the dose equivalent to various body tissues and the whole body effective dose due to both galactic cosmic rays and a solar particle event are calculated for a male astronaut in two different orientations, vertical and horizontal, in a representative lunar habitat. These calculations also show that the dose equivalent at some body locations resulting from a solar particle event can vary by a factor of two or more, but that the dose equivalent due to galactic cosmic rays has a much smaller (<15%) dependence on astronaut orientation.

  2. Human space biology at SCK-CEN: from in vitro cell experiments to the follow-up of astronauts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baatout, S.

    2009-01-01

    Prolonged exposure to space radiation and extended microgravity has revealed profound physiological and clinical changes in astronauts. The health problems thought to be related to the effects of microgravity include a decrease in the heart and the respiratory rates, a loss of body weight, changes in bone calcium, a redistribution of body fluids with a greater amount in the upper body, a decrease in muscle tissue, a weakening of the veins and arteries in the legs, as well as an underproduction of red blood cells leading to anaemia. At the cellular and molecular levels, microgravity is known to induce both a loss of T-cell activation and changes in gene expression patterns, as well as a three-dimensional growth of normal cells and tumour cells, an alteration of the mitochondrial organization, a modification of the production of extracellular matrix proteins and apoptosis in some types of cells. The Earth's magnetic field protects us from harmful radiation. On Earth, we are still exposed to small amounts of radiation when we go for medical x-rays, when we travel on transcontinental flights or just from radon in the air. However, astronauts are exposed to 50 to 100 times as much radiation - and that is just in a low Earth orbit. In deep space, astronauts can be exposed to even higher doses. It is well known that large amounts of radiation can cause severe health effects by altering DNA in our cells. The health effects from space radiation are therefore a critical safety concern for long-term space travel. Possible health risks include cancer, cataracts, acute radiation sickness, hereditary effects, and damage to the central nervous system. The aims of this research are 1) to ensure the immunological monitoring of a cohort of astronauts (having spent around 6 months aboard the International Space Station ISS) and 2) to investigate the effects of an in vitro exposure of endothelial cells and other types of cells to radiation and/or microgravity conditions

  3. Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut Challenge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lloyd, Charles W.

    2016-01-01

    The Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut Challenge was developed in 2011 to encourage proper exercise and nutrition at an early age by teaching young people to live and eat like space explorers. The strong correlation between an unhealthy childhood diet and adolescent fitness, and the onset of chronic diseases as an adult is the catalyst for Mission X. Mission X is dedicated to assisting people on a global scale to live healthier lifestyles and learn about human space exploration. The Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut 2015 (MX15) International Challenge hosted almost 40,000 children on 800 teams, 28 countries affiliated with 12 space agencies. The MX15 website included 17 languages. MX15, the fifth annual international fitness challenges sponsored by the NASA Human Research Program worked with the European Space Agency and other space agencies from around the world. In comparison to MX14, MX15 expanded to include four additional new countries, increased the number of students by approximately 68% and the number of teams by 29%. Chile' and South Korea participated in the new fall Astro Charlie Walk Around the Earth Challenge. Pre-challenge training materials were made more readily available from the website. South Korea completed a prospective assessment of the usability of the MX content for improving health and fitness in 212 preschool children and their families. Mission X is fortunate to have the support of the NASA, ESA and JAXA astronaut corps. In MX15, they participated in the opening and closing events as well as while on-board the International Space Station. Italian Astronaut Samantha Cristoretti participated as the MX15 Astronaut Ambassador for health and fitness providing the opening video and other videos from ISS. United Kingdom Astronaut Tim Peake and US Astronaut Kate Rubins have agreed to be the MX Ambassadors for 2016 and 2017 respectively. The MX15 International Working Group Face-to-Face meeting and Closing Event were held at the Agenzia Spaziale

  4. Harnessing functional food strategies for the health challenges of space travel—Fermented soy for astronaut nutrition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buckley, Nicole D.; Champagne, Claude P.; Masotti, Adriana I.; Wagar, Lisa E.; Tompkins, Thomas A.; Green-Johnson, Julia M.

    2011-04-01

    Astronauts face numerous health challenges during long-duration space missions, including diminished immunity, bone loss and increased risk of radiation-induced carcinogenesis. Changes in the intestinal flora of astronauts may contribute to these problems. Soy-based fermented food products could provide a nutritional strategy to help alleviate these challenges by incorporating beneficial lactic acid bacteria, while reaping the benefits of soy isoflavones. We carried out strain selection for the development of soy ferments, selecting strains of lactic acid bacteria showing the most effective growth and fermentation ability in soy milk ( Streptococcus thermophilus ST5, Bifidobacterium longum R0175 and Lactobacillus helveticus R0052). Immunomodulatory bioactivity of selected ferments was assessed using an in vitro challenge system with human intestinal epithelial and macrophage cell lines, and selected ferments show the ability to down-regulate production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-8 following challenge with tumour necrosis factor-alpha. The impact of fermentation on vitamin B1 and B6 levels and on isoflavone biotransformation to agluconic forms was also assessed, with strain variation-dependent biotransformation ability detected. Overall this suggests that probiotic bacteria can be successfully utilized to develop soy-based fermented products targeted against health problems associated with long-term space travel.

  5. NASA Astronaut Selection 2009: Behavioral Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holland, A.; Sipes, W.; Bevan, G.; Schmidt, L.; Slack, K.; Moomaw, R.; Vanderark, S.

    2011-01-01

    Behavioral Health and Performance (BHP) is an operational group under medical sciences at NASA/Johnson Space Center. Astronaut applicant screening and assessment is one function of this group, along with psychological training, inflight behavioral support and family services. Direct BHP assessment spans 6-7 months of a 17-month overall selection process.

  6. Overview of Pre-Flight Physical Training, In-Flight Exercise Countermeasures and the Post-Flight Reconditioning Program for International Space Station Astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerstman, Eric

    2011-01-01

    International Space Station (ISS) astronauts receive supervised physical training pre-flight, utilize exercise countermeasures in-flight, and participate in a structured reconditioning program post-flight. Despite recent advances in exercise hardware and prescribed exercise countermeasures, ISS crewmembers are still found to have variable levels of deconditioning post-flight. This presentation provides an overview of the astronaut medical certification requirements, pre-flight physical training, in-flight exercise countermeasures, and the post-flight reconditioning program. Astronauts must meet medical certification requirements on selection, annually, and prior to ISS missions. In addition, extensive physical fitness testing and standardized medical assessments are performed on long duration crewmembers pre-flight. Limited physical fitness assessments and medical examinations are performed in-flight to develop exercise countermeasure prescriptions, ensure that the crewmembers are physically capable of performing mission tasks, and monitor astronaut health. Upon mission completion, long duration astronauts must re-adapt to the 1 G environment, and be certified as fit to return to space flight training and active duty. A structured, supervised postflight reconditioning program has been developed to prevent injuries, facilitate re-adaptation to the 1 G environment, and subsequently return astronauts to training and space flight. The NASA reconditioning program is implemented by the Astronaut Strength, Conditioning, and Rehabilitation (ASCR) team and supervised by NASA flight surgeons. This program has evolved over the past 10 years of the International Space Station (ISS) program and has been successful in ensuring that long duration astronauts safely re-adapt to the 1 g environment and return to active duty. Lessons learned from this approach to managing deconditioning can be applied to terrestrial medicine and future exploration space flight missions.

  7. Astronaut Aldrin is photographed by Astronaut Armstrong on the Moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    1969-01-01

    Apollo 11 Onboard Film -- The deployment of scientific experiments by Astronaut Edwin Aldrin Jr. is photographed by Astronaut Neil Armstrong. Man's first landing on the Moon occurred today at 4:17 p.m. as Lunar Module 'Eagle' touched down gently on the Sea of Tranquility on the east side of the Moon.

  8. Lightweight, Wearable Metal Rubber-Textile Sensor for In-Situ Lunar Autonomous Health Monitoring, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This NASA Phase II SBIR program would develop comfortable garments with multiple integrated sensor functions for the monitoring of astronauts during long duration...

  9. Astronauts' menu problem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lesso, W. G.; Kenyon, E.

    1972-01-01

    Consideration of the problems involved in choosing appropriate menus for astronauts carrying out SKYLAB missions lasting up to eight weeks. The problem of planning balanced menus on the basis of prepackaged food items within limitations on the intake of calories, protein, and certain elements is noted, as well as a number of other restrictions of both physical and arbitrary nature. The tailoring of a set of menus for each astronaut on the basis of subjective rankings of each food by the astronaut in terms of a 'measure of pleasure' is described, and a computer solution to this problem by means of a mixed integer programming code is presented.

  10. Astronautics and psychology: recommendations for the psychological training of astronauts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haupt, G F

    1991-11-01

    The methods presently applied in the psychological training of astronauts are based on the principle of ensuring maximum performance of astronauts during missions. The shortcomings are obvious since those undergoing training provide nothing but the best ability to cope with Earth problem situations and add simply an experience of space problem situations as they are presently conceived. Earth attitudes and Earth behaviour remain and are simply modified. Through the utilization of interdisciplinary space knowledge a much higher degree of problem anticipation could be achieved and the astronaut be psychologically transformed into a space-being. This would at the same time stimulate interdisciplinary space research. The interdisciplinary space knowledge already available suggests that space requires not only physical and mental adjustments, but a profoundly new relationship with life.

  11. Astronaut training ground

    OpenAIRE

    2000-01-01

    "While most NPS graduates are still assigned to sea missions, so many are venturing into the "Final Frontier" that NPS is among the top four schools in producing future astronauts. Since moving to Monterey from the Naval Academy in 1951, NPS has already graduated 35 astronauts, some of whom have flown Space Shuttle missions..."

  12. Spaceflight Radiation Health program at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johnson, A.S.; Badhwar, G.D.; Golightly, M.J.; Hardy, A.C.; Konradi, A.; Yang, T.C.

    1993-12-01

    The Johnson Space Center leads the research and development activities that address the health effects of space radiation exposure to astronaut crews. Increased knowledge of the composition of the environment and of the biological effects of space radiation is required to assess health risks to astronaut crews. The activities at the Johnson Space Center range from quantification of astronaut exposures to fundamental research into the biological effects resulting from exposure to high energy particle radiation. The Spaceflight Radiation Health Program seeks to balance the requirements for operational flexibility with the requirement to minimize crew radiation exposures. The components of the space radiation environment are characterized. Current and future radiation monitoring instrumentation is described. Radiation health risk activities are described for current Shuttle operations and for research development program activities to shape future analysis of health risk.

  13. Spaceflight Radiation Health program at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, A.S.; Badhwar, G.D.; Golightly, M.J.; Hardy, A.C.; Konradi, A.; Yang, T.C.

    1993-12-01

    The Johnson Space Center leads the research and development activities that address the health effects of space radiation exposure to astronaut crews. Increased knowledge of the composition of the environment and of the biological effects of space radiation is required to assess health risks to astronaut crews. The activities at the Johnson Space Center range from quantification of astronaut exposures to fundamental research into the biological effects resulting from exposure to high energy particle radiation. The Spaceflight Radiation Health Program seeks to balance the requirements for operational flexibility with the requirement to minimize crew radiation exposures. The components of the space radiation environment are characterized. Current and future radiation monitoring instrumentation is described. Radiation health risk activities are described for current Shuttle operations and for research development program activities to shape future analysis of health risk

  14. Astronaut Joseph Kerwin takes blood sample from Astronaut Charles Conrad

    Science.gov (United States)

    1973-01-01

    Scientist-Astronaut Joseph P. Kerwin (right), Skylab 2 science pilot and a doctor of medicine, takes a blood sample from Astronaut Charles Conrad Jr., Sylab 2 commander, as seen in this reproduction taken from a color television transmission made by a TV camera aboard the Skylab 1 and 2 space station cluster in Earth orbit. The blood sampling was part of the Skylab Hematology and Immunology Experiment M110 series.

  15. Radiation hazards to astronauts; Strahlengefahren fuer Astronauten

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bergmann, R.; Hajek, M. [Inst. of Atomic and Subatomic Physics, Vienna Univ. of Tech. (Austria); Berger, T.; Reitz, G. [Inst. of Aerospace Medicine, German Aerospace Center (Germany); Bilski, P. [Henryk Niewodniczanski Inst. of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland); Puchalska, M. [Henryk Niewodniczanski Inst. of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland); Dept. of Applied Physics, Chalmers Univ. of Tech. (Sweden)

    2009-07-01

    Reliable assessment of health risks to astronaut crews is pivotal in the design of future expeditions into interplanetary space and requires knowledge of absorbed radiation doses at the level of critical radiosensitive organs and tissues. Within the European MATROSHKA experiment, the dose profile in an anthropomorphic phantom body was investigated at intra- and extravehicular activities on the International Space Station. The effective scientific exploitation of obtained dosimetric data is ensured within the 7{sup th} EU Framework Programme project HAMLET. Based on experimental data and radiation transport calculations, a three-dimensional model for the distribution of radiation dose in an astronaut's body shall be developed to further refine estimations of radiation risks on interplanetary long-term missions. (orig.)

  16. Augmented fish health monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Michak, P.; Rogers, R.; Amos, K.

    1991-05-01

    The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) initiated the Augmented Fish Health Monitoring project in 1986. This project was a five year interagency project involving fish rearing agencies in the Columbia Basin. Historically, all agencies involved with fish health in the Columbia Basin were conducting various levels of fish health monitoring, pathogen screening and collection. The goals of this project were; to identify, develop and implement a standardized level of fish health methodologies, develop a common data collection and reporting format in the area of artificial production, evaluate and monitor water quality, improve communications between agencies and provide annual evaluation of fish health information for production of healthier smolts. This completion report will contain a project evaluation, review of the goals of the project, evaluation of the specific fish health analyses, an overview of highlights of the project and concluding remarks. 8 refs., 1 fig., 4 tabs

  17. Analysis of aluminum protective effect for female astronauts in solar particle events

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xu Feng

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to ensure the health and safety of female astronauts in space, the risks of space radiation should be evaluated, and effective methods for protecting against space radiation should be investigated. In this paper, a dose calculation model is established for Chinese female astronauts. The absorbed doses of some organs in two historical solar particle events are calculated using Monte Carlo methods, and the shielding conditions are 0 gcm-2 and 5 gcm-2 aluminum, respectively. The calculated results are analysed, compared, and discussed. The results show that 5 gcm-2 aluminum cannot afford enough effective protection in solar particle events. Hence, once encountering solar particle events in manned spaceflight missions, in order to ensure the health and safety of female astronauts, they are not allowed to stay in the pressure vessel, and must enter into the thicker shielding location such as food and water storage cabin.

  18. European astronaut training in Houston.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiarenza, O

    1993-11-01

    Three European astronauts are currently training as Space Shuttle Mission Specialists at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Two of the astronauts, Maurizio Cheli and Jean-Francois Clervoy, recently became members of NASA's 'astronaut pool' and have entered the Advanced Training phase. The third one, Claude Nicollier, is now preparing for the mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope in December.

  19. Astronautics Degrees for Space Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gruntman, M.; Brodsky, R.; Erwin, D.; Kunc, J.

    The Astronautics Program (http://astronautics.usc.edu) of the University of Southern California (USC) offers a full set of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Aerospace Engineering with emphasis in Astronautics. The Bachelor of Science degree program in Astronautics combines basic science and engineering classes with specialized astronautics classes. The Master of Science degree program in Astronautics offers classes in various areas of space technology. The Certificate in Astronautics targets practicing engineers and scientists who enter space-related fields and/or who want to obtain training in specific space-related areas. Many specialized graduate classes are taught by adjunct faculty working at the leading space companies. The Master of Science degree and Certificate are available through the USC Distance Education Network (DEN). Today, the Internet allows us to reach students anywhere in the world through webcasting. The majority of our graduate students, as well as those pursuing the Certificate, work full time as engineers in the space industry and government research and development centers. The new world of distance learning presents new challenges and opens new opportunities. We show how the transformation of distance learning and particularly the introduction of webcasting transform organization of the program and class delivery. We will describe in detail the academic focus of the program, student reach, and structure of program components. Program development is illustrated by the student enrollment dynamics and related industrial trends; the lessons learned emphasize the importance of feedback from the students and from the space industry.

  20. Extravehicular mobility unit training and astronaut injuries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strauss, Samuel; Krog, Ralph L.; Feiveson, Alan H.

    2005-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Astronaut spacewalk training can result in a variety of symptom complaints and possible injuries. This study quantified and characterized signs, symptoms, and injuries resulting from extravehicular activity spacesuit training at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, immersion facility. METHODS: We identified the frequency and incidence of symptoms by location, mechanisms of injury, and effective countermeasures. Recommendations were made to improve injury prevention, astronaut training, test preparation, and training hardware. At the end of each test, a questionnaire was completed documenting signs and symptoms, mechanisms of injury, and countermeasures. RESULTS: Of the 770 tests, there were 190 in which suit symptoms were reported (24.6%). There were a total of 352 reported suit symptom comments. Of those symptoms, 166 were in the hands (47.16%), 73 were in the shoulders (20.7%), and 40 were in the feet (11.4%). Others ranged from 6.0% to 0.28%, respectively, from the legs, arms, neck, trunk, groin, and head. Causal mechanisms for the hands included moisture and hard glove contacts resulting in fingernail injuries; in the shoulders, hard contact with suit components and strain mechanisms; and in the feet, hard boot contact. The severity of symptoms was highest in the shoulders, hands, and feet. CONCLUSIONS: Most signs and symptoms were mild, self-limited, of brief duration, and were well controlled by available countermeasures. Some represented the potential for significant injury with consequences affecting astronaut health and performance. Correction of extravehicular activity training-related injuries requires a multidisciplinary approach to improve prevention, medical intervention, astronaut training, test planning, and suit engineering.

  1. Pilot Study on the Investigation of Tear Fluid Biomarkers as an Indicator of Ocular, Neurological, and Immunological Health in Astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morton, Stephen; Crucian, Brian; Hagan, Suzanne; Satyamitra, Merriline; Daily, Anna

    2018-01-01

    test onto a fast, accurate and inexpensive point of care platform. In conclusion, the expected results from this proposed pilot study are to: a) establish an SOP for retrieving/storing/transporting tear fluid samples from multicentre sites b) establish a normal range for relevant biomarkers in tears; and c) establish a database (biobank) of tears of space naïve versus veteran astronauts, to establish a personal baseline for long-term ocular health monitoring

  2. Space radiation and astronaut safety

    CERN Document Server

    Seedhouse, Erik

    2018-01-01

    This brief explores the biological effects of long-term radiation on astronauts in deep space. As missions progress beyond Earth's orbit and away from the protection of its magnetic shielding, astronauts risk constant exposure to higher levels of galactic cosmic rays and solar particle events. The text concisely addresses the full spectrum of biomedical consequences from exposure to space radiation and goes on to present possible ways to mitigate such dangers and protect astronauts within the limitations of existing technologies.

  3. Geoscience Training for NASA Astronaut Candidates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, K. E.; Evans, C. A.; Bleacher, J. E.; Graff, T. G.; Zeigler, R.

    2017-01-01

    After being selected to the astronaut office, crewmembers go through an initial two year training flow, astronaut candidacy, where they learn the basic skills necessary for spaceflight. While the bulk of astronaut candidate training currently centers on the multiple subjects required for ISS operations (EVA skills, Russian language, ISS systems, etc.), training also includes geoscience training designed to train crewmembers in Earth observations, teach astronauts about other planetary systems, and provide field training designed to investigate field operations and boost team skills. This training goes back to Apollo training and has evolved to support ISS operations and future exploration missions.

  4. Promoting health equity: WHO health inequality monitoring at global and national levels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosseinpoor, Ahmad Reza; Bergen, Nicole; Schlotheuber, Anne

    2015-01-01

    Background Health equity is a priority in the post-2015 sustainable development agenda and other major health initiatives. The World Health Organization (WHO) has a history of promoting actions to achieve equity in health, including efforts to encourage the practice of health inequality monitoring. Health inequality monitoring systems use disaggregated data to identify disadvantaged subgroups within populations and inform equity-oriented health policies, programs, and practices. Objective This paper provides an overview of a number of recent and current WHO initiatives related to health inequality monitoring at the global and/or national level. Design We outline the scope, content, and intended uses/application of the following: Health Equity Monitor database and theme page; State of inequality: reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health report; Handbook on health inequality monitoring: with a focus on low- and middle-income countries; Health inequality monitoring eLearning module; Monitoring health inequality: an essential step for achieving health equity advocacy booklet and accompanying video series; and capacity building workshops conducted in WHO Member States and Regions. Conclusions The paper concludes by considering how the work of the WHO can be expanded upon to promote the establishment of sustainable and robust inequality monitoring systems across a variety of health topics among Member States and at the global level. PMID:26387506

  5. Promoting health equity: WHO health inequality monitoring at global and national levels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosseinpoor, Ahmad Reza; Bergen, Nicole; Schlotheuber, Anne

    2015-01-01

    Health equity is a priority in the post-2015 sustainable development agenda and other major health initiatives. The World Health Organization (WHO) has a history of promoting actions to achieve equity in health, including efforts to encourage the practice of health inequality monitoring. Health inequality monitoring systems use disaggregated data to identify disadvantaged subgroups within populations and inform equity-oriented health policies, programs, and practices. This paper provides an overview of a number of recent and current WHO initiatives related to health inequality monitoring at the global and/or national level. We outline the scope, content, and intended uses/application of the following: Health Equity Monitor database and theme page; State of inequality: reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health report; Handbook on health inequality monitoring: with a focus on low- and middle-income countries; Health inequality monitoring eLearning module; Monitoring health inequality: an essential step for achieving health equity advocacy booklet and accompanying video series; and capacity building workshops conducted in WHO Member States and Regions. The paper concludes by considering how the work of the WHO can be expanded upon to promote the establishment of sustainable and robust inequality monitoring systems across a variety of health topics among Member States and at the global level.

  6. Promoting health equity: WHO health inequality monitoring at global and national levels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmad Reza Hosseinpoor

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Background: Health equity is a priority in the post-2015 sustainable development agenda and other major health initiatives. The World Health Organization (WHO has a history of promoting actions to achieve equity in health, including efforts to encourage the practice of health inequality monitoring. Health inequality monitoring systems use disaggregated data to identify disadvantaged subgroups within populations and inform equity-oriented health policies, programs, and practices. Objective: This paper provides an overview of a number of recent and current WHO initiatives related to health inequality monitoring at the global and/or national level. Design: We outline the scope, content, and intended uses/application of the following: Health Equity Monitor database and theme page; State of inequality: reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health report; Handbook on health inequality monitoring: with a focus on low- and middle-income countries; Health inequality monitoring eLearning module; Monitoring health inequality: an essential step for achieving health equity advocacy booklet and accompanying video series; and capacity building workshops conducted in WHO Member States and Regions. Conclusions: The paper concludes by considering how the work of the WHO can be expanded upon to promote the establishment of sustainable and robust inequality monitoring systems across a variety of health topics among Member States and at the global level.

  7. Combined Effects of Spaceflight and Age in Astronauts as Assessed by Areal Bone Mineral Density [BMD] and Trabecular Bone Score

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sibonga, Jean D.; Spector, Elizabeth R.; Ploutz-Snyder, R.; Evans, H. J.; King, L.; Watts, N. B.; Hans, D.; Smith, S. A.

    2013-01-01

    Spaceflight is a potential risk factor for secondary osteoporosis in astronauts. Although lumbar spine (LS) BMD declines rapidly, more than expected for age, there have been no fragility fractures in astronauts that can clearly be attributed to spaceflight. Recently, astronauts have been returning from 6-month spaceflights with absolute BMD still above young adult mean BMD. In spite of these BMD measurements, we project that the rapid loss in bone mass over long-duration spaceflight affects the bone microarchitecture of the LS which might predispose astronauts to premature vertebral fractures. Thus, we evaluated TBS, a novel texture index correlated with vertebral bone microarchitecture, as a means of monitoring changes to bone microarchitecture in astronauts as they age. We previously reported that TBS detects an effect of spaceflight (6-month duration), independent of BMD, in 51 astronauts (47+/-4 y) (Smith et al, J Clin Densitometry 2014). Hence, TBS was evaluated in serial DXA scans (Hologic Discovery W) conducted triennially in all active and retired astronauts and more frequently (before spaceflight, after spaceflight and until recovery) in the subset of astronauts flying 4-6- month missions. We used non-linear models to describe trends in observations (BMD or TBS) plotted as a function of astronaut age. We fitted 1175 observations of 311 astronauts, pre-flight and then postflight starting 3 years after landing or after astronaut's BMD for LS was restored to within 2% of preflight BMD. Observations were then grouped and defined as follows: 1) LD: after exposure to at least one long-duration spaceflight > 100 days and 2) SD: before LD and after exposure to at least one short-duration spaceflight < 30 days. Data from males and females were analyzed separately. Models of SD observations revealed that TBS and BMD had similar curvilinear declines with age for both male and female astronauts. However, models of LD observations showed TBS declining with age while

  8. Astronaut exposure to space radiation - Space Shuttle experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Atwell, W.

    1990-01-01

    Space Shuttle astronauts are exposed to both the trapped radiation and the galactic cosmic radiation environments. In addition, the sun periodically emits high-energy particles which could pose a serious threat to flight crews. NASA adheres to federal regulations and recommended exposure limits for radiation protection and has established a radiological health and risk assessment program. Using models of the space radiation environment, a Shuttle shielding model, and an anatomical human model, crew exposure estimates are made for each Shuttle flight. The various models are reviewed. Dosimeters are worn by each astronaut and are flown at several fixed locations to obtain inflight measurements. The dosimetry complement is discussed in detail. A comparison between the premission calculations and measurements is presented. Extrapolation of Shuttle experience to long-duration exposure is explored. 14 refs

  9. Tracking Historical NASA EVA Training: Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH) Development of the EVA Suit Exposure Tracker (EVA SET)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laughlin, Mitzi S.; Murray, Jocelyn D.; Lee, Lesley R.; Wear, Mary L.; Van Baalen, Mary

    2017-01-01

    astronauts. This activity places astronauts at risk for decompression sickness and barotrauma as well as various musculoskeletal disorders from working in the spacesuit. The medical, operational and research communities over the years have requested access to EVA training data to better understand the risks. As a result of these requests, epidemiologists within the Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH) team have compiled records from numerous EVA training venues to quantify the exposure to EVA training. The EVA Suit Exposure Tracker (EVA SET) dataset is a compilation of ground-based training activities using the extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) in neutrally buoyant pools to enhance EVA performance on orbit. These data can be used by the current ISS program and future exploration missions by informing physicians, researchers, and operational personnel on the risks of EVA training in order that future suit and mission designs incorporate greater safety. The purpose of this technical report is to document briefly the various facilities where NASA astronauts have performed EVA training while describing in detail the EVA training records used to generate the EVA SET dataset.

  10. Astronaut observations of global biomass burning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wood, C.A.; Nelson, R.

    1991-01-01

    One of the most fundamental inputs for understanding and modeling possible effects of biomass burning is knowledge of the size of the area burned. Because the burns are often very large and occur on all continents (except Antarctica), observations from space are essential. Information is presented in this chapter on another method for monitoring biomass burning, including immediate and long-term effects. Examples of astronaut photography of burning during one year give a perspective of the widespread occurrence of burning and the variety of biological materials that are consumed. The growth of burning in the Amazon region is presented over 15 years using smoke as a proxy for actual burning. Possible climate effects of smoke palls are also discussed

  11. Astronautics summary and prospects

    CERN Document Server

    Kiselev, Anatoly Ivanovich; Menshikov, Valery Alexandrovich

    2003-01-01

    The monograph by A.I.Kiselev, A.A. Medvedev and Y.A.Menshikov, Astronautics: Summary and Prospects, aroused enthusiasm both among experts and the public at large. This is due to the felicitous choice of presentation that combines a simple description of complex space matters with scientificsubstantiation of the sub­ jectmatter described. The wealth of color photos makes the book still more attractive, and it was nominated for an award at the 14th International Moscow Book Fair, being singled out as the "best publication of the book fair". The book's popularity led to a second edition, substantially revised and enlarged. Since the first edition did not sufficiently cover the issues of space impact on ecology and the prospective development of space systems, the authors revised the entire volume, including in it the chapter "Space activity and ecology" and the section "Multi-function space systems". Using the federal monitoring system, now in the phase of system engi­ neering, as an example, the authors consi...

  12. Designing Interfaces for Astronaut Autonomy in Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hillenius, Steve

    2015-01-01

    As we move towards human deep space missions, astronauts will no longer be able to say, Houston, we have a problem. The restricted contact with mission control because of the incredible distance from Earth will require astronauts to make autonomous decisions. How will astronauts take on the roles of mission control? This is an area of active research that has far reaching implications for the future of distant spaceflight. Come to this talk to hear how we are using design and user research to come up with innovative solutions for astronauts to effectively explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

  13. Educating Astronauts About Conservation Biology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Julie A.

    2001-01-01

    This article reviews the training of astronauts in the interdisciplinary work of conservation biology. The primary responsibility of the conservation biologist at NASA is directing and supporting the photography of the Earth and maintaining the complete database of the photographs. In order to perform this work, the astronauts who take the pictures must be educated in ecological issues.

  14. Metabolic monitoring in New Zealand district health board mental health services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Staveley, Aimee; Soosay, Ian; O'Brien, Anthony J

    2017-11-10

    To audit New Zealand district health boards' (DHBs) metabolic monitoring policies in relation to consumers prescribed second-generation antipsychotic medications using a best practice guideline. Metabolic monitoring policies from DHBs and one private clinic were analysed in relation to a best practice standard developed from the current literature and published guidelines relevant to metabolic syndrome. Fourteen of New Zealand's 20 DHBs currently have metabolic monitoring policies for consumers prescribed antipsychotic medication. Two of those policies are consistent with the literature-based guideline. Eight policies include actions to be taken when consumers meet criteria for metabolic syndrome. Four DHBs have systems for measuring their rates of metabolic monitoring. There is no consensus on who is clinically responsible for metabolic monitoring. Metabolic monitoring by mental health services in New Zealand reflects international experience that current levels of monitoring are low and policies are not always in place. Collaboration across the mental health and primary care sectors together with the adoption of a consensus guideline is needed to improve rates of monitoring and reduce current rates of physical health morbidities.

  15. National health inequality monitoring: current challenges and opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosseinpoor, Ahmad Reza; Bergen, Nicole; Schlotheuber, Anne; Boerma, Ties

    National health inequality monitoring needs considerably more investment to realize equity-oriented health improvements in countries, including advancement towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Following an overview of national health inequality monitoring and the associated resource requirements, we highlight challenges that countries may encounter when setting up, expanding or strengthening national health inequality monitoring systems, and discuss opportunities and key initiatives that aim to address these challenges. We provide specific proposals on what is needed to ensure that national health inequality monitoring systems are harnessed to guide the reduction of health inequalities.

  16. Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut Pilot Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lloyd, Charles W.; Olivotto, C.; Boese, A.; Spiero, F.; Galoforo, G.; Niihori, M.

    2011-01-01

    Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut is an international educational challenge focusing on fitness and nutrition as we encourage students to "train like an astronaut." Teams of students (aged 8-12) learn principles of healthy eating and exercise, compete for points by finishing training modules, and get excited about their future as "fit explorers." The 18 core exercises (targeting strength, endurance, coordination, balance, spatial awareness, and more) involve the same types of skills that astronauts learn in their training and use in spaceflight. This first-of-its-kind cooperative outreach program has allowed 14 space agencies and various partner institutions to work together to address quality health/fitness education, challenge students to be more physically active, increase awareness of the importance of lifelong health and fitness, teach students how fitness plays a vital role in human performance for exploration, and inspire and motivate students to pursue careers in STEM fields. The project was initiated in 2009 in response to a request by the International Space Life Sciences Working Group. USA, Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Colombia, Spain, and United Kingdom hosted teams for the pilot this past spring, and Japan held a modified version of the challenge. Several more agencies provided input into the preparations. Competing on 131 teams, more than 3700 students from 40 cities worldwide participated in the first round of Mission X. OUTCOMES AND BEST PRACTICES Members of the Mission X core team will highlight the outcomes of this international educational outreach pilot project, show video highlights of the challenge, provide the working group s initial assessment of the project and discuss the future potential of the effort. The team will also discuss ideas and best practices for international partnership in education outreach efforts from various agency perspectives and experiences

  17. STS-71 astronauts training in Russia

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    Astronauts Norman E. Thagard and Bonnie J. Dunbar in cosmonaut space suits in the Training Simulator Facility at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (Star City), near Moscow, Russia. In March 1995, astronaut Thagard is scheduled to be launched in a Russ

  18. STS-71 astronauts before egress training

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    Astronaut Robert L. Gibson (left), STS-71 mission commander, converses with two crew mates prior to emergency egress training in the Systems Integration Facility at JSC. Astronaut Bonnie J. Dunbar and Gregory J. Harbaugh are attired in training versions o

  19. Monitoring Outpatient Care

    Science.gov (United States)

    2003-01-01

    Each year, health care costs for managing chronically ill patients increase as the life expectancy of Americans continues to grow. To handle this situation, many hospitals, doctors practices, and home care providers are turning to disease management, a system of coordinated health care interventions and communications, to improve outpatient care. By participating in daily monitoring programs, patients with congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions requiring significant self-care are facing fewer emergency situations and hospitalizations. Cybernet Medical, a division of Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Cybernet Systems Corporation, is using the latest communications technology to augment the ways health care professionals monitor and assess patients with chronic diseases, while at the same time simplifying the patients interaction with technology. Cybernet s newest commercial product for this purpose evolved from research funded by NASA, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Advanced Research Projects Agency. The research focused on the physiological assessment of astronauts and soldiers, human performance evaluation, and human-computer interaction. Cybernet Medical's MedStar Disease Management Data Collection System is an affordable, widely deployable solution for improving in-home-patient chronic disease management. The system's battery-powered and portable interface device collects physiological data from off-the-shelf instruments.

  20. Identifying the "Right Stuff": An Exploration-Focused Astronaut Job Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrett, J. D.; Holland, A. W.; Vessey, W. B.

    2015-01-01

    Industrial and organizational (I/O) psychologists play a key role in NASA astronaut candidate selection through the identification of the competencies necessary to successfully engage in the astronaut job. A set of psychosocial competencies, developed by I/O psychologists during a prior job analysis conducted in 1996 and updated in 2003, were identified as necessary for individuals working and living in the space shuttle and on the International Space Station (ISS). This set of competencies applied to the space shuttle and applies to current ISS missions, but may not apply to longer-duration or long-distance exploration missions. With the 2015 launch of the first 12- month ISS mission and the shift in the 2020s to missions beyond low earth orbit, the type of missions that astronauts will conduct and the environment in which they do their work will change dramatically, leading to new challenges for these crews. To support future astronaut selection, training, and research, I/O psychologists in NASA's Behavioral Health and Performance (BHP) Operations and Research groups engaged in a joint effort to conduct an updated analysis of the astronaut job for current and future operations. This project will result in the identification of behavioral competencies critical to performing the astronaut job, along with relative weights for each of the identified competencies, through the application of job analysis techniques. While this job analysis is being conducted according to job analysis best practices, the project poses a number of novel challenges. These challenges include the need to identify competencies for multiple mission types simultaneously, to evaluate jobs that have no incumbents as they have never before been conducted, and working with a very limited population of subject matter experts. Given these challenges, under the guidance of job analysis experts, we used the following methods to conduct the job analysis and identify the key competencies for current and

  1. Shoulder Injury Incidence Rates in NASA Astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laughlin, Mitzi S.; Murray, Jocelyn D.; Foy, Millennia; Wear, Mary L.; Van Baalen, Mary

    2014-01-01

    Evaluation of the astronaut shoulder injury rates began with an operational concern at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) during Extravehicular Activity (EVA) training. An astronaut suffered a shoulder injury during an NBL training run and commented that it was possibly due to a hardware issue. During the subsequent investigation, questions arose regarding the rate of shoulder injuries in recent years and over the entire history of the astronaut corps.

  2. Moon bound choosing and preparing NASA's lunar astronauts

    CERN Document Server

    Burgess, Colin

    2013-01-01

    Often lost in the shadow of the first group of astronauts for the Mercury missions, the second and third groups included the leading figures for NASA's activities for the following two decades. “Moon Bound” complements the author’s recently published work, “Selecting the Mercury Seven” (2011), extending the story of the men who helped to launch human spaceflight and broaden the American space program. Although the initial 1959 group became known as the legendary pioneering Mercury astronauts, the astronauts of Groups 2 and 3 gave us many household names. Sixteen astronauts from both groups traveled to the Moon in Project Apollo, with several actually walking on the Moon, one of them being Neil Armstrong. This book draws on interviews to tell the astronauts' personal stories and recreate the drama of that time. It describes the process by which they were selected as astronauts and explains how the criteria had changed since the first group. “Moon Bound” is divided into two parts, recounting the b...

  3. Statistical Evaluation of Causal Factors Associated with Astronaut Shoulder Injury in Space Suits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Allison P; Newman, Dava J; Welsch, Roy E

    2015-07-01

    Shoulder injuries due to working inside the space suit are some of the most serious and debilitating injuries astronauts encounter. Space suit injuries occur primarily in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) underwater training facility due to accumulated musculoskeletal stress. We quantitatively explored the underlying causal mechanisms of injury. Logistic regression was used to identify relevant space suit components, training environment variables, and anthropometric dimensions related to an increased propensity for space-suited injury. Two groups of subjects were analyzed: those whose reported shoulder incident is attributable to the NBL or working in the space suit, and those whose shoulder incidence began in active duty, meaning working in the suit could be a contributing factor. For both groups, percent of training performed in the space suit planar hard upper torso (HUT) was the most important predictor variable for injury. Frequency of training and recovery between training were also significant metrics. The most relevant anthropometric dimensions were bideltoid breadth, expanded chest depth, and shoulder circumference. Finally, record of previous injury was found to be a relevant predictor for subsequent injury. The first statistical model correctly identifies 39% of injured subjects, while the second model correctly identifies 68% of injured subjects. A review of the literature suggests this is the first work to quantitatively evaluate the hypothesized causal mechanisms of all space-suited shoulder injuries. Although limited in predictive capability, each of the identified variables can be monitored and modified operationally to reduce future impacts on an astronaut's health.

  4. Low urinary albumin excretion in astronauts during space missions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cirillo, Massimo; De Santo, Natale G; Heer, Martina

    2003-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Physiological changes occur in man during space missions also at the renal level. Proteinuria was hypothesized for space missions but research data are missing. METHODS: Urinary albumin, as an index of proteinuria, and other variables were analyzed in 4 astronauts during space missions...... onboard the MIR station and on the ground (control). Mission duration before first urine collection in the four astronauts was 4, 26, 26, and 106 days, respectively. On the ground, data were collected 2 months before mission in two astronauts, 6 months after in the other astronauts. A total of twenty......-two 24-hour urine collections were obtained in space (n per astronaut = 1-14) and on the ground (n per astronaut = 2-12). Urinary albumin was measured by radioimmunoassay. For each astronaut, mean of data in space and on the ground was defined as individual average. RESULTS: The individual averages of 24...

  5. Hybrid Modeling Improves Health and Performance Monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-01-01

    Scientific Monitoring Inc. was awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center to create a new, simplified health-monitoring approach for flight vehicles and flight equipment. The project developed a hybrid physical model concept that provided a structured approach to simplifying complex design models for use in health monitoring, allowing the output or performance of the equipment to be compared to what the design models predicted, so that deterioration or impending failure could be detected before there would be an impact on the equipment's operational capability. Based on the original modeling technology, Scientific Monitoring released I-Trend, a commercial health- and performance-monitoring software product named for its intelligent trending, diagnostics, and prognostics capabilities, as part of the company's complete ICEMS (Intelligent Condition-based Equipment Management System) suite of monitoring and advanced alerting software. I-Trend uses the hybrid physical model to better characterize the nature of health or performance alarms that result in "no fault found" false alarms. Additionally, the use of physical principles helps I-Trend identify problems sooner. I-Trend technology is currently in use in several commercial aviation programs, and the U.S. Air Force recently tapped Scientific Monitoring to develop next-generation engine health-management software for monitoring its fleet of jet engines. Scientific Monitoring has continued the original NASA work, this time under a Phase III SBIR contract with a joint NASA-Pratt & Whitney aviation security program on propulsion-controlled aircraft under missile-damaged aircraft conditions.

  6. An Update on Mortality in the U.S. Astronaut Corps: 1959-2009

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amirian, E.; Clark, April; Halm, Melissa; Hartnett, Heather

    2009-01-01

    Although it has now been over 50 years since mankind first ventured into space, the long-term health impacts of human space flight remain largely unknown. Identifying factors that affect survival and prognosis among those who participate in space flight is vitally important, as the era of commercial space flight approaches and NASA prepares for missions to Mars. The Longitudinal Study of Astronaut Health is a prospective study designed to examine trends in astronaut morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this analysis was to describe and explore predictors of overall and cause-specific mortality among individuals selected for the U.S. astronaut corps. All U.S. astronauts (n=321), regardless of flight status, were included in this analysis. Death certificate searches were conducted to ascertain vital status and cause of death through April 2009. Data were collected from medical records and lifestyle questionnaires. Multivariable Cox regression modeling was used to calculate the mortality hazard associated with embarking on space flight, adjusted for sex, race, and age at selection. Between 1959 and 2009, there were 39 (12.1%) deaths. Of these deaths, 18 (42.2%) were due to occupational accidents; 7 (17.9%) were due to other accidents; 6 (15.4%) were attributable to cancer; 6 (15.4%) resulted from cardiovascular/circulatory diseases; and 2 (5.1%) were from other causes. Participation in space flight did not significantly increase mortality hazard over time (adjusted hazard ratio=0.57; 95% confidence interval=0.26-1.26. Because our results are based on a small sample size, future research that includes payload specialists, other space flight participants, and international crew members is warranted to maximize statistical power.

  7. Digital Astronaut Photography: A Discovery Dataset for Archaeology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stefanov, William L.

    2010-01-01

    Astronaut photography acquired from the International Space Station (ISS) using commercial off-the-shelf cameras offers a freely-accessible source for high to very high resolution (4-20 m/pixel) visible-wavelength digital data of Earth. Since ISS Expedition 1 in 2000, over 373,000 images of the Earth-Moon system (including land surface, ocean, atmospheric, and lunar images) have been added to the Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth online database (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov ). Handheld astronaut photographs vary in look angle, time of acquisition, solar illumination, and spatial resolution. These attributes of digital astronaut photography result from a unique combination of ISS orbital dynamics, mission operations, camera systems, and the individual skills of the astronaut. The variable nature of astronaut photography makes the dataset uniquely useful for archaeological applications in comparison with more traditional nadir-viewing multispectral datasets acquired from unmanned orbital platforms. For example, surface features such as trenches, walls, ruins, urban patterns, and vegetation clearing and regrowth patterns may be accentuated by low sun angles and oblique viewing conditions (Fig. 1). High spatial resolution digital astronaut photographs can also be used with sophisticated land cover classification and spatial analysis approaches like Object Based Image Analysis, increasing the potential for use in archaeological characterization of landscapes and specific sites.

  8. Is autonomic modulation different between European and Chinese astronauts?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jiexin; Li, Yongzhi; Verheyden, Bart; Chen, Shanguang; Chen, Zhanghuang; Gai, Yuqing; Liu, Jianzhong; Gao, Jianyi; Xie, Qiong; Yuan, Ming; Li, Qin; Li, Li; Aubert, André E

    2015-01-01

    The objective was to investigate autonomic control in groups of European and Chinese astronauts and to identify similarities and differences. Beat-to-beat heart rate and finger blood pressure, brachial blood pressure, and respiratory frequency were measured from 10 astronauts (five European taking part in three different space missions and five Chinese astronauts taking part in two different space missions). Data recording was performed in the supine and standing positions at least 10 days before launch, and 1, 3, and 10 days after return. Cross-correlation analysis of heart rate and systolic pressure was used to assess cardiac baroreflex modulation. A fixed breathing protocol was performed to measure respiratory sinus arrhythmia and low-frequency power of systolic blood pressure variability. Although baseline cardiovascular parameters before spaceflight were similar in all astronauts in the supine position, a significant increase in sympathetic activity and a decrease in vagal modulation occurred in the European astronauts when standing; spaceflight resulted in a remarkable vagal decrease in European astronauts only. Similar baseline supine and standing values for heart rate, mean arterial pressure, and respiratory frequency were shown in both groups. Standing autonomic control was based on a balance of higher vagal and sympathetic modulation in European astronauts. Post-spaceflight orthostatic tachycardia was observed in all European astronauts, whereas post-spaceflight orthostatic tachycardia was significantly reduced in Chinese astronauts. The basis for orthostatic intolerance is not apparent; however, many possibilities can be considered and need to be further investigated, such as genetic diversities between races, astronaut selection, training, and nutrition, etc.

  9. Is autonomic modulation different between European and Chinese astronauts?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiexin Liu

    Full Text Available The objective was to investigate autonomic control in groups of European and Chinese astronauts and to identify similarities and differences.Beat-to-beat heart rate and finger blood pressure, brachial blood pressure, and respiratory frequency were measured from 10 astronauts (five European taking part in three different space missions and five Chinese astronauts taking part in two different space missions. Data recording was performed in the supine and standing positions at least 10 days before launch, and 1, 3, and 10 days after return. Cross-correlation analysis of heart rate and systolic pressure was used to assess cardiac baroreflex modulation. A fixed breathing protocol was performed to measure respiratory sinus arrhythmia and low-frequency power of systolic blood pressure variability.Although baseline cardiovascular parameters before spaceflight were similar in all astronauts in the supine position, a significant increase in sympathetic activity and a decrease in vagal modulation occurred in the European astronauts when standing; spaceflight resulted in a remarkable vagal decrease in European astronauts only. Similar baseline supine and standing values for heart rate, mean arterial pressure, and respiratory frequency were shown in both groups. Standing autonomic control was based on a balance of higher vagal and sympathetic modulation in European astronauts.Post-spaceflight orthostatic tachycardia was observed in all European astronauts, whereas post-spaceflight orthostatic tachycardia was significantly reduced in Chinese astronauts. The basis for orthostatic intolerance is not apparent; however, many possibilities can be considered and need to be further investigated, such as genetic diversities between races, astronaut selection, training, and nutrition, etc.

  10. Cancer Risk in Astronauts: A Constellation of Uncommon Consequences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milder, Caitlin M.; Elgart, S. Robin; Chappell, Lori; Charvat, Jaqueline M.; Van Baalen, Mary; Huff, Janice L.; Semones, Edward J.

    2017-01-01

    Excess cancers resulting from external radiation exposures have been noted since the early 1950s, when a rise in leukemia rates was first reported in young atomic bomb survivors [1]. Further studies in atomic bomb survivors, cancer patients treated with radiotherapy, and nuclear power plant workers have confirmed that radiation exposure increases the risk of not only leukemia, but also a wide array of solid cancers [2,3]. NASA has long been aware of this risk and limits astronauts' risk of exposure-induced death (REID) from cancer by specifying permissible mission durations (PMD) for astronauts on an individual basis. While cancer is present among astronauts, current data does not suggest any excess of known radiation-induced cancers relative to a comparable population of U.S. adults; however, very uncommon cancers have been diagnosed in astronauts including nasopharyngeal cancer, lymphoma of the brain, and acral myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma. In order to study cancer risk in astronauts, a number of obstacles must be overcome. Firstly, several factors make the astronaut cohort considerably different from the cohorts that have previously been studied for effects resulting from radiation exposure. The high rate of accidents and the much healthier lifestyle of astronauts compared to the U.S. population make finding a suitable comparison population a problematic task. Space radiation differs substantially from terrestrial radiation exposures studied in the past; therefore, analyses of galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) in animal models must be conducted and correctly applied to the human experience. Secondly, a large enough population of exposed astronauts must exist in order to obtain the data necessary to see any potential statistically significant differences between the astronauts and the control population. Thirdly, confounders and effect modifiers, such as smoking, diet, and other space stressors, must be correctly identified and controlled for in those

  11. Medically induced amenorrhea in female astronauts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jain, Varsha; Wotring, Virginia E

    2016-01-01

    Medically induced amenorrhea can be achieved through alterations in the normal regulatory hormones via the adoption of a therapeutic agent, which prevents menstrual flow. Spaceflight-related advantages for medically induced amenorrhea differ according to the time point in the astronaut's training schedule. Pregnancy is contraindicated for many pre-flight training activities as well as spaceflight, therefore effective contraception is essential. In addition, the practicalities of menstruating during pre-flight training or spaceflight can be challenging. During long-duration missions, female astronauts have often continuously taken the combined oral contraceptive pill to induce amenorrhea. Long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) are safe and reliable methods used to medically induce amenorrhea terrestrially but as of yet, not extensively used by female astronauts. If LARCs were used, daily compliance with an oral pill is not required and no upmass or trash would need disposal. Military studies have shown that high proportions of female personnel desire amenorrhea during deployment; better education has been recommended at recruitment to improve uptake and autonomous decision-making. Astronauts are exposed to similar austere conditions as military personnel and parallels can be drawn with these results. Offering female astronauts up-to-date, evidence-based, comprehensive education, in view of the environment in which they work, would empower them to make informed decisions regarding menstrual suppression while respecting their autonomy.

  12. System health monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reneke, J.A.; Fryer, M.O.

    1995-01-01

    Well designed large systems include many instrument taking data. These data are used in a variety of ways. They are used to control the system and its components, to monitor system and component health, and often for historical or financial purposes. This paper discusses a new method of using data from low level instrumentation to monitor system and component health. The method uses the covariance of instrument outputs to calculate a measure of system change. The method involves no complicated modeling since it is not a parameter estimation algorithm. The method is iterative and can be implemented on a computer in real time. Examples are presented for a metal lathe and a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter. It is shown that the proposed method is quite sensitive to system changes such as wear out and failure. The method is useful for low level system diagnostics and fault detection

  13. Networked Biomedical System for Ubiquitous Health Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arjan Durresi

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available We propose a distributed system that enables global and ubiquitous health monitoring of patients. The biomedical data will be collected by wearable health diagnostic devices, which will include various types of sensors and will be transmitted towards the corresponding Health Monitoring Centers. The permanent medical data of patients will be kept in the corresponding Home Data Bases, while the measured biomedical data will be sent to the Visitor Health Monitor Center and Visitor Data Base that serves the area of present location of the patient. By combining the measured biomedical data and the permanent medical data, Health Medical Centers will be able to coordinate the needed actions and help the local medical teams to make quickly the best decisions that could be crucial for the patient health, and that can reduce the cost of health service.

  14. Privacy by design in personal health monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordgren, Anders

    2015-06-01

    The concept of privacy by design is becoming increasingly popular among regulators of information and communications technologies. This paper aims at analysing and discussing the ethical implications of this concept for personal health monitoring. I assume a privacy theory of restricted access and limited control. On the basis of this theory, I suggest a version of the concept of privacy by design that constitutes a middle road between what I call broad privacy by design and narrow privacy by design. The key feature of this approach is that it attempts to balance automated privacy protection and autonomously chosen privacy protection in a way that is context-sensitive. In personal health monitoring, this approach implies that in some contexts like medication assistance and monitoring of specific health parameters one single automatic option is legitimate, while in some other contexts, for example monitoring in which relatives are receivers of health-relevant information rather than health care professionals, a multi-choice approach stressing autonomy is warranted.

  15. Physical health monitoring in mental health settings: a study exploring mental health nurses' views of their role.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mwebe, Herbert

    2017-10-01

    To explore nurses' views of their role in the screening and monitoring of the physical care needs of people with serious mental illness in a mental health service provider. There is increasing awareness through research that people with serious mental illness disproportionately experience and die early from physical health conditions. Mental health nurses are best placed as front-line workers to offer screening, monitoring and interventions; however, their views on physical care interventions are not studied often. Qualitative exploratory study. The study was carried out in a mental health inpatient centre in England. Volunteer sampling was adopted for the study with a total target sample of (n = 20) nurses from three inpatient wards. Semistructured interviews were conducted with (n = 10) registered mental health nurses who had consented to take part in the study. Inductive data analysis and theme development were guided by a thematic analytic framework. Participants shared a clear commitment regarding their role regarding physical health screening and monitoring in mental health settings. Four themes emerged as follows: features of current practice and physical health monitoring; perceived barriers to physical health monitoring; education and training needs; and strategies to improve physical health monitoring. Nurses were unequivocal in their resolve to ensure good standard physical health monitoring and screening interventions in practice. However, identified obstacles have to be addressed to ensure that physical health screening and monitoring is integrated adequately in everyday clinical activities. Achieving this would require improvements in nurses' training, and an integrated multiservice and team-working approach. Attending to the physical health needs of people with serious mental illness has been associated with multiple improvements in both mental and physical health; nurses have a vital role to play in identifying and addressing causes of poor

  16. The Application of Leap Motion in Astronaut Virtual Training

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qingchao, Xie; Jiangang, Chao

    2017-03-01

    With the development of computer vision, virtual reality has been applied in astronaut virtual training. As an advanced optic equipment to track hand, Leap Motion can provide precise and fluid tracking of hands. Leap Motion is suitable to be used as gesture input device in astronaut virtual training. This paper built an astronaut virtual training based Leap Motion, and established the mathematics model of hands occlusion. At last the ability of Leap Motion to handle occlusion was analysed. A virtual assembly simulation platform was developed for astronaut training, and occlusion gesture would influence the recognition process. The experimental result can guide astronaut virtual training.

  17. Locomotor problems of supersonic aviation and astronautics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Remes, P

    1989-04-01

    Modern high-speed aviation and space flight are fraught with many problems and require a high standard of health and fitness. Those responsible for the health of pilots must appreciate the importance of early diagnosis even before symptoms appear. This is particularly true in terms of preventing spinal injuries where even a single Schmorl's node may make a pilot unfit for high-speed flying. Spinal fractures are frequent during emergency ejection and landing. Helicopter crews are particularly prone to spinal disc degeneration due to vibration. By effective lowering of vibration by changes in the seats, a reduction in such lesions is possible. The osteoporosis and muscle atrophy occurring among astronauts subjected to prolonged weightlessness can be prevented by regular physical exercises.

  18. Forest health monitoring: 2008 national technical report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kevin M. Potter; Barbara L. Conkling

    2012-01-01

    The Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program’s annual national technical report has three objectives: (1) to present forest health status and trends from a national or a multi-State regional perspective using a variety of sources, (2) to introduce new techniques for analyzing forest health data, and (3) to report results of recently completed evaluation monitoring...

  19. Design of wearable health monitoring device

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devara, Kresna; Ramadhanty, Savira; Abuzairi, Tomy

    2018-02-01

    Wearable smart health monitoring devices have attracted considerable attention in both research community and industry. Some of the causes are the increasing healthcare costs, along with the growing technology. To address this demand, in this paper, design and evaluation of wearable health monitoring device integrated with smartphone were presented. This device was designed for patients in need of constant health monitoring. The performance of the proposed design has been tested by conducting measurement once in 2 minutes for 10 minutes to obtain heart rate and body temperature data. The comparation between data measured by the proposed device and that measured by the reference device yields only an average error of 1.45% for heart rate and 1.04% for body temperature.

  20. Health Monitoring System Technology Assessments: Cost Benefits Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kent, Renee M.; Murphy, Dennis A.

    2000-01-01

    The subject of sensor-based structural health monitoring is very diverse and encompasses a wide range of activities including initiatives and innovations involving the development of advanced sensor, signal processing, data analysis, and actuation and control technologies. In addition, it embraces the consideration of the availability of low-cost, high-quality contributing technologies, computational utilities, and hardware and software resources that enable the operational realization of robust health monitoring technologies. This report presents a detailed analysis of the cost benefit and other logistics and operational considerations associated with the implementation and utilization of sensor-based technologies for use in aerospace structure health monitoring. The scope of this volume is to assess the economic impact, from an end-user perspective, implementation health monitoring technologies on three structures. It specifically focuses on evaluating the impact on maintaining and supporting these structures with and without health monitoring capability.

  1. CRAFT: Collaborative Rover and Astronauts Future Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Da-Poian, V. D. P.; Koryanov, V. V. K.

    2018-02-01

    Our project is focusing on the relationship between astronauts and rovers to best work together during surface explorations. Robots will help and assist astronauts, and will also work autonomously. Our project is to develop this type of rover.

  2. Space Shuttle Underside Astronaut Communications Performance Evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwu, Shian U.; Dobbins, Justin A.; Loh, Yin-Chung; Kroll, Quin D.; Sham, Catherine C.

    2005-01-01

    The Space Shuttle Ultra High Frequency (UHF) communications system is planned to provide Radio Frequency (RF) coverage for astronauts working underside of the Space Shuttle Orbiter (SSO) for thermal tile inspection and repairing. This study is to assess the Space Shuttle UHF communication performance for astronauts in the shadow region without line-of-sight (LOS) to the Space Shuttle and Space Station UHF antennas. To insure the RF coverage performance at anticipated astronaut worksites, the link margin between the UHF antennas and Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Astronauts with significant vehicle structure blockage was analyzed. A series of near-field measurements were performed using the NASA/JSC Anechoic Chamber Antenna test facilities. Computational investigations were also performed using the electromagnetic modeling techniques. The computer simulation tool based on the Geometrical Theory of Diffraction (GTD) was used to compute the signal strengths. The signal strength was obtained by computing the reflected and diffracted fields along the propagation paths between the transmitting and receiving antennas. Based on the results obtained in this study, RF coverage for UHF communication links was determined for the anticipated astronaut worksite in the shadow region underneath the Space Shuttle.

  3. Astronautics degrees for the space industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gruntman, M.; Brodsky, R. F.; Erwin, D. A.; Kunc, J. A.

    2004-01-01

    The Astronautics Program (http://astronautics.usc.edu) of the University of Southern California (USC) offers a full set of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Aerospace Engineering with emphasis in Astronautics. The Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree programs in Astronautics combine basic science and engineering classes with specialized classes in space technology. The Certificate in Astronautics targets practicing engineers and scientists who enter space-related fields and/or who want to obtain training in specific space-related areas. Many specialized graduate classes are taught by adjunct faculty working at the leading space companies. The Master of Science degree and Certificate are available entirely through the USC Distance Education Network (DEN). Today, the Internet allows us to reach students anywhere in the world through webcasting. The majority of our graduate students, as well as those pursuing the Certificate, work full time as engineers in the space industry and government research and development centers while earning their degrees. The new world of distance learning presents new challenges and opens new opportunities. Distance learning, and particularly the introduction of webcasting, transform the organization of the graduate program and class delivery. We describe in detail the program's academic focus, student reach, and structure of program components. Program development is illustrated by the student enrollment dynamics and related industrial trends; the lessons learned emphasize the importance of feedback from the students and from the space industry.

  4. Smart health monitoring systems: an overview of design and modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baig, Mirza Mansoor; Gholamhosseini, Hamid

    2013-04-01

    Health monitoring systems have rapidly evolved during the past two decades and have the potential to change the way health care is currently delivered. Although smart health monitoring systems automate patient monitoring tasks and, thereby improve the patient workflow management, their efficiency in clinical settings is still debatable. This paper presents a review of smart health monitoring systems and an overview of their design and modeling. Furthermore, a critical analysis of the efficiency, clinical acceptability, strategies and recommendations on improving current health monitoring systems will be presented. The main aim is to review current state of the art monitoring systems and to perform extensive and an in-depth analysis of the findings in the area of smart health monitoring systems. In order to achieve this, over fifty different monitoring systems have been selected, categorized, classified and compared. Finally, major advances in the system design level have been discussed, current issues facing health care providers, as well as the potential challenges to health monitoring field will be identified and compared to other similar systems.

  5. Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Among the NASA Astronaut Corps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charvat, Jacqueline M.; Lee, Stuart M. C.; Wear, Mary L.; Stenger, Michael B.; Van Baalen, Mary

    2018-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Acute effects of spaceflight on the cardiovascular system have been studied extensively, but the combined chronic effects of spaceflight and aging are not well understood. Preparation for and participation in spaceflight activities are associated with changes in the cardiovascular system such as decreased carotid artery distensibility and decreased ventricular mass which may lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Additionally, astronauts who travel into space multiple times or for longer durations may be at an increased risk across their lifespan. To that end, the purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of common cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes among the NASA astronaut corps during their active career and through retirement. METHODS: Cardiovascular disease outcomes were defined as reports of any of the following: myocardial infarction (MI), revascularization procedures (coronary artery bypass graft surgery [CABG] or percutaneous coronary intervention [PCI]), hypertension, stroke or transient ischemic attack [TIA], heart failure, or total CVD (as defined by the AHA - combined outcome of MI, Angina Pectoris, heart failure, stroke, and hypertension). Each outcome was identified individually from review of NASA's Electronic Medical Record (EMR), EKG reports, and death certificates using ICD-9 codes as well as string searches of physician notes of astronaut exams that occurred between 1959 and 2016. RESULTS: Of 338 NASA astronauts selected as of 2016, 9 reported an MI, 12 reported a revascularization procedure, (7 PCI and 5 CABG), 4 reported Angina (without MI), 5 reported heart failure, 9 reported stroke/TIA, and 96 reported hypertension. Total CVD was reported in 105 astronauts. No astronaut who had an MI or revascularization procedure flew a spaceflight mission following the event. All MI, revascularization, and stroke events occurred in male astronauts. When reviewing astronaut ECG reports, abnormal ECG reports were found

  6. Health disparities monitoring in the U.S.: lessons for monitoring efforts in Israel and other countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abu-Saad, Kathleen; Avni, Shlomit; Kalter-Leibovici, Ofra

    2018-02-28

    Health disparities are a persistent problem in many high-income countries. Health policymakers recognize the need to develop systematic methods for documenting and tracking these disparities in order to reduce them. The experience of the U.S., which has a well-established health disparities monitoring infrastructure, provides useful insights for other countries. This article provides an in-depth review of health disparities monitoring in the U.S. Lessons of potential relevance for other countries include: 1) the integration of health disparities monitoring in population health surveillance, 2) the role of political commitment, 3) use of monitoring as a feedback loop to inform future directions, 4) use of monitoring to identify data gaps, 5) development of extensive cross-departmental cooperation, and 6) exploitation of digital tools for monitoring and reporting. Using Israel as a case in point, we provide a brief overview of the healthcare and health disparities landscape in Israel, and examine how the lessons from the U.S. experience might be applied in the Israeli context. The U.S. model of health disparities monitoring provides useful lessons for other countries with respect to documentation of health disparities and tracking of progress made towards their elimination. Given the persistence of health disparities both in the U.S. and Israel, there is a need for monitoring systems to expand beyond individual- and healthcare system-level factors, to incorporate social and environmental determinants of health as health indicators/outcomes.

  7. Protecting Astronaut Medical Privacy: Review of Presentations and Publications for Attributability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wear, M. L.; Charvat, J. M.; Lee, L. R.; Babiak-Vazquez, A.; Mason, S. S.; Van Baalen, M.

    2018-01-01

    Retrospective research and medical data collected on astronauts can be a valuable resource for researchers. This data can be requested from two separate NASA Archives. The Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH) holds astronaut medical data, and the Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA) holds research data. One condition of use of astronaut research and medical data is the requirement that all abstracts, publications and presentations using this data must be reviewed for attributability. All final versions of abstracts, presentations, posters, and manuscripts must be reviewed by LSDA/LSAH prior to submission to a conference, journal, or other entities outside the Principal Investigator (PI) laboratory [including the NASA Export Control Document Availability Authorization (DAA) system]. If material undergoes multiple revisions (e.g., journal editor comments), the new versions must also be reviewed by LSDA/LSAH prior to re-submission to the journal. The purpose of this review is to ensure that no personally identifiable information (PII) is included in materials that are presented in a public venue or posted to the public domain. The procedures for submitting materials for review will be outlined. The process that LSAH/LSDA follows for assessing attributability will be presented. Characteristics and parameter combinations that often prompt attributability concerns will be identified. A published case report for a National Football League (NFL) player will be used to demonstrate how, in a population of public interest, a combination of information can result in inadvertent release of private or sensitive information.

  8. Expanding the Description of Spaceflight Effects beyond Bone Mineral Density [BMD]: Trabecular Bone Score [TBS] in ISS Astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sibonga, J. D.; Spector, E. R.; King, L. J.; Evans, H. J.; Smith, S. A.

    2014-01-01

    Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry [DXA] is the widely-applied bone densitometry method used to diagnose osteoporosis in a terrestrial population known to be at risk for age-related bone loss. This medical test, which measures areal bone mineral density [aBMD] of clinically-relevant skeletal sites (e.g., hip and spine), helps the clinician to identify which persons, among postmenopausal women and men older than 50 years, are at high risk for low trauma or fragility fractures and might require an intervention. The most recognized osteoporotic fragility fracture is the vertebral compression fracture which can lead to kyphosis or hunched backs typically seen in the elderly. DXA measurement of BMD however is recognized to be insufficient as a sole index for assessing fracture risk. DXA's limitation may be related to its inability to monitor changes in structural parameters, such as trabecular vs. cortical bone volumes, bone geometry or trabecular microarchitecture. Hence, in order to understand risks to human health and performance due to space exposure, NASA needs to expand its measurements of bone to include other contributors to skeletal integrity. To this aim, the Bone and Mineral Lab conducted a pilot study for a novel measurement of bone microarchitecture that can be obtained by retrospective analysis of DXA scans. Trabecular Bone Score (TBS) assesses changes to trabecular microarchitecture by measuring the grey color "texture" information extracted from DXA images of the lumbar spine. An analysis of TBS in 51 ISS astronauts was conducted to assess if TBS could detect 1) an effect of spaceflight and 2) a response to countermeasures independent of DXA BMD. In addition, changes in trunk body lean tissue mass and in trunk body fat tissue mass were also evaluated to explore an association between body composition, as impacted by ARED exercise, and bone microarchitecture. The pilot analysis of 51 astronaut scans of the lumbar spine suggests that, following an ISS

  9. Determination of the Risk of Radiation-Associated Circulatory and Cancer Disease Mortality in a NASA Early Astronaut Cohort

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elgart, S. R.; Chappell, L.; Milder, C. M.; Shavers, M. R.; Huff, J. L.; Little, M.; Patel, Z. S.

    2017-01-01

    Of the many possible health challenges posed during extended exploratory missions to space, the effects of space radiation on cardiovascular disease and cancer are of particular concern. There are unique challenges to estimating those radiation risks; care and appropriate and rigorous methodology should be applied when considering small cohorts such as the NASA astronaut population. The objective of this work was to determine if there was sufficient evidence for excess risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer in early NASA astronaut cohorts. NASA astronauts in selection groups 1-7 were chosen; this relatively homogeneous cohort consists of 73 white males, who unlike today's astronauts, maintained similar smoking and drinking habits to the general US population, and have published radiation doses. The participants flew in space on missions Mercury through Shuttle and received space radiation doses between 0-74.1 milligrays. Cause of death information was obtained from the Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH) program at NASA Johnson Space Center. Mortality was compared with the US male population. Trends of mortality with dose were assessed using a logistic model, fitted by maximum likelihood. Only 32 (43.84 percent) of the 73 early astronauts have died. Standard mortality ratios (SMRs) for cancer (n=7, SMR=43.4, 95 percent CI 17.8, 84.9), all circulatory disease (n=7, SMR=33.2, 95 percent CI 13.7, 65.0), and ischemic heart disease (IHD) (n=5, SMR=40.1, 95 percent CI 13.2, 89.4) were significantly lower than for the US white male population. For cerebrovascular disease, the upper confidence interval for SMR included 100, indicating it was not significantly different from the US population (n=2, SMR = 77.0, 95 percent CI 9.4, 268.2). The power of the study is low and remains below 10 percent even when risks 10 times those reported in the literature are assumed. Due to small sample size, there is currently insufficient statistical power to evaluate space

  10. Astronaut Neil Armstrong during thermovacuum training

    Science.gov (United States)

    1969-01-01

    Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, is photographed during thermovacuum training in Chamber B of the Space Environment Simulation Laboratory, Building 32, Manned Spacecraft Center. He is wearing an Extravehicular Mobility Unit. The training simulated lunar surface vacuum and thermal conditions during astronaut operations outside the Lunar Module on the moon's surface. The mirror was used to reflect solar light.

  11. Official portrait of astronaut Stephen S. Oswald

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-01-01

    Official portrait of astronaut Stephen S. Oswald. Oswald, a member of Astronaut Class 11, wears launch and entry suit (LES) with launch and entry helmet (LEH) positioned at his side. In the background is the United States (U.S.) flag and a space shuttle orbiter model.

  12. Cytogenetic biodosimetry using the blood lymphocytes of astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    George, Kerry A.; Rhone, Jordan; Chappell, Lori J.; Cucinotta, Francis A.

    2013-11-01

    Cytogenetic analysis of peripheral blood lymphocytes is the most sensitive and reliable method currently available for in vivo assessment of the biological effects of exposure to radiation and provides the most informative measurement of radiation induced health risks. Data indicates that space missions of a few months or more can induce measureable increases in the yield of chromosome damage in the blood lymphocytes of astronauts that can be used to estimate an organ dose equivalent, and biodosimetry estimates lie within the range expected from physical dosimetry. Space biodosimetry poses some unique challenges compared to terrestrial biological assessments of radiation exposures, but data provides a direct measurement of space radiation damage, which takes into account individual radiosensitivity in the presence of confounding factors such as microgravity and other stress conditions. Moreover if chromosome damage persists in the blood for many years, results can be used for retrospective dose reconstruction. In contrast to physical measurements, which are external to body and require multiple devices to detect all radiation types all of which have poor sensitivity to neutrons, biodosimetry is internal and includes the effects of shielding provided by the body itself plus chromosome damage shows excellent sensitivity to protons, heavy ions, and neutrons. In addition, chromosome damage is reflective of cancer risk and biodosimetry values can therefore be used to validate and develop risk assessment models that can be used to characterize health risk incurred by crewmembers. The current paper presents a review of astronaut biodosimetry data, along with recently derived data on the relative cancer risk estimated using the quantitative approach derived from the European Study Group on Cytogenetic Biomarkers and Health database.

  13. Nanobarcode gene expression monitoring system for potential miniaturized space applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruan, Weiming; Eastman, P. Scott; Cooke, Patrick A.; Park, Jennifer S.; Chu, Julia S. F.; Gray, Joe W.; Li, Song; Chen, Fanqing Frank

    Manned mission to space has been threatened by various cosmos risks including radiation, mirogravity, vacuum, confinement, etc., which may cause genetic variations of astronauts and eventually lead to damages of their health. Thus, the development of small biomedical devices, which can monitor astronaut gene expression changes, is useful for future long-term space missions. Using magnetic microbeads packed with nanocrystal quantum dots at controlled ratios, we were able to generate highly multiplexed nanobarcodes, which can encode a flexible panel of genes. Also, by using a reporter quantum dot, this nanobarcode platform can monitor and quantify gene expression level with improved speed and sensitivity. As a comparison, we studied TGF-β1 induced transcription changes in human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells with both the nanobarcode microbead system and the Affymetrix GeneChip ® HTA system, which is currently considered as the industrial standard. Though using only 1/20 of the sample RNA, the nanobarcode system showed sensitivity equivalent to Affymetrix GeneChip ® system. The coefficient of variation, dynamic range, and accuracy of the nanobarcodes measurement is equivalent to that of the GeneChip ® HTA system. Therefore, this newly invented nanobarcode microbead platform is thought to be sensitive, flexible, cost-effective and accurate in a level equivalent to the conventional methods. As an extension of the use of this new platform, spacecrafts may carry this miniaturized system as a diagnostic tool for the astronauts.

  14. The use of the road to health card in monitoring child health | Tarwa ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The use of the road to health card in monitoring child health. ... The Road to Health Chart (RTHC) provides a simple, cheap, practical and convenient method of monitoring child health. The RTHC could assist ... Conclusions: Many parents believe that the RTHC is only required for Well-baby-clinic visits, not for consultations.

  15. EAC trains its first international astronaut class.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolender, Hans; Bessone, Loredana; Schoen, Andreas; Stevenin, Herve

    2002-11-01

    After several years of planning and preparation, ESA's ISS training programme has become operational. Between 26 August and 6 September, the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) near Cologne gave the first ESA advanced training course for an international ISS astronaut class. The ten astronauts who took part--two from NASA, four from Japan and four from ESA--had begun their advanced training programme back in 2001 with sessions at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston and at the Japanese Training Centre in Tsukuba. During their stay in Cologne, the ten astronauts participated in a total of 33 classroom lessons and hands-on training sessions, which gave them a detailed overview of the systems and subsystems of the Columbus module, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), and the related crew operations tasks. They were also introduced to the four ESA experiment facilities to be operated inside the Columbus module. After their first week of training at EAC, the astronauts were given the opportunity to see the flight model of the Columbus module being integrated at the site of ESA's ISS prime contractor, Astrium in Bremen. The second week of training at EAC included hands-on instruction on the Columbus Data Management System (DMS) using the recently installed Columbus Crew Training Facility. In preparation for the first advanced crew training session at EAC, two Training Readiness Reviews (TRR) were conducted there in June and August. These reviews were supported by training experts and astronauts from NASA, NASDA and CSA (Canada), who were introduced to ESA's advanced training concept and the development process, and then analysed and evaluated the training flow, content and instructional soundness of lessons and courses, as well as the fidelity of the training facilities and the skills of the ESA training instructors. The International Training Control Board (ITCB), made up of representatives from all of the ISS International Partners and mandated to control and

  16. Health Monitor for Multitasking, Safety-Critical, Real-Time Software

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zoerner, Roger

    2011-01-01

    Health Manager can detect Bad Health prior to a failure occurring by periodically monitoring the application software by looking for code corruption errors, and sanity-checking each critical data value prior to use. A processor s memory can fail and corrupt the software, or the software can accidentally write to the wrong address and overwrite the executing software. This innovation will continuously calculate a checksum of the software load to detect corrupted code. This will allow a system to detect a failure before it happens. This innovation monitors each software task (thread) so that if any task reports "bad health," or does not report to the Health Manager, the system is declared bad. The Health Manager reports overall system health to the outside world by outputting a square wave signal. If the square wave stops, this indicates that system health is bad or hung and cannot report. Either way, "bad health" can be detected, whether caused by an error, corrupted data, or a hung processor. A separate Health Monitor Task is started and run periodically in a loop that starts and stops pending on a semaphore. Each monitored task registers with the Health Manager, which maintains a count for the task. The registering task must indicate if it will run more or less often than the Health Manager. If the task runs more often than the Health Manager, the monitored task calls a health function that increments the count and verifies it did not go over max-count. When the periodic Health Manager runs, it verifies that the count did not go over the max-count and zeroes it. If the task runs less often than the Health Manager, the periodic Health Manager will increment the count. The monitored task zeroes the count, and both the Health Manager and monitored task verify that the count did not go over the max-count.

  17. Heart Rhythm Monitoring in the Constellation Lunar and Launch/Landing EVA Suit: Recommendations from an Expert Panel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheuring, Richard A.; Hamilton, Doug; Jones, Jeffrey A.; Alexander, David

    2009-01-01

    There are currently several physiological monitoring requirements for EVA in the Human-Systems Interface Requirements (HSIR) document. There are questions as to whether the capability to monitor heart rhythm in the lunar surface space suit is a necessary capability for lunar surface operations. Similarly, there are questions as to whether the capability to monitor heart rhythm during a cabin depressurization scenario in the launch/landing space suit is necessary. This presentation seeks to inform space medicine personnel of recommendations made by an expert panel of cardiovascular medicine specialists regarding in-suit ECG heart rhythm monitoring requirements during lunar surface operations. After a review of demographic information and clinical cases and panel discussion, the panel recommended that ECG monitoring capability as a clinical tool was not essential in the lunar space suit; ECG monitoring was not essential in the launch/landing space suit for contingency scenarios; the current hear rate monitoring capability requirement for both launch/landing and lunar space suits should be maintained; lunar vehicles should be required to have ECG monitoring capability with a minimum of 5-lead ECG for IVA medical assessments; and, exercise stress testing for astronaut selection and retention should be changed from the current 85% maximum heart rate limit to maximal, exhaustive 'symptom-limited' testing to maximize diagnostic utility as a screening tool for evaluating the functional capacity of astronauts and their cardiovascular health.

  18. Mobile health monitoring system for community health workers

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Sibiya, G

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available of hypertension as it provides real time information and eliminates the need to visit a healthcare facility to take blood pressure readings. Our proposed mobile health monitoring system enables faster computerization of data that has been recorded... pressure, heart rate and glucose readings. These reading closely related to most common NCDs. D. Feedback to health worker and the subject of care Community health workers are often not professionally trained on health. As a result they are not expected...

  19. Wearable Sensors for Remote Health Monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Majumder, Sumit; Mondal, Tapas; Deen, M Jamal

    2017-01-12

    Life expectancy in most countries has been increasing continually over the several few decades thanks to significant improvements in medicine, public health, as well as personal and environmental hygiene. However, increased life expectancy combined with falling birth rates are expected to engender a large aging demographic in the near future that would impose significant  burdens on the socio-economic structure of these countries. Therefore, it is essential to develop cost-effective, easy-to-use systems for the sake of elderly healthcare and well-being. Remote health monitoring, based on non-invasive and wearable sensors, actuators and modern communication and information technologies offers an efficient and cost-effective solution that allows the elderly to continue to live in their comfortable home environment instead of expensive healthcare facilities. These systems will also allow healthcare personnel to monitor important physiological signs of their patients in real time, assess health conditions and provide feedback from distant facilities. In this paper, we have presented and compared several low-cost and non-invasive health and activity monitoring systems that were reported in recent years. A survey on textile-based sensors that can potentially be used in wearable systems is also presented. Finally, compatibility of several communication technologies as well as future perspectives and research challenges in remote monitoring systems will be discussed.

  20. Wearable Sensors for Remote Health Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sumit Majumder

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Life expectancy in most countries has been increasing continually over the several few decades thanks to significant improvements in medicine, public health, as well as personal and environmental hygiene. However, increased life expectancy combined with falling birth rates are expected to engender a large aging demographic in the near future that would impose significant  burdens on the socio-economic structure of these countries. Therefore, it is essential to develop cost-effective, easy-to-use systems for the sake of elderly healthcare and well-being. Remote health monitoring, based on non-invasive and wearable sensors, actuators and modern communication and information technologies offers an efficient and cost-effective solution that allows the elderly to continue to live in their comfortable home environment instead of expensive healthcare facilities. These systems will also allow healthcare personnel to monitor important physiological signs of their patients in real time, assess health conditions and provide feedback from distant facilities. In this paper, we have presented and compared several low-cost and non-invasive health and activity monitoring systems that were reported in recent years. A survey on textile-based sensors that can potentially be used in wearable systems is also presented. Finally, compatibility of several communication technologies as well as future perspectives and research challenges in remote monitoring systems will be discussed.

  1. Acoustic Techniques for Structural Health Monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frankenstein, B.; Augustin, J.; Hentschel, D.; Schubert, F.; Köhler, B.; Meyendorf, N.

    2008-02-01

    Future safety and maintenance strategies for industrial components and vehicles are based on combinations of monitoring systems that are permanently attached to or embedded in the structure, and periodic inspections. The latter belongs to conventional nondestructive evaluation (NDE) and can be enhanced or partially replaced by structural health monitoring systems. However, the main benefit of this technology for the future will consist of systems that can be differently designed based on improved safety philosophies, including continuous monitoring. This approach will increase the efficiency of inspection procedures at reduced inspection times. The Fraunhofer IZFP Dresden Branch has developed network nodes, miniaturized transmitter and receiver systems for active and passive acoustical techniques and sensor systems that can be attached to or embedded into components or structures. These systems have been used to demonstrate intelligent sensor networks for the monitoring of aerospace structures, railway systems, wind energy generators, piping system and other components. Material discontinuities and flaws have been detected and monitored during full scale fatigue testing. This paper will discuss opportunities and future trends in nondestructive evaluation and health monitoring based on new sensor principles and advanced microelectronics. It will outline various application examples of monitoring systems based on acoustic techniques and will indicate further needs for research and development.

  2. [Use of routine data from statutory health insurances for federal health monitoring purposes].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohlmeier, C; Frick, J; Prütz, F; Lampert, T; Ziese, T; Mikolajczyk, R; Garbe, E

    2014-04-01

    Federal health monitoring deals with the state of health and the health-related behavior of populations and is used to inform politics. To date, the routine data from statutory health insurances (SHI) have rarely been used for federal health monitoring purposes. SHI routine data enable analyses of disease frequency, risk factors, the course of the disease, the utilization of medical services, and mortality rates. The advantages offered by SHI routine data regarding federal health monitoring are the intersectoral perspective and the nearly complete absence of recall and selection bias in the respective population. Further, the large sample sizes and the continuous collection of the data allow reliable descriptions of the state of health of the insurants, even in cases of multiple stratification. These advantages have to be weighed against disadvantages linked to the claims nature of the data and the high administrative hurdles when requesting the use of SHI routine data. Particularly in view of the improved availability of data from all SHI insurants for research institutions in the context of the "health-care structure law", SHI routine data are an interesting data source for federal health monitoring purposes.

  3. Wearable sensors for human health monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asada, H. Harry; Reisner, Andrew

    2006-03-01

    Wearable sensors for continuous monitoring of vital signs for extended periods of weeks or months are expected to revolutionize healthcare services in the home and workplace as well as in hospitals and nursing homes. This invited paper describes recent research progress in wearable health monitoring technology and its clinical applications, with emphasis on blood pressure and circulatory monitoring. First, a finger ring-type wearable blood pressure sensor based on photo plethysmogram is presented. Technical issues, including motion artifact reduction, power saving, and wearability enhancement, will be addressed. Second, sensor fusion and sensor networking for integrating multiple sensors with diverse modalities will be discussed for comprehensive monitoring and diagnosis of health status. Unlike traditional snap-shot measurements, continuous monitoring with wearable sensors opens up the possibility to treat the physiological system as a dynamical process. This allows us to apply powerful system dynamics and control methodologies, such as adaptive filtering, single- and multi-channel system identification, active noise cancellation, and adaptive control, to the monitoring and treatment of highly complex physiological systems. A few clinical trials illustrate the potentials of the wearable sensor technology for future heath care services.

  4. Design of smart neonatal health monitoring system using SMCC.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De, Debashis; Mukherjee, Anwesha; Sau, Arkaprabha; Bhakta, Ishita

    2017-02-01

    Automated health monitoring and alert system development is a demanding research area today. Most of the currently available monitoring and controlling medical devices are wired which limits freeness of working environment. Wireless sensor network (WSN) is a better alternative in such an environment. Neonatal intensive care unit is used to take care of sick and premature neonates. Hypothermia is an independent risk factor for neonatal mortality and morbidity. To prevent it an automated monitoring system is required. In this Letter, an automated neonatal health monitoring system is designed using sensor mobile cloud computing (SMCC). SMCC is based on WSN and MCC. In the authors' system temperature sensor, acceleration sensor and heart rate measurement sensor are used to monitor body temperature, acceleration due to body movement and heart rate of neonates. The sensor data are stored inside the cloud. The health person continuously monitors and accesses these data through the mobile device using an Android Application for neonatal monitoring. When an abnormal situation arises, an alert is generated in the mobile device of the health person. By alerting health professional using such an automated system, early care is provided to the affected babies and the probability of recovery is increased.

  5. STS-71 astronauts and cosmonauts during egress training

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    Astronaut Robert L. Gibson (arms folded, near center) STS-71 mission commander, joins several crew mates during a briefing preceding emergency egress training in the Systems Integration Facility at JSC. Astronauts Bonnie J. Dunbar and Gregory J. Harbaugh

  6. Flexible Sensing Electronics for Wearable/Attachable Health Monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xuewen; Liu, Zheng; Zhang, Ting

    2017-07-01

    Wearable or attachable health monitoring smart systems are considered to be the next generation of personal portable devices for remote medicine practices. Smart flexible sensing electronics are components crucial in endowing health monitoring systems with the capability of real-time tracking of physiological signals. These signals are closely associated with body conditions, such as heart rate, wrist pulse, body temperature, blood/intraocular pressure and blood/sweat bio-information. Monitoring such physiological signals provides a convenient and non-invasive way for disease diagnoses and health assessments. This Review summarizes the recent progress of flexible sensing electronics for their use in wearable/attachable health monitoring systems. Meanwhile, we present an overview of different materials and configurations for flexible sensors, including piezo-resistive, piezo-electrical, capacitive, and field effect transistor based devices, and analyze the working principles in monitoring physiological signals. In addition, the future perspectives of wearable healthcare systems and the technical demands on their commercialization are briefly discussed. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  7. Context aware sensing for health monitoring

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Landete, F.; Chen, W.; Bouwstra, S.; Feijs, L.M.G.; Bambang Oetomo, S.

    2012-01-01

    Health Monitoring systems with textile sensors offer more comfort compared to gel electrodes, however they tend to suffer from poor skin contact and motion artifacts. In order to improve the monitoring reliability, we propose to apply multiple sensors and context aware sensing. A context aware

  8. Activity monitoring systems in health care

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kröse, B.; van Oosterhout, T.; van Kasteren, T.; Salah, A.A.; Gevers, T.

    2011-01-01

    This chapter focuses on activity monitoring in a home setting for health care purposes. First the most current sensing systems are described, which consist of wearable and ambient sensors. Then several approaches for the monitoring of simple actions are discussed, like falls or therapies. After

  9. Acceptance by laypersons and medical professionals of the personalized eHealth platform, eHealthMonitor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griebel, Lena; Kolominsky-Rabas, Peter; Schaller, Sandra; Siudyka, Jakub; Sierpinski, Radoslaw; Papapavlou, Dimitrios; Simeonidou, Aliki; Prokosch, Hans-Ulrich; Sedlmayr, Martin

    2017-09-01

    Often, eHealth services are not accepted because of factors such as eHealth literacy or trust. Within this study, eHealthMonitor was evaluated in three European countries (Germany, Greece, and Poland) by medical professionals and laypersons with respect to numerous acceptance factors. Questionnaires were created on the basis of factors from literature and with the help of scales which have already been validated. A qualitative survey was conducted in Germany, Poland, and Greece. The eHealth literacy of all participants was medium/high. Laypersons mostly agreed that they could easily become skillful with eHealthMonitor and that other people thought that they should use eHealthMonitor. Amongst medical professionals, a large number were afraid that eHealthMonitor could violate their privacy or the privacy of their patients. Overall, the participants thought that eHealthMonitor was a good concept and that they would use it. The main hindrances to the use of eHealthMonitor were found in trust issues including data privacy. In the future, more research on the linkage of all measured factors is needed, for example, to address the question of whether highly educated people tend to mistrust eHealth information more than people with lower levels of education.

  10. Radiation Exposure and Mortality from Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer in Early NASA Astronauts: Space for Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elgart, S. R.; Little, M. P.; Campbell, L. J.; Milder, C. M.; Shavers, M. R.; Huff, J. L.; Patel, Z. S.

    2018-01-01

    Of the many possible health challenges posed during extended exploratory missions to space, the effects of space radiation on cardiovascular disease and cancer are of particular concern. There are unique challenges to estimating those radiation risks; care and appropriate and rigorous methodology should be applied when considering small cohorts such as the NASA astronaut population. The objective of this work was to establish whether there is evidence for excess cardiovascular disease or cancer mortality in an early NASA astronaut cohort and determine if a correlation exists between space radiation exposure and mortality.

  11. Wearable sensors for health monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suciu, George; Butca, Cristina; Ochian, Adelina; Halunga, Simona

    2015-02-01

    In this paper we describe several wearable sensors, designed for monitoring the health condition of the patients, based on an experimental model. Wearable sensors enable long-term continuous physiological monitoring, which is important for the treatment and management of many chronic illnesses, neurological disorders, and mental health issues. The system is based on a wearable sensors network, which is connected to a computer or smartphone. The wearable sensor network integrates several wearable sensors that can measure different parameters such as body temperature, heart rate and carbon monoxide quantity from the air. After the portable sensors measuring parameter values, they are transmitted by microprocessor through the Bluetooth to the application developed on computer or smartphone, to be interpreted.

  12. Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH) / Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA) Data Request Helpdesk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Millennia; Van Baalen, Mary

    2016-01-01

    This session is intended to provide to HRP IWS attendees instant feedback on archived astronaut data, including such topics as content of archives, access, request processing, and data format. Members of the LSAH and LSDA teams will be available at a 'help desk' during the poster sessions to answer questions from researchers.

  13. Methodology for astronaut reconditioning research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beard, David J; Cook, Jonathan A

    2017-01-01

    Space medicine offers some unique challenges, especially in terms of research methodology. A specific challenge for astronaut reconditioning involves identification of what aspects of terrestrial research methodology hold and which require modification. This paper reviews this area and presents appropriate solutions where possible. It is concluded that spaceflight rehabilitation research should remain question/problem driven and is broadly similar to the terrestrial equivalent on small populations, such as rare diseases and various sports. Astronauts and Medical Operations personnel should be involved at all levels to ensure feasibility of research protocols. There is room for creative and hybrid methodology but careful systematic observation is likely to be more achievable and fruitful than complex trial based comparisons. Multi-space agency collaboration will be critical to pool data from small groups of astronauts with the accepted use of standardised outcome measures across all agencies. Systematic reviews will be an essential component. Most limitations relate to the inherent small sample size available for human spaceflight research. Early adoption of a co-operative model for spaceflight rehabilitation research is therefore advised. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Patient monitoring in mobile health: opportunities and challenges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohammadzadeh, Niloofar; Safdari, Reza

    2014-01-01

    In most countries chronic diseases lead to high health care costs and reduced productivity of people in society. The best way to reduce costs of health sector and increase the empowerment of people is prevention of chronic diseases and appropriate health activities management through monitoring of patients. To enjoy the full benefits of E-health, making use of methods and modern technologies is very important. This literature review articles were searched with keywords like Patient monitoring, Mobile Health, and Chronic Disease in Science Direct, Google Scholar and Pub Med databases without regard to the year of publications. Applying remote medical diagnosis and monitoring system based on mobile health systems can help significantly to reduce health care costs, correct performance management particularly in chronic disease management. Also some challenges are in patient monitoring in general and specific aspects like threats to confidentiality and privacy, technology acceptance in general and lack of system interoperability with electronic health records and other IT tools, decrease in face to face communication between doctor and patient, sudden interruptions of telecommunication networks, and device and sensor type in specific aspect. It is obvious identifying the opportunities and challenges of mobile technology and reducing barriers, strengthening the positive points will have a significant role in the appropriate planning and promoting the achievements of the health care systems based on mobile and helps to design a roadmap for improvement of mobile health.

  15. Psychological training of German science astronauts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manzey, D; Schiewe, A

    1992-07-01

    Although the significance of psychosocial issues of manned space flights has been discussed very often in recent literature, up to now, very few attempts have been made in North-America or Europe to provide astronaut candidates or spacecrew members with some kind of psychological training. As a first attempt in this field, a psychological training program for science astronauts is described, which has been developed by the German Aerospace Research Establishment and performed as part of the mission-independent biomedical training of the German astronauts' team. In contrast to other training concepts, this training program focused not only on skills needed to cope with psychosocial issues regarding long-term stays in space, but also on skills needed to cope with the different demands during the long pre-mission phase. Topics covered in the training were "Communication and Cooperation", "Stress-Management", "Coping with Operational Demands", "Effective Problem Solving in Groups", and "Problem-Oriented Team Supervision".

  16. Astronauts Need Their Rest Too: Sleep-Wake Actigraphy and Light Exposure During Space Flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Czeisler, Charles; Bloomberg, Jacob; Lee, Angie (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    The success and effectiveness of human space flight depends on astronauts' ability to maintain a high level of cognitive performance and vigilance. This alert state ensures the proper operation of sophisticated instrumentation. An important way for humans to remedy fatigue and maintain alertness is to get plenty of rest. Astronauts, however, commonly experience difficulty sleeping while in space. During flight, they may also experience disruption of the body's circadian rhythm - the natural phases the body goes through every day as we oscillate between states of high activity during the waking day and recuperation, rest, and repair during nighttime sleep. Both of these factors are associated with impairment of alertness and performance, which could have important consequences during a mission in space. The human body was designed to sleep at night and be alert and active during the day. We receive these cues from the time of day or amount of light, such as the rising or setting of the sun. However, in the environment of the Space Shuttle or the International Space Station where light levels are highly variable, the characteristics of a 24-hour light/dark cycle are not present to cue the astronauts' bodies about what time of the day it is. Astronauts orbiting Earth see a sunset and sunrise every 90 minutes, sending potentially disruptive signals to the area of the brain that regulates sleep. On STS-107, researchers will measure sleep-wake activity with state-of-the-art technology to quantify how much sleep astronauts obtain in space. Because light is the most powerful time cue to the body's circadian system, individual light exposure patterns of the astronauts will also be monitored to determine if light exposure is associated with sleep disruption. The results of this research could lead to the development of a new treatment for sleep disturbances, enabling crewmembers to avoid the decrements in alertness and performance due to sleep deprivation. What we learn

  17. Effects of Spaceflight on Astronaut Brain Structure as Indicated on MRI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, Donna R; Albrecht, Moritz H; Collins, Heather R; Asemani, Davud; Chatterjee, A Rano; Spampinato, M Vittoria; Zhu, Xun; Chimowitz, Marc I; Antonucci, Michael U

    2017-11-02

    There is limited information regarding the effects of spaceflight on the anatomical configuration of the brain and on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) spaces. We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to compare images of 18 astronauts' brains before and after missions of long duration, involving stays on the International Space Station, and of 16 astronauts' brains before and after missions of short duration, involving participation in the Space Shuttle Program. Images were interpreted by readers who were unaware of the flight duration. We also generated paired preflight and postflight MRI cine clips derived from high-resolution, three-dimensional imaging of 12 astronauts after long-duration flights and from 6 astronauts after short-duration flights in order to assess the extent of narrowing of CSF spaces and the displacement of brain structures. We also compared preflight ventricular volumes with postflight ventricular volumes by means of an automated analysis of T 1 -weighted MRIs. The main prespecified analyses focused on the change in the volume of the central sulcus, the change in the volume of CSF spaces at the vertex, and vertical displacement of the brain. Narrowing of the central sulcus occurred in 17 of 18 astronauts after long-duration flights (mean flight time, 164.8 days) and in 3 of 16 astronauts after short-duration flights (mean flight time, 13.6 days) (P<0.001). Cine clips from a subgroup of astronauts showed an upward shift of the brain after all long-duration flights (12 astronauts) but not after short-duration flights (6 astronauts) and narrowing of CSF spaces at the vertex after all long-duration flights (12 astronauts) and in 1 of 6 astronauts after short-duration flights. Three astronauts in the long-duration group had optic-disk edema, and all 3 had narrowing of the central sulcus. A cine clip was available for 1 of these 3 astronauts, and the cine clip showed upward shift of the brain. Narrowing of the central sulcus, upward shift of the brain

  18. Undergraduate Astronautics at the United States Naval Academy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bagaria, William J.

    1991-01-01

    The aerospace engineering curriculum at the U.S. Naval Academy which includes an astronautical and an aeronautical track is described. The objective of the program is to give students the necessary astronautical engineering background to perform a preliminary spacecraft design during the last semester of the program. (KR)

  19. Introduction to:Forest health monitoring program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mark J. Ambrose

    2009-01-01

    This annual technical report is a product of the Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program. The report provides information about a variety of issues relating to forest health at a national scale. FHM national reports have the dual focus of presenting analyses of the latest available data and showcasing innovative techniques for analyzing forest health data. The report is...

  20. Epstein-Barr virus shedding by astronauts during space flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pierson, D. L.; Stowe, R. P.; Phillips, T. M.; Lugg, D. J.; Mehta, S. K.

    2005-01-01

    Patterns of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reactivation in 32 astronauts and 18 healthy age-matched control subjects were characterized by quantifying EBV shedding. Saliva samples were collected from astronauts before, during, and after 10 space shuttle missions of 5-14 days duration. At one time point or another, EBV was detected in saliva from each of the astronauts. Of 1398 saliva specimens from 32 astronauts, polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that 314 (23%) were positive for EBV DNA. Examination by flight phase showed that 29% of the saliva specimens collected from 28 astronauts before flight were positive for EBV DNA, as were 16% of those collected from 25 astronauts during flight and 16% of those collected after flight from 23 astronauts. The mean number of EBV copies from samples taken during the flights was 417 per mL, significantly greater (p<.05) than the number of viral copies from the preflight (40) and postflight (44) phases. In contrast, the control subjects shed EBV DNA with a frequency of 3.7% and mean number of EBV copies of 40 per mL of saliva. Ten days before flight and on landing day, titers of antibody to EBV viral capsid antigen were significantly (p<.05) greater than baseline levels. On landing day, urinary levels of cortisol and catecholamines were greater than their preflight values. In a limited study (n=5), plasma levels of substance P and other neuropeptides were also greater on landing day. Increases in the number of viral copies and in the amount of EBV-specific antibody were consistent with EBV reactivation before, during, and after space flight.

  1. Astronaut Stephen Oswald and fellow crew members on middeck

    Science.gov (United States)

    1995-01-01

    Astronaut Stephen S. Oswald (center), STS-67 mission commander, is seen with two of his fellow crew members and an experiment which required a great deal of his time on the middeck of the Earth orbiting Space Shuttle Endeavour. Astronaut John M. Grunsfeld inputs mission data on a computer while listening to a cassette. Astronaut William G. Gregory (right edge of frame), pilot, consults a check list. The Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE), not in use here, can be seen in upper center.

  2. Latent Virus Reactivation in Astronauts and Shingles Patients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehta, Satish K.; Cohrs, Randall J.; Gilden, Donald H.; Tyring, Stephen K.; Castro, Victoria A.; Ott, C. Mark; Pierson, Duane L.

    2010-01-01

    Spaceflight is a uniquely stressful environment with astronauts experiencing a variety of stressors including: isolation and confinement, psychosocial, noise, sleep deprivation, anxiety, variable gravitational forces, and increased radiation. These stressors are manifested through the HPA and SAM axes resulting in increased stress hormones. Diminished T-lymphocyte functions lead to reactivation of latent herpesviruses in astronauts during spaceflight. Herpes simplex virus reactivated with symptoms during spaceflight whereas Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), and varicella zoster virus (VZV) reactivate and are shed without symptoms. EBV and VZV are shed in saliva and CMV in the urine. The levels of EBV shed in astronauts increased 10-fold during the flight; CMV and VZV are not typically shed in low stressed individuals, but both were shed in astronauts during spaceflight. All herpes viruses were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Culturing revealed that VZV shed in saliva was infectious virus. The PCR technology was extended to test saliva of 54 shingles patients. All shingles patients shed VZV in their saliva, and the levels followed the course of the disease. Viremia was also found to be common during shingles. The technology may be used before zoster lesions appear allowing for prevention of disease. The technology may be used for rapid detection of VZV in doctors offices. These studies demonstrated the value of applying technologies designed for astronauts to people on Earth.

  3. Three astronauts inside Command Module Simulator during Apollo Simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    1968-01-01

    Three astronauts inside the Command Module Simulator in bldg 5 during an Apollo Simulation. Left to right are Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, commander; John W. Young, command module pilot; and Eugene A. Cernan, lunar module pilot.

  4. Astronauts Armstrong and Scott arrive at Hickam Field, Hawaii

    Science.gov (United States)

    1966-01-01

    Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong (center), command pilot, and David R. Scott, pilot, arrive at Hickam Field, Hawaii on their way from Naha, Okinawa, to Cape Kennedy, Florida. Astronaut Walter M. Schirra Jr. is at extreme left.

  5. Apollo 16 astronauts in Apollo Command Module Mission Simulator

    Science.gov (United States)

    1972-01-01

    Astronaut Thomas K. Mattingly II, command module pilot of the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, participates in extravehicular activity (EVA) training in bldg 5 at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC). In the right background is Astronaut Charles M. Duke Jr., lunar module pilot. They are inside the Apollo Command Module Mission Simulator (31046); Mattingly (right foreground) and Duke (right backgroung) in the Apollo Command Module Mission Simulator for EVA simulation and training. Astronaut John W. Young, commander, can be seen in the left background (31047).

  6. Characterizing Fractures Across the Astronaut Corps: Preliminary Findings from Population-Level Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rossi, Meredith M.; Charvat, Jacqueline; Sibonga, Jean; Sieker, Jeremy

    2017-01-01

    Despite evidence of bone loss during spaceflight and operational countermeasures to mitigate this loss, the subsequent risk of fracture among astronauts is not known. The physiologic process of diminished bone density and bone recovery during or following spaceflight is multifactorial. Such factors as age, sex, fracture history, and others may combine to increase fracture risk among astronauts. As part of the 2016 Bone Research and Clinical Advisory Panel (RCAP), the authors analyzed data collected on 338 NASA astronauts to describe the demographics, bone-relevant characteristics, and fracture history of the astronaut population. The majority of the population are male (n=286, 84.6%), have flown at least one mission (n=306, 90.5%), and were between the ages of 30 and 49 at first mission (n=296, 96.7% of those with at least one mission). Of the 338 astronauts, 241 (71.3%) experienced a fracture over the course of their lifetime. One hundred and five (43.5%) of these 241 astronauts only experienced a fracture prior to being selected into the Astronaut Corps, whereas 53 (22.0%) only experienced a fracture after selection as an astronaut. An additional 80 astronauts (33.2%) had both pre- and post-selection fractures. The remaining 3 astronauts had a fracture of unknown date, which could not be categorized as pre- or post-selection. Among the 133 astronauts with at least one post-selection fracture, males comprised 90.2% (n=120) compared to 84.5% of the entire Corps, and females accounted for 9.8% (n=13) compared to 15.4% of the Corps. Ninety-seven of the 133 astronauts with post-selection fractures (72.9%) had one fracture event, 22 (16.5%) had two fractures, and 14 (10.5%) had three or more fractures. Some astronauts with multiple fractures suffered these in a single event, such as an automobile accident. The 133 astronauts with a post-selection fracture accounted for a total of 188 fracture events. One hundred and four (78.2%) of astronauts with post

  7. Modeling the acute health effects of astronauts from exposure to large solar particle events.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Shaowen; Kim, Myung-Hee Y; McClellan, Gene E; Cucinotta, Francis A

    2009-04-01

    Radiation exposure from Solar Particle Events (SPE) presents a significant health concern for astronauts for exploration missions outside the protection of the Earth's magnetic field, which could impair their performance and result in the possibility of failure of the mission. Assessing the potential for early radiation effects under such adverse conditions is of prime importance. Here we apply a biologically based mathematical model that describes the dose- and time-dependent early human responses that constitute the prodromal syndromes to consider acute risks from SPEs. We examine the possible early effects on crews from exposure to some historically large solar events on lunar and/or Mars missions. The doses and dose rates of specific organs were calculated using the Baryon radiation transport (BRYNTRN) code and a computerized anatomical man model, while the hazard of the early radiation effects and performance reduction were calculated using the Radiation-Induced Performance Decrement (RIPD) code. Based on model assumptions we show that exposure to these historical events would cause moderate early health effects to crew members inside a typical spacecraft or during extra-vehicular activities, if effective shielding and medical countermeasure tactics were not provided. We also calculate possible even worse cases (double intensity, multiple occurrences in a short period of time, etc.) to estimate the severity, onset and duration of various types of early illness. Uncertainties in the calculation due to limited data on relative biological effectiveness and dose-rate modifying factors for protons and secondary radiation, and the identification of sensitive sites in critical organs are discussed.

  8. Astronaut training for STS 41-D mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    1984-01-01

    Astronauts David C. Leestma and Kathryn D. Sullivan, two of three 41-D mission specialists, rehearse some of the duties they will be performing on their flight. Dr. Sullivan holds the Krimsky rule against her cheekbones as part of an ongoing Shuttle study on near vision acuity. Astronaut Leestma reviews a flight data file flipbook. They are seated on the floor of the Space Shuttle Simulator, in front of the forward middeck lockers.

  9. Enhancing astronaut performance using sensorimotor adaptability training

    OpenAIRE

    Bloomberg, Jacob J.; Peters, Brian T.; Cohen, Helen S.; Mulavara, Ajitkumar P.

    2015-01-01

    Astronauts experience disturbances in balance and gait function when they return to Earth. The highly plastic human brain enables individuals to modify their behavior to match the prevailing environment. Subjects participating in specially designed variable sensory challenge training programs can enhance their ability to rapidly adapt to novel sensory situations. This is useful in our application because we aim to train astronauts to rapidly formulate effective strategies to cope with the bal...

  10. Atrial Arrhythmias in Astronauts. Summary of a NASA Summit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barr, Yael; Watkins, Sharmila; Polk, J. D.

    2011-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews the findings of a panel of heart experts brought together to study if atrial arrhythmias more prevalent in astronauts, and potential risk factors that may predispose astronauts to atrial arrhythmias. The objective of the panel was to solicit expert opinion on screening, diagnosis, and treatment options, identify gaps in knowledge, and propose relevant research initiatives. While Atrial Arrhythmias occur in approximately the same percents in astronauts as in the general population, they seem to occur at younger ages in astronauts. Several reasons for this predisposition were given: gender, hypertension, endurance training, and triggering events. Potential Space Flight-Related Risk factors that may play a role in precipitating lone atrial fibrillation were reviewed. There appears to be no evidence that any variable of the space flight environment increases the likelihood of developing atrial arrhythmias during space flight.

  11. Train Like an Astronaut Educational Outreach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia, Yamil L.; Lloyd, Charles; Reeves, Katherine M.; Abadie, Laurie J.

    2012-01-01

    In an effort to reduce the incidence of childhood obesity, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), capitalizing on the theme of human spaceflight developed two educational outreach programs for children ages 8-12. To motivate young "fit explorers," the Train Like an Astronaut National (TLA) program and the Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut International Fitness Challenge (MX) were created. Based on the astronauts' physical training, these programs consist of activities developed by educators and experts in the areas of space life sciences and fitness. These Activities address components of physical fitness. The educational content hopes to promote students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. At the national level, in partnership with First Lady Michelle Obama's Let?s Move! Initiative, the TLA program consists of 10 physical and 2 educational activities. The program encourages families, schools, and communities to work collaboratively in order to reinforce in children and their families the importance of healthy lifestyle habits In contrast, the MX challenge is a cooperative outreach program involving numerous space agencies and other international partner institutions. During the six-week period, teams of students from around the world are challenged to improve their physical fitness and collectively accumulate points by completing 18 core activities. During the 2011 pilot year, a t otal of 137 teams and more than 4,000 students from 12 countries participated in the event. MX will be implemented within 24 countries during the 2012 challenge. It is projected that 7,000 children will "train like an astronaut".

  12. Equity-Oriented Monitoring in the Context of Universal Health Coverage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosseinpoor, Ahmad Reza; Bergen, Nicole; Koller, Theadora; Prasad, Amit; Schlotheuber, Anne; Valentine, Nicole; Lynch, John; Vega, Jeanette

    2014-01-01

    Monitoring inequalities in health is fundamental to the equitable and progressive realization of universal health coverage (UHC). A successful approach to global inequality monitoring must be intuitive enough for widespread adoption, yet maintain technical credibility. This article discusses methodological considerations for equity-oriented monitoring of UHC, and proposes recommendations for monitoring and target setting. Inequality is multidimensional, such that the extent of inequality may vary considerably across different dimensions such as economic status, education, sex, and urban/rural residence. Hence, global monitoring should include complementary dimensions of inequality (such as economic status and urban/rural residence) as well as sex. For a given dimension of inequality, subgroups for monitoring must be formulated taking into consideration applicability of the criteria across countries and subgroup heterogeneity. For economic-related inequality, we recommend forming subgroups as quintiles, and for urban/rural inequality we recommend a binary categorization. Inequality spans populations, thus appropriate approaches to monitoring should be based on comparisons between two subgroups (gap approach) or across multiple subgroups (whole spectrum approach). When measuring inequality absolute and relative measures should be reported together, along with disaggregated data; inequality should be reported alongside the national average. We recommend targets based on proportional reductions in absolute inequality across populations. Building capacity for health inequality monitoring is timely, relevant, and important. The development of high-quality health information systems, including data collection, analysis, interpretation, and reporting practices that are linked to review and evaluation cycles across health systems, will enable effective global and national health inequality monitoring. These actions will support equity-oriented progressive realization of UHC

  13. Structural health monitoring system/method using electroactive polymer fibers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott-Carnell, Lisa A. (Inventor); Siochi, Emilie J. (Inventor)

    2013-01-01

    A method for monitoring the structural health of a structure of interest by coupling one or more electroactive polymer fibers to the structure and monitoring the electroactive responses of the polymer fiber(s). Load changes that are experienced by the structure cause changes in the baseline responses of the polymer fiber(s). A system for monitoring the structural health of the structure is also provided.

  14. Structural health monitoring with a wireless vibration sensor network

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Basten, T.G.H.; Sas, P; Schiphorst, F.B.A.; Jonckheere, S.; Moens, D.

    2012-01-01

    Advanced maintenance strategies for infrastructure assets such as bridges or off shore wind turbines require actual and reliable information of the maintenance status. Structural health monitoring based on vibration sensing can help in supplying the input needed for structural health monitoring

  15. Initial Incidence of White Matter Hyperintensities on MRI in Astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norcross, Jason; Sherman, Paul; McGuire, Steve; Kochunov, Peter

    2016-01-01

    Introduction: Previous literature has described the increase in white matter hyperintensity (WMH) burden associated with hypobaric exposure in the U-2 and altitude chamber operating personnel. Although astronauts have similar hypobaric exposure pressures to the U2 pilot population, astronauts have far fewer exposures and each exposure would be associated with a much lower level of decompression stress due to rigorous countermeasures to prevent decompression sickness. Therefore, we postulated that the WMH burden in the astronaut population would be less than in U2 pilots. Methods: Twenty-one post-flight de-identified astronaut MRIs (5 mm slice thickness FLAIR sequences) were evaluated for WMH count and volume. The only additional data provided was an age range of the astronauts (43-57) and if they had ever performed an EVA (13 yes, 8 no). Results: WMH count in these 21 astronaut MRI was 21.0 +/- 24.8 (mean+/- SD) and volume was 0.382 +/- 0.602 ml, which was significantly higher than previously published results for the U2 pilots. No significant differences between EVA and no EVA groups existed. Age range of astronaut population is not directly comparable to the U2 population. Discussion: With significantly less frequent (sometimes none) and less stressful hypobaric exposures, yet a much higher incidence of increased WMH, this indicates the possibility of additional mechanisms beyond hypobaric exposure. This increase unlikely to be attributable just to the differences in age between astronauts and U2 pilots. Forward work includes continuing review of post-flight MRI and evaluation of pre to post flight MRI changes if available. Data mining for potential WMH risk factors includes collection of age, sex, spaceflight experience, EVA hours, other hypobaric exposures, hyperoxic exposures, radiation, high performance aircraft experience and past medical history. Finally, neurocognitive and vision/eye results will be evaluated for any evidence of impairment linked to

  16. Psychometric Personality Differences Between Candidates in Astronaut Selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mittelstädt, Justin M; Pecena, Yvonne; Oubaid, Viktor; Maschke, Peter

    This paper investigates personality traits as potential factors for success in an astronaut selection by comparing personality profiles of unsuccessful and successful astronaut candidates in different phases of the ESA selection procedure. It is further addressed whether personality traits could predict an overall assessment rating at the end of the selection. In 2008/2009, ESA performed an astronaut selection with 902 candidates who were either psychologically recommended for mission training (N = 46) or failed in basic aptitude (N = 710) or Assessment Center and interview testing (N = 146). Candidates completed the Temperament Structure Scales (TSS) and the NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO-PI-R). Those candidates who failed in basic aptitude testing showed higher levels of Neuroticism (M = 49.8) than the candidates who passed that phase (M = 45.4 and M = 41.6). Additionally, candidates who failed in basic testing had lower levels of Agreeableness (M = 132.9) than recommended candidates (M = 138.1). TSS scales for Achievement (r = 0.19) and Vitality (r = 0.18) showed a significant correlation with the overall assessment rating given by a panel board after a final interview. Results indicate that a personality profile similar to Helmreich's "Right Stuff" is beneficial in astronaut selection. Influences of test anxiety on performance are discussed. Mittelstädt JM, Pecena Y, Oubaid V, Maschke P. Psychometric personality differences between candidates in astronaut selection. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(11):933-939.

  17. Principles in wireless building health monitoring systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pentaris, F. P.; Makris, J. P.; Stonham, J.; Vallianatos, F.

    2012-04-01

    Monitoring the structural state of a building is essential for the safety of the people who work, live, visit or just use it as well as for the civil protection of urban areas. Many factors can affect the state of the health of a structure, namely man made, like mistakes in the construction, traffic, heavy loads on the structures, explosions, environmental impacts like wind loads, humidity, chemical reactions, temperature changes and saltiness, and natural hazards like earthquakes and landslides. Monitoring the health of a structure provides the ability to anticipate structural failures and secure the safe use of buildings especially those of public services. This work reviews the state of the art and the challenges of a wireless Structural Health Monitoring (WiSHM). Literature review reveals that although there is significant evolution in wireless structural health monitoring, in many cases, monitoring by itself is not enough to predict when a structure becomes inappropriate and/or unsafe for use, and the damage or low durability of a structure cannot be revealed (Chintalapudi, et al., 2006; Ramos, Aguilar, & Lourenço, 2011). Several features and specifications of WiSHM like wireless sensor networking, reliability and autonomy of sensors, algorithms of data transmission and analysis should still be evolved and improved in order to increase the predictive effectiveness of the SHM (Jinping Ou & Hui Li, 2010; Lu & Loh, 2010) . Acknowledgments This work was supported in part by the ARCHEMEDES III Program of the Ministry of Education of Greece and the European Union in the framework of the project entitled «Interdisciplinary Multi-Scale Research of Earthquake Physics and Seismotectonics at the front of the Hellenic Arc (IMPACT-ARC) ».

  18. An Interactive Astronaut-Robot System with Gesture Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jinguo Liu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Human-robot interaction (HRI plays an important role in future planetary exploration mission, where astronauts with extravehicular activities (EVA have to communicate with robot assistants by speech-type or gesture-type user interfaces embedded in their space suits. This paper presents an interactive astronaut-robot system integrating a data-glove with a space suit for the astronaut to use hand gestures to control a snake-like robot. Support vector machine (SVM is employed to recognize hand gestures and particle swarm optimization (PSO algorithm is used to optimize the parameters of SVM to further improve its recognition accuracy. Various hand gestures from American Sign Language (ASL have been selected and used to test and validate the performance of the proposed system.

  19. Recent Developments on Wireless Sensor Networks Technology for Bridge Health Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guang-Dong Zhou

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Structural health monitoring (SHM systems have shown great potential to sense the responses of a bridge system, diagnose the current structural conditions, predict the expected future performance, provide information for maintenance, and validate design hypotheses. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs that have the benefits of reducing implementation costs of SHM systems as well as improving data processing efficiency become an attractive alternative to traditional tethered sensor systems. This paper introduces recent technology developments in the field of bridge health monitoring using WSNs. As a special application of WSNs, the requirements and characteristics of WSNs when used for bridge health monitoring are firstly briefly discussed. Then, the state of the art in WSNs-based bridge health monitoring systems is reviewed including wireless sensor, network topology, data processing technology, power management, and time synchronization. Following that, the performance validations and applications of WSNs in bridge health monitoring through scale models and field deployment are presented. Finally, some existing problems and promising research efforts for promoting applications of WSNs technology in bridge health monitoring throughout the world are explored.

  20. Motivational profile of astronauts at the International Space Station

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brcic, Jelena

    2010-11-01

    Research has demonstrated that the motive triad of needs for achievement, power, and affiliation can predict variables such as occupational success and satisfaction, innovation, aggressiveness, susceptibility to illness, cooperation, conformity, and many others. The present study documents the motivational profiles of astronauts at three stages of their expedition. Thematic content analysis was employed for references to Winter's well-established motive markers in narratives (media interviews, journals, and oral histories) of 46 astronauts participating in International Space Station (ISS) expeditions. Significant pre-flight differences were found in relation to home agency and job status. NASA astronauts, compared with those from the Russian Space Agency, are motivated by higher need for power, as are commanders in comparison to flight engineers. The need for affiliation motive showed a significant change from pre-flight to in-flight stages. The implications of the relationship between the motivational profile of astronauts and the established behavioural correlates of such profiles are discussed.

  1. [Monitoring system on prison health: feasibility and recommendations].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Develay, Aude-Emmanuelle; Verdot, Charlotte; Grémy, Isabelle

    2015-01-01

    This article presents the results of two studies designed to define the feasibility and framework of the future prison health monitoring system in France. The objective of the first study was to obtain the points of view of professionals involved in prison health and the second study was designed to assess the feasibility of using prisoner's medical files for epidemiological purposes. The point of view of various professionals was collected by questionnaire sent to 43 randomly selected prison physicians and by 22 semi-directive interviews. The feasibility study was based on analysis of the medical files of 330 randomly selected prisoners in eleven prisons chosen in order to reflect the diversity of correctional settings and prison populations. Additional interviews were conducted with the medical staff of these prison facilities. There is a consensus on the need to monitor prison health, but there are contrasting views on data collection methods (surveys or routinely collected data]. The feasibility study also showed that the implementation of a prison health monitoring system based on routinely collected data from prisoner's medical records was not feasible at the present time in France. In the light of these findings, it is recommended to initially develop a monitoring system based on regular nationwide surveys, while pursuing computerization and standardization of health data in prison.

  2. Astronaut John W. Young during water egress training

    Science.gov (United States)

    1966-01-01

    Astronaut John W. Young, prime crew command pilot for the Gemini 10 space flight, sits in Static Article 5 during water egress training activity on board the NASA Motor Vessel Retriever. The SA-5 will be placed in the water and he and Astronaut Michael Collins, will then practice egress and water survival techniques. At right is Gordon Harvey, Spacecraft Operations Branch, Flight Crew Support Division.

  3. Forest health monitoring in the United States: focus on national reports

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurt Riitters; Kevin Potter

    2013-01-01

    The health and sustainability of United States forests have been monitored for many years from several different perspectives. The national Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program was established in 1990 by Federal and State agencies to develop a national system for monitoring and reporting on the status and trends of forest ecosystem health. We describe and illustrate...

  4. Game-based evaluation of personalized support for astronauts in long duration missions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Smets, N.J.J.M.; Abbing, M.S.; Neerincx, M.A.; Lindenberg, J.; Oostendorp, H. van

    2008-01-01

    Long duration missions set high requirements for personalized astronaut support that takes into account the social, cognitive and affective state of the astronaut. Such support should be tested as thoroughly as possible before deployment into space. The in-orbit influences of the astronaut's state

  5. Forest health monitoring: 2007 national technical report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbara L. Conkling

    2011-01-01

    The Forest Health Monitoring Program produces an annual technical report that has two main objectives. The first objective is to present information about forest health from a national perspective. The second objective is to present examples of useful techniques for analyzing forest health data new to the annual national reports and new applications of techniques...

  6. Forest health monitoring: 2009 national technical report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kevin M. Potter; Barbara L. Conkling

    2012-01-01

    The annual national technical report of the Forest Health Monitoring Program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, presents forest health status and trends from a national or multi-State regional perspective using a variety of sources, introduces new techniques for analyzing forest health data, and summarizes results of recently completed Evaluation...

  7. Astronaut John Young in Command Module Simulator during Apollo Simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    1968-01-01

    Astronaut John W. Young, command module pilot, inside the Command Module Simulator in bldg 5 during an Apollo Simulation. Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, commander and Eugene A. Cernan, lunar module pilot are out of the view.

  8. Astronaut Voss Works in the Destiny Laboratory

    Science.gov (United States)

    2001-01-01

    In this photograph, Astronaut James Voss, flight engineer of Expedition Two, performs a task at a work station in the International Space Station (ISS) Destiny Laboratory, or U.S. Laboratory, as Astronaut Scott Horowitz, STS-105 mission commander, floats through the hatchway leading to the Unity node. After spending five months aboard the orbital outpost, the ISS Expedition Two crew was replaced by Expedition Three and returned to Earth aboard the STS-105 Space Shuttle Discovery on August 22, 2001. The Orbiter Discovery was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on August 10, 2001.

  9. Astronautics and Aeronautics: A Chronology, 1996-2000

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Marieke; Swanson, Ryan

    2009-01-01

    This report is a chronological compilation of narrative summaries of news reports and government documents highlighting significant events and developments in United States and foreign aeronautics and astronautics. It covers the years 1996 through 2000. These summaries provide a day-by-day recounting of major activities, such as administrative developments, awards, launches, scientific discoveries, corporate and government research results, and other events in countries with aeronautics and astronautics programs. Researchers used the archives and files housed in the NASA History Division, as well as reports and databases on the NASA Web site.

  10. Astronautics and Aeronautics: A Chronology, 2001-2005

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ivey, William Noel; Lewis, Marieke

    2010-01-01

    This report is a chronological compilation of narrative summaries of news reports and government documents highlighting significant events and developments in U.S. and foreign aeronautics and astronautics. It covers the years 2001 through 2005. These summaries provide a day-by-day recounting of major activities, such as administrative developments, awards, launches, scientific discoveries, corporate and government research results, and other events in countries with aeronautics and astronautics programs. Researchers used the archives and files housed in the NASA History Division, as well as reports and databases on the NASA Web site.

  11. A synthesis of evaluation monitoring projects by the forest health monitoring program (1998-2007)

    Science.gov (United States)

    William A. Bechtold; Michael J. Bohne; Barbara L. Conkling; Dana L. Friedman

    2012-01-01

    The national Forest Health Monitoring Program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, has funded over 200 Evaluation Monitoring projects. Evaluation Monitoring is designed to verify and define the extent of deterioration in forest ecosystems where potential problems have been identified. This report is a synthesis of results from over 150 Evaluation...

  12. Temazepam, but not zolpidem, causes orthostatic hypotension in astronauts after spaceflight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Shang-Jin; Garcia, Kathleen M.; Meck, Janice V.

    2003-01-01

    Insomnia is a common symptom, not only in the adult population but also in many astronauts. Hypnotics, such as temazepam (a benzodiazepine) and zolpidem (an imidazopyridine), are often taken to relieve insomnia. Temazepam has been shown clinically to have hemodynamic side effects, particularly in the elderly; however, the mechanism is not clear. Zolpidem does not cause hemodynamic side effects. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of different hypnotics during spaceflight might contribute significantly to the high incidence of postflight orthostatic hypotension, and to compare the findings in astronauts with clinical research. Astronauts were separated into three groups: control (n = 40), temazepam (15 or 30 mg; n = 9), and zolpidem (5 or 10 mg; n = 8). In this study, temazepam and zolpidem were only taken the night before landing. The systolic and diastolic blood pressures and heart rates of the astronauts were measured during stand tests before spaceflight and on landing day. On landing day, systolic pressure decreased significantly and heart rate increased significantly in the temazepam group, but not in the control group or in the zolpidem group. Temazepam may aggravate orthostatic hypotension after spaceflight when astronauts are hemodynamically compromised. Temazepam should not be the initial choice as a sleeping aid for astronauts. These results in astronauts may help to explain the hemodynamic side effects in the elderly who are also compromised. Zolpidem may be a better choice as a sleeping aid in these populations.

  13. Monitoring intervention coverage in the context of universal health coverage.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ties Boerma

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Monitoring universal health coverage (UHC focuses on information on health intervention coverage and financial protection. This paper addresses monitoring intervention coverage, related to the full spectrum of UHC, including health promotion and disease prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliation. A comprehensive core set of indicators most relevant to the country situation should be monitored on a regular basis as part of health progress and systems performance assessment for all countries. UHC monitoring should be embedded in a broad results framework for the country health system, but focus on indicators related to the coverage of interventions that most directly reflect the results of UHC investments and strategies in each country. A set of tracer coverage indicators can be selected, divided into two groups-promotion/prevention, and treatment/care-as illustrated in this paper. Disaggregation of the indicators by the main equity stratifiers is critical to monitor progress in all population groups. Targets need to be set in accordance with baselines, historical rate of progress, and measurement considerations. Critical measurement gaps also exist, especially for treatment indicators, covering issues such as mental health, injuries, chronic conditions, surgical interventions, rehabilitation, and palliation. Consequently, further research and proxy indicators need to be used in the interim. Ideally, indicators should include a quality of intervention dimension. For some interventions, use of a single indicator is feasible, such as management of hypertension; but in many areas additional indicators are needed to capture quality of service provision. The monitoring of UHC has significant implications for health information systems. Major data gaps will need to be filled. At a minimum, countries will need to administer regular household health surveys with biological and clinical data collection. Countries will also need to improve the

  14. Wearable Health Monitoring Systems, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The objective of this proposal is to demonstrate the feasibility of producing a wearable health monitoring system for the human body that is functional, comfortable,...

  15. Wearable Health Monitoring Systems, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The objective of this proposal is to demonstrate the feasibility of producing a wearable health monitoring system for the human body that is functional, comfortable,...

  16. Application of near field communication for health monitoring in daily life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strömmer, Esko; Kaartinen, Jouni; Pärkkä, Juha; Ylisaukko-Oja, Arto; Korhonen, Ilkka

    2006-01-01

    We study the possibility of applying an emerging RFID-based communication technology, NFC (Near Field Communication), to health monitoring. We suggest that NFC is, compared to other competing technologies, a high-potential technology for short-range connectivity between health monitoring devices and mobile terminals. We propose practices to apply NFC to some health monitoring applications and study the benefits that are attainable with NFC. We compare NFC to other short-range communication technologies such as Bluetooth and IrDA, and study the possibility of improving the usability of health monitoring devices with NFC. We also introduce a research platform for technical evaluation, applicability study and application demonstrations of NFC.

  17. Simulated Partners and Collaborative Exercise (SPACE to boost motivation for astronauts: study protocol

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deborah L. Feltz

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Astronauts may have difficulty adhering to exercise regimens at vigorous intensity levels during long space missions. Vigorous exercise is important for aerobic and musculoskeletal health during space missions and afterwards. A key impediment to maintaining vigorous exercise is motivation. Finding ways to motivate astronauts to exercise at levels necessary to mitigate reductions in musculoskeletal health and aerobic capacity have not been explored. The focus of Simulated Partners and Collaborative Exercise (SPACE is to use recently documented motivation gains in task groups to heighten the exercise experience for participants, similar in age and fitness to astronauts, for vigorous exercise over a 6-month exercise regimen. A secondary focus is to determine the most effective features in simulated exercise partners for enhancing enjoyment, self-efficacy, and social connectedness. The aims of the project are to (1 Create software-generated (SG exercise partners and interface software with a cycle ergometer; (2 Pilot test design features of SG partners within a video exercise game (exergame, and (3 Test whether exercising with an SG partner over 24-week time period, compared to exercising alone, leads to greater work effort, aerobic capacity, muscle strength, exercise adherence, and enhanced psychological parameters. Methods/Design This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB. Chronic exercisers, between the ages 30 and 62, were asked to exercise on a cycle ergometer 6 days per week for 24 weeks using a routine consisting of alternating between moderate-intensity continuous and high-intensity interval sessions. Participants were assigned to one of three conditions: no partner (control, always faster SG partner, or SG partner who was not always faster. Participants were told they could vary cycle ergometer output to increase or decrease intensity during the sessions. Mean change in cycle ergometer power (watts

  18. Performance Evaluation of the Operational Air Quality Monitor for Water Testing Aboard the International Space Station

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, William T.; Limero, Thomas F.; Gazda, Daniel B.; Minton, John M.; Macatangay, Ariel V.; Dwivedi, Prabha; Fernandez, Facundo M.

    2014-01-01

    Real-time environmental monitoring on ISS is necessary to provide data in a timely fashion and to help ensure astronaut health. Current real-time water TOC monitoring provides high-quality trending information, but compound-specific data is needed. The combination of ETV with the AQM showed that compounds of interest could be liberated from water and analyzed in the same manner as air sampling. Calibration of the AQM using water samples allowed for the quantitative analysis of ISS archival samples. Some calibration issues remain, but the excellent accuracy of DMSD indicates that ETV holds promise for as a sample introduction method for water analysis in spaceflight.

  19. Essays on the History of Rocketry and Astronautics: Proceedings of the Third through the Sixth History Symposia of the International Academy of Astronautics, volume 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, R. C. (Editor)

    1977-01-01

    This two volume publication presents the proceedings of the third through sixth history symposia of the International Academy of Astronautics. Thirty-nine papers are divided into four categories: (1) Early Solid Propellant Rocketry; (2) Rocketry and Astronautics: Concepts, Theory, and Analyses after 1880; (3) The Development of Liquid and Solid Propellant Rockets from 1880 to 1945; and (4) Rocketry and Astronautics after 1945. Categories 1 and 2 will be found in volume 1 and the remainder in volume 2. Among other diciplines, Rocketry and Astronautics encompasses the physical and engineering sciences including fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, vibration theory, structural mechanics, and celestial mechanics. Papers presented in these two volumes range from those of empirical experimenters who used the time-honored cut and try methods to scientists wielding theoretical principles. The work traces the coupling of the physical and engineering sciences, industrial advances, and state support that produced the awesome progress in rocketry and astronautics for the most part within living memory. The proceedings of the four symposia present in these two volumes contain information on the work of leading investigators and their associates carried out in the first two-thirds of the twentieth century.

  20. Monitoring 'monitoring' and evaluating 'evaluation': an ethical framework for monitoring and evaluation in public health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gopichandran, Vijayaprasad; Indira Krishna, Anil Kumar

    2013-01-01

    Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is an essential part of public health programmes. Since M&E is the backbone of public health programmes, ethical considerations are important in their conduct. Some of the key ethical considerations are avoiding conflicts of interest, maintaining independence of judgement, maintaining fairness, transparency, full disclosure, privacy and confidentiality, respect, responsibility, accountability, empowerment and sustainability. There are several ethical frameworks in public health, but none focusing on the monitoring and evaluation process. There is a need to institutionalise the ethical review of M&E proposals. A theoretical framework for ethical considerations is proposed in this paper. This proposed theoretical framework can act as the blueprint for building the capacity of ethics committees to review M&E proposals. A case study is discussed in this context. After thorough field testing, this practical and field-based ethical framework can be widely used by donor agencies, M&E teams, institutional review boards and ethics committees.

  1. Spaceflight Modulates Gene Expression in Astronauts

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Astronauts are exposed to a unique combination of stressors during spaceflight which leads to alterations in their physiology and potentially increases their...

  2. Former Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong Visits MSFC

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-01-01

    Among several other NASA dignitaries, former astronaut Neil A. Armstrong visited the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in attendance of the annual NASA Advisory Council Meeting. While here, Mr. Armstrong was gracious enough to allow the casting of his footprint. This casting will join those of other astronauts on display at the center. Armstrong was first assigned to astronaut status in 1962. He served as command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission, launched March 16, 1966, and performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space. In 1969, Armstrong was commander of Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission, and gained the distinction of being the first man to land a craft on the Moon and the first man to step on its surface. Armstrong subsequently held the position of Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics, NASA Headquarters Office of Advanced Research and Technology, from 1970 to 1971. He resigned from NASA in 1971. Pictured with Armstrong is MSFC employee Daniel McFall, who assisted with the casting procedure.

  3. Assessing the value of structural health monitoring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thöns, S.; Faber, Michael Havbro

    2013-01-01

    Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems are designed for assisting owners and operators with information and forecasts concerning the fitness for purpose of structures and building systems. The benefit associated with the implementation of SHM may in some cases be intuitively anticipated...... as their responses and performances over their life-cycle. In addition, the quality of monitoring and the performance of possible remedial actions triggered by monitoring results are modeled probabilistically.The consequences accounted for, in principle include all consequences associated with the performance...

  4. Compiling a Comprehensive EVA Training Dataset for NASA Astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laughlin, M. S.; Murry, J. D.; Lee, L. R.; Wear, M. L.; Van Baalen, M.

    2016-01-01

    Training for a spacewalk or extravehicular activity (EVA) is considered hazardous duty for NASA astronauts. This activity places astronauts at risk for decompression sickness as well as various musculoskeletal disorders from working in the spacesuit. As a result, the operational and research communities over the years have requested access to EVA training data to supplement their studies.

  5. Mobile Patient Monitoring: the MobiHealth System

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Konstantas, D.; van Halteren, Aart; Bults, Richard G.A.; Wac, K.E.; Widya, I.A.; Dokovski, N.T.; Jones, Valerie M.; Dokovsky, Nicolai; Koprinkov, G.T.; Herzog, Rainer; Bos, L.; Laxminarayan, S.

    2004-01-01

    The forthcoming wide availability of high bandwidth public wireless networks will give rise to new mobile health care services. Towards this direction the MobiHealth1 project has developed and trialed a highly customisable vital signals’ monitoring system based on a Body Area Network (BAN) and an

  6. Scoping review: national monitoring frameworks for social determinants of health and health equity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leo Pedrana

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: The strategic importance of monitoring social determinants of health (SDH and health equity and inequity has been a central focus in global discussions around the 2011 Rio Political Declaration on SDH and the Millennium Development Goals. This study is part of the World Health Organization (WHO equity-oriented analysis of linkages between health and other sectors (EQuAL project, which aims to define a framework for monitoring SDH and health equity. Objectives: This review provides a global summary and analysis of the domains and indicators that have been used in recent studies covering the SDH. These studies are considered here within the context of indicators proposed by the WHO EQuAL project. The objectives are as follows: to describe the range of international and national studies and the types of indicators most frequently used; report how they are used in causal explanation of the SDH; and identify key priorities and challenges reported in current research for national monitoring of the SDH. Design: We conducted a scoping review of published SDH studies in the PubMed® database to obtain evidence of socio-economic indicators. We evaluated, selected, and extracted data from national scale studies published from 2004 to 2014. The research included papers published in English, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. Results: The final sample consisted of 96 articles. SDH monitoring is well reported in the scientific literature independent of the economic level of the country and magnitude of deprivation in population groups. The research methods were mostly quantitative and many papers used multilevel and multivariable statistical analyses and indexes to measure health inequalities and SDH. In addition to the usual economic indicators, a high number of socio-economic indicators were used. The indicators covered a broad range of social dimensions, which were given consideration within and across different social groups. Many

  7. Scoping review: national monitoring frameworks for social determinants of health and health equity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedrana, Leo; Pamponet, Marina; Walker, Ruth; Costa, Federico; Rasella, Davide

    2016-01-01

    The strategic importance of monitoring social determinants of health (SDH) and health equity and inequity has been a central focus in global discussions around the 2011 Rio Political Declaration on SDH and the Millennium Development Goals. This study is part of the World Health Organization (WHO) equity-oriented analysis of linkages between health and other sectors (EQuAL) project, which aims to define a framework for monitoring SDH and health equity. This review provides a global summary and analysis of the domains and indicators that have been used in recent studies covering the SDH. These studies are considered here within the context of indicators proposed by the WHO EQuAL project. The objectives are as follows: to describe the range of international and national studies and the types of indicators most frequently used; report how they are used in causal explanation of the SDH; and identify key priorities and challenges reported in current research for national monitoring of the SDH. We conducted a scoping review of published SDH studies in the PubMed(®) database to obtain evidence of socio-economic indicators. We evaluated, selected, and extracted data from national scale studies published from 2004 to 2014. The research included papers published in English, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. The final sample consisted of 96 articles. SDH monitoring is well reported in the scientific literature independent of the economic level of the country and magnitude of deprivation in population groups. The research methods were mostly quantitative and many papers used multilevel and multivariable statistical analyses and indexes to measure health inequalities and SDH. In addition to the usual economic indicators, a high number of socio-economic indicators were used. The indicators covered a broad range of social dimensions, which were given consideration within and across different social groups. Many indicators included in the WHO EQuAL framework were not

  8. Astronaut Wendy Lawrence participates in training session in the CCT

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    Seated in the pilot's seat of a JSC Shuttle trainer, astronaut Wendy B. Lawrence, STS-67 flight engineer, participates in a training session. The 1992 astronaut class graduate is in the crew compartment trainer (CCT) of JSC's Shuttle mockup and integration laboratory.

  9. Astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin study rock samples during field trip

    Science.gov (United States)

    1969-01-01

    Astronaut Neil Armstrong, commander of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, and Astronaut Edwin Aldrin, Lunar module pilot for Apollo 11, study rock samples during a geological field trip to the Quitman Mountains area near the Fort Quitman ruins in far west Texas.

  10. Efficient color correction method for smartphone camera-based health monitoring application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duc Dang; Chae Ho Cho; Daeik Kim; Oh Seok Kwon; Jo Woon Chong

    2017-07-01

    Smartphone health monitoring applications are recently highlighted due to the rapid development of hardware and software performance of smartphones. However, color characteristics of images captured by different smartphone models are dissimilar each other and this difference may give non-identical health monitoring results when the smartphone health monitoring applications monitor physiological information using their embedded smartphone cameras. In this paper, we investigate the differences in color properties of the captured images from different smartphone models and apply a color correction method to adjust dissimilar color values obtained from different smartphone cameras. Experimental results show that the color corrected images using the correction method provide much smaller color intensity errors compared to the images without correction. These results can be applied to enhance the consistency of smartphone camera-based health monitoring applications by reducing color intensity errors among the images obtained from different smartphones.

  11. The state of knowledge of astronaut radiation protection principles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boszkiewicz, T.

    1986-01-01

    Different noxious agents such as accelerations, vibration, weightlessness, emotional tention, microclimate of hermetic space-ship or orbital station and cosmic radiation act on organism during space flight. No health hazardous radioactive radiation intensity or harmful influence on astronaut organism are observed during the not-long-lasted flights on low ceilings. But scientific researches show the danger exists in case of longlasted flights on high ceilings particularly during interplanetary flights, so it is necessary to undertake suitable countermeasures. The problem is even more important because the parallel activity of radioactive radiation and some more noxious agents can be very harmfull even with the small radiation dose. 8 refs. (author)

  12. Eating in space--from an astronaut's perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerwin, Joseph; Seddon, Rhea

    2002-01-01

    Food systems and meal components are constantly under review and development at the National Aerospace and Space Administration. The goal of this work is to generate a diet that meets the nutrient requirements of astronauts and satiates them. The constraints involved in shorter- and longer-term missions are described. The insight provided by observations of astronauts from the Skylab and Shuttle eras will allow researchers to consider the fact that, for any nutritional regimen to work, it must consider the limitations and taste buds of the individuals involved. Otherwise, the best diet design generated by their work may never be consumed.

  13. PI in the sky: The astronaut science advisor on SLS-2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazelton, Lyman R.; Groleau, Nicolas; Frainier, Richard J.; Compton, Michael M.; Colombano, Silvano P.; Szolovits, Peter

    1994-01-01

    The Astronaut Science Advisor (ASA, also known as Principal-Investigator-in-a-Box) is an advanced engineering effort to apply expert systems technology to experiment monitoring and control. Its goal is to increase the scientific value of information returned from experiments on manned space missions. The first in-space test of the system will be in conjunction with Professor Larry Young's (MIT) vestibulo-ocular 'Rotating Dome' experiment on the Spacelab Life Sciences 2 mission (STS-58) in the Fall of 1993. In a cost-saving effort, off-the-shelf equipment was employed wherever possible. Several modifications were necessary in order to make the system flight-worthy. The software consists of three interlocking modules. A real-time data acquisition system digitizes and stores all experiment data and then characterizes the signals in symbolic form; a rule-based expert system uses the symbolic signal characteristics to make decisions concerning the experiment; and a highly graphic user interface requiring a minimum of user intervention presents information to the astronaut operator. Much has been learned about the design of software and user interfaces for interactive computing in space. In addition, we gained a great deal of knowledge about building relatively inexpensive hardware and software for use in space. New technologies are being assessed to make the system a much more powerful ally in future scientific research in space and on the ground.

  14. Integrating Social Media Monitoring Into Public Health Emergency Response Operations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hadi, Tamer A; Fleshler, Keren

    2016-10-01

    Social media monitoring for public health emergency response and recovery is an essential response capability for any health department. The value of social media for emergency response lies not only in the capacity to rapidly communicate official and critical incident information, but as a rich source of incoming data that can be gathered to inform leadership decision-making. Social media monitoring is a function that can be formally integrated into the Incident Command System of any response agency. The approach to planning and required resources, such as staffing, logistics, and technology, is flexible and adaptable based on the needs of the agency and size and scope of the emergency. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has successfully used its Social Media Monitoring Team during public health emergency responses and planned events including major Ebola and Legionnaires' disease responses. The concepts and implementations described can be applied by any agency, large or small, interested in building a social media monitoring capacity. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;page 1 of 6).

  15. In-flight Blood Analysis Technology for Astronaut Health Monitoring

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Blood staining and testing procedure optimization: A 5-part WBC differential (Lymphocyte, Monocyte, Neutrophil, Eosinophil, and Basophil) assay using a...

  16. Origins of astronautics in Switzerland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wadlis, A.

    1977-01-01

    Swiss contributions to astronautics are recounted. Scientists mentioned include: Bernoulli and Euler for their early theoretical contributions; the balloonist, Auguste Piccard; J. Ackeret, for his contributions to the study of aerodynamics; the rocket propulsion pioneer, Josef Stemmer; and the Swiss space scientists, Eugster, Stettbacker, Zwicky, and Schurch.

  17. Device-based monitoring in physical activity and public health research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bassett, David R

    2012-01-01

    Measurement of physical activity is important, given the vital role of this behavior in physical and mental health. Over the past quarter of a century, the use of small, non-invasive, wearable monitors to assess physical activity has become commonplace. This review is divided into three sections. In the first section, a brief history of physical activity monitoring is provided, along with a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of different devices. In the second section, recent applications of physical activity monitoring in physical activity and public health research are discussed. Wearable monitors are being used to conduct surveillance, and to determine the extent and distribution of physical activity and sedentary behaviors in populations around the world. They have been used to help clarify the dose–response relation between physical activity and health. Wearable monitors that provide feedback to users have also been used in longitudinal interventions to motivate research participants and to assess their compliance with program goals. In the third section, future directions for research in physical activity monitoring are discussed. It is likely that new developments in wearable monitors will lead to greater accuracy and improved ease-of-use. (paper)

  18. Space station astronauts discuss life in space during AGU interview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Showstack, Randy

    2012-07-01

    Just one day after China's Shenzhou-9 capsule, carrying three Chinese astronauts, docked with the Tiangong-1 space lab on 18 June, Donald Pettit, a NASA astronaut on the International Space Station (ISS), said it is “a step in the right direction” that more people are in space. “Before they launched, there were six people in space,” he said, referring to those on ISS, “and there are 7 billion people on Earth.” The astronauts were “like one in a billion. Now there are nine people in space,” Pettit said during a 19 June interview that he and two other astronauts onboard ISS had with AGU. Pettit continued, “So the gradient of human beings going into space is moving in the right direction. We need to change these numbers so that more and more human beings can call space their home so we can expand off of planet Earth and move out into our solar system.”

  19. Three-Dimensional Health Monitoring of Sandwich Composites, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This SBIR project delivers a single-chip structural health-monitoring (SHM) system that uses the impedance method to monitor bulk interiors and wave propagation...

  20. Astronauts under high supervision

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Debiar, A.; Loverini, M.J.; Annibal, M.

    1997-01-01

    The CEA radiobiology and radio-pathology laboratory, together with the CNES (the French space agency), have carried out Biodose, a study on the Mir space station astronauts, which objective was to study the processes and mechanisms of the chromosomal damages induced by cosmic radiations, through physical and biological dosimetric experiments. Results are summarized, which show the unusual nature of the chromosomal abnormalities due to heavy ions

  1. Smart Materials in Structural Health Monitoring, Control and Biomechanics

    CERN Document Server

    Soh, Chee-Kiong; Bhalla, Suresh

    2012-01-01

    "Smart Materials in Structural Health Monitoring, Control and Biomechanics" presents the latest developments in structural health monitoring, vibration control and biomechanics using smart materials. The book mainly focuses on piezoelectric, fibre optic and ionic polymer metal composite materials. It introduces concepts from the very basics and leads to advanced modelling (analytical/ numerical), practical aspects (including software/ hardware issues) and case studies spanning civil, mechanical and aerospace structures, including bridges, rocks and underground structures. This book is intended for practicing engineers, researchers from academic and R&D institutions and postgraduate students in the fields of smart materials and structures, structural health monitoring, vibration control and biomedical engineering. Professor Chee-Kiong Soh and Associate Professor Yaowen Yang both work at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Dr. Suresh Bhalla is an A...

  2. Nevada Test Site craters used for astronaut training

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, H. J.

    1977-01-01

    Craters produced by chemical and nuclear explosives at the Nevada Test Site were used to train astronauts before their lunar missions. The craters have characteristics suitable for reconnaissance-type field investigations. The Schooner test produced a crater about 300 m across and excavated more than 72 m of stratigraphic section deposited in a fairly regular fashion so that systematic observations yield systematic results. Other features common on the moon, such as secondary craters and glass-coated rocks, are present at Schooner crater. Smaller explosive tests on Buckboard Mesa excavated rocks from three horizontal alteration zones within basalt flows so that the original sequence of the zones could be determined. One crater illustrated the characteristics of craters formed across vertical boundaries between rock units. Although the exercises at the Nevada Test Site were only a small part of the training of the astronauts, voice transcripts of Apollo missions 14, 16, and 17 show that the exercises contributed to astronaut performance on the moon.

  3. Forest health monitoring: 2005 national technical report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mark J. Ambrose; Barbara L. Conkling

    2007-01-01

    The Forest Health Monitoring program's annual national technical report presents results of forest health analyses from a national perspective using data from a variety of sources. The report is organized according to the Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests of the Santiago Declaration. The results...

  4. Forest health monitoring: 2006 national technical report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mark J. Ambrose; Barbara L. Conkling

    2009-01-01

    The Forest Health Monitoring Program’s annual national technical report presents results of forest health analyses from a national perspective using data from a variety of sources. The report is organized according to the Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests of the...

  5. Intelligent Control and Health Monitoring. Chapter 3

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garg, Sanjay; Kumar, Aditya; Mathews, H. Kirk; Rosenfeld, Taylor; Rybarik, Pavol; Viassolo, Daniel E.

    2009-01-01

    Advanced model-based control architecture overcomes the limitations state-of-the-art engine control and provides the potential of virtual sensors, for example for thrust and stall margin. "Tracking filters" are used to adapt the control parameters to actual conditions and to individual engines. For health monitoring standalone monitoring units will be used for on-board analysis to determine the general engine health and detect and isolate sudden faults. Adaptive models open up the possibility of adapting the control logic to maintain desired performance in the presence of engine degradation or to accommodate any faults. Improved and new sensors are required to allow sensing at stations within the engine gas path that are currently not instrumented due in part to the harsh conditions including high operating temperatures and to allow additional monitoring of vibration, mass flows and energy properties, exhaust gas composition, and gas path debris. The environmental and performance requirements for these sensors are summarized.

  6. Enhancing astronaut performance using sensorimotor adaptability training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomberg, Jacob J; Peters, Brian T; Cohen, Helen S; Mulavara, Ajitkumar P

    2015-01-01

    Astronauts experience disturbances in balance and gait function when they return to Earth. The highly plastic human brain enables individuals to modify their behavior to match the prevailing environment. Subjects participating in specially designed variable sensory challenge training programs can enhance their ability to rapidly adapt to novel sensory situations. This is useful in our application because we aim to train astronauts to rapidly formulate effective strategies to cope with the balance and locomotor challenges associated with new gravitational environments-enhancing their ability to "learn to learn." We do this by coupling various combinations of sensorimotor challenges with treadmill walking. A unique training system has been developed that is comprised of a treadmill mounted on a motion base to produce movement of the support surface during walking. This system provides challenges to gait stability. Additional sensory variation and challenge are imposed with a virtual visual scene that presents subjects with various combinations of discordant visual information during treadmill walking. This experience allows them to practice resolving challenging and conflicting novel sensory information to improve their ability to adapt rapidly. Information obtained from this work will inform the design of the next generation of sensorimotor countermeasures for astronauts.

  7. Physical health care monitoring for people with serious mental illness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tosh, Graeme; Clifton, Andrew V; Xia, Jun; White, Margueritte M

    2014-01-17

    Current guidance suggests that we should monitor the physical health of people with serious mental illness, and there has been a significant financial investment over recent years to provide this. To assess the effectiveness of physical health monitoring, compared with standard care for people with serious mental illness. We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group Trials Register (October 2009, update in October 2012), which is based on regular searches of CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycINFO. All randomised clinical trials focusing on physical health monitoring versus standard care, or comparing i) self monitoring versus monitoring by a healthcare professional; ii) simple versus complex monitoring; iii) specific versus non-specific checks; iv) once only versus regular checks; or v) different guidance materials. Initially, review authors (GT, AC, SM) independently screened the search results and identified three studies as possibly fulfilling the review's criteria. On examination, however, all three were subsequently excluded. Forty-two additional citations were identified in October 2012 and screened by two review authors (JX and MW), 11 of which underwent full screening. No relevant randomised trials which assess the effectiveness of physical health monitoring in people with serious mental illness have been completed. We identified one ongoing study. There is still no evidence from randomised trials to support or refute current guidance and practice. Guidance and practice are based on expert consensus, clinical experience and good intentions rather than high quality evidence.

  8. Real-time health monitoring of civil infrastructure systems in Colombia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomson, Peter; Marulanda Casas, Johannio; Marulanda Arbelaez, Johannio; Caicedo, Juan

    2001-08-01

    Colombia's topography, climatic conditions, intense seismic activity and acute social problems place high demands on the nations deteriorating civil infrastructure. Resources that are available for maintenance of the road and railway networks are often misdirected and actual inspection methods are limited to a visual examination. New techniques for inspection and evaluation of safety and serviceability of civil infrastructure, especially bridges, must be developed. Two cases of civil structures with health monitoring systems in Colombia are presented in this paper. Construction of the Pereria-Dos Quebradas Viaduct was completed in 1997 with a total cost of 58 million dollars, including 1.5 million dollars in health monitoring instrumentation provided and installed by foreign companies. This health monitoring system is not yet fully operational due to the lack of training of national personnel in system operation and extremely limited technical documentation. In contrast to the Pereria-Dos Quebradas Viaduct monitoring system, the authors have proposed a relatively low cost health monitoring system via telemetry. This system has been implemented for real-time monitoring of accelerations of El Hormiguero Bridge spanning the Cauca River using the Colombian Southwest Earthquake Observatory telemetry systems. This two span metallic bridge, located along a critical road between the cities of Puerto Tejada and Cali in the Cauca Valley, was constructed approximately 50 years ago. Experiences with this system demonstrate how effective low cost systems can be used to remotely monitor the structural integrity of deteriorating structures that are continuously subject to high loading conditions.

  9. [Monitoring social determinants of health].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Espelt, Albert; Continente, Xavier; Domingo-Salvany, Antonia; Domínguez-Berjón, M Felicitas; Fernández-Villa, Tania; Monge, Susana; Ruiz-Cantero, M Teresa; Perez, Glòria; Borrell, Carme

    2016-11-01

    Public health surveillance is the systematic and continuous collection, analysis, dissemination and interpretation of health-related data for planning, implementation and evaluation of public health initiatives. Apart from the health system, social determinants of health include the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work and age, and they go a long way to explaining health inequalities. A surveillance system of the social determinants of health requires a comprehensive and social overview of health. This paper analyses the importance of monitoring social determinants of health and health inequalities, and describes some relevant aspects concerning the implementation of surveillance during the data collection, compilation and analysis phases, as well as dissemination of information and evaluation of the surveillance system. It is important to have indicators from sources designed for this purpose, such as continuous records or periodic surveys, explicitly describing its limitations and strengths. The results should be published periodically in a communicative format that both enhances the public's ability to understand the problems that affect them, whilst at the same time empowering the population, with the ultimate goal of guiding health-related initiatives at different levels of intervention. Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  10. Smart homes and home health monitoring technologies for older adults: A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Lili; Stroulia, Eleni; Nikolaidis, Ioanis; Miguel-Cruz, Antonio; Rios Rincon, Adriana

    2016-07-01

    Around the world, populations are aging and there is a growing concern about ways that older adults can maintain their health and well-being while living in their homes. The aim of this paper was to conduct a systematic literature review to determine: (1) the levels of technology readiness among older adults and, (2) evidence for smart homes and home-based health-monitoring technologies that support aging in place for older adults who have complex needs. We identified and analyzed 48 of 1863 relevant papers. Our analyses found that: (1) technology-readiness level for smart homes and home health monitoring technologies is low; (2) the highest level of evidence is 1b (i.e., one randomized controlled trial with a PEDro score ≥6); smart homes and home health monitoring technologies are used to monitor activities of daily living, cognitive decline and mental health, and heart conditions in older adults with complex needs; (3) there is no evidence that smart homes and home health monitoring technologies help address disability prediction and health-related quality of life, or fall prevention; and (4) there is conflicting evidence that smart homes and home health monitoring technologies help address chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The level of technology readiness for smart homes and home health monitoring technologies is still low. The highest level of evidence found was in a study that supported home health technologies for use in monitoring activities of daily living, cognitive decline, mental health, and heart conditions in older adults with complex needs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. ICRP PUBLICATION 123: Assessment of Radiation Exposure of Astronauts in Space

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dietze, G.; Bartlett, D.T.; Cool, D.A.; Cucinotta, F.A.; Jia, X.; McAulay, I.R.; Pelliccioni, M.; Petrov, V.; Reitz, G.; Sato, T.

    2013-01-01

    During their occupational activities in space, astronauts are exposed to ionising radiation from natural radiation sources present in this environment. They are, however, not usually classified as being occupationally exposed in the sense of the general ICRP system for radiation protection of workers applied on Earth. The exposure assessment and risk-related approach described in this report is clearly restricted to the special situation in space, and should not be applied to any other exposure situation on Earth. The report describes the terms and methods used to assess the radiation exposure of astronauts, and provides data for the assessment of organ doses. Chapter 1 describes the specific situation of astronauts in space, and the differences in the radiation fields compared with those on Earth. In Chapter 2, the radiation fields in space are described in detail, including galactic cosmic radiation, radiation from the Sun and its special solar particle events, and the radiation belts surrounding the Earth. Chapter 3 deals with the quantities used in radiological protection, describing the Publication 103 (ICRP, 2007) system of dose quantities, and subsequently presenting the special approach for applications in space; due to the strong contribution of heavy ions in the radiation field, radiation weighting is based on the radiation quality factor, Q, instead of the radiation weighting factor, w R . In Chapter 4, the methods of fluence and dose measurement in space are described, including instrumentation for fluence measurements, radiation spectrometry, and area and individual monitoring. The use of biomarkers for the assessment of mission doses is also described. The methods of determining quantities describing the radiation fields within a spacecraft are given in Chapter 5. Radiation transport calculations are the most important tool. Some physical data used in radiation transport codes are presented, and the various codes used for calculations in high

  12. Structural health monitoring an advanced signal processing perspective

    CERN Document Server

    Chen, Xuefeng; Mukhopadhyay, Subhas

    2017-01-01

    This book highlights the latest advances and trends in advanced signal processing (such as wavelet theory, time-frequency analysis, empirical mode decomposition, compressive sensing and sparse representation, and stochastic resonance) for structural health monitoring (SHM). Its primary focus is on the utilization of advanced signal processing techniques to help monitor the health status of critical structures and machines encountered in our daily lives: wind turbines, gas turbines, machine tools, etc. As such, it offers a key reference guide for researchers, graduate students, and industry professionals who work in the field of SHM.

  13. Advanced health monitor for automated driving functions

    OpenAIRE

    Mikovski Iotov, I.

    2017-01-01

    There is a trend in the automotive domain where driving functions are taken from the driver by automated driving functions. In order to guarantee the correct behavior of these auto-mated driving functions, the report introduces an Advanced Health Monitor that uses Tem-poral Logic and Probabilistic Analysis to indicate the system’s health.

  14. Eye-Head Coordination in 31 Space Shuttle Astronauts during Visual Target Acquisition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reschke, Millard F; Kolev, Ognyan I; Clément, Gilles

    2017-10-27

    Between 1989 and 1995, NASA evaluated how increases in flight duration of up to 17 days affected the health and performance of Space Shuttle astronauts. Thirty-one Space Shuttle pilots participating in 17 space missions were tested at 3 different times before flight and 3 different times after flight, starting within a few hours of return to Earth. The astronauts moved their head and eyes as quickly as possible from the central fixation point to a specified target located 20°, 30°, or 60° off center. Eye movements were measured with electro-oculography (EOG). Head movements were measured with a triaxial rate sensor system mounted on a headband. The mean time to visually acquire the targets immediately after landing was 7-10% (30-34 ms) slower than mean preflight values, but results returned to baseline after 48 hours. This increase in gaze latency was due to a decrease in velocity and amplitude of both the eye saccade and head movement toward the target. Results were similar after all space missions, regardless of length.

  15. In situ health monitoring of piezoelectric sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jensen, Scott L. (Inventor); Drouant, George J. (Inventor)

    2013-01-01

    An in situ health monitoring apparatus may include an exciter circuit that applies a pulse to a piezoelectric transducer and a data processing system that determines the piezoelectric transducer's dynamic response to the first pulse. The dynamic response can be used to evaluate the operating range, health, and as-mounted resonance frequency of the transducer, as well as the strength of a coupling between the transducer and a structure and the health of the structure.

  16. System Identification of Wind Turbines for Structural Health Monitoring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Perisic, Nevena

    Structural health monitoring is a multi-disciplinary engineering field that should allow the actual wind turbine maintenance programmes to evolve to the next level, hence increasing safety and reliability and decreasing turbines downtime. The main idea is to have a sensing system on the structure...... cases are considered, two practical problems from the wind industry are studied, i.e. monitoring of the gearbox shaft torque and the tower root bending moments. The second part of the thesis is focused on the influence of friction on the health of the wind turbine and on the nonlinear identification...... that monitors the system responses and notifies the operator when damages or degradations have been detected. However, some of the response signals that contain important information about the health of the wind turbine components cannot be directly measured, or measuring them is highly complex and costly...

  17. Regional Geographic Information Systems of Health and Environmental Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kurolap Semen A.

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The article describes a new scientific and methodological approach to designing geographic information systems of health and environmental monitoring for urban areas. Geographic information systems (GIS are analytical tools of the regional health and environmental monitoring; they are used for an integrated assessment of the environmental status of a large industrial centre or a part of it. The authors analyse the environmental situation in Voronezh, a major industrial city, located in the Central Black Earth Region with a population of more than 1 million people. The proposed research methodology is based on modern approaches to the assessment of health risks caused by adverse environmental conditions. The research work was implemented using a GIS and multicriteria probabilistic and statistical evaluation to identify cause-and-effect links, a combination of action and reaction, in the dichotomy ‘environmental factors — public health’. The analysis of the obtained statistical data confirmed an increase in childhood diseases in some areas of the city. Environmentally induced diseases include congenital malformations, tumors, endocrine and urogenital pathologies. The main factors having an adverse impact on health are emissions of carcinogens into the atmosphere and the negative impact of transport on the environment. The authors identify and characterize environmentally vulnerable parts of the city and developed principles of creating an automated system of health monitoring and control of environmental risks. The article offers a number of measures aimed at the reduction of environmental risks, better protection of public health and a more efficient environmental monitoring.

  18. Introduction to: The Forest Health monitoring program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbara L. Conkling

    2011-01-01

    The National Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, produces an annual technical report on forest health as one of its products. The report is organized using the Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests (Montréal Process Working Group 2007) as a...

  19. Monitoring and Benchmarking eHealth in the Nordic Countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nøhr, Christian; Koch, Sabine; Vimarlund, Vivian; Gilstad, Heidi; Faxvaag, Arild; Hardardottir, Gudrun Audur; Andreassen, Hege K; Kangas, Maarit; Reponen, Jarmo; Bertelsen, Pernille; Villumsen, Sidsel; Hyppönen, Hannele

    2018-01-01

    The Nordic eHealth Research Network, a subgroup of the Nordic Council of Ministers eHealth group, is working on developing indicators to monitor progress in availability, use and outcome of eHealth applications in the Nordic countries. This paper reports on the consecutive analysis of National eHealth policies in the Nordic countries from 2012 to 2016. Furthermore, it discusses the consequences for the development of indicators that can measure changes in the eHealth environment arising from the policies. The main change in policies is reflected in a shift towards more stakeholder involvement and intensified focus on clinical infrastructure. This change suggests developing indicators that can monitor understandability and usability of eHealth systems, and the use and utility of shared information infrastructure from the perspective of the end-users - citizens/patients and clinicians in particular.

  20. Intraocular Lens Use in an Astronaut During Long Duration Spaceflight.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mader, Thomas H; Gibson, C Robert; Schmid, Josef F; Lipsky, William; Sargsyan, Ashot E; Garcia, Kathleen; Williams, Jeffrey N

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to report the first use of an intraocular lens (IOL) in an astronaut during long duration spaceflight (LDSF). An astronaut developed a unilateral cataract and underwent phacoemulsification with insertion of an acrylic IOL. Approximately 15 mo later he flew on a Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), where he successfully completed a 6-mo mission. Ocular examination, including ultrasound (US), was performed before, during, and after his mission and he was questioned regarding visual changes during each portion of his flight. We documented no change in IOL position during his space mission. This astronaut reported excellent and stable vision during liftoff, entry into microgravity (MG), 6 mo on the ISS, descent, and landing. Our results suggest that modern IOLs are stable, effective, and well tolerated during LDSF.Mader TH, Gibson CR, Schmid JF, Lipsky W, Sargsyan AE, Garcia K, Williams JN. Intraocular lens use in an astronaut during long duration spaceflight. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2018; 89(1):63-65.

  1. Spaceflight modulates gene expression in the whole blood of astronauts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrila, Jennifer; Ott, C Mark; LeBlanc, Carly; Mehta, Satish K; Crabbé, Aurélie; Stafford, Phillip; Pierson, Duane L; Nickerson, Cheryl A

    2016-01-01

    Astronauts are exposed to a unique combination of stressors during spaceflight, which leads to alterations in their physiology and potentially increases their susceptibility to disease, including infectious diseases. To evaluate the potential impact of the spaceflight environment on the regulation of molecular pathways mediating cellular stress responses, we performed a first-of-its-kind pilot study to assess spaceflight-related gene-expression changes in the whole blood of astronauts. Using an array comprised of 234 well-characterized stress-response genes, we profiled transcriptomic changes in six astronauts (four men and two women) from blood preserved before and immediately following the spaceflight. Differentially regulated transcripts included those important for DNA repair, oxidative stress, and protein folding/degradation, including HSP90AB1 , HSP27 , GPX1 , XRCC1 , BAG-1 , HHR23A , FAP48 , and C-FOS . No gender-specific differences or relationship to number of missions flown was observed. This study provides a first assessment of transcriptomic changes occurring in the whole blood of astronauts in response to spaceflight.

  2. Capacity building for health inequality monitoring in Indonesia: enhancing the equity orientation of country health information system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosseinpoor, Ahmad Reza; Nambiar, Devaki; Tawilah, Jihane; Schlotheuber, Anne; Briot, Benedicte; Bateman, Massee; Davey, Tamzyn; Kusumawardani, Nunik; Myint, Theingi; Nuryetty, Mariet Tetty; Prasetyo, Sabarinah; Suparmi; Floranita, Rustini

    Inequalities in health represent a major problem in many countries, including Indonesia. Addressing health inequality is a central component of the Sustainable Development Goals and a priority of the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO provides technical support for health inequality monitoring among its member states. Following a capacity-building workshop in the WHO South-East Asia Region in 2014, Indonesia expressed interest in incorporating health-inequality monitoring into its national health information system. This article details the capacity-building process for national health inequality monitoring in Indonesia, discusses successes and challenges, and how this process may be adapted and implemented in other countries/settings. We outline key capacity-building activities undertaken between April 2016 and December 2017 in Indonesia and present the four key outcomes of this process. The capacity-building process entailed a series of workshops, meetings, activities, and processes undertaken between April 2016 and December 2017. At each stage, a range of stakeholders with access to the relevant data and capacity for data analysis, interpretation and reporting was engaged with, under the stewardship of state agencies. Key steps to strengthening health inequality monitoring included capacity building in (1) identification of the health topics/areas of interest, (2) mapping data sources and identifying gaps, (3) conducting equity analyses using raw datasets, and (4) interpreting and reporting inequality results. As a result, Indonesia developed its first national report on the state of health inequality. A number of peer-reviewed manuscripts on various aspects of health inequality in Indonesia have also been developed. The capacity-building process undertaken in Indonesia is designed to be adaptable to other contexts. Capacity building for health inequality monitoring among countries is a critical step for strengthening equity-oriented national health

  3. Astronaut Exposures to Ionizing Radiation in a Lightly-Shielded Spacesuit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, J. W.; Simonsen, L. C.; Shinn, J. L.; Kim, M.-H. Y.; Cucinotta, F. A.; Badavi, F. F.; Atwell, W.

    1999-01-01

    The normal working and living areas of the astronauts are designed to provide an acceptable level of protection against the hazards of ionizing radiation of the space environment. Still there are occasions when they must don a spacesuit designed mainly for environmental control and mobility and leave the confines of their better-protected domain. This is especially true for deep space exploration. The impact of spacesuit construction on the exposure of critical astronaut organs will be examined in the ionizing radiation environments of free space, the lunar surface and the Martian surface. The computerized anatomical male model is used to evaluate astronaut self-shielding factors and to determine space radiation exposures to critical radiosensitive human organs.

  4. Haige astronaut venitab Atlantise missiooni / Liisi Poll

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Poll, Liisi, 1980-

    2008-01-01

    Saksamaa astronaut ei saanud haiguse tõttu minna avakosmosesse, mistõttu lükkus edasi ka Euroopa Kosmoseagentuuri laborimooduli paigaldamine rahvusvahelisse kosmosejaama (ISS). Lisa: Teaduslabor Columbos

  5. Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong suits up before launch

    Science.gov (United States)

    1969-01-01

    Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong prepares to put on his helmet with the assistance of a spacesuit technician during suiting operations in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB) prior to the astronauts' departure to Launch Pad 39A. The three astronauts, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., Neil A Armstrong and Michael Collins, will then board the Saturn V launch vehicle, scheduled for a 9:32 a.m. EDT liftoff, for the first manned lunar landing mission.

  6. Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong looks over flight plans

    Science.gov (United States)

    1969-01-01

    Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong is looking over flight plans while being assisted by a spacesuit technician during suiting operations in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB) prior to the astronauts' departure to Launch Pad 39A. The three astronauts, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., Neil A. Armstrong and Michael Collins will then board the Saturn V launch vehicle, scheduled for a 9:32 a.m. EDT liftoff, for the first manned lunar landing mission.

  7. EAC training and medical support for International Space Station astronauts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Messerschmid, E; Haignere, J P; Damian, K; Damann, V

    2000-11-01

    The operation of the International Space Station (ISS) will be a global multilateral endeavour. Each International Partner will be responsible for the operation of its elements and for providing a crew complement proportional to its share of the overall resources. The preparations of the European Astronaut Centre to furnish training and medical support for the ISS astronauts are described.

  8. Bridge health monitoring with consideration of environmental effects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Yuhee; Kim, Hyunsoo; Shin, Soobong; Park, Jongchil

    2012-01-01

    Reliable response measurements are extremely important for proper bridge health monitoring but incomplete and unreliable data may be acquired due to sensor problems and environmental effects. In the case of a sensor malfunction, parts of the measured data can be missing so that the structural health condition cannot be monitored reliably. This means that the dynamic characteristics of natural frequencies can change as if the structure is damaged due to environmental effects, such as temperature variations. To overcome these problems, this paper proposes a systematic procedure of data analysis to recover missing data and eliminate the environmental effects from the measured data. It also proposed a health index calculated statistically using revised data to evaluate the health condition of a bridge. The proposed method was examined using numerically simulated data with a truss structure and then applied to a set of field data measured from a cable stayed bridge

  9. Bridge health monitoring with consideration of environmental effects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Yuhee; Kim, Hyunsoo; Shin, Soobong [Inha Univ., Incheon (Korea, Republic of); Park, Jongchil [Korea Expressway Co., (Korea, Republic of)

    2012-12-15

    Reliable response measurements are extremely important for proper bridge health monitoring but incomplete and unreliable data may be acquired due to sensor problems and environmental effects. In the case of a sensor malfunction, parts of the measured data can be missing so that the structural health condition cannot be monitored reliably. This means that the dynamic characteristics of natural frequencies can change as if the structure is damaged due to environmental effects, such as temperature variations. To overcome these problems, this paper proposes a systematic procedure of data analysis to recover missing data and eliminate the environmental effects from the measured data. It also proposed a health index calculated statistically using revised data to evaluate the health condition of a bridge. The proposed method was examined using numerically simulated data with a truss structure and then applied to a set of field data measured from a cable stayed bridge.

  10. High-LET particle exposure of Skylab astronauts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benton, E.V.; Peterson, D.D.; Bailey, J.V.; Parnell, T.

    1977-01-01

    High-LET particle radiation was registered in nuclear track recording plastic dosimeters worn on the wrists of Skylab astronauts and located in a heavily shielded film vault. The mission-average planar flux of high-LET particles with LET >= 100 keV/micron . tissue has been determined to be 2.7 +- 0.6 particles/cm 2 . day . 2π sr and 0.34 +- 0.4 particles/cm 2 . day . 2π sr, respectively, for the nine astronauts and for the film vault. Comparison of results representative of a wide range of shielding depths reveals that the magnitude and slope of the integral LET spectrum of high-LET particles inside spacecraft are proportional to the amount of shielding. (author)

  11. General Purpose Data-Driven Monitoring for Space Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iverson, David L.; Martin, Rodney A.; Schwabacher, Mark A.; Spirkovska, Liljana; Taylor, William McCaa; Castle, Joseph P.; Mackey, Ryan M.

    2009-01-01

    As modern space propulsion and exploration systems improve in capability and efficiency, their designs are becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex. Determining the health state of these systems, using traditional parameter limit checking, model-based, or rule-based methods, is becoming more difficult as the number of sensors and component interactions grow. Data-driven monitoring techniques have been developed to address these issues by analyzing system operations data to automatically characterize normal system behavior. System health can be monitored by comparing real-time operating data with these nominal characterizations, providing detection of anomalous data signatures indicative of system faults or failures. The Inductive Monitoring System (IMS) is a data-driven system health monitoring software tool that has been successfully applied to several aerospace applications. IMS uses a data mining technique called clustering to analyze archived system data and characterize normal interactions between parameters. The scope of IMS based data-driven monitoring applications continues to expand with current development activities. Successful IMS deployment in the International Space Station (ISS) flight control room to monitor ISS attitude control systems has led to applications in other ISS flight control disciplines, such as thermal control. It has also generated interest in data-driven monitoring capability for Constellation, NASA's program to replace the Space Shuttle with new launch vehicles and spacecraft capable of returning astronauts to the moon, and then on to Mars. Several projects are currently underway to evaluate and mature the IMS technology and complementary tools for use in the Constellation program. These include an experiment on board the Air Force TacSat-3 satellite, and ground systems monitoring for NASA's Ares I-X and Ares I launch vehicles. The TacSat-3 Vehicle System Management (TVSM) project is a software experiment to integrate fault

  12. Human Behavior and Performance Support for ISS Operations and Astronaut Selections: NASA Operational Psychology for Six-Crew Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    VanderArk, Steve; Sipes, Walter; Holland, Albert; Cockrell, Gabrielle

    2010-01-01

    The Behavioral Health and Performance group at NASA Johnson Space Center provides psychological support services and behavioral health monitoring for ISS astronauts and their families. The ISS began as an austere outpost with minimal comforts of home and minimal communication capabilities with family, friends, and colleagues outside of the Mission Control Center. Since 1998, the work of international partners involved in the Space Flight Human Behavior and Performance Working Group has prepared high-level requirements for behavioral monitoring and support. The "buffet" of services from which crewmembers can choose has increased substantially. Through the process of development, implementation, reviewing effectiveness and modifying as needed, the NASA and Wyle team have proven successful in managing the psychological health and well being of the crews and families with which they work. Increasing the crew size from three to six brought additional challenges. For the first time, all partners had to collaborate at the planning and implementation level, and the U.S. served as mentor to extrapolate their experiences to the others. Parity in available resources, upmass, and stowage had to be worked out. Steady progress was made in improving off-hours living and making provisions for new technologies within a system that has difficulty moving quickly on certifications. In some respect, the BHP support team fell victim to its previous successes. With increasing numbers of crewmembers in training, requests to engage our services spiraled upward. With finite people and funds, a cap had to placed on many services to ensure that parity could be maintained. The evolution of NASA BHP services as the ISS progressed from three- to six-crew composition will be reviewed, and future challenges that may be encountered as the ISS matures in its assembly-complete state will be discussed.

  13. Adaptive and Online Health Monitoring System for Autonomous Aircraft

    OpenAIRE

    Mokhtar, Maizura; Zapatel-Bayo, Sergio Z.; Hussein, Saed; Howe, Joe M.

    2012-01-01

    Good situation awareness is one of the key attributes required to maintain safe flight, especially for an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). Good situation awareness can be achieved by incorporating an Adaptive Health Monitoring System (AHMS) to the aircraft. The AHMS monitors the flight outcome or flight behaviours of the aircraft based on its external environmental conditions and the behaviour of its internal systems. The AHMS does this by associating a health value to the aircraft's behaviour b...

  14. Biological dosimetry in astronauts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Durante, M.

    1996-01-01

    Due to the unavoidable presence of ionizing radiation in space, astronauts are classified as radiation workers. I fact, dose rate in space is considerably higher than on earth. Radiation dose absorbed after one day in space is close to the dose received by all natural sources, excluding radon, in one year on earth. Large solar particle events can considerably increase this dose, and could even be life threatening for an inadequately protected crew

  15. Enhancing Astronaut Performance using Sensorimotor Adaptability Training

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacob J Bloomberg

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Astronauts experience disturbances in balance and gait function when they return to Earth. The highly plastic human brain enables individuals to modify their behavior to match the prevailing environment. Subjects participating in specially designed variable sensory challenge training programs can enhance their ability to rapidly adapt to novel sensory situations. This is useful in our application because we aim to train astronauts to rapidly formulate effective strategies to cope with the balance and locomotor challenges associated with new gravitational environments - enhancing their ability to learn to learn. We do this by coupling various combinations of sensorimotor challenges with treadmill walking. A unique training system has been developed that is comprised of a treadmill mounted on a motion base to produce movement of the support surface during walking. This system provides challenges to gait stability. Additional sensory variation and challenge are imposed with a virtual visual scene that presents subjects with various combinations of discordant visual information during treadmill walking. This experience allows them to practice resolving challenging and conflicting novel sensory information to improve their ability to adapt rapidly. Information obtained from this work will inform the design of the next generation of sensorimotor countermeasures for astronauts.

  16. [What potential do geographic information systems have for population-wide health monitoring in Germany? : Perspectives and challenges for the health monitoring of the Robert Koch Institute].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thißen, Martin; Niemann, Hildegard; Varnaccia, Gianni; Rommel, Alexander; Teti, Andrea; Butschalowsky, Hans; Manz, Kristin; Finger, Jonas David; Kroll, Lars Eric; Ziese, Thomas

    2017-12-01

    Geographic information systems (GISs) are computer-based systems with which geographical data can be recorded, stored, managed, analyzed, visualized and provided. In recent years, they have become an integral part of public health research. They offer a broad range of analysis tools, which enable innovative solutions for health-related research questions. An analysis of nationwide studies that applied geographic information systems underlines the potential this instrument bears for health monitoring in Germany. Geographic information systems provide up-to-date mapping and visualization options to be used for national health monitoring at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). Furthermore, objective information on the residential environment as an influencing factor on population health and on health behavior can be gathered and linked to RKI survey data at different geographic scales. Besides using physical information, such as climate, vegetation or land use, as well as information on the built environment, the instrument can link socioeconomic and sociodemographic data as well as information on health care and environmental stress to the survey data and integrate them into concepts for analyses. Therefore, geographic information systems expand the potential of the RKI to present nationwide, representative and meaningful health-monitoring results. In doing so, data protection regulations must always be followed. To conclude, the development of a national spatial data infrastructure and the identification of important data sources can prospectively improve access to high quality data sets that are relevant for the health monitoring.

  17. Frequency Selective Surface for Structural Health Monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norlyana Azemi, Saidatul; Mustaffa, Farzana Hazira Wan; Faizal Jamlos, Mohd; Abdullah Al-Hadi, Azremi; Soh, Ping Jack

    2018-03-01

    Structural health monitoring (SHM) technologies have attained attention to monitor civil structures. SHM sensor systems have been used in various civil structures such as bridges, buildings, tunnels and so on. However the previous sensor for SHM is wired and encounter with problem to cover large areas. Therefore, wireless sensor was introduced for SHM to reduce network connecting problem. Wireless sensors for Structural Health monitoring are new technology and have many advantages to overcome the drawback of conventional and wired sensor. This project proposed passive wireless SHM sensor using frequency selective surface (FSS) as an alternative to conventional sensors. The electromagnetic wave characteristic of FSS will change by geometrical changes of FSS due to mechanical strain or structural failure. The changes feature is used as a sensing function without any connecting wires. Two type of design which are circular ring and square loop along with the transmission and reflection characteristics of SHM using FSS were discussed in this project. A simulation process has shown that incident angle characteristics can be use as a data for SHM application.

  18. Environment monitoring and residents health condition monitoring of nuclear power plant Bohunice region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Letkovicova, M.; Rehak, R.; Stehlikova, B.; Celko, M.; Hraska, S.; Klocok, L.; Kostial, J.; Prikazsky, V.; Vidovic, J.; Zirko, M.; Beno, T.; Mitosinka, J.

    1998-01-01

    The report contents final environment evaluation and selected characteristic of residents health physics of nuclear power plant Bohunice region. Evaluated data were elaborated during analytical period 1993-1997.Task solving which results are documented in this final report was going on between 1996- 1998. The report deals in individual stages with the following: Information obtaining and completing which characterize demographic situation of the area for the 1993-1997 period; Datum obtaining and completing which contain selected health physics characteristics of the area residents; Database structures for individual data archiving from monitoring and collection; Brief description of geographic information system for graphic presentation of evaluation results based on topographic base; Digital mapping structure description; Results and evaluation of radionuclide monitoring in environment performed by Environmental radiation measurements laboratory by the nuclear power plant Bohunice for the 1993-1997 period. Demographic situation evaluation and selected health physics characteristics of the area of nuclear power plant residents for the 1993-1997 period are summarized in the final part of the document. Monitoring results and their evaluation is processed in graph, table, text description and map output forms. Map outputs are processed in the geographic information system Arc View GIS 3.0a environment

  19. Health monitoring of civil structures using fiber optic sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Varma, Veto; Kumar, Praveen; Charan, J.J.; Reddy, G.R.; Vaze, K.K.; Kushwaha, H.S.

    2003-08-01

    During the lifetime of the reactor, the civil structure is subjected to many operational and environmental loads. Hence it is increasingly important to monitor the conditions of the structure and insure its safety and integrity. The conventional gauges have proved to be not sufficiently catering the problem of long term health monitoring of the structure because of its many limitations. Hence it is mandatory to develop a technique for the above purpose. Present study deals with the application of Fiber optic sensors (EFPI strain Gauges) in the civil structure for its health monitoring. Various experiments were undertaken and suitability of sensors was checked. A technique to embed the optical sensor inside the concrete is successfully developed and tested. (author)

  20. Determining spherical lens correction for astronaut training underwater.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Porter, Jason; Gibson, C Robert; Strauss, Samuel

    2011-09-01

    To develop a model that will accurately predict the distance spherical lens correction needed to be worn by National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronauts while training underwater. The replica space suit's helmet contains curved visors that induce refractive power when submersed in water. Anterior surface powers and thicknesses were measured for the helmet's protective and inside visors. The impact of each visor on the helmet's refractive power in water was analyzed using thick lens calculations and Zemax optical design software. Using geometrical optics approximations, a model was developed to determine the optimal distance spherical power needed to be worn underwater based on the helmet's total induced spherical power underwater and the astronaut's manifest spectacle plane correction in air. The validity of the model was tested using data from both eyes of 10 astronauts who trained underwater. The helmet's visors induced a total power of -2.737 D when placed underwater. The required underwater spherical correction (FW) was linearly related to the spectacle plane spherical correction in air (FAir): FW = FAir + 2.356 D. The mean magnitude of the difference between the actual correction worn underwater and the calculated underwater correction was 0.20 ± 0.11 D. The actual and calculated values were highly correlated (r = 0.971) with 70% of eyes having a difference in magnitude of astronauts. The model accurately predicts the actual values worn underwater and can be applied (more generally) to determine a suitable spectacle lens correction to be worn behind other types of masks when submerged underwater.

  1. Integrating structural health and condition monitoring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    May, Allan; Thöns, Sebastian; McMillan, David

    2015-01-01

    window’ allowing for the possible detection of faults up to 6 months in advance. The SHM system model uses a reduction in the probability of failure factor to account for lower modelling uncertainties. A case study is produced that shows a reduction in operating costs and also a reduction in risk......There is a large financial incentive to minimise operations and maintenance (O&M) costs for offshore wind power by optimising the maintenance plan. The integration of condition monitoring (CM) and structural health monitoring (SHM) may help realise this. There is limited work on the integration...

  2. Astronaut Dale Gardner holds up for sale sign after EVA

    Science.gov (United States)

    1984-01-01

    Astronaut Dale A. Gardner, having just completed the major portion of his second extravehicular activity (EVA) period in three days, holds up a 'for sale' sign. Astronaut Joseph P. ALlen IV, who also participated in the two EVA's, is reflected in Gardner's helmet visor. A portion of each of two recovered satellites is in the lower right corner, with Westar nearer Discovery's aft.

  3. Astronauts Cooper and Conrad prepare cameras during visual acuity tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    1965-01-01

    Astronauts L. Gordon Cooper Jr. (left), command pilot, and Charles Conrad Jr., pilot, the prime crew of the Gemini 5 space flight, prepare their cameras while aboard a C-130 aircraft flying near Laredo. The two astronauts are taking part in a series of visual acuity experiments to aid them in learning to identify known terrestrial features under controlled conditions.

  4. Multi-metric model-based structural health monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jo, Hongki; Spencer, B. F.

    2014-04-01

    ABSTRACT The inspection and maintenance of bridges of all types is critical to the public safety and often critical to the economy of a region. Recent advanced sensor technologies provide accurate and easy-to-deploy means for structural health monitoring and, if the critical locations are known a priori, can be monitored by direct measurements. However, for today's complex civil infrastructure, the critical locations are numerous and often difficult to identify. This paper presents an innovative framework for structural monitoring at arbitrary locations on the structure combining computational models and limited physical sensor information. The use of multi-metric measurements is advocated to improve the accuracy of the approach. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the proposed hybrid monitoring framework, particularly focusing on fatigue life assessment of steel structures.

  5. Personalized Health Monitoring System for Managing Well-Being in Rural Areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nedungadi, Prema; Jayakumar, Akshay; Raman, Raghu

    2017-12-14

    Rural India lacks easy access to health practitioners and medical centers, depending instead on community health workers. In these areas, common ailments that are easy to manage with medicines, often lead to medical escalations and even fatalities due to lack of awareness and delayed diagnosis. The introduction of wearable health devices has made it easier to monitor health conditions and to connect doctors and patients in urban areas. However, existing initiatives have not succeeded in providing adequate health monitoring to rural and low-literate patients, as current methods are expensive, require consistent connectivity and expect literate users. Our design considerations address these concerns by providing low-cost medical devices connected to a low-cost health platform, along with personalized guidance based on patient physiological parameters in local languages, and alerts to medical practitioners in case of emergencies. This patient-centric integrated healthcare system is designed to manage the overall health of villagers with real-time health monitoring of patients, to offer guidance on preventive care, and to increase health awareness and self-monitoring at an affordable price. This personalized health monitoring system addresses the health-related needs in remote and rural areas by (1) empowering health workers in monitoring of basic health conditions for rural patients in order to prevent escalations, (2) personalized feedback regarding nutrition, exercise, diet, preventive Ayurveda care and yoga postures based on vital parameters and (3) reporting of patient data to the patient's health center with emergency alerts to doctor and patient. The system supports community health workers in the diagnostic procedure, management, and reporting of rural patients, and functions well even with only intermittent access to Internet.

  6. Evidence based selection of probiotic strains to promote astronaut health or alleviate symptoms of illness on long duration spaceflight missions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Douglas, G L; Voorhies, A A

    2017-10-13

    Spaceflight impacts multiple aspects of human physiology, which will require non-invasive countermeasures as mission length and distance from Earth increases and the capability for external medical intervention decreases. Studies on Earth have shown that probiotics have the potential to improve some of the conditions that have manifested during spaceflight, such as gastrointestinal distress, dermatitis, and respiratory infections. The constraints and risks of spaceflight make it imperative that probiotics are carefully selected based on their strain-specific benefits, doses, delivery mechanisms, and relevance to likely crew conditions prior to evaluation in astronauts. This review focuses on probiotics that have been incorporated into healthy human gastrointestinal microbiomes and associated clinically with improvements in inflammatory state or alleviation of symptoms of crew-relevant illness. These studies provide an evidence base for probiotic selection with the greatest potential to support crew health and well-being in spaceflight.

  7. Experimental Research on Quick Structural Health Monitoring Technique for Bridges Using Smartphone

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xuefeng Zhao

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In the recent years, with the development and popularization of smartphone, the utilization of smartphone in the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM has attracted increasing attention owing to its unique feature. Since bridges are of great importance to society and economy, bridge health monitoring has very practical significance during its service life. Furthermore, rapid damage assessment of bridge after an extreme event such as earthquake is very important in the recovery work. Smartphone-based bridge health monitoring and postevent damage evaluation have advantages over the conventional monitoring techniques, such as low cost, ease of installation, and convenience. Therefore, this study investigates the implementation feasibility of the quick bridge health monitoring technique using smartphone. A novel vision-based cable force measurement method using smartphone camera is proposed, and, then, its feasibility and practicality is initially validated through cable model test. An experiment regarding multiple parameters monitoring of one bridge scale model is carried out. Parameters, such as acceleration, displacement, and angle, are monitored using smartphone. The experiment results show that there is a good agreement between the reference sensor and smartphone measurements in both time and frequency domains.

  8. Some psychological and engineering aspects of the extravehicular activity of astronauts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khrunov, E V

    1973-01-01

    One of the main in-flight problems being fulfilled by astronauts is the preparation for and realization of egress into open space for the purpose of different kinds of extravehicular activity, such as, the performance of scientific experiments, repairing and dismantling operations etc. The astronaut's activity outside the space vehicle is the most difficult item of the space flight programme, which is complicated by a number of space factors affecting a man, viz. dynamic weightlessness, work in a space suit under conditions of excessive pressure, difficulties of space orientation etc. The peculiarities mentioned require special training of the cosmonaut. The physical training involves a series of exercises forming the body-control habits necessary for work in a state of weightlessness. In a new kind of training use is made of equipment simulating the state of weightlessness. From analysis of the available data and the results of my own investigations during ground training and the Soyuz 4 and 5 flights one can establish the following peculiarities of the astronaut's extravehicular activity: (1) Operator response lag in the planned algorithm; (ii) systematic appearance of some stereotype errors in the mounting and dismantling of the outer equipment and in scientific-technical experiments; (iii) a high degree of emotional strain and 30-35% decrease in in-flight working capacity of the astronaut compared with the ground training data; (iv) a positive influence of space adaptation on the cosmonaut and the efficiency of his work in open space; (v) the necessity for further engineering and psychological analysis of the astronaut's activity under conditions of the long space flight of the multi-purpose orbital station. One of the main reasons for the above peculiarities is the violation of the control-coordination functions of the astronaut in the course of the dynamical operations. The paper analyses the extravehicular activity of the astronaut and presents some

  9. Identification methods for structural health monitoring

    CERN Document Server

    Papadimitriou, Costas

    2016-01-01

    The papers in this volume provide an introduction to well known and established system identification methods for structural health monitoring and to more advanced, state-of-the-art tools, able to tackle the challenges associated with actual implementation. Starting with an overview on fundamental methods, introductory concepts are provided on the general framework of time and frequency domain, parametric and non-parametric methods, input-output or output only techniques. Cutting edge tools are introduced including, nonlinear system identification methods; Bayesian tools; and advanced modal identification techniques (such as the Kalman and particle filters, the fast Bayesian FFT method). Advanced computational tools for uncertainty quantification are discussed to provide a link between monitoring and structural integrity assessment. In addition, full scale applications and field deployments that illustrate the workings and effectiveness of the introduced monitoring schemes are demonstrated.

  10. Localizing the HL7 Personal Health Monitoring Record for Danish Telemedicine

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Henrik Bærbak

    2014-01-01

    Telemedicine holds a promise of lowering cost in health care and improving the life quality of chronic ill patients by allowing monitoring in the home. The Personal Health Monitoring Record (PHMR) is an international HL7 standard data format for encoding measurements made by devices in the home...

  11. Astronaut Glenn in the Friendship 7

    Science.gov (United States)

    1962-01-01

    Astronaut John Glenn in the Friendship 7 capsule during the first manned orbital flight, the MA-6 mission. Boosted by the Mercury-Atlas vehicle, a modified Atlas (intercontinental ballistic missile), the MA-6 mission lasted for 5 hours and orbited the Earth three times.

  12. Vibration-based structural health monitoring of harbor caisson structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, So-Young; Lee, So-Ra; Kim, Jeong-Tae

    2011-04-01

    This study presents vibration-based structural health monitoring method in foundation-structure interface of harbor caisson structure. In order to achieve the objective, the following approaches are implemented. Firstly, vibration-based response analysis method is selected and structural health monitoring (SHM) technique is designed for harbor caisson structure. Secondly, the performance of designed SHM technique for harbor structure is examined by FE analysis. Finally, the applicability of designed SHM technique for harbor structure is evaluated by dynamic tests on a lab-scaled caisson structure.

  13. Astronaut suitability requirements and selection process; Uchu hikoshi tanjo eno michi (shishitsu yokyu)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miyoshi, H. [National Space Development Agency of Japan, Tokyo (Japan)

    1999-10-05

    Manned space activities at National Space Development Agency of Japan and the suitability requirements that an astronaut is supposed to satisfy are described. At the first phase, candidates have to participate in a manned space experiment utilizing a NASA space shuttle and, in 1985, Mori, Mukai, and Doi were selected to be payload specialists. At the second phase, Astronauts Wakata, Doi, and Mori were sent to the mission specialist training course, this being one of the jobs aboard a space shuttle, which was for preparing for the construction and operation of the international space station. In January, 1996, Astronaut Wakata performed extravehicular tool manipulation and so forth, and Astronaut Doi did the same in 1997. The endowments that an astronaut is expected to have include undoubted professionalism, adaptability to branches out of his field, adaptability to a prolonged stay in space, spirit of teamwork and coordination, and ability to perform wide range of duties aboard an international space station. (NEDO)

  14. Enhancing the Meaningfulness of Work for Astronauts on Long Duration Space Exploration Missions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Britt, Thomas W; Sytine, Anton; Brady, Ashley; Wilkes, Russ; Pittman, Rebecca; Jennings, Kristen; Goguen, Kandice

    2017-08-01

    Numerous authors have identified the stressors likely to be encountered on long duration space exploration missions (e.g., to Mars), including the possibility of significant crises, separation from family, boredom/monotony, and interpersonal conflict. Although many authors have noted that meaningful work may be beneficial for astronauts on these missions, none have detailed the sources of meaningful work for astronauts and how these sources may differ between astronauts. The present article identifies how engagement in meaningful work during long duration missions may mitigate the adverse effects of demands and increase the potential for benefits resulting from the missions. Semistructured interviews were conducted with nine NASA personnel, including astronauts, flight directors, and flight surgeons. Questions addressed sources of meaning for astronauts, characteristics of tasks that enhance vs. detract from meaning, and recommendations for enhancing meaning. Personnel mentioned contributing to humanity and the next generation, contributing to the mission, and exploration as the most meaningful aspects of their work. Characteristics of tasks that enhanced meaning included using a variety of skills, feeling personal control over their schedule, autonomy in the execution of tasks, and understanding the importance of the experiments conducted on the mission. Top recommendations to sustain meaning were insuring social needs were met through such activities as the strategic use of social media, giving astronauts autonomy as well as structure, and conducting training during transit. Implications are addressed for tailoring meaning-based interventions for astronauts participating on long duration missions and assessing the effectiveness of these interventions.Britt TW, Sytine A, Brady A, Wilkes R, Pittman R, Jennings K, Goguen K. Enhancing the meaningfulness of work for astronauts on long duration space exploration missions. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(8):779-783.

  15. IAC-11.E1-7.-A1.8.5 The Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut pilot study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lloyd, Charles W.

    2012-12-01

    Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut is an international educational challenge focusing on fitness and nutrition as we encourage students to "train like an astronaut." Teams of students (aged 8-12) learn principles of healthy eating and exercise, compete for points by finishing training modules, and get excited about their future as "fit explorers." The 18 core exercises (targeting strength, endurance, coordination, balance, spatial awareness, and more) involve the same types of skills that astronauts learn in their training and use in spaceflight. This first-of-its-kind cooperative outreach program has allowed 11 space agencies and various partner institutions to work together to address quality health/fitness education, challenge students to be more physically active, increase awareness of the importance of lifelong health and fitness, teach students how fitness plays a vital role in human performance for exploration, and to inspire and motivate students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. The project was initiated in 2009 in response to a request by the International Space Life Sciences Working Group. USA, Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Colombia, Spain, Belgium, Czech Republic and United Kingdom hosted teams for the pilot in the spring of 2010, and Japan held a modified version of the challenge. Several more agencies provided input into the preparations. Competing in 137 teams, more than 4000 students from over 40 cities worldwide participated in the first round of Mission X.

  16. Astronaut C. Michael Foale is briefed on use of Sky Genie

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    Astronaut C. Michael Foale, STS-63 mission specialist, is briefed on the use of Sky Genie device by Karin L. Porter. The device would aid in emergency egress operations aboard a troubled Space Shuttle. Porter, an employee of Rockwell International, helps train astronauts in egress procedures at JSC's Shuttle mockup and integration laboratory.

  17. Virtual Glovebox (VGX) Aids Astronauts in Pre-Flight Training

    Science.gov (United States)

    2003-01-01

    NASA's Virtual Glovebox (VGX) was developed to allow astronauts on Earth to train for complex biology research tasks in space. The astronauts may reach into the virtual environment, naturally manipulating specimens, tools, equipment, and accessories in a simulated microgravity environment as they would do in space. Such virtual reality technology also provides engineers and space operations staff with rapid prototyping, planning, and human performance modeling capabilities. Other Earth based applications being explored for this technology include biomedical procedural training and training for disarming bio-terrorism weapons.

  18. To track or not to track: user reactions to concepts in longitudinal health monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beaudin, Jennifer S; Intille, Stephen S; Morris, Margaret E

    2006-01-01

    Advances in ubiquitous computing, smart homes, and sensor technologies enable novel, longitudinal health monitoring applications in the home. Many home monitoring technologies have been proposed to detect health crises, support aging-in-place, and improve medical care. Health professionals and potential end users in the lay public, however, sometimes question whether home health monitoring is justified given the cost and potential invasion of privacy. The aim of the study was to elicit specific feedback from health professionals and laypeople about how they might use longitudinal health monitoring data for proactive health and well-being. Interviews were conducted with 8 health professionals and 26 laypeople. Participants were asked to evaluate mock data visualization displays that could be generated by novel home monitoring systems. The mock displays were used to elicit reactions to longitudinal monitoring in the home setting as well as what behaviors, events, and physiological indicators people were interested in tracking. Based on the qualitative data provided by the interviews, lists of benefits of and concerns about health tracking from the perspectives of the practitioners and laypeople were compiled. Variables of particular interest to the interviewees, as well as their specific ideas for applications of collected data, were documented. Based upon these interviews, we recommend that ubiquitous "monitoring" systems may be more readily adopted if they are developed as tools for personalized, longitudinal self-investigation that help end users learn about the conditions and variables that impact their social, cognitive, and physical health.

  19. Critical 2D-to-3D Transformation of NASA's VESGEN Software for Astronaut Health Countermeasures and Terrestrial Medicine/Ecological Commercialization

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The challenge is to map and quantify 3D vascular remodeling in critically important tissues such as the astronaut and diabetic retina and mouse gastro-intestinal...

  20. Structure health monitoring system using internet and database technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kwon, Il Bum; Kim, Chi Yeop; Choi, Man Yong; Lee, Seung Seok

    2003-01-01

    Structural health monitoring system should developed to be based on internet and database technology in order to manage efficiently large structures. This system is operated by internet connected with the side of structures. The monitoring system has some functions: self monitoring, self diagnosis, and self control etc. Self monitoring is the function of sensor fault detection. If some sensors are not normally worked, then this system can detect the fault sensors. Also Self diagnosis function repair the abnormal condition of sensors. And self control is the repair function of the monitoring system. Especially, the monitoring system can identify the replacement of sensors. For further study, the real application test will be performed to check some unconvince.

  1. Structural health monitoring system using internet and database technologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Chi Yeop; Choi, Man Yong; Kwon, Il Bum; Lee, Seung Seok [Nonstructive Measurment Lab., KRISS, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2003-07-01

    Structure health monitoring system should develope to be based on internet and database technology in order to manage efficiency large structures. This system is operated by internet connected with the side of structures. The monitoring system has some functions: self monitoring, self diagnosis, and self control etc. Self monitoring is the function of sensor fault detection. If some sensors are not normally worked, then this system can detect the fault sensors. Also Self diagnosis function repair the abnormal condition of sensors. And self control is the repair function of the monitoring system. Especially, the monitoring system can identify the replacement of sensors. For further study, the real application test will be performed to check some unconviniences.

  2. Structure health monitoring system using internet and database technologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kwon, Il Bum; Kim, Chi Yeop; Choi, Man Yong; Lee, Seung Seok [Smart Measurment Group. Korea Resarch Institute of Standards and Science, Saejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2003-05-15

    Structural health monitoring system should developed to be based on internet and database technology in order to manage efficiently large structures. This system is operated by internet connected with the side of structures. The monitoring system has some functions: self monitoring, self diagnosis, and self control etc. Self monitoring is the function of sensor fault detection. If some sensors are not normally worked, then this system can detect the fault sensors. Also Self diagnosis function repair the abnormal condition of sensors. And self control is the repair function of the monitoring system. Especially, the monitoring system can identify the replacement of sensors. For further study, the real application test will be performed to check some unconvince.

  3. Structural health monitoring system using internet and database technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Chi Yeop; Choi, Man Yong; Kwon, Il Bum; Lee, Seung Seok

    2003-01-01

    Structure health monitoring system should develope to be based on internet and database technology in order to manage efficiency large structures. This system is operated by internet connected with the side of structures. The monitoring system has some functions: self monitoring, self diagnosis, and self control etc. Self monitoring is the function of sensor fault detection. If some sensors are not normally worked, then this system can detect the fault sensors. Also Self diagnosis function repair the abnormal condition of sensors. And self control is the repair function of the monitoring system. Especially, the monitoring system can identify the replacement of sensors. For further study, the real application test will be performed to check some unconviniences.

  4. Muscle fatigue evaluation of astronaut upper limb based on sEMG and subjective assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zu, Xiaoqi; Zhou, Qianxiang; Li, Yun

    2012-07-01

    All movements are driven by muscle contraction, and it is easy to cause muscle fatigue. Evaluation of muscle fatigue is a hot topic in the area of astronaut life support training and rehabilitation. If muscle gets into fatigue condition, it may reduce work efficiency and has an impact on psychological performance. Therefore it is necessary to develop an accurate and usable method on muscle fatigue evaluation of astronaut upper limb. In this study, we developed a method based on surface electromyography (sEMG) and subjective assessment (Borg scale) to evaluate local muscle fatigue. Fifteen healthy young male subjects participated in the experiment. They performed isometric muscle contractions of the upper limb. sEMG of the biceps brachii were recorded during the entire process of isotonic muscle contraction and Borg scales of muscle fatigue were collected in certain times. sEMG were divided into several parts, and then mean energy of each parts were calculated by the one-twelfth band octave method. Equations were derived based on the relationship between the mean energy of sEMG and Borg scale. The results showed that cubic curve could describe the degree of local muscle fatigue, and could be used to evaluate and monitor local muscle fatigue during the entire process.

  5. Astronaut training manual

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coleman, E. A.

    1980-01-01

    Scientific information from previous space flights, space medicine, exercise physiology, and sports medicine was used to prepare a physical fitness manual suitable for use by members of the NASA astronaut population. A variety of scientifically valid exercise programs and activities suitable for the development of physical fitness are provided. Programs, activities, and supportive scientific data are presented in a concise, easy to read format so as to permit the user to select his or her mode of training with confidence and devote time previously spent experimenting with training routines to preparation for space flight. The programs and activities included were tested and shown to be effective and enjoyable.

  6. Forest health monitoring: national status, trends, and analysis 2016

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kevin M. Potter; Barbara L. Conkling

    2017-01-01

    The annual national report of the Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, presents forest health status and trends from a national or multi-State regional perspective using a variety of sources, introducesnew techniques for analyzing forest health data, and summarizes results of recently completed...

  7. Astronauts Ross and Helms at CAPCOM station during STS-61 simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    1993-01-01

    Astronauts Jerry L. Ross and Susan J. Helms are pictured at the Spacecraft Communicators console during joint integrated simulations for the STS-61 mission. Astronauts assigned to extravehicular activity (EVA) tasks with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) were simultaneously rehearsing in a neutral buoyancy tank at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Alabama.

  8. Philosophy on astronaut protection: A physician's perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holloway, H.

    1997-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has a responsibility to assure that proper ethical standards are applied in establishing and applying limits for the control of radiation doses to the astronauts. Such a responsibility obviously includes assuring that the astronauts are properly informed of the hazards associated with individuals missions and that they agree to accept the associated risks. The responsibility, however, does not end there. It includes a need to discuss how to initiate a discourse for developing the related ethical standards and how to determine who should be involved in their establishment. To assure that such proper communications on matters that encompass the realms of policy, science, politics, and ethics. There is also a need to mesh public perceptions with those of the scientific and technical community. This will be a monumental undertaking

  9. Leisure time activities in space: A survey of astronauts and cosmonauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Alan D.; Kanas, Nick

    Questionnaires were returned from 54 astronauts and cosmonauts which addressed preferences for media and media-generated subjects that could be used to occupy leisure time in space. Ninety-three percent of the respondents had access to records or audio cassettes, and cosmonauts had greater access than astronauts to multiple media. Cosmonauts and long-duration space travelers reported that they missed various media more than their astronaut and short-duration counterparts. Media subjects that related to international events, national events and historical topics were rated as most preferable by all respondents and by several of the respondent groups. The findings are discussed in terms of their relevance for occupying free time during future long-duration manned space missions.

  10. Cosmonauts and astronauts during medical operations training

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    Cosmonaut Alexandr F. Poleshchuk (right) inventories medical supplies with Ezra D. Kucharz, medical operations trainer for Krug Life Sciences, Incorporated. Poleshchuk, a Mir reserve crew member, and a number of other cosmonauts and astronauts participati

  11. Astronauts Grissom and Young during water egress training in Gulf of Mexico

    Science.gov (United States)

    1965-01-01

    A technician adjusts the suit of Astronaut Virgil I. Grissom during water egress training operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Astronaut John W. Young (standing) observes. Grissom and Young are the prime crew for the Gemini-Titan 3 flight scheduled this spring.

  12. Validity and reliability of the South African health promoting schools monitoring questionnaire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Struthers, Patricia; Wegner, Lisa; de Koker, Petra; Lerebo, Wondwossen; Blignaut, Renette J

    2017-04-01

    Health promoting schools, as conceptualised by the World Health Organisation, have been developed in many countries to facilitate the health-education link. In 1994, the concept of health promoting schools was introduced in South Africa. In the process of becoming a health promoting school, it is important for schools to monitor and evaluate changes and developments taking place. The Health Promoting Schools (HPS) Monitoring Questionnaire was developed to obtain opinions of students about their school as a health promoting school. It comprises 138 questions in seven sections: socio-demographic information; General health promotion programmes; health related Skills and knowledge; Policies; Environment; Community-school links; and support Services. This paper reports on the reliability and face validity of the HPS Monitoring Questionnaire. Seven experts reviewed the questionnaire and agreed that it has satisfactory face validity. A test-retest reliability study was conducted with 83 students in three high schools in Cape Town, South Africa. The kappa-coefficients demonstrate mostly fair (κ-scores between 0.21 and 0.4) to moderate (κ-scores between 0.41 and 0.6) agreement between test-retest General and Environment items; poor (κ-scores up to 0.2) agreement between Skills and Community test-retest items, fair agreement between Policies items, and for most of the questions focussing on Services a fair agreement was found. The study is a first effort at providing a tool that may be used to monitor and evaluate students' opinions about changes in health promoting schools. Although the HPS Monitoring Questionnaire has face validity, the results of the reliability testing were inconclusive. Further research is warranted. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

  13. Forest Health Monitoring: national status, trends, and analysis 2014

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kevin M. Potter; Barbara L. Conkling

    2015-01-01

    The annual national report of the Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, presents forest health status and trends from a national or multi-State regional perspective using a variety of sources, introduces new techniques for analyzing forest health data, and summarizes results of recently completed Evaluation...

  14. Forest health monitoring: national status, trends, and analysis 2013

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kevin M. Potter; Barbara L. Conkling

    2015-01-01

    The annual national report of the Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, presents forest health status and trends from a national or multi-State regional perspective using a variety of sources, introduces new techniques for analyzing forest health data, and summarizes results of recently completed Evaluation...

  15. Smart sensor systems for human health breath monitoring applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunter, G W; Xu, J C; Biaggi-Labiosa, A M; Laskowski, D; Dutta, P K; Mondal, S P; Ward, B J; Makel, D B; Liu, C C; Chang, C W; Dweik, R A

    2011-09-01

    Breath analysis techniques offer a potential revolution in health care diagnostics, especially if these techniques can be brought into standard use in the clinic and at home. The advent of microsensors combined with smart sensor system technology enables a new generation of sensor systems with significantly enhanced capabilities and minimal size, weight and power consumption. This paper discusses the microsensor/smart sensor system approach and provides a summary of efforts to migrate this technology into human health breath monitoring applications. First, the basic capability of this approach to measure exhaled breath associated with exercise physiology is demonstrated. Building from this foundation, the development of a system for a portable asthma home health care system is described. A solid-state nitric oxide (NO) sensor for asthma monitoring has been identified, and efforts are underway to miniaturize this NO sensor technology and integrate it into a smart sensor system. It is concluded that base platform microsensor technology combined with smart sensor systems can address the needs of a range of breath monitoring applications and enable new capabilities for healthcare.

  16. Policy based Agents in Wireless Body Sensor Mesh Networks for Patient Health Monitoring

    OpenAIRE

    Kevin Miller; Suresh Sankaranarayanan

    2009-01-01

    There is presently considerable research interest in using wireless and mobile technologies in patient health monitoring particularly in hospitals and nursing homes. For health monitoring,, an intelligent agent based hierarchical architecture has already been published by one of the authors of this paper. Also, the technique of monitoring and notifying the health of patients using an intelligent agent, to the concerned hospital personnel, has also been proposed. We now present the details of ...

  17. A self-synchronizing and low-cost structural health monitoring scheme based on zero crossing detection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guyomar, Daniel; Lallart, Mickaël; Li, Kaixiang; Gauthier, Jean-Yves; Monnier, Thomas

    2010-01-01

    Owing to their high specific strength and stiffness, composite materials are increasingly being used in aeronautics and astronautics, but such materials are vulnerable to impact damage and delamination. Structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques have been developed for detecting such defects in recent years. In situ, self-powered and low-cost SHM systems are a developmental tendency of this technique. This paper introduces the principles of a low-cost and self-synchronizing scheme for SHM. Based on the Lamb wave interactions with the structure, the proposed technique relies on detecting zero crossing time instants in order to derive an estimation of the structural state. It is shown that such a method provides a very simple and low-cost way to assess the structural integrity while being computationally efficient. Experimental investigations carried out on a composite plate with an increasing penetration hold validating the proposed technique show its effectiveness for detecting the damage. The proposed approach has also been applied on an aircraft outboard flap to detect the impact damage. The robustness is discussed versus time-shift and magnitude jitter assumptions by using the plate case. The temperature effect is also considered by defining a coefficient array in order to compensate for the material property changes. Finally, an embedded implementation of such a SHM technique is presented by using the proposed damage index

  18. The design of an m-Health monitoring system based on a cloud computing platform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Boyi; Xu, Lida; Cai, Hongming; Jiang, Lihong; Luo, Yang; Gu, Yizhi

    2017-01-01

    Compared to traditional medical services provided within hospitals, m-Health monitoring systems (MHMSs) face more challenges in personalised health data processing. To achieve personalised and high-quality health monitoring by means of new technologies, such as mobile network and cloud computing, in this paper, a framework of an m-Health monitoring system based on a cloud computing platform (Cloud-MHMS) is designed to implement pervasive health monitoring. Furthermore, the modules of the framework, which are Cloud Storage and Multiple Tenants Access Control Layer, Healthcare Data Annotation Layer, and Healthcare Data Analysis Layer, are discussed. In the data storage layer, a multiple tenant access method is designed to protect patient privacy. In the data annotation layer, linked open data are adopted to augment health data interoperability semantically. In the data analysis layer, the process mining algorithm and similarity calculating method are implemented to support personalised treatment plan selection. These three modules cooperate to implement the core functions in the process of health monitoring, which are data storage, data processing, and data analysis. Finally, we study the application of our architecture in the monitoring of antimicrobial drug usage to demonstrate the usability of our method in personal healthcare analysis.

  19. Astronaut Donald H. Peterson talks with others during training session STS-6

    Science.gov (United States)

    1982-01-01

    Astronaut Donald H. Peterson talks with Astronaut James P. Bagian (almost out of frame at right edge) during a training session for STS-6 crew members in the Shuttle mockup and integration laboratory. Petterson is wearing the shuttle flight suit and holding his helmet.

  20. Astronautics and aeronautics, 1976. A chronology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ritchie, E. H.

    1984-01-01

    A chronology of events concerning astronautics and aeronautics for the year 1976 is presented. Some of the many and varied topics include the aerospace industry, planetary exploration, space transportation system, defense department programs, politics, and aerospace medicine. The entries are organized by the month and presented in a news release format.

  1. Development of structural health monitoring techniques using dynamics testing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    James, G.H. III [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States). Experimental Structural Dynamics Dept.

    1996-03-01

    Today`s society depends upon many structures (such as aircraft, bridges, wind turbines, offshore platforms, buildings, and nuclear weapons) which are nearing the end of their design lifetime. Since these structures cannot be economically replaced, techniques for structural health monitoring must be developed and implemented. Modal and structural dynamics measurements hold promise for the global non-destructive inspection of a variety of structures since surface measurements of a vibrating structure can provide information about the health of the internal members without costly (or impossible) dismantling of the structure. In order to develop structural health monitoring for application to operational structures, developments in four areas have been undertaken within this project: operational evaluation, diagnostic measurements, information condensation, and damage identification. The developments in each of these four aspects of structural health monitoring have been exercised on a broad range of experimental data. This experimental data has been extracted from structures from several application areas which include aging aircraft, wind energy, aging bridges, offshore structures, structural supports, and mechanical parts. As a result of these advances, Sandia National Laboratories is in a position to perform further advanced development, operational implementation, and technical consulting for a broad class of the nation`s aging infrastructure problems.

  2. Official portrait of astronaut Ronald J. Grabe

    Science.gov (United States)

    1989-01-01

    Official portrait of Ronald J. Grabe, United States Air Force (USAF) Colonel, member of Astronaut Class 9 (1980), and space shuttle pilot. Grabe wears launch and entry suit (LES) with helmet displayed on table at his left.

  3. Astronaut Neil Armstrong participates in simulation training

    Science.gov (United States)

    1969-01-01

    Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Apollo 11 commander, participates in simulation training in preparation for the scheduled lunar landing mission. He is in the Apollo Lunar Module Mission SImulator in the Kennedy Space Center's Flight Crew Training Building.

  4. Morphing: A Novel Approach to Astronaut Suit Sizing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Margerum, Sarah; Clowers, Kurt; Rajulu, Sudhakar

    2006-01-01

    The fitting of a spacesuit to an astronaut is an iterative process consisting of two parts. The first uses anthropometric data to provide an approximation of the suit components that will fit the astronaut. The second part is the subjective fitting, where small adjustments are made based on the astronaut s preference. By providing a better approximation of the correct suit components, the entire fit process time can be reduced significantly. The goals of this project are twofold: (1) To evaluate the effectiveness of the existing sizing algorithm for the Mark III Hybrid suit and (2) to determine what additional components are needed in order to provide adequate sizing for the existing astronaut population. A single subject was scanned using a 3D whole-body scanner (VITUS 3D) in the Mark III suit in eight different poses and four subjects in minimal clothing were also scanned in similar poses. The 3D external body scans of the suit and the subject are overlaid and visually aligned in a customized MATLAB program. The suit components were contracted or expanded linearly along the subjects limbs to match the subjects segmental lengths. Two independent measures were obtained from the morphing program on four subjects and compared with the existing sizing information. Two of the four subjects were in correspondence with the sizing algorithm and morphing results. The morphing outcome for a third subject, incompatible with the suit, suggested that an additional arm element at least 6 inches smaller than the existing smallest suit component would need to be acquired. The morphing result of the fourth subject, deemed incompatible with the suit using the sizing algorithm, indicated a different suit configuration which would be compatible. This configuration matched with the existing suit fit check data.

  5. Cerebrovascular Accident Incidence in the NASA Astronaut Population

    Science.gov (United States)

    LaPelusa, Michael B.; Charvat, Jacqueline M.; Lee, Lesley R.; Wear, Mary L.; Van Baalen, Mary

    2016-01-01

    The development of atherosclerosis is strongly associated with an increased risk for cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), including stroke and transient ischemic attacks (TIA). Certain unique occupational exposures that individuals in the NASA astronaut corps face, specifically high-performance aircraft training, SCUBA training, and spaceflight, are hypothesized to cause changes to the cardiovascular system. These changes, which include (but are not limited to) oxidative damage as a result of radiation exposure and circadian rhythm disturbance, increased arterial stiffness, and increased carotid-intima-media thickness (CIMT), may contribute to the development of atherosclerosis and subsequent CVA. The purpose of this study was to review cases of CVA in the NASA astronaut corps and describe the comorbidities and occupational exposures associated with CVA.

  6. Remote health monitoring for elderly through interactive television

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background Providing remote health monitoring to specific groups of patients represents an issue of great relevance for the national health systems, because of the costs related to moving health operators, the time spent to reach remote sites, and the high number of people needing health assistance. At the same time, some assistance activities, like those related to chronical diseases, may be satisfied through a remote interaction with the patient, without a direct medical examination. Methods Moving from this considerations, our paper proposes a system architecture for the provisioning of remote health assistance to older adults, based on a blind management of a network of wireless medical devices, and an interactive TV Set Top Box for accessing health related data. The selection of TV as the interface between the user and the system is specifically targeted to older adults. Due to the private nature of the information exchanged, a certified procedure is implemented for data delivery, through the use of non conditional smart cards. All these functions may be accomplished through a proper design of the system management, and a suitable interactive application. Results The interactive application acting as the interface between the user and the system on the TV monitor has been evaluated able to help readability and clear understanding of the contents and functions proposed. Thanks to the limited amount of data to transfer, even a Set Top Box equipped with a traditional PSTN modem may be used to support the proposed service at a basic level; more advanced features, like audio/video connection, may be activated if the Set Top Box enables a broadband connection (e.g. ADSL). Conclusions The proposed layered architecture for a remote health monitoring system can be tailored to address a wide range of needs, according with each patient’s conditions and capabilities. The system exploits the potentialities offered by Digital Television receivers, a friendly MHP interface

  7. Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1979-1984: A chronology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janson, Bette R.; Ritchie, Eleanor H.

    1989-01-01

    This volume of the Astronautics and Aeronautics series covers 1979 through 1984. The series provides a chronological presentation of all significant events and developments in space exploration and the administration of the space program during the period covered.

  8. Monitoring health interventions--who's afraid of LQAS?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pezzoli, Lorenzo; Kim, Sung Hye

    2013-11-08

    Lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) is used to evaluate health services. Subunits of a population (lots) are accepted or rejected according to the number of failures in a random sample (N) of a given lot. If failures are greater than decision value (d), we reject the lot and recommend corrective actions in the lot (i.e. intervention area); if they are equal to or less than d, we accept it. We used LQAS to monitor coverage during the last 3 days of a meningitis vaccination campaign in Niger. We selected one health area (lot) per day reporting the lowest administrative coverage in the previous 2 days. In the sampling plan we considered: N to be small enough to allow us to evaluate one lot per day, deciding to sample 16 individuals from the selected villages of each health area, using probability proportionate to population size; thresholds and d to vary according to administrative coverage reported; α ≤5% (meaning that, if we would have conducted the survey 100 times, we would have accepted the lot up to five times when real coverage was at an unacceptable level) and β ≤20% (meaning that we would have rejected the lot up to 20 times, when real coverage was equal or above the satisfactory level). We classified all three lots as with the acceptable coverage. LQAS appeared to be a rapid, simple, and statistically sound method for in-process coverage assessment. We encourage colleagues in the field to consider using LQAS in complement with other monitoring techniques such as house-to-house monitoring.

  9. General Purpose Data-Driven Online System Health Monitoring with Applications to Space Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iverson, David L.; Spirkovska, Lilly; Schwabacher, Mark

    2010-01-01

    Modern space transportation and ground support system designs are becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex. Determining the health state of these systems using traditional parameter limit checking, or model-based or rule-based methods is becoming more difficult as the number of sensors and component interactions grows. Data-driven monitoring techniques have been developed to address these issues by analyzing system operations data to automatically characterize normal system behavior. System health can be monitored by comparing real-time operating data with these nominal characterizations, providing detection of anomalous data signatures indicative of system faults, failures, or precursors of significant failures. The Inductive Monitoring System (IMS) is a general purpose, data-driven system health monitoring software tool that has been successfully applied to several aerospace applications and is under evaluation for anomaly detection in vehicle and ground equipment for next generation launch systems. After an introduction to IMS application development, we discuss these NASA online monitoring applications, including the integration of IMS with complementary model-based and rule-based methods. Although the examples presented in this paper are from space operations applications, IMS is a general-purpose health-monitoring tool that is also applicable to power generation and transmission system monitoring.

  10. A Battery Health Monitoring Framework for Planetary Rovers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daigle, Matthew J.; Kulkarni, Chetan Shrikant

    2014-01-01

    Batteries have seen an increased use in electric ground and air vehicles for commercial, military, and space applications as the primary energy source. An important aspect of using batteries in such contexts is battery health monitoring. Batteries must be carefully monitored such that the battery health can be determined, and end of discharge and end of usable life events may be accurately predicted. For planetary rovers, battery health estimation and prediction is critical to mission planning and decision-making. We develop a model-based approach utilizing computaitonally efficient and accurate electrochemistry models of batteries. An unscented Kalman filter yields state estimates, which are then used to predict the future behavior of the batteries and, specifically, end of discharge. The prediction algorithm accounts for possible future power demands on the rover batteries in order to provide meaningful results and an accurate representation of prediction uncertainty. The framework is demonstrated on a set of lithium-ion batteries powering a rover at NASA.

  11. INTEROPERABLE FRAMEWORK SOLUTION TO ICU HEALTH CARE MONITORING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shola Usha Rani

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available An interoperable telehealth system provides an independent healthcare solution for better management of health and wellness. It allows people to manage their heart disease and diabetes etc. by sending their health parameters like blood pressure, heart rate, glucose levels, temperature, weight, respiration from remote place to health professional, and get real-time feedback on their condition. Here different medical devices are connected to the patient for monitoring. Each kind of device is manufactured by different vendors. And each device information and communication requires different installation and network design. It causes design complexities and network overheads when moving patients for diagnosis examinations. This problem will be solved by interoperability among devices. The ISO/IEEE 11073 is an international standard which produces interoperable hospital information system solution to medical devices. One such type of integrated environment that requires the integration of medical devices is ICU (Intensive Care Unit. This paper presents the issues for ICU monitoring system and framework solution for it.

  12. APOLLO 17 PRELAUNCH ASTRONAUT TRAINING

    Science.gov (United States)

    1972-01-01

    Apollo Command Module Pilot Evans, left, and Mission Commander Cernan, right, discuss their flight plans as each prepares to fly a T-38 jet aircraft at Patrick Air Force Base just south of the Spaceport. Astronauts Cernan and Evans flew the T-38 aircraft today on training flights over the Kennedy Space Center area to practice flying skills in preparation for upcoming launch to the Moon scheduled 12/06/72.

  13. Astronaut Ronald Sega in crew cabin

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    Astronaut Ronald M. Sega suspends himself in the weightlessness aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery's crew cabin, as the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm holds the Wake Shield Facility (WSF) aloft. The mission specialist is co-principle investigator on the the WSF project. Note the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs banner above his head.

  14. Astronaut Joseph Tanner is assisted into his EMU during training

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    Astronaut Joseph R. Tanner, STS-66 mission specialist, is assisted by Boeing suit expert Steve Voyles in donning the gloves for his extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) as he prepares to be submerged in a 25-feet deep pool at JSC's Weightless Environment Training Facility (WETF). Though no extravehicular activity (EVA) is planned for the mission, at least two astronauts are trained to perform tasks that would require a space walk in the event of failure of remote systems.

  15. Marked exacerbation of orthostatic intolerance after long- vs. short-duration spaceflight in veteran astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meck, J. V.; Reyes, C. J.; Perez, S. A.; Goldberger, A. L.; Ziegler, M. G.

    2001-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: The incidence of postflight orthostatic intolerance after short-duration spaceflight is about 20%. However, the incidence after long-duration spaceflight was unknown. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that orthostatic intolerance is more severe after long-duration than after short-duration flight. METHODS: We performed tilt tests on six astronauts before and after long-duration (129-190 days) spaceflights and compared these data with data obtained during stand tests before and after previous short-duration missions. RESULTS: Five of the six astronauts studied became presyncopal during tilt testing after long-duration flights. Only one had become presyncopal during stand testing after short-duration flights. We also compared the long-duration flight tilt test data to tilt test data from 20 different astronauts who flew on the short-duration Shuttle missions that delivered and recovered the astronauts to and from the Mir Space Station. Five of these 20 astronauts became presyncopal on landing day. Heart rate responses to tilt were no different between astronauts on long-duration flights and astronauts on short-duration flights, but long-duration subjects had lower stroke volumes and cardiac outputs than short-duration presyncopal subjects, suggesting a possible decrease in cardiac contractile function. One subject had subnormal norepinephrine release with upright posture after the long flight but not after the short flight. Plasma volume losses were not greater after long flights. CONCLUSION: Long-duration spaceflight markedly increases orthostatic intolerance, probably with multiple contributing factors.

  16. Health technology assessment to optimize health technology utilization: using implementation initiatives and monitoring processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frønsdal, Katrine B; Facey, Karen; Klemp, Marianne; Norderhaug, Inger Natvig; Mørland, Berit; Røttingen, John-Arne

    2010-07-01

    The way in which a health technology is used in any particular health system depends on the decisions and actions of a variety of stakeholders, the local culture, and context. In 2009, the HTAi Policy Forum considered how health technology assessment (HTA) could be improved to optimize the use of technologies (in terms of uptake, change in use, or disinvestment) in such complex systems. In scoping, it was agreed to focus on initiatives to implement evidence-based guidance and monitoring activities. A review identified systematic reviews of implementation initiatives and monitoring activities. A two-day deliberative workshop was held to discuss key papers, members' experiences, and collectively address key questions. This consensus paper was developed by email and finalized at a postworkshop meeting. Evidence suggests that the impact and use of HTA could be increased by ensuring timely delivery of relevant reports to clearly determined policy receptor (decision-making) points. To achieve this, the breadth of assessment, implementation initiatives such as incentives and targeted, intelligent dissemination of HTA result, needs to be considered. HTA stakeholders undertake a variety of monitoring activities, which could inform optimal use of a technology. However, the quality of these data varies and is often not submitted to an HTA. Monitoring data should be sufficiently robust so that they can be used in HTA to inform optimal use of technology. Evidence-based implementation initiatives should be developed for HTA, to better inform decision makers at all levels in a health system about the optimal use of technology.

  17. Spaceflight-induced changes in white matter hyperintensity burden in astronauts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alperin, Noam; Bagci, Ahmet M; Lee, Sang H

    2017-11-21

    To assess the effect of weightlessness and the respective roles of CSF and vascular fluid on changes in white matter hyperintensity (WMH) burden in astronauts. We analyzed prespaceflight and postspaceflight brain MRI scans from 17 astronauts, 10 who flew a long-duration mission on the International Space Station (ISS) and 7 who flew a short-duration mission on the Space Shuttle. Automated analysis methods were used to determine preflight to postflight changes in periventricular and deep WMH, CSF, and brain tissue volumes in fluid-attenuated inversion recovery and high-resolution 3-dimensional T1-weighted imaging. Differences between cohorts and associations between individual measures were assessed. The short-term reversibility of the identified preflight to postflight changes was tested in a subcohort of 5 long-duration astronauts who had a second postflight MRI scan 1 month after the first postflight scan. Significant preflight to postflight changes were measured only in the long-duration cohort and included only the periventricular WMH and ventricular CSF volumes. Changes in deep WMH and brain tissue volumes were not significant in either cohort. The increase in periventricular WMH volume was significantly associated with an increase in ventricular CSF volume (ρ = 0.63, p = 0.008). A partial reversal of these increases was observed in the long-duration subcohort with a 1-month follow-up scan. Long-duration exposure to microgravity is associated with an increase in periventricular WMH in astronauts. This increase was linked to an increase in ventricular CSF volume documented in ISS astronauts. There was no associated change in or abnormal levels of WMH volumes in deep white matter as reported in U-2 high-altitude pilots. © 2017 American Academy of Neurology.

  18. Measurement of exposures to radioactivity and monitoring of effects on health

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spira, Alfred; Boutou, Odile

    1999-01-01

    On the request of the French ministries of Health and of the Environment, the author reports thoughts and proposals regarding epidemiological problems related to natural and artificial radioactive emissions. He first reports an analysis of the present context (assessment of health risks, ionizing radiation in France, radiation protection, nuclear operators, relationship between ionizing radiation and health, epidemiology) and knowledge (about nuclear and health, available results, current investigations). He outlines the benefits of an epidemiological monitoring and its requirements, and identifies the various components of this monitoring. While presenting current works, biological and epidemiological studies performed in the northern Cotentin area, he makes some specific proposals for this area and notably for the workers of La Hague. He proposes the implementation of a national arrangement comprising a measurement of exposures, an epidemiological monitoring, and a sociological survey. He discusses the associated administrative organisation and needs

  19. Effects of SMEAT on the oral health of crewmen (DTO 71-2). [dental hygiene

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, L. R.; Wheatcroft, M. G.

    1973-01-01

    The oral health status of three astronauts was monitored before, during and after a 56-day simulation of the Skylab mission. Laboratory and clinical parameters which are considered to be ultimately related to dental impairments were evaluated. The most notable changes were observed in increased counts of mycoplasma and S. mutans, decreased counts of enteric bacilli, decreased saliva flow rates, increased secretory IgA and salivary lysozyme levels, and increased clinical scores of dental plaque, calculus and inflammation.

  20. A qualitative review for wireless health monitoring system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arshad, Atika; Fadzil Ismail, Ahmad; Khan, Sheroz; Zahirul Alam, A. H. M.; Tasnim, Rumana; Samnan Haider, Syed; Shobaki, Mohammed M.; Shahid, Zeeshan

    2013-12-01

    A proliferating interest has been being observed over the past years in accurate wireless system development in order to monitor incessant human activities in health care centres. Furthermore because of the swelling number of elderly population and the inadequate number of competent staffs for nursing homes there is a big market petition for health care monitoring system. In order to detect human researchers developed different methods namely which include Field Identification technique, Visual Sensor Network, radar detection, e-mobile techniques and so on. An all-encompassing overview of the non-wired human detection application advancement is presented in this paper. Inductive links are used for human detection application while wiring an electronic system has become impractical in recent times. Keeping in mind the shortcomings, an Inductive Intelligent Sensor (IIS) has been proposed as a novel human monitoring system for future implementation. The proposed sensor works towards exploring the signature signals of human body movement and size. This proposed sensor is fundamentally based on inductive loop that senses the presence and a passing human resulting an inductive change.

  1. Astronautics and aeronautics, 1978: A chronology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janson, Bette R.

    1986-01-01

    This is the 18th in a series of annual chronologies of significant events in the fields of astronautics and aeronautics. Events covered are international as well as national and political as well as scientific and technical. This series is a reference work for historians, NASA personnel, government agencies, congressional staffs, and the media.

  2. Christer Fuglesang, a former CERN physicist-turned-astronaut

    CERN Multimedia

    NASA

    2006-01-01

    European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Christer Fuglesang, STS-116 mission specialist, participates in the mission's second extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction resumes on the International Space Station. Image: NASA.

  3. Time-frequency Methods for Structural Health Monitoring

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pyayt, A.L.; Kozionov, A.P.; Mokhov, I.I.; Lang, B.; Meijer, R.J.; Krzhizhanovskaya, V.V.; Sloot, P.M.A.

    2014-01-01

    Detection of early warning signals for the imminent failure of large and complex engineered structures is a daunting challenge with many open research questions. In this paper we report on novel ways to perform Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of flood protection systems (levees, earthen dikes and

  4. Time-frequency methods for structural health monitoring

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pyayt, A.L.; Kozionov, A.P.; Mokhov, I.I.; Lang, B.; Meijer, R.J.; Krzhizhanovskaya, V.V.; Sloot, P.M.A.

    2014-01-01

    Detection of early warning signals for the imminent failure of large and complex engineered structures is a daunting challenge with many open research questions. In this paper we report on novel ways to perform Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of flood protection systems (levees, earthen dikes and

  5. Model-based health monitoring of hybrid systems

    CERN Document Server

    Wang, Danwei; Low, Chang Boon; Arogeti, Shai

    2013-01-01

    Offers in-depth comprehensive study on health monitoring for hybrid systems Includes new concepts, such as GARR, mode tracking and multiple failure prognosis Contains many examples, making the developed techniques easily understandable and accessible Introduces state-of-the-art algorithms and methodologies from experienced researchers

  6. Advanced health monitor for automated driving functions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mikovski Iotov, I.

    2017-01-01

    There is a trend in the automotive domain where driving functions are taken from the driver by automated driving functions. In order to guarantee the correct behavior of these auto-mated driving functions, the report introduces an Advanced Health Monitor that uses Tem-poral Logic and Probabilistic

  7. Mobile patient monitoring: The MobiHealth system

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wac, K.E.; Bults, Richard G.A.; van Beijnum, Bernhard J.F.; Widya, I.A.; Jones, Valerie M.; Konstantas, D.; Vollenbroek-Hutten, Miriam Marie Rosé; Hermens, Hermanus J.

    2009-01-01

    The emergence of high bandwidth public wireless networks and miniaturized personal mobile devices give rise to new mobile healthcare services. To this end, the MobiHealth system provides highly customizable vital signs tele-monitoring and tele-treatment system based on a body area network (BAN) and

  8. NPS Adds Another Astronaut Alumnus With NASA’s Newest Class

    OpenAIRE

    Kuska, Dale M.

    2013-01-01

    Article taken from the NPS website: http://www.nps.edu/About/News/NPS-Adds-Another-Astronaut-Alumnus-With-NASAs-Newest-Class.html When NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced the latest class of NASA’s eight astronaut candidates, June 17, the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) was able to add yet another space-traveling alumnus to its ranks, now totaling 41 and counting. Lt. Cmdr. Victor Glover, an F/A-18 combat pilot currently serving as a Legislative Fellow in the office of Senat...

  9. Structural health monitoring using wireless sensor networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sreevallabhan, K.; Nikhil Chand, B.; Ramasamy, Sudha

    2017-11-01

    Monitoring and analysing health of large structures like bridges, dams, buildings and heavy machinery is important for safety, economical, operational, making prior protective measures, and repair and maintenance point of view. In recent years there is growing demand for such larger structures which in turn make people focus more on safety. By using Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Accelerometer we can perform Structural Health Monitoring by studying the dynamic response through measure of ambient vibrations and strong motion of such structures. By using Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) we can embed these sensors in wireless networks which helps us to transmit data wirelessly thus we can measure the data wirelessly at any remote location. This in turn reduces heavy wiring which is a cost effective as well as time consuming process to lay those wires. In this paper we developed WSN based MEMS-accelerometer for Structural to test the results in the railway bridge near VIT University, Vellore campus.

  10. Salivary Varicella Zoster Virus in Astronauts and in Patients of Herpes Zoster

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehta, Satish; Pierson, Duane L.

    2010-01-01

    Spaceflight is a uniquely stressful environment with astronauts experiencing a variety of stressors including: isolation and confinement, psychosocial, noise, sleep deprivation, anxiety, variable gravitational forces, and increased radiation. These stressors are manifested through the HPA and SAM axes resulting in increased stress hormones. Diminished T-lymphocyte functions lead to reactivation of latent herpes viruses in astronauts during spaceflight. Herpes simplex virus reactivated with symptoms during spaceflight whereas Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), and varicella zoster virus (VZV) reactivate and are shed without symptoms. EBV and VZV are shed in saliva and CMV in the urine. The levels of EBV shed in astronauts increased 10-fold during the flight; CMV and VZV are not typically shed in low stressed individuals, but both were shed in astronauts during spaceflight. All herpesviruses were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Culturing revealed that VZV shed in saliva was infectious virus. The PCR technology was extended to test saliva of 54 shingles patients. All shingles patients shed VZV in their saliva, and the levels followed the course of the disease. Viremia was also found to be common during shingles. The technology may be used before zoster lesions appear allowing for prevention of disease. The technology may be used for rapid detection of VZV in doctors? offices. These studies demonstrated the value of applying technologies designed for astronauts to people on Earth.

  11. Astronaut Bonnie Dunbar watches crewmates during training

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    Astronaut Bonnie J. Dunbar, STS-71 mission specialist, smiles as she watches a crew mate (out of frame) make a simulated parachute landing in nearby water. The action came as part of an emergency bailout training session in the JSC Weightless Environment

  12. Integration of structural health monitoring solutions onto commercial aircraft via the Federal Aviation Administration structural health monitoring research program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swindell, Paul; Doyle, Jon; Roach, Dennis

    2017-02-01

    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) started a research program in structural health monitoring (SHM) in 2011. The program's goal was to understand the technical gaps of implementing SHM on commercial aircraft and the potential effects on FAA regulations and guidance. The program evolved into a demonstration program consisting of a team from Sandia National Labs Airworthiness Assurance NDI Center (AANC), the Boeing Corporation, Delta Air Lines, Structural Monitoring Systems (SMS), Anodyne Electronics Manufacturing Corp (AEM) and the FAA. This paper will discuss the program from the selection of the inspection problem, the SHM system (Comparative Vacuum Monitoring-CVM) that was selected as the inspection solution and the testing completed to provide sufficient data to gain the first approved use of an SHM system for routine maintenance on commercial US aircraft.

  13. Incidence of Epstein-Barr Virus in Astronaut Saliva During Spaceflight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Payne, Deborah A.; Mehta, Satish K.; Tyring, Stephen K.; Stowe, Raymond P.; Pierson, Duane L.

    1998-01-01

    Astronauts experience psychological and physical stresses that may result in re-activation of latent viruses during spaceflight, potentially increasing the risk of disease among crew members. The shedding of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in the saliva of astronauts will increase during spaceflight. A total of 534 saliva specimens were collected from 11 EBV-seropositive astronauts before, during, and after four space shuttle missions. The presence of EBV DNA in saliva, assessed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), was used to determine shedding patterns before, during, and after spaceflight. EBV DNA was detected more frequently before flight than during (p less than 0.001) or after (p less than 0.01) flight. No significant difference between the in-flight and postflight periods was detected in the frequency of occurrence of EBV DNA. The increased frequency of shedding of EBV before flight suggests that stress levels may be greater before launch than during or after spaceflight.

  14. Astronautics and aeronautics, 1985: A chronology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janson, Bette R.

    1988-01-01

    This book is part of a series of annual chronologies of significant events in the fields of astronautics and aeronautics. Events covered are international as well as national, in political as well as scientific and technical areas. This series is an important reference work used by historians, NASA personnel, government agencies, and congressional staffs, as well as the media.

  15. Multinational surveys for monitoring eHealth policy implementations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gilstad, Heidi; Faxvaag, Arild; Hyppönen, Hannele

    2014-01-01

    Development of multinational variables for monitoring eHealth policy implementations is a complex task and requires multidisciplinary, knowledgebased international collaboration. Experts in an interdisciplinary workshop identified useful data and pitfalls for comparative variable development...

  16. Construction of health monitoring system for traveler based on the mobile Internet

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Haoqian

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available With the development of communication technology and computer technology,intelligent terminals represented by smartphone and mobile Internet have become indispensable tools in people's life and work.As the intelligent terminal platform is widely used and the wearable medical equipment is gradually mature,this paper based on the Internet designs and develops a health monitoring system for travelers who suffered from chronic diseases or worried about their physical conditions,to provide a whole process of health monitoring and assistant service.The system,combing smartphone and wearable medical devices,uploads the health and physical signs data to the health monitoring platform through the mobile Internet.Then the professionals statistically analyze the data and provide appropriate advice and guidance,so as to achieve the remote medical treatment for travelers.

  17. Application of ubiquitous computing in personal health monitoring systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kunze, C; Grossmann, U; Stork, W; Müller-Glaser, K D

    2002-01-01

    A possibility to significantly reduce the costs of public health systems is to increasingly use information technology. The Laboratory for Information Processing Technology (ITIV) at the University of Karlsruhe is developing a personal health monitoring system, which should improve health care and at the same time reduce costs by combining micro-technological smart sensors with personalized, mobile computing systems. In this paper we present how ubiquitous computing theory can be applied in the health-care domain.

  18. Latent Virus Reactivation in Space Shuttle Astronauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehta, S. K.; Crucian, B. E.; Stowe, R. P.; Sams, C.; Castro, V. A.; Pierson, D. L.

    2011-01-01

    Latent virus reactivation was measured in 17 astronauts (16 male and 1 female) before, during, and after short-duration Space Shuttle missions. Blood, urine, and saliva samples were collected 2-4 months before launch, 10 days before launch (L-10), 2-3 hours after landing (R+0), 3 days after landing (R+14), and 120 days after landing (R+120). Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA was measured in these samples by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) DNA was measured in the 381 saliva samples and cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA in the 66 urine samples collected from these subjects. Fourteen astronauts shed EBV DNA in 21% of their saliva samples before, during, and after flight, and 7 astronauts shed VZV in 7.4% of their samples during and after flight. It was interesting that shedding of both EBV and VZV increased during the flight phase relative to before or after flight. In the case of CMV, 32% of urine samples from 8 subjects contained DNA of this virus. In normal healthy control subjects, EBV shedding was found in 3% and VZV and CMV were found in less than 1% of the samples. The circadian rhythm of salivary cortisol measured before, during, and after space flight did not show any significant difference between flight phases. These data show that increased reactivation of latent herpes viruses may be associated with decreased immune system function, which has been reported in earlier studies as well as in these same subjects (data not reported here).

  19. Learning to Monitor Machine Health with Convolutional Bi-Directional LSTM Networks

    OpenAIRE

    Rui Zhao; Ruqiang Yan; Jinjiang Wang; Kezhi Mao

    2017-01-01

    In modern manufacturing systems and industries, more and more research efforts have been made in developing effective machine health monitoring systems. Among various machine health monitoring approaches, data-driven methods are gaining in popularity due to the development of advanced sensing and data analytic techniques. However, considering the noise, varying length and irregular sampling behind sensory data, this kind of sequential data cannot be fed into classification and regression mode...

  20. From Homo Sapiens to Homo Cosmicus - Astronautics, Darwinism abd Historical Determinism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tolkowsky, G.

    Since its inception in late-nineteenth century, astronautics has been viewed as a historical outcome of human evolution as well as a future driver thereof. The history of astronautics-related, evolutionary thought reveals a tension between the Darwinian notion of natural selection and that of homocosmic predestination - be it of dialectical materialistic or theological nature. One can detect the influence of this ideological diversity on the American and Soviet space programs.

  1. Reporters Interview Family of Apollo 11 Astronaut Neil Armstrong

    Science.gov (United States)

    1969-01-01

    Newsmen talked with the wife and sons of Apollo 11 astronaut Neil A. Armstrong after the successful launch of Apollo 11 on its trajectory to the moon. The Apollo 11 mission, the first lunar landing mission, launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida via the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) developed Saturn V launch vehicle on July 16, 1969 and safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. Aboard the space craft were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, Command Module (CM) pilot; and Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module (LM) pilot. The CM, 'Columbia', piloted by Collins, remained in a parking orbit around the Moon while the LM, 'Eagle'', carrying astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin, landed on the Moon. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface, followed by Aldrin. During 2½ hours of surface exploration, the crew collected 47 pounds of lunar surface material for analysis back on Earth. With the success of Apollo 11, the national objective to land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished.

  2. Towards "Zero" False Positive in Structural Health Monitoring

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Chiu, Wing K; Chang, F. K; Tian, Daniel T

    2007-01-01

    Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is one aspect of a revolution based on the use of Smart Materials and Structures technologies that have the potential to provide major gains in structural performance and cost-efficient life management...

  3. How can we protect astronauts from cosmic rays?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parker, E.

    2006-01-01

    Interplanetary astronauts would absorb more radiation in a single year than radiation workers are supposed to receive in a lifetime and as a consequence large number of them would develop radiation-related illnesses like cancer, cataract or would suffer from brain damage. In recognition to radiation threats, Nasa set up the space radiation shielding program in 2003. The first idea was to protect the astronauts by surrounding them with matter, by analogy of the earth's atmosphere but the problem of such a shield is its weight: the required mass would be at least 400 tons. The second proposal was to deflect the cosmic rays magnetically but the deflection of particles that have energies up to 2 GeV requires a magnetic field 600.000 times as strong as earth's equatorial field. Strong magnetic field may itself be dangerous. A more recent idea has been to give the spacecraft a positive charge which would repel any incoming positively charged nucleus. The drawback is that the ship will attract and accelerate negatively charged particles over distances as long as a few tens of thousands of kilometers. The result would be that the natural cosmic-ray flux would be replaced with a much more intense artificial one. At the present time the different solutions for protecting the astronauts from cosmic rays give little encouragement. (A.C.)

  4. Long-term real-time structural health monitoring using wireless smart sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jang, Shinae; Mensah-Bonsu, Priscilla O.; Li, Jingcheng; Dahal, Sushil

    2013-04-01

    Improving the safety and security of civil infrastructure has become a critical issue for decades since it plays a central role in the economics and politics of a modern society. Structural health monitoring of civil infrastructure using wireless smart sensor network has emerged as a promising solution recently to increase structural reliability, enhance inspection quality, and reduce maintenance costs. Though hardware and software framework are well prepared for wireless smart sensors, the long-term real-time health monitoring strategy are still not available due to the lack of systematic interface. In this paper, the Imote2 smart sensor platform is employed, and a graphical user interface for the long-term real-time structural health monitoring has been developed based on Matlab for the Imote2 platform. This computer-aided engineering platform enables the control, visualization of measured data as well as safety alarm feature based on modal property fluctuation. A new decision making strategy to check the safety is also developed and integrated in this software. Laboratory validation of the computer aided engineering platform for the Imote2 on a truss bridge and a building structure has shown the potential of the interface for long-term real-time structural health monitoring.

  5. Health monitoring system for transmission shafts based on adaptive parameter identification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Souflas, I.; Pezouvanis, A.; Ebrahimi, K. M.

    2018-05-01

    A health monitoring system for a transmission shaft is proposed. The solution is based on the real-time identification of the physical characteristics of the transmission shaft i.e. stiffness and damping coefficients, by using a physical oriented model and linear recursive identification. The efficacy of the suggested condition monitoring system is demonstrated on a prototype transient engine testing facility equipped with a transmission shaft capable of varying its physical properties. Simulation studies reveal that coupling shaft faults can be detected and isolated using the proposed condition monitoring system. Besides, the performance of various recursive identification algorithms is addressed. The results of this work recommend that the health status of engine dynamometer shafts can be monitored using a simple lumped-parameter shaft model and a linear recursive identification algorithm which makes the concept practically viable.

  6. Continuous Monitoring of Glucose for Type 1 Diabetes: A Health Technology Assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2018-01-01

    Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. People with type 1 diabetes must manage their blood glucose levels by monitoring the amount of glucose in their blood and administering appropriate amounts of insulin via injection or an insulin pump. Continuous glucose monitoring may be beneficial compared to self-monitoring of blood glucose using a blood glucose meter. It provides insight into a person's blood glucose levels on a continuous basis, and can identify whether blood glucose levels are trending up or down. We conducted a health technology assessment, which included an evaluation of clinical benefit, value for money, and patient preferences related to continuous glucose monitoring. We compared continuous glucose monitoring with self-monitoring of blood glucose using a finger-prick and a blood glucose meter. We performed a systematic literature search for studies published since January 1, 2010. We created a Markov model projecting the lifetime horizon of adults with type 1 diabetes, and performed a budget impact analysis from the perspective of the health care payer. We also conducted interviews and focus group discussions with people who self-manage their type 1 diabetes or support the management of a child with type 1 diabetes. Twenty studies were included in the clinical evidence review. Compared with self-monitoring of blood glucose, continuous glucose monitoring improved the percentage of time patients spent in the target glycemic range by 9.6% (95% confidence interval 8.0-11.2) to 10.0% (95% confidence interval 6.75-13.25) and decreased the number of severe hypoglycemic events.Continuous glucose monitoring was associated with higher costs and small increases in health benefits (quality-adjusted life-years). Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) ranged from $592,206 to $1,108,812 per quality-adjusted life-year gained in analyses comparing four continuous glucose monitoring interventions to usual care

  7. Astronaut John Glenn Enters Friendship 7

    Science.gov (United States)

    1962-01-01

    Astronaut John Glenn enters the Mercury spacecraft, Friendship 7, prior to the launch of MA-6 on February 20, 1961 and became the first American who orbited the Earth. The MA-6 mission was the first manned orbital flight boosted by the Mercury-Atlas vehicle, a modified Atlas ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile), lasted for five hours, and orbited the Earth three times.

  8. Astronaut Scott Parazynski during egress training

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    Astronaut Scott E. Parazynski looks at fellow STS-66 mission specialist Joseph R. Tanner, (foreground) during a rehearsal of procedures to be followed during the launch and entry phases of their scheduled November 1994 flight. This rehearsal, held in the crew compartment trainer (CCT) of JSC's Shuttle mockup and integration laboratory, was followed by a training session on emergency egress procedures.

  9. How Can "Weightless" Astronauts Be Weighed?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carnicer, Jesus; Reyes, Francisco; Guisasola, Jenaro

    2012-01-01

    In introductory physics courses, within the context of studying Newton's laws, it is common to consider the problem of a body's "weight" when it is in free fall. The solution shows that the "weight" is zero and this leads to a discussion of the concept of weight. There are permanent free-fall situations such as astronauts in a spacecraft orbiting…

  10. Wearable health monitoring using capacitive voltage-mode Human Body Communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maity, Shovan; Das, Debayan; Sen, Shreyas

    2017-07-01

    Rapid miniaturization and cost reduction of computing, along with the availability of wearable and implantable physiological sensors have led to the growth of human Body Area Network (BAN) formed by a network of such sensors and computing devices. One promising application of such a network is wearable health monitoring where the collected data from the sensors would be transmitted and analyzed to assess the health of a person. Typically, the devices in a BAN are connected through wireless (WBAN), which suffers from energy inefficiency due to the high-energy consumption of wireless transmission. Human Body Communication (HBC) uses the relatively low loss human body as the communication medium to connect these devices, promising order(s) of magnitude better energy-efficiency and built-in security compared to WBAN. In this paper, we demonstrate a health monitoring device and system built using Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) sensors and components, that can collect data from physiological sensors and transmit it through a) intra-body HBC to another device (hub) worn on the body or b) upload health data through HBC-based human-machine interaction to an HBC capable machine. The system design constraints and signal transfer characteristics for the implemented HBC-based wearable health monitoring system are measured and analyzed, showing reliable connectivity with >8× power savings compared to Bluetooth low-energy (BTLE).

  11. Official portrait of Astronaut Anna L. Fisher

    Science.gov (United States)

    1985-01-01

    Official portrait of Astronaut Anna L. Fisher. Fisher is posing with her helmet on the table in front of her and the American flag appears over the opposite shoulder (34357); Posing with an empty table in front of her and the American flag behind her (34358).

  12. Astronaut training for STS 41-G mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    1984-01-01

    Astronauts training for STS 41-G mission. Payload specialist Paul Scully-Power sits in an office near the space shuttle simulator reviewing a diagram. He is wearging a communications head set. At his elbow is an example of food packets to be used aboard the shuttle.

  13. Telecast of Astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin by the Lunar Module

    Science.gov (United States)

    1969-01-01

    Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong (in center) commander; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. (on right), lunar module pilot, are seen standing near their Lunar Module in this black and white reproduction taken from a telecast by the Apollo 11 lunar surface television camera during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity. This picture was made from a televised image received at the Deep Space Network tracking station at Goldstone, California. President Richard M. Nixon had just spoken to the two astronauts by radio and Aldrin, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, is saluting the president.

  14. Accelerated Aging Experiments for Capacitor Health Monitoring and Prognostics

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This paper discusses experimental setups for health monitoring and prognostics of electrolytic capacitors under nominal operation and accelerated aging conditions....

  15. Propulsion health monitoring of a turbine engine disk using spin test data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdul-Aziz, Ali; Woike, Mark; Oza, Nikunj; Matthews, Bryan; Baakilini, George

    2010-03-01

    On line detection techniques to monitor the health of rotating engine components are becoming increasingly attractive options to aircraft engine companies in order to increase safety of operation and lower maintenance costs. Health monitoring remains a challenging feature to easily implement, especially, in the presence of scattered loading conditions, crack size, component geometry and materials properties. The current trend, however, is to utilize noninvasive types of health monitoring or nondestructive techniques to detect hidden flaws and mini cracks before any catastrophic event occurs. These techniques go further to evaluate materials' discontinuities and other anomalies that have grown to the level of critical defects which can lead to failure. Generally, health monitoring is highly dependent on sensor systems that are capable of performing in various engine environmental conditions and able to transmit a signal upon a predetermined crack length, while acting in a neutral form upon the overall performance of the engine system. Efforts are under way at NASA Glenn Research Center through support of the Intelligent Vehicle Health Management Project (IVHM) to develop and implement such sensor technology for a wide variety of applications. These efforts are focused on developing high temperature, wireless, low cost and durable products. Therefore, in an effort to address the technical issues concerning health monitoring of a rotor disk, this paper considers data collected from an experimental study using high frequency capacitive sensor technology to capture blade tip clearance and tip timing measurements in a rotating engine-like-disk-to predict the disk faults and assess its structural integrity. The experimental results collected at a range of rotational speeds from tests conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center's Rotordynamics Laboratory will be evaluated using multiple data-driven anomaly detection techniques to identify anomalies in the disk. This study

  16. Engagement with eHealth Self-Monitoring in a Primary Care-Based Weight Management Intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolin, Kathleen Y; Steinberg, Dori M; Lane, Ilana B; Askew, Sandy; Greaney, Mary L; Colditz, Graham A; Bennett, Gary G

    2015-01-01

    While eHealth approaches hold promise for improving the reach and cost-effectiveness of behavior change interventions, they have been challenged by declining participant engagement over time, particularly for self-monitoring behaviors. These are significant concerns in the context of chronic disease prevention and management where durable effects are important for driving meaningful changes. "Be Fit, Be Well" was an eHealth weight loss intervention that allowed participants to self-select a self-monitoring modality (web or interactive voice response (IVR)). Participants could change their modality. As such, this study provides a unique opportunity to examine the effects of intervention modality choice and changing modalities on intervention engagement and outcomes. Intervention participants, who were recruited from community health centers, (n = 180) were expected to self-monitor health behaviors weekly over the course of the 24-month intervention. We examined trends in intervention engagement by modality (web, IVR, or changed modality) among participants in the intervention arm. The majority (61%) of participants chose IVR self-monitoring, while 39% chose web. 56% of those who selected web monitoring changed to IVR during the study versus no change in those who initially selected IVR. Self-monitoring declined in both modalities, but completion rates were higher in those who selected IVR. There were no associations between self-monitoring modality and weight or blood pressure outcomes. This is the first study to compare web and IVR self-monitoring in an eHealth intervention where participants could select and change their self-monitoring modality. IVR shows promise for achieving consistent engagement.

  17. Novelty detection methods for online health monitoring and post data analysis of turbopumps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lei Hu; Niaoqing, Hu; Xinpeng, Zhang; Fengshou, Gu; Ming, Gao

    2013-01-01

    As novelty detection works when only normal data are available, it is of considerable promise for health monitoring in cases lacking fault samples and prior knowledge. We present two novelty detection methods for health monitoring of turbopumps in large-scale liquid propellant rocket engines. The first method is the adaptive Gaussian threshold model. This method is designed to monitor the vibration of the turbopumps online because it has minimal computational complexity and is easy for implementation in real time. The second method is the one-class support vector machine (OCSVM) which is developed for post analysis of historical vibration signals. Via post analysis the method not only confirms the online monitoring results but also provides diagnostic results so that faults from sensors are separated from those actually from the turbopumps. Both of these two methods are validated to be efficient for health monitoring of the turbopumps.

  18. Design and Analysis of Architectures for Structural Health Monitoring Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukkamala, Ravi; Sixto, S. L. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    During the two-year project period, we have worked on several aspects of Health Usage and Monitoring Systems for structural health monitoring. In particular, we have made contributions in the following areas. 1. Reference HUMS architecture: We developed a high-level architecture for health monitoring and usage systems (HUMS). The proposed reference architecture is shown. It is compatible with the Generic Open Architecture (GOA) proposed as a standard for avionics systems. 2. HUMS kernel: One of the critical layers of HUMS reference architecture is the HUMS kernel. We developed a detailed design of a kernel to implement the high level architecture.3. Prototype implementation of HUMS kernel: We have implemented a preliminary version of the HUMS kernel on a Unix platform.We have implemented both a centralized system version and a distributed version. 4. SCRAMNet and HUMS: SCRAMNet (Shared Common Random Access Memory Network) is a system that is found to be suitable to implement HUMS. For this reason, we have conducted a simulation study to determine its stability in handling the input data rates in HUMS. 5. Architectural specification.

  19. Twenty years of children’s health monitoring: organization, results, conclusions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aleksandra Anatol’evna Shabunova

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Deep understanding of human potential reproduction, presenting it as a continuous cycle and reflecting the continuity of generations, is significant for the formation of health and development of children. Today’s children will determine the future of Russian society. It is they who in 10–15 years will be a major part of the labor and creative population, a demographic base of the country. The research into children’s problems through the prism of socio-economic development helps identify targets of the state many-sided policy. The article presents results of the long-term medical sociological monitoring on the formation of child health carried out by the Institute of Socio-Economic Development of Territories of RAS with the support of the Vologda Oblast Healthcare Department since 1995. The special monitoring study of health dynamics in real time is unique not only for the Vologda Oblast, but for Russia as well. It reveals the transformation of a personality and the dependence of these changes on direct and indirect factors. The work’s feature is that it addresses an extremely important and wide range of issues: whether man was born healthy or not, if he/she is unhealthy, then why and why he/she was born unhealthy; whether his/her health after the birth is improving or deteriorating; if health is changing, what causes the changes. The 15 year observations disclose the dynamics of child health in the conditions of transformation processes taking place in the country. If the official statistics only records certain health trends, the monitoring results allow us to talk about them at a qualitatively new level. They reveal the underlying causes of demographic processes. The conclusion is, on the one hand, obvious and, on the other hand, it can not be neglected: economic stability and orderly development of the social sphere are critical for family well-being and child health. The reverse situation leads to the destruction of the family

  20. Characterizing Fractures Across the Astronaut Corps: Preliminary Findings from Population-Level Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rossi, Meredith M.; Charvat, Jacqueline M.; Sibonga, Jean D.; Sieker, Jeremy

    2017-01-01

    Despite evidence of bone loss during spaceflight and the implementation of countermeasures to mitigate this loss, the subsequent risk of fracture among astronauts is not known. Multiple factors such as age, sex, fracture history, and others may combine to increase fracture risk. The purpose of this study was to describe fractures among the astronaut population and generate questions for future occupational surveillance studies.

  1. Flexible, Stretchable Sensors for Wearable Health Monitoring: Sensing Mechanisms, Materials, Fabrication Strategies and Features

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yan; Wang, Hai; Zhao, Wei; Qin, Hongbo; Xie, Yongqiang

    2018-01-01

    Wearable health monitoring systems have gained considerable interest in recent years owing to their tremendous promise for personal portable health watching and remote medical practices. The sensors with excellent flexibility and stretchability are crucial components that can provide health monitoring systems with the capability of continuously tracking physiological signals of human body without conspicuous uncomfortableness and invasiveness. The signals acquired by these sensors, such as body motion, heart rate, breath, skin temperature and metabolism parameter, are closely associated with personal health conditions. This review attempts to summarize the recent progress in flexible and stretchable sensors, concerning the detected health indicators, sensing mechanisms, functional materials, fabrication strategies, basic and desired features. The potential challenges and future perspectives of wearable health monitoring system are also briefly discussed. PMID:29470408

  2. 24-h blood pressure in Space: The dark side of being an astronaut

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Karemaker, John M.; Berecki-Gisolf, Janneke

    2009-01-01

    Inflight 24-h profiles of blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were recorded in 2 ESA-astronauts by automatic upper arm cuff measurements. In one astronaut this was combined with Portapres (TM) continuous finger blood pressure recordings. It was the intention to contrast the latter to 24-h

  3. Continuous health monitoring of Graphite Epoxy Motorcases (GEM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finlayson, Richard D.; Schaafsma, David T.; Shen, H. Warren; Carlos, Mark F.; Miller, Ronnie K.; Shepherd, Brent

    2001-07-01

    Following the explosion of Delta 241 (IIR-1) on January 17th, 1997, the failure investigation board concluded that the Graphite Epoxy Motorcases (GEM's) should be inspected for damage just prior to launch. Subsequent investigations and feedback from industry led to an Aerospace Corporation proposal to instrument the entire fleet of GEM's with a continuous health monitoring system. The period of monitoring would extend from the initial acceptance testing through final erection on the launch pad. As this proposal demonstrates, (along with the increasing use of advanced composite materials in aircraft, automobiles, military hardware, and aerospace components such as rocket motorcases) a sizable need for composite health assessment measures exist. Particularly where continuous monitoring is required for the detection of damage from impacts and other sources of high mechanical and thermal stresses. Even low-momentum impacts can lead to barely visible impact damage (BVID), corresponding to a significant weakening of the composite. This damage, undetectable by visual inspection, can in turn lead to sudden and catastrophic failure when the material is subjected to a normal operating load. There is perhaps no system with as much potential for truly catastrophic failure as a rocket motor. We will present an update on our ongoing efforts with the United States Air Force Delta II Program Office, and The Aerospace Corporation. This will cover the development of a local, portable, surface-mounted, fiberoptic sensor based impact damage monitor designed to operate on a Delta II GEM during transport, storage, and handling. This system is designed to continuously monitor the GEMs, to communicate wirelessly with base stations and maintenance personnel, to operate autonomously for extended periods, and to fit unobtrusively on the GEM itself.

  4. Structural health monitoring of bridge cables : An overview

    OpenAIRE

    DRISSI HABTI, Monssef; BETTI, Raimondo; YANEV, Bojidar

    2009-01-01

    Bridges are critical components of the civil infrastructure and are normally designed for a long life span. The life span of suspension bridges depends on the health of their cables, which, in turn, is a function of many factors. Therefore, continuous health monitoring (SHM) and regular condition assessment of cables is highly desirable. In this article, some SHM procedures based on direct, indirect non-destructive techniques NDT, and vibration theory are presented.

  5. Mobile health-monitoring system through visible light communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Yee-Yong; Chung, Wan-Young

    2014-01-01

    Promising development in the light emitting diode (LED) technology has spurred the interest to adapt LED for both illumination and data transmission. This has fostered the growth of interest in visible light communication (VLC), with on-going research to utilize VLC in various applications. This paper presents a mobile-health monitoring system, where healthcare information such as biomedical signals and patient information are transmitted via the LED lighting. A small and portable receiver module is designed and developed to be attached to the mobile device, providing a seamless monitoring environment. Three different healthcare information including ECG, PPG signals and HL7 text information is transmitted simultaneously, using a single channel VLC. This allows for a more precise and accurate monitoring and diagnosis. The data packet size is carefully designed, to transmit information in a minimal packet error rate. A comprehensive monitoring application is designed and developed through the use of a tablet computer in our study. Monitoring and evaluation such as heart rate and arterial blood pressure measurement can be performed concurrently. Real-time monitoring is demonstrated through experiment, where non-hazardous transmission method can be implemented alongside a portable device for better and safer healthcare service.

  6. Feasibility study of astronaut standardized career dose limits in LEO and the outlook for BLEO

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKenna-Lawlor, Susan; Bhardwaj, A.; Ferrari, Franco; Kuznetsov, Nikolay; Lal, A. K.; Li, Yinghui; Nagamatsu, Aiko; Nymmik, Rikho; Panasyuk, Michael; Petrov, Vladislav; Reitz, Guenther; Pinsky, Lawrence; Muszaphar Shukor, Sheikh; Singhvi, A. K.; Straube, Ulrich; Tomi, Leena; Townsend, Lawrence

    2014-11-01

    Cosmic Study Group SG 3.19/1.10 was established in February 2013 under the aegis of the International Academy of Astronautics to consider and compare the dose limits adopted by various space agencies for astronauts in Low Earth Orbit. A preliminary definition of the limits that might later be adopted by crews exploring Beyond Low Earth Orbit was, in addition, to be made. The present paper presents preliminary results of the study reported at a Symposium held in Turin by the Academy in July 2013. First, an account is provided of exposure limits assigned by various partner space agencies to those of their astronauts that work aboard the International Space Station. Then, gaps in the scientific and technical information required to safely implement human missions beyond the shielding provided by the geomagnetic field (to the Moon, Mars and beyond) are identified. Among many recommendations for actions to mitigate the health risks potentially posed to personnel Beyond Low Earth Orbit is the development of a preliminary concept for a Human Space Awareness System to: provide for crewed missions the means of prompt onboard detection of the ambient arrival of hazardous particles; develop a strategy for the implementation of onboard responses to hazardous radiation levels; support modeling/model validation that would enable reliable predictions to be made of the arrival of hazardous radiation at a distant spacecraft; provide for the timely transmission of particle alerts to a distant crewed vehicle at an emergency frequency using suitably located support spacecraft. Implementation of the various recommendations of the study can be realized based on a two pronged strategy whereby Space Agencies/Space Companies/Private Entrepreneurial Organizations etc. address the mastering of required key technologies (e.g. fast transportation; customized spacecraft design) while the International Academy of Astronautics, in a role of handling global international co-operation, organizes

  7. Summary Report: Forest Health Monitoring in the South, 1991

    Science.gov (United States)

    William A. Bechtold; William H. Hoffard; Robert L. Anderson

    1992-01-01

    The USDA Forest Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have launched a joint program to monitor the health of forests iu the United States. The program is still in the initial phases of implementation, but several indicators of forest health are undergoiug development and permanent plots have been established in 12 States. This report contains...

  8. Summary of Forest health monitoring: 2006 national technical report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mark J. Ambrose

    2009-01-01

    Forest Health Monitoring (FHM), together with cooperating researchers both in and outside of the Forest Service, continues to investigate a variety of issues relating to forest health. This report provides some of the latest analyses and results. The broad range of indicators presented demonstrates one reason it can be difficult to draw general conclusions about the...

  9. Psychological Selection of NASA Astronauts for International Space Station Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galarza, Laura

    1999-01-01

    During the upcoming manned International Space Station (ISS) missions, astronauts will encounter the unique conditions of living and working with a multicultural crew in a confined and isolated space environment. The environmental, social, and mission-related challenges of these missions will require crewmembers to emphasize effective teamwork, leadership, group living and self-management to maintain the morale and productivity of the crew. The need for crew members to possess and display skills and behaviors needed for successful adaptability to ISS missions led us to upgrade the tools and procedures we use for astronaut selection. The upgraded tools include personality and biographical data measures. Content and construct-related validation techniques were used to link upgraded selection tools to critical skills needed for ISS missions. The results of these validation efforts showed that various personality and biographical data variables are related to expert and interview ratings of critical ISS skills. Upgraded and planned selection tools better address the critical skills, demands, and working conditions of ISS missions and facilitate the selection of astronauts who will more easily cope and adapt to ISS flights.

  10. Apollo 11 Astronaut Neil Armstrong During Lunar Rock Collection Training

    Science.gov (United States)

    1969-01-01

    In this photograph, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil A. Armstrong uses a geologist's hammer in selecting rock specimens during a geological field trip to the Quitman Mountains area near the Fort Quitman ruins in far west Texas. Armstrong, alongside astronaut Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin, practiced gathering rock specimens using special lunar geological tools in preparation for the first Lunar landing. Mission was accomplished in July of the same year. Aboard the Marshall Space Fight center (MSFC) developed Saturn V launch vehicle, the Apollo 11 mission launched from The Kennedy Space Center, Florida on July 16, 1969 and safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. The 3-man crew aboard the flight consisted of Armstrong, commander; Aldrin, Lunar Module pilot; and a third astronaut Michael Collins, Command Module pilot. Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface, followed by Aldrin, while Collins remained in lunar orbit. The crew collected 47 pounds of lunar surface material which was returned to Earth for analysis. The lunar surface exploration was concluded in 2½ hours.

  11. Artists concept of Apollo 11 Astronaut Neil Armstrong on the moon

    Science.gov (United States)

    1969-01-01

    A Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation artist's concept depicting mankind's first walk on another celestianl body. Here, Astronaut Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 commander, is making his first step onto the surface of the moon. In the background is the Earth, some 240,000 miles away. Armstrong. They are continuing their postflight debriefings. The three astronauts will be released from quarantine on August 11, 1969. Donald K. Slayton (right), MSC Director of Flight Crew Operations; and Lloyd Reeder, training coordinator.

  12. NASA study of cataract in astronauts (NASCA). Report 1: Cross-sectional study of the relationship of exposure to space radiation and risk of lens opacity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chylack, Leo T; Peterson, Leif E; Feiveson, Alan H; Wear, Mary L; Manuel, F Keith; Tung, William H; Hardy, Dale S; Marak, Lisa J; Cucinotta, Francis A

    2009-07-01

    The NASA Study of Cataract in Astronauts (NASCA) is a 5-year longitudinal study of the effect of space radiation exposure on the severity/progression of nuclear, cortical and posterior subcapsular (PSC) lens opacities. Here we report on baseline data that will be used over the course of the longitudinal study. Participants include 171 consenting astronauts who flew at least one mission in space and a comparison group made up of three components: (a) 53 astronauts who had not flown in space, (b) 95 military aircrew personnel, and (c) 99 non-aircrew ground-based comparison subjects. Continuous measures of nuclear, cortical and PSC lens opacities were derived from Nidek EAS 1000 digitized images. Age, demographics, general health, nutritional intake and solar ocular exposure were measured at baseline. Astronauts who flew at least one mission were matched to comparison subjects using propensity scores based on demographic characteristics and medical history stratified by gender and smoking (ever/never). The cross-sectional data for matched subjects were analyzed by fitting customized non-normal regression models to examine the effect of space radiation on each measure of opacity. The variability and median of cortical cataracts were significantly higher for exposed astronauts than for nonexposed astronauts and comparison subjects with similar ages (P=0.015). Galactic cosmic space radiation (GCR) may be linked to increased PSC area (P=0.056) and the number of PSC centers (P=0.095). Within the astronaut group, PSC size was greater in subjects with higher space radiation doses (P=0.016). No association was found between space radiation and nuclear cataracts. Cross-sectional data analysis revealed a small deleterious effect of space radiation for cortical cataracts and possibly for PSC cataracts. These results suggest increased cataract risks at smaller radiation doses than have been reported previously.

  13. European astronaut selected for the third Hubble Space Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998-08-01

    The STS-104 crew will rendezvous with the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, which is the size of a city bus, capture it using the Shuttle's Canadian robot arm and secure it in Columbia's payload bay. Then, working in teams of two, the four astronauts will leave the Shuttle's pressurised cabin and venture into the payload bay, performing a variety of tasks that will improve the productivity and reliability of the telescope. The four astronauts will perform a series of six "extravehicular" activities in the open space environment. Such activities are commonly called spacewalks, but this term does little justice to the considerable physical and mental efforts that astronauts need to make in doing the very demanding work involved. The Shuttle commander and pilot for this flight have not yet been appointed, but the four designated mission specialists begin training for the STS-104 mission immediately. "The ambitious nature of this mission, with its six spacewalks, made it important for the payload crew to begin training as early as possible," said David C. Leestma, NASA Director of Flight Crew Operations at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, to which Claude Nicollier is on resident assignment from ESA's European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, the home base of the European astronaut corps. The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit in April 1990. It is one of the most capable optical telescopes available to astronomers today, producing images and spectral observations at the forefront of astronomy. The European Space Agency contributed a 15 share to the development of Hubble. One of the five scientific instruments on board, the Faint Object Camera, was built by a European industrial consortium made up of British Aerospace, Dornier and Matra under a contract with the European Space Agency. The solar arrays which provide Hubble with electrical power were manufactured by British Aerospace and Dornier. In its eight years of operation, the telescope has not

  14. Nuclear propulsion control and health monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walter, P. B.; Edwards, R. M.

    1993-11-01

    An integrated control and health monitoring architecture is being developed for the Pratt & Whitney XNR2000 nuclear rocket. Current work includes further development of the dynamic simulation modeling and the identification and configuration of low level controllers to give desirable performance for the various operating modes and faulted conditions. Artificial intelligence and knowledge processing technologies need to be investigated and applied in the development of an intelligent supervisory controller module for this control architecture.

  15. Sequential Imaging of Earth by Astronauts: 50 Years of Global Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Cynthia A.

    2009-01-01

    For nearly 50 years, astronauts have collected sequential imagery of the Earth. In fact, the collection of astronaut photography comprises one of the earliest sets of data (1961 to present) available to scientists to study the regional context of the Earth s surface and how it changes. While today s availability of global high resolution satellite imagery enables anyone with an internet connection to examine specific features on the Earth s surface with a regional context, historical satellite imagery adds another dimension (time) that provides researchers and students insight about the features and processes of a region. For example, one of the geographic areas with the longest length of record contained within the astronaut photography database is the lower Nile River. The database contains images that document the flooding of Lake Nasser (an analog to today s flooding behind China s Three Gorges Dam), the changing levels of Lake Nasser s water with multiyear cycles of flood and drought, the recent flooding and drying of the Toshka Lakes, as well as urban growth, changes in agriculture and coastal subsidence. The imagery database allows investigations using different time scales (hours to decades) and spatial scales (resolutions and fields of view) as variables. To continue the imagery collection, the astronauts on the International Space Station are trained to understand basic the Earth Sciences and look for and photograph major events such as tropical storms, landslides, and volcanic eruptions, and document landscapes undergoing change (e.g., coastal systems, cities, changing forest cover). We present examples of selected sequences of astronaut imagery that illustrate the interdependence of geological processes, climate cycles, human geography and development, and prompt additional questions about the underlying elements of change.

  16. Self-learning health monitoring algorithm in composite structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grassia, Luigi; Iannone, Michele; Califano, America; D'Amore, Alberto

    2018-02-01

    The paper describes a system that it is able of monitoring the health state of a composite structure in real time. The hardware of the system consists of a wire of strain sensors connected to a control unit. The software of the system elaborates the strain data and in real time is able to detect the presence of an eventual damage of the structures monitored with the strain sensors. The algorithm requires as input only the strains of the monitored structured measured on real time, i.e. those strains coming from the deformations of the composite structure due to the working loads. The health monitoring system does not require any additional device to interrogate the structure as often used in the literature, instead it is based on a self-learning procedure. The strain data acquired when the structure is healthy are used to set up the correlations between the strain in different positions of structure by means of neural network. Once the correlations between the strains in different position have been set up, these correlations act as a fingerprint of the healthy structure. In case of damage the correlation between the strains in the position of the structure near the damage will change due to the change of the stiffness of the structure caused by the damage. The developed software is able to recognize the change of the transfer function between the strains and consequently is able to detect the damage.

  17. Monitoring Indoor Air Quality for Enhanced Occupational Health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pitarma, Rui; Marques, Gonçalo; Ferreira, Bárbara Roque

    2017-02-01

    Indoor environments are characterized by several pollutant sources. Because people spend more than 90% of their time in indoor environments, several studies have pointed out the impact of indoor air quality on the etiopathogenesis of a wide number of non-specific symptoms which characterizes the "Sick Building Syndrome", involving the skin, the upper and lower respiratory tract, the eyes and the nervous system, as well as many building related diseases. Thus, indoor air quality (IAQ) is recognized as an important factor to be controlled for the occupants' health and comfort. The majority of the monitoring systems presently available is very expensive and only allow to collect random samples. This work describes the system (iAQ), a low-cost indoor air quality monitoring wireless sensor network system, developed using Arduino, XBee modules and micro sensors, for storage and availability of monitoring data on a web portal in real time. Five micro sensors of environmental parameters (air temperature, humidity, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and luminosity) were used. Other sensors can be added for monitoring specific pollutants. The results reveal that the system can provide an effective indoor air quality assessment to prevent exposure risk. In fact, the indoor air quality may be extremely different compared to what is expected for a quality living environment. Systems like this would have benefit as public health interventions to reduce the burden of symptoms and diseases related to "sick buildings".

  18. Continuous Monitoring of Glucose for Type 1 Diabetes: A Health Technology Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vandersluis, Stacey; Kabali, Conrad; Djalalov, Sandjar; Gajic-Veljanoski, Olga; Wells, David; Holubowich, Corinne

    2018-01-01

    Background Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. People with type 1 diabetes must manage their blood glucose levels by monitoring the amount of glucose in their blood and administering appropriate amounts of insulin via injection or an insulin pump. Continuous glucose monitoring may be beneficial compared to self-monitoring of blood glucose using a blood glucose meter. It provides insight into a person's blood glucose levels on a continuous basis, and can identify whether blood glucose levels are trending up or down. Methods We conducted a health technology assessment, which included an evaluation of clinical benefit, value for money, and patient preferences related to continuous glucose monitoring. We compared continuous glucose monitoring with self-monitoring of blood glucose using a finger-prick and a blood glucose meter. We performed a systematic literature search for studies published since January 1, 2010. We created a Markov model projecting the lifetime horizon of adults with type 1 diabetes, and performed a budget impact analysis from the perspective of the health care payer. We also conducted interviews and focus group discussions with people who self-manage their type 1 diabetes or support the management of a child with type 1 diabetes. Results Twenty studies were included in the clinical evidence review. Compared with self-monitoring of blood glucose, continuous glucose monitoring improved the percentage of time patients spent in the target glycemic range by 9.6% (95% confidence interval 8.0–11.2) to 10.0% (95% confidence interval 6.75–13.25) and decreased the number of severe hypoglycemic events. Continuous glucose monitoring was associated with higher costs and small increases in health benefits (quality-adjusted life-years). Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) ranged from $592,206 to $1,108,812 per quality-adjusted life-year gained in analyses comparing four continuous glucose monitoring

  19. Distributed Rocket Engine Testing Health Monitoring System, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The on-ground and Distributed Rocket Engine Testing Health Monitoring System (DiRETHMS) provides a system architecture and software tools for performing diagnostics...

  20. Distributed Rocket Engine Testing Health Monitoring System, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Leveraging the Phase I achievements of the Distributed Rocket Engine Testing Health Monitoring System (DiRETHMS) including its software toolsets and system building...

  1. Standards of lithium monitoring in mental health trusts in the UK

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shingleton-Smith Amber

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Lithium is a commonly prescribed drug with a narrow therapeutic index, and recognised adverse effects on the kidneys and thyroid. Clinical guidelines for the management of bipolar affective disorder published by The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE recommend checks of renal and thyroid function before lithium is prescribed. They further recommend that all patients who are prescribed lithium should have their renal and thyroid function checked every six months, and their serum lithium checked every three months. Adherence to these recommendations has not been subject to national UK audit. Methods The Prescribing Observatory for Mental Health (POMH-UK invited all National Health Service Mental Health Trusts in the UK to participate in a benchmarking audit of lithium monitoring against recommended standards. Data were collected retrospectively from clinical records and submitted electronically. Results 436 clinical teams from 38 Trusts submitted data for 3,373 patients. In patients recently starting lithium, there was a documented baseline measure of renal or thyroid function in 84% and 82% respectively. For patients prescribed lithium for a year or more, the NICE standards for monitoring lithium serum levels, and renal and thyroid function were met in 30%, 55% and 50% of cases respectively. Conclusions The quality of lithium monitoring in patients who are in contact with mental health services falls short of recognised standards and targets. Findings from this audit, along with reports of harm received by the National Patient Safety Agency, prompted a Patient Safety Alert mandating primary care, mental health and acute Trusts, and laboratory staff to work together to ensure systems are in place to support recommended lithium monitoring by December 2010.

  2. A STUDY ON HEALTH MONITORING SYSTEM: RECENT ADVANCEMENTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Atika Arshad

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT: A proliferating interest has been observed over the past years in the development of an accurate system for monitoring continuous human activities in the health care sectors, especially for the elderly. This paper conducts a survey of the various techniques and methods that are proposed to monitor the movements and activities of the elderly people. These techniques promise a useful and dependable detection system to give support and lessen the medical expenses of health care for the elderly. The detection approaches are divided into five main categories: wearable device based, wireless based, ambience device based, vision based and floor sensor / electric field sensors based. These techniques have focused on the pros and cons of the existing methods for recognizing the prospective scope of research in the domain of health monitoring systems. Apart from highlighting and analyzing the features of the existing techniques, perspectives on probable future studies have been detailed. ABSTRAK: Dewasa ini, pembangunan sistem yang tepat untuk memantau aktiviti berterusan terutamanya dalam sektor kesihatan warga tua mula mendapat tempat. Kaji selidik telah dijalankan dengan pelbagai teknik dan kaedah untuk meninjau pergerakan dan aktiviti golongan warga tua. Kaedah-kaedah ini memberikan sistem pengesanan yang berguna dan dipercayai untuk memberikan sokongan serta mengurangkan kos perubatan kesihatan bagi golongan tua. Pendekatan pengesanan dibahagikan kepada lima kategori utama; alatan yang dapat dipakai, alatan tanpa wayar, alatan berdasarkan persekitaran, alatan berasaskan penglihatan dan alatan berdasarkan pengesan pada lantai / medan elektrik.  Teknik-teknik ini memfokuskan kepada pro dan kontra kaedah yang sedia ada untuk mengenalpasti skop prospektif penyelidikan dalam domain sistem pengawasan kesihatan.  Selain daripada mengetengah dan menganalisa ciri-ciri teknik yang sedia ada, perspektif kajian akan datang juga diperincikan.KEYWORDS: health

  3. A power supply design of body sensor networks for health monitoring of neonates

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chen, W.; Sonntag, C.L.W.; Boesten, F.; Bambang Oetomo, S.; Feijs, L.M.G.

    2008-01-01

    Critically ill new born babies are extremely tiny and vulnerable to external disturbance. Non-invasive health monitoring with body sensor networks is crucial for the survival of these neonates and the quality of their life later on. A key question for health monitoring with body sensor networks is

  4. An Overview of the NASA Aviation Safety Program Propulsion Health Monitoring Element

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simon, Donald L.

    2000-01-01

    The NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) has been initiated with aggressive goals to reduce the civil aviation accident rate, To meet these goals, several technology investment areas have been identified including a sub-element in propulsion health monitoring (PHM). Specific AvSP PHM objectives are to develop and validate propulsion system health monitoring technologies designed to prevent engine malfunctions from occurring in flight, and to mitigate detrimental effects in the event an in-flight malfunction does occur. A review of available propulsion system safety information was conducted to help prioritize PHM areas to focus on under the AvSP. It is noted that when a propulsion malfunction is involved in an aviation accident or incident, it is often a contributing factor rather than the sole cause for the event. Challenging aspects of the development and implementation of PHM technology such as cost, weight, robustness, and reliability are discussed. Specific technology plans are overviewed including vibration diagnostics, model-based controls and diagnostics, advanced instrumentation, and general aviation propulsion system health monitoring technology. Propulsion system health monitoring, in addition to engine design, inspection, maintenance, and pilot training and awareness, is intrinsic to enhancing aviation propulsion system safety.

  5. Assessment of Astronaut Hand Function Using a Robotic Exoskeleton

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — An extended period of space exploration has deleterious effects on the neuromuscular system. Sensorimotor impairments can hinder an astronaut's performance by...

  6. Results of the psychiatric, select-out evaluation of US astronaut applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faulk, D. M.; Santy, P. A.; Holland, A. W.; Marsh, R.

    1992-01-01

    The psychiatric exclusion criteria for astronauts are based on NASA Medical Psychiatric Standards for space flight. Until recently, there were no standardized methods to evaluate disqualifying psychopathology in astronaut applicants. Method: One hundred and six astronaut applicants who had passed the intitial screening were evaluated for Axis 1 and Axis 2 DSM-3-R diagnoses using the NASA structured psychiatric interview. The interview consisted of three parts: (1) an unstructured portion for obtaining biographical and historical information, (2) the schedule for effective disorders-lifetime version (SASDL), specially modified to include all disqualifying Axis 1 mental disorders; and, (3) the personality assessment schedule (PAS) also modified to evaluate for Axis 2 disorders. Results: Nine of 106 candidates (8.5 percent) met diagnostic criteria for six Axis 1 disorders (including V code) or Axis 2 disorders. Two of these disorders were disqualifying for the applicants. 'Near' diagnoses (where applicants met at least 50 percent of the listed criteria) were assessed to demonstrate that clinicians using the interview were able to overcome applicants' reluctance to report symptomatomatology. Conclusion: The use of the NASA structured interview was effective in identifying past and present psychopathology in a group of highly motivated astronaut applicants. This was the first time a structured psychiatric interview had been used in such a setting for this purpose.

  7. The Graphical Representation of the Digital Astronaut Physiology Backbone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Briers, Demarcus

    2010-01-01

    This report summarizes my internship project with the NASA Digital Astronaut Project to analyze the Digital Astronaut (DA) physiology backbone model. The Digital Astronaut Project (DAP) applies integrated physiology models to support space biomedical operations, and to assist NASA researchers in closing knowledge gaps related to human physiologic responses to space flight. The DA physiology backbone is a set of integrated physiological equations and functions that model the interacting systems of the human body. The current release of the model is HumMod (Human Model) version 1.5 and was developed over forty years at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). The physiology equations and functions are scripted in an XML schema specifically designed for physiology modeling by Dr. Thomas G. Coleman at UMMC. Currently it is difficult to examine the physiology backbone without being knowledgeable of the XML schema. While investigating and documenting the tags and algorithms used in the XML schema, I proposed a standard methodology for a graphical representation. This standard methodology may be used to transcribe graphical representations from the DA physiology backbone. In turn, the graphical representations can allow examination of the physiological functions and equations without the need to be familiar with the computer programming languages or markup languages used by DA modeling software.

  8. Astronauts and cosmonauts during emergency bailout training session

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    Using small life rafts, several cosmonauts and astronauts participating in joint Russia - United States space missions take part in an emergency bailout training session in the JSC Weightless Environment Training Facility (WETF) 25-feet-deep pool. In the

  9. Official portrait of Astronaut Ronald E. McNair

    Science.gov (United States)

    1985-01-01

    Official portrait of Astronaut Ronald E. McNair. McNair is in the blue shuttle flight suit, standing in front of a table which holds a model of the Space Shuttle. An American flag is visible behind him.

  10. Monitoring health interventions – who's afraid of LQAS?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pezzoli, Lorenzo; Kim, Sung Hye

    2013-01-01

    Lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) is used to evaluate health services. Subunits of a population (lots) are accepted or rejected according to the number of failures in a random sample (N) of a given lot. If failures are greater than decision value (d), we reject the lot and recommend corrective actions in the lot (i.e. intervention area); if they are equal to or less than d, we accept it. We used LQAS to monitor coverage during the last 3 days of a meningitis vaccination campaign in Niger. We selected one health area (lot) per day reporting the lowest administrative coverage in the previous 2 days. In the sampling plan we considered: N to be small enough to allow us to evaluate one lot per day, deciding to sample 16 individuals from the selected villages of each health area, using probability proportionate to population size; thresholds and d to vary according to administrative coverage reported; α ≤5% (meaning that, if we would have conducted the survey 100 times, we would have accepted the lot up to five times when real coverage was at an unacceptable level) and β ≤20% (meaning that we would have rejected the lot up to 20 times, when real coverage was equal or above the satisfactory level). We classified all three lots as with the acceptable coverage. LQAS appeared to be a rapid, simple, and statistically sound method for in-process coverage assessment. We encourage colleagues in the field to consider using LQAS in complement with other monitoring techniques such as house-to-house monitoring. PMID:24206650

  11. Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong during water egress training

    Science.gov (United States)

    1965-01-01

    Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Gemini 5 backup crew command pilot, sits in the Gemini Static Article 5 spacecraft and prepares to be lowered from the deck of the NASA Motor Vessel Retriever for water egress training in the Gulf.

  12. The use of animals as a surveillance tool for monitoring environmental health hazards, human health hazards and bioterrorism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neo, Jacqueline Pei Shan; Tan, Boon Huan

    2017-05-01

    This review discusses the utilization of wild or domestic animals as surveillance tools for monitoring naturally occurring environmental and human health hazards. Besides providing early warning to natural hazards, animals can also provide early warning to societal hazards like bioterrorism. Animals are ideal surveillance tools to humans because they share the same environment as humans and spend more time outdoors than humans, increasing their exposure risk. Furthermore, the biologically compressed lifespans of some animals may allow them to develop clinical signs more rapidly after exposure to specific pathogens. Animals are an excellent channel for monitoring novel and known pathogens with outbreak potential given that more than 60 % of emerging infectious diseases in humans originate as zoonoses. This review attempts to highlight animal illnesses, deaths, biomarkers or sentinel events, to remind human and veterinary public health programs that animal health can be used to discover, monitor or predict environmental health hazards, human health hazards, or bioterrorism. Lastly, we hope that this review will encourage the implementation of animals as a surveillance tool by clinicians, veterinarians, ecosystem health professionals, researchers and governments. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. A Low Cost Sensor Controller for Health Monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birbas, M.; Petrellis, N.; Gioulekas, F.

    2015-09-01

    Aging population can benefit from health care systems that allow their health and daily life to be monitored by expert medical staff. Blood pressure, temperature measurements or more advanced tests like Electrocardiograms (ECG) can be ordered through such a healthcare system while urgent situations can be detected and alleviated on time. The results of these tests can be stored with security in a remote cloud or database. Such systems are often used to monitor non-life threatening patient health problems and their advantage in lowering the cost of the healthcare services is obvious. A low cost commercial medical sensor kit has been used in the present work, trying to improve the accuracy and stability of the sensor measurements, the power consumption, etc. This Sensor Controller communicates with a Gateway installed in the patient's residence and a tablet or smart phone used for giving instructions to the patient through a comprehensive user interface. A flexible communication protocol has been defined supporting any short or long term sensor sampling scenario. The experimental results show that it is possible to achieve low power consumption by applying apropriate sleep intervals to the Sensor Controller and by deactivating periodically some of its functionality.

  14. Cointegration as a data normalization tool for structural health monitoring applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harvey, Dustin Y.; Todd, Michael D.

    2012-04-01

    The structural health monitoring literature has shown an abundance of features sensitive to various types of damage in laboratory tests. However, robust feature extraction in the presence of varying operational and environmental conditions has proven to be one of the largest obstacles in the development of practical structural health monitoring systems. Cointegration, a technique adapted from the field of econometrics, has recently been introduced to the SHM field as one solution to the data normalization problem. Response measurements and feature histories often show long-run nonstationarity due to fluctuating temperature, load conditions, or other factors that leads to the occurrence of false positives. Cointegration theory allows nonstationary trends common to two or more time series to be modeled and subsequently removed. Thus, the residual retains sensitivity to damage with dependence on operational and environmental variability removed. This study further explores the use of cointegration as a data normalization tool for structural health monitoring applications.

  15. Astronaut radiation. Will it become a problem?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parker, I.

    1988-01-01

    The U.S. NRCP recommendations to NASA for astronauts' dose limits to deep-body, eyes and skin are discussed in outline in relation to the longer space flights (e.g. space station duties and a manned Mars mission). Cosmic rays, solar flares and trapped Van Allen belt radiation are considered. (U.K.)

  16. STS-118 Astronaut Tracy Caldwell During Training

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-01-01

    Tracy E. Caldwell, STS-118 astronaut and mission specialist, participates in a training session on the usage of a special device, used to lower oneself from a troubled shuttle, in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at the Johnson Space Center. Caldwell is wearing a training version of her shuttle launch and entry suit.

  17. Integrity mechanism for eHealth tele-monitoring system in smart home environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mantas, Georgios; Lymberopoulos, Dimitrios; Komninos, Nikos

    2009-01-01

    During the past few years, a lot of effort has been invested in research and development of eHealth tele-monitoring systems that will provide many benefits for healthcare delivery from the healthcare provider to the patient's home. However, there is a plethora of security requirements in eHealth tele-monitoring systems. Data integrity of the transferred medical data is one of the most important security requirements that should be satisfied in these systems, since medical information is extremely sensitive information, and even sometimes life threatening information. In this paper, we present a data integrity mechanism for eHealth tele-monitoring system that operates in a smart home environment. Agent technology is applied to achieve data integrity with the use of cryptographic smart cards. Furthermore, the overall security infrastructure and its various components are described.

  18. Data for development in health: a case study and monitoring framework from Kazakhstan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obermann, Konrad; Chanturidze, Tata; Richardson, Erica; Tanirbergenov, Serik; Shoranov, Marat; Nurgozhaev, Ali

    2016-01-01

    Healthcare reforms are often not coupled with a relevant and appropriate monitoring framework, leaving policymakers and the public without evidence about the implications of such reforms. Kazakhstan has embarked on a large-scale reform of its healthcare system in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage. The health-related 2020 Strategic Development Goals reflect this political ambition. In a case-study approach and on the basis of published and unpublished evidence as well as personal involvement and experience (A) the indicators in the 2020 Strategic Development Goals were assessed and (B) a ‘data-mapping’ exercise was conducted, where the WHO health system framework was used to describe the data available at present in Kazakhstan and comment on the different indicators regarding their usefulness for monitoring the current health-related 2020 Strategic Development Goals in Kazakhstan. It was concluded that the country’s current monitoring framework needs further development to track the progress and outcomes of policy implementation. The application of a modified WHO/World Bank/Global Fund health system monitoring framework was suggested to examine the implications of recent health sector reforms. Lessons drawn from the Kazakhstan experience on tailoring the suggested framework, collecting the data, and using the generated intelligence in policy development and decision-making can serve as a useful example for other middle-income countries, potentially enabling them to fast-track developments in the health sector. PMID:28588905

  19. New trends in structural health monitoring

    CERN Document Server

    Güemes, J

    2013-01-01

    Experts actively working in structural health monitoring and control techniques present the current research, areas of application and tendencies for the future of this technology, including various design issues involved. Examples using some of the latest hardware and software tools, experimental data from small scale laboratory demonstrators and measurements made on real structures illustrate the book. It will be a reference for professionals and students in the areas of engineering, applied natural sciences and engineering management.

  20. Engine health monitoring systems: Tools for improved maintenance management in the 1980's

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimball, J. C.

    1981-01-01

    The performance monitoring aspect of maintenance, characteristic of the engine health monitoring system are discussed. An overview of the system activities is presented and a summary of programs for improved monitoring in the 1980's are discussed.

  1. Monitoring of health care personnel employee and occupational health immunization program practices in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrico, Ruth M; Sorrells, Nikka; Westhusing, Kelly; Wiemken, Timothy

    2014-01-01

    Recent studies have identified concerns with various elements of health care personnel immunization programs, including the handling and management of the vaccine. The purpose of this study was to assess monitoring processes that support evaluation of the care of vaccines in health care settings. An 11-question survey instrument was developed for use in scripted telephone surveys. State health departments in all 50 states in the United States and the District of Columbia were the target audience for the surveys. Data from a total of 47 states were obtained and analyzed. No states reported an existing monitoring process for evaluation of health care personnel immunization programs in their states. Our assessment indicates that vaccine evaluation processes for health care facilities are rare to nonexistent in the United States. Identifying existing practice gaps and resultant opportunities for improvements may be an important safety initiative that protects patients and health care personnel. Copyright © 2014 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Astronaut Dale Gardner rehearses during EVA practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    1984-01-01

    Astronaut Dale A. Gardner, 51-A mission specialist, rehearses control of manned maneuvering unit (MMU) during a practice for an extravehicular activity (EVA). Gardner is in the Shuttle mockup and integration laboratory at JSC. Gardner handles a stinger device to make initial contact with one of the two satellites they will be working with.

  3. Applications of fiber optic sensors in concrete structural health monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Jingyun; Zhang, Wentao; Sun, Baochen; Du, Yanliang

    2007-11-01

    The research of fiber optic extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (EFPI) sensors and their applications in concrete structural health monitoring are presented in this paper. Different types of fiber optic EFPI sensors are designed and fabricated. Experiments are carried out to test the performance of the sensors. The results show that the sensors have good linearity and stability. The applications of the fiber optic EFPI sensors in concrete structural health monitoring are also introduced. Ten fiber optic sensors are embedded into one section of the Liaohe Bridge in Qinghuangdao-Shenyang Railway. Field test demonstrates that the results of fiber optic sensors agree well with conventional strain gauges.

  4. Astronaut Terry J. Hart in training session RMS for STS-2 bldg 29

    Science.gov (United States)

    1981-01-01

    Astronaut Terry J. Hart in training session with the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) for STS-2 bldg 29. Views show Truly working at the command console while watching out the windows. Karen Ehlers, an RMS procedures specialist, can be seen at left side of frame while Astronaut Sally Ride waits on right for her time at the RMS.

  5. Forest health monitoring: national status, trends, and analysis 2015

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kevin M. Potter; Barbara L. Conkling

    2016-01-01

    The annual national report of the Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, presents forest health status and trends from a national or multi- State regional perspective using a variety of sources, introduces new techniques for analyzing forest health data, and summarizes results of recently completed Evaluation...

  6. Remote Monitoring of the Structural Health of Hydrokinetic Composite Turbine Blades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    J.L. Rovey

    2012-09-21

    A health monitoring approach is investigated for hydrokinetic turbine blade applications. In-service monitoring is critical due to the difficult environment for blade inspection and the cost of inspection downtime. Composite blade designs have advantages that include long life in marine environments and great control over mechanical properties. Experimental strain characteristics are determined for static loads and free-vibration loads. These experiments are designed to simulate the dynamic characteristics of hydrokinetic turbine blades. Carbon/epoxy symmetric composite laminates are manufactured using an autoclave process. Four-layer composite beams, eight-layer composite beams, and two-dimensional eight-layer composite blades are instrumented for strain. Experimental results for strain measurements from electrical resistance gages are validated with theoretical characteristics obtained from in-house finite-element analysis for all sample cases. These preliminary tests on the composite samples show good correlation between experimental and finite-element strain results. A health monitoring system is proposed in which damage to a composite structure, e.g. delamination and fiber breakage, causes changes in the strain signature behavior. The system is based on embedded strain sensors and embedded motes in which strain information is demodulated for wireless transmission. In-service monitoring is critical due to the difficult environment for blade inspection and the cost of inspection downtime. Composite blade designs provide a medium for embedding sensors into the blades for in-situ health monitoring. The major challenge with in-situ health monitoring is transmission of sensor signals from the remote rotating reference frame of the blade to the system monitoring station. In the presented work, a novel system for relaying in-situ blade health measurements in hydrokinetic systems is described and demonstrated. An ultrasonic communication system is used to transmit

  7. 75 FR 52504 - Notice of Request for Approval of an Information Collection; National Animal Health Monitoring...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-26

    ...; National Animal Health Monitoring System; Dairy Heifer Raiser 2010 Study AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health... Service's intention to initiate an information collection to support the National Animal Health Monitoring... Warnken, Management and Program Analyst, Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health, VS, APHIS, 2150...

  8. Space Station Environmental Health System water quality monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vincze, Johanna E.; Sauer, Richard L.

    1990-01-01

    One of the unique aspects of the Space Station is that it will be a totally encapsulated environment and the air and water supplies will be reclaimed for reuse. The Environmental Health System, a subsystem of CHeCS (Crew Health Care System), must monitor the air and water on board the Space Station Freedom to verify that the quality is adequate for crew safety. Specifically, the Water Quality Subsystem will analyze the potable and hygiene water supplies regularly for organic, inorganic, particulate, and microbial contamination. The equipment selected to perform these analyses will be commercially available instruments which will be converted for use on board the Space Station Freedom. Therefore, the commercial hardware will be analyzed to identify the gravity dependent functions and modified to eliminate them. The selection, analysis, and conversion of the off-the-shelf equipment for monitoring the Space Station reclaimed water creates a challenging project for the Water Quality engineers and scientists.

  9. A survey of Rocketry and astronautics in Spain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maluquer, J. J.

    1977-01-01

    The entire field of rocketry and astronautics in Spain was studied. Congreve war rockets in military actions were emphasized in the African war, the Cuban campaign and the Spanish Civil War. Rockets in space travel were also summarized along with space science fiction.

  10. Astronaut Robert L. Crippen prepares for underwater training session

    Science.gov (United States)

    1983-01-01

    Astronaut Robert L. Crippen, STS-7 crew commander, adjusts his extravehicular mobility unit's (EMU) gloves prior to donning his helmet for a training session in the weightless environment test facility (WETF).

  11. A VME based health monitoring system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang Yiming; Wang Chunhong

    2011-01-01

    It introduces a VME based health system for monitoring the working status of VME crates in the BEPCⅡ. It consists of a PC and a VME crate where a CMM (Classic Monitor System) is installed. The CMM module is responsible for collecting data from the power supply and temperature as well as fan speed inside the VME crate and send these data to the PC via the serial port. The author developed EPICS asynchronous driver by using a character-based device protocol StreamDevice. The data is saved into EPICS IOC database in character. Man-machine interface which is designed by BOY displays the running status of the VME crate including the power supply and temperature as well as fan speed. If the value of records display unusual, the color of the value will be changed into red. This can facilitate the maintenance of the VME crates. (authors)

  12. Bayesian updating and decision making using correlated structural health monitoring observations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Jannie Sønderkær

    2018-01-01

    A Bayesian approach is often applied when updating a deterioration model using observations from expected structural health monitoring or condition monitoring. Usually, observations are assumed to be independent conditioned on the damage size, but this assumption does not always hold, especially ...... is properly modeled. In case of correlated observations, an advanced decision model using all past observations for decision making is needed to make monitoring feasible compared to only using inspections....

  13. A fully automated health-care monitoring at home without attachment of any biological sensors and its clinical evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Motoi, Kosuke; Ogawa, Mitsuhiro; Ueno, Hiroshi; Kuwae, Yutaka; Ikarashi, Akira; Yuji, Tadahiko; Higashi, Yuji; Tanaka, Shinobu; Fujimoto, Toshiro; Asanoi, Hidetsugu; Yamakoshi, Ken-ichi

    2009-01-01

    Daily monitoring of health condition is important for an effective scheme for early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of lifestyle-related diseases such as adiposis, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and other diseases. Commercially available devices for health care monitoring at home are cumbersome in terms of self-attachment of biological sensors and self-operation of the devices. From this viewpoint, we have been developing a non-conscious physiological monitor installed in a bath, a lavatory, and a bed for home health care and evaluated its measurement accuracy by simultaneous recordings of a biological sensors directly attached to the body surface. In order to investigate its applicability to health condition monitoring, we have further developed a new monitoring system which can automatically monitor and store the health condition data. In this study, by evaluation on 3 patients with cardiac infarct or sleep apnea syndrome, patients' health condition such as body and excretion weight in the toilet and apnea and hypopnea during sleeping were successfully monitored, indicating that the system appears useful for monitoring the health condition during daily living.

  14. Affordable Remote Health Monitoring System for the Elderly Using Smart Mobile Device

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew CLARK

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Aging population has been growing as life expectancy increases. In the years to come a much larger percentage of the population will be dependent on others for their daily care. According to a recent report more than 11 million seniors live alone in the USA. These seniors may face serious consequences when they have an emergency situation. However health-monitoring systems are often not affordable for many seniors. The remote health monitoring system presented in this paper addresses the challenge to provide caregivers an emergency alert system for the elderly based on monitoring of their heart rates, breathing activities, and room temperature measurements. The device also allows the dependents to make on demand request for assistance. The remote communication is enabled through the cellular telephone services; so there is no special or additional subscription services needed. This is essential to make the device more affordable for the elderly. We expect that this affordable remote health-monitoring system can be used to help seniors who live alone be safer and healthier.

  15. Dedicated real-time monitoring system for health care using ZigBee.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alwan, Omar S; Prahald Rao, K

    2017-08-01

    Real-time monitoring systems (RTMSs) have drawn considerable attentions in the last decade. Several commercial versions of RTMS for patient monitoring are available which are used by health care professionals. Though they are working satisfactorily on various communication protocols, their range, power consumption, data rate and cost are really bothered. In this study, the authors present an efficient embedded system based wireless health care monitoring system using ZigBee. Their system has a capability to transmit the data between two embedded systems through two transceivers over a long range. In this, wireless transmission has been applied through two categories. The first part which contains Arduino with ZigBee will send the signals to the second device, which contains Raspberry with ZigBee. The second device will measure the patient data and send it to the first device through ZigBee transceiver. The designed system is demonstrated on volunteers to measure the body temperature which is clinically important to monitor and diagnose for fever in the patients.

  16. Investigation of Wireless Sensor Networks for Structural Health Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ping Wang

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Wireless sensor networks (WSNs are one of the most able technologies in the structural health monitoring (SHM field. Through intelligent, self-organising means, the contents of this paper will test a variety of different objects and different working principles of sensor nodes connected into a network and integrated with data processing functions. In this paper the key issues of WSN applied in SHM are discussed, including the integration of different types of sensors with different operational modalities, sampling frequencies, issues of transmission bandwidth, real-time ability, and wireless transmitter frequency. Furthermore, the topology, data fusion, integration, energy saving, and self-powering nature of different systems will be investigated. In the FP7 project “Health Monitoring of Offshore Wind Farms,” the above issues are explored.

  17. Tunable Laser Development for In-flight Fiber Optic Based Structural Health Monitoring Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richards, Lance; Parker, Allen; Chan, Patrick

    2014-01-01

    The objective of this task is to investigate, develop, and demonstrate a low-cost swept lasing light source for NASA DFRC's fiber optics sensing system (FOSS) to perform structural health monitoring on current and future aerospace vehicles. This is the regular update of the Tunable Laser Development for In-flight Fiber Optic Based Structural Health Monitoring Systems website.

  18. Health monitoring method for composite materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watkins, Jr., Kenneth S.; Morris, Shelby J [Hampton, VA

    2011-04-12

    An in-situ method for monitoring the health of a composite component utilizes a condition sensor made of electrically conductive particles dispersed in a polymeric matrix. The sensor is bonded or otherwise formed on the matrix surface of the composite material. Age-related shrinkage of the sensor matrix results in a decrease in the resistivity of the condition sensor. Correlation of measured sensor resistivity with data from aged specimens allows indirect determination of mechanical damage and remaining age of the composite component.

  19. Astronaut Gordon Cooper in centrifuge for tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    1963-01-01

    Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, prime pilot for the Mercury-Atlas 9 mission, is strapped into the gondola while undergoing tests in the centrifuge at the Naval Air Development Center, Johnsville, Pennsylvania. The centrifuge is used to investigate by simulation the pilot's capability to control the vehicle during the actual flight in its booster and reentry profile.

  20. Astronaut Stephen Oswald during emergency bailout training

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-01-01

    Suited in a training version of the Shuttle partial-pressure launch and entry garment, astronaut Stephen S. Oswald, STS-67 commander, gets help with a piece of gear from Boeing's David Brandt. The scene was photographed prior to a session of emergency bailout training in the 25-feet deep pool at JSC's Weightless Environment Training Facility (WETF).

  1. Structural Health Monitoring Analysis for the Orbiter Wing Leading Edge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yap, Keng C.

    2010-01-01

    This viewgraph presentation reviews Structural Health Monitoring Analysis for the Orbiter Wing Leading Edge. The Wing Leading Edge Impact Detection System (WLE IDS) and the Impact Analysis Process are also described to monitor WLE debris threats. The contents include: 1) Risk Management via SHM; 2) Hardware Overview; 3) Instrumentation; 4) Sensor Configuration; 5) Debris Hazard Monitoring; 6) Ascent Response Summary; 7) Response Signal; 8) Distribution of Flight Indications; 9) Probabilistic Risk Analysis (PRA); 10) Model Correlation; 11) Impact Tests; 12) Wing Leading Edge Modeling; 13) Ascent Debris PRA Results; and 14) MM/OD PRA Results.

  2. Experimental Research on Quick Structural Health Monitoring Technique for Bridges Using Smartphone

    OpenAIRE

    Zhao, Xuefeng; Ri, Kwang; Han, Ruicong; Yu, Yan; Li, Mingchu; Ou, Jinping

    2016-01-01

    In the recent years, with the development and popularization of smartphone, the utilization of smartphone in the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) has attracted increasing attention owing to its unique feature. Since bridges are of great importance to society and economy, bridge health monitoring has very practical significance during its service life. Furthermore, rapid damage assessment of bridge after an extreme event such as earthquake is very important in the recovery work. Smartphone-b...

  3. The flights before the flight - An overview of shuttle astronaut training

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sims, John T.; Sterling, Michael R.

    1989-01-01

    Space shuttle astronaut training is centered at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Each astronaut receives many different types of training from many sources. This training includes simulator training in the Shuttle Mission Simulator, in-flight simulator training in the Shuttle Training Aircraft, Extravehicular Activity training in the Weightless Environment Training Facility and a variety of lectures and briefings. Once the training program is completed each shuttle flight crew is well-prepared to perform the normal operations required for their flight and deal with any shuttle system malfunctions that might occur.

  4. Monitoring health interventions – who's afraid of LQAS?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lorenzo Pezzoli

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS is used to evaluate health services. Subunits of a population (lots are accepted or rejected according to the number of failures in a random sample (N of a given lot. If failures are greater than decision value (d, we reject the lot and recommend corrective actions in the lot (i.e. intervention area; if they are equal to or less than d, we accept it. We used LQAS to monitor coverage during the last 3 days of a meningitis vaccination campaign in Niger. We selected one health area (lot per day reporting the lowest administrative coverage in the previous 2 days. In the sampling plan we considered: N to be small enough to allow us to evaluate one lot per day, deciding to sample 16 individuals from the selected villages of each health area, using probability proportionate to population size; thresholds and d to vary according to administrative coverage reported; α≤5% (meaning that, if we would have conducted the survey 100 times, we would have accepted the lot up to five times when real coverage was at an unacceptable level and β≤20% (meaning that we would have rejected the lot up to 20 times, when real coverage was equal or above the satisfactory level. We classified all three lots as with the acceptable coverage. LQAS appeared to be a rapid, simple, and statistically sound method for in-process coverage assessment. We encourage colleagues in the field to consider using LQAS in complement with other monitoring techniques such as house-to-house monitoring.

  5. eHealth in the future of medications management: personalisation, monitoring and adherence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Car, Josip; Tan, Woan Shin; Huang, Zhilian; Sloot, Peter; Franklin, Bryony Dean

    2017-04-05

    Globally, healthcare systems face major challenges with medicines management and medication adherence. Medication adherence determines medication effectiveness and can be the single most effective intervention for improving health outcomes. In anticipation of growth in eHealth interventions worldwide, we explore the role of eHealth in the patients' medicines management journey in primary care, focusing on personalisation and intelligent monitoring for greater adherence. eHealth offers opportunities to transform every step of the patient's medicines management journey. From booking appointments, consultation with a healthcare professional, decision-making, medication dispensing, carer support, information acquisition and monitoring, to learning about medicines and their management in daily life. It has the potential to support personalisation and monitoring and thus lead to better adherence. For some of these dimensions, such as supporting decision-making and providing reminders and prompts, evidence is stronger, but for many others more rigorous research is urgently needed. Given the potential benefits and barriers to eHealth in medicines management, a fine balance needs to be established between evidence-based integration of technologies and constructive experimentation that could lead to a game-changing breakthrough. A concerted, transdisciplinary approach adapted to different contexts, including low- and middle-income contries is required to realise the benefits of eHealth at scale.

  6. Astronauts McDivitt and White look over training plans

    Science.gov (United States)

    1965-01-01

    Astronauts James A. McDivitt (left) and Edward H. White II are shown looking over training plans at Cape Kennedy during prelaunch preparations. The NASA Headquarters alternative photo number is 65-H-275.

  7. Moire-Fringe-Based Fiber Optic Tiltmeter for Structural Health Monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Dae Hyun

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents a novel fiber optic tiltmeter system for the health monitoring of large-size structures. The system is composed of a sensor head, a light control unit and a signal processing unit. The sensing mechanism of the sensor head is based on a novel integration of the moire fringe phenomenon with fiber optics to achieve a robust performance in addition to its immunity to EM interference, easy ratting, and low cost. In this paper, a prototype of the fiber optic tiltmeter system has been developed successfully. A low-cost light control unit has been developed to drive the system's optic and electronic components. From an experimental test, the fiber optic tiltmeter is proven to be a prospective sensor for the monitoring of the tilting angle of civil structure with a good linearity. Finally, the test also successfully demonstrates the performance and the potential of the novel fiber optic tiltmeter system to monitor the health of civil infrastructures.

  8. Moire-Fringe-Based Fiber Optic Tiltmeter for Structural Health Monitoring

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Dae Hyun [Seoul National of Technology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2008-04-15

    This paper presents a novel fiber optic tiltmeter system for the health monitoring of large-size structures. The system is composed of a sensor head, a light control unit and a signal processing unit. The sensing mechanism of the sensor head is based on a novel integration of the moire fringe phenomenon with fiber optics to achieve a robust performance in addition to its immunity to EM interference, easy ratting, and low cost. In this paper, a prototype of the fiber optic tiltmeter system has been developed successfully. A low-cost light control unit has been developed to drive the system's optic and electronic components. From an experimental test, the fiber optic tiltmeter is proven to be a prospective sensor for the monitoring of the tilting angle of civil structure with a good linearity. Finally, the test also successfully demonstrates the performance and the potential of the novel fiber optic tiltmeter system to monitor the health of civil infrastructures.

  9. Simultaneous Structural Health Monitoring and Vibration Control of Adaptive Structures Using Smart Materials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Myung-Hyun Kim

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available The integration of actuators and sensors using smart materials enabled various applications including health monitoring and structural vibration control. In this study, a robust control technique is designed and implemented in order to reduce vibration of an active structure. Special attention is given to eliminating the possibility of interaction between the health monitoring system and the control system. Exploiting the disturbance decoupling characteristic of the sliding mode observer, it is demonstrated that the proposed observer can eliminate the possible high frequency excitation from the health monitoring system. At the same time, a damage identification scheme, which tracks the changes of mechanical impedance due to the presence of damage, has been applied to assess the health condition of structures. The main objective of this paper is to examine the potential of combining the two emerging techniques together. Using the collocated piezoelectric sensors/actuators for vibration suppression as well as for health monitoring, this technique enabled to reduce the number of system components, while enhancing the performance of structures. As an initial study, both simulation and experimental investigations were performed for an active beam structure. The results show that this integrated technique can provide substantial vibration reductions, while detecting damage on the structure at the same time.

  10. Probabilistic Risk Assessment for Astronaut Post Flight Bone Fracture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewandowski, Beth; Myers, Jerry; Licata, Angelo

    2015-01-01

    Introduction: Space flight potentially reduces the loading that bone can resist before fracture. This reduction in bone integrity may result from a combination of factors, the most common reported as reduction in astronaut BMD. Although evaluating the condition of bones continues to be a critical aspect of understanding space flight fracture risk, defining the loading regime, whether on earth, in microgravity, or in reduced gravity on a planetary surface, remains a significant component of estimating the fracture risks to astronauts. This presentation summarizes the concepts, development, and application of NASA's Bone Fracture Risk Module (BFxRM) to understanding pre-, post, and in mission astronaut bone fracture risk. The overview includes an assessment of contributing factors utilized in the BFxRM and illustrates how new information, such as biomechanics of space suit design or better understanding of post flight activities may influence astronaut fracture risk. Opportunities for the bone mineral research community to contribute to future model development are also discussed. Methods: To investigate the conditions in which spaceflight induced changes to bone plays a critical role in post-flight fracture probability, we implement a modified version of the NASA Bone Fracture Risk Model (BFxRM). Modifications included incorporation of variations in physiological characteristics, post-flight recovery rate, and variations in lateral fall conditions within the probabilistic simulation parameter space. The modeled fracture probability estimates for different loading scenarios at preflight and at 0 and 365 days post-flight time periods are compared. Results: For simple lateral side falls, mean post-flight fracture probability is elevated over mean preflight fracture probability due to spaceflight induced BMD loss and is not fully recovered at 365 days post-flight. In the case of more energetic falls, such as from elevated heights or with the addition of lateral movement

  11. Biosensors for Real-Time Monitoring of Radiation-Induced Biologic Effects in Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, James R.; Balogh, Lajos; Majoros, Istvan; Keszler, Balazs; Myc, Andrzej; Kukowska-Latallo, Jolanta; Norris, Theodore; delaiglesia, Felix; Beeson, Nicholas W. (Compiler)

    2002-01-01

    This work seeks to develop cellular biosensors based on dendritic polymers. Nanoscale polymer structures less than 20 nm in diameter will be used as the basis of the biosensors. The structures will be designed to target into specific cells of an astronaut and be able to monitor health issues such as exposure to radiation. Multiple components can be assembled on the polymers including target directors, analytical devices (such as molecular probes), and reporting agents. The reporting will be accomplished through fluorescence signal monitoring, with the use of multispectral analysis for signal interpretation. These nanosensors could facilitate the success and increase the safety of extended space flight. The design and assembly of these devices has been pioneered at the Center for Biologic Nanotechnology in the University of Michigan. This period, synthesis of the test-bed biosensors continued. Studies were performed on the candidate fluorescent dyes to determine which might be suitable for the biosensor under development. Development continued on producing an artificial capillary bed as a tool for the use in the production of the fluorescence signal monitor. Work was also done on the in vitro multispectral analysis system, which uses the robotic microscope.

  12. Health Monitoring System Based on Intra-Body Communication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Razak, A. H. A.; Ibrahim, I. W.; Ayub, A. H.; Amri, M. F.; Hamzi, M. H.; Halim, A. K.; Ahmad, A.; Junid, S. A. M. Al

    2015-11-01

    This paper presents a model of a Body Area Network (BAN) health monitoring system based on Intra-Body Communication. Intra-body Communication (IBC) is a communication technique that uses the human body as a medium for electrical signal communication. One of the visions in the health care industry is to provide autonomous and continuous self and the remote health monitoring system. This can be achieved via BAN, LAN and WAN integration. The BAN technology itself consists of short range data communication modules, sensors, controller and actuators. The information can be transmitted to the LAN and WAN via the RF technology such as Bluetooth, ZigBee and ANT. Although the implementations of RF communication have been successful, there are still limitations in term of power consumption, battery lifetime, interferences and signal attenuations. One of the solutions for Medical Body Area Network (MBANs) to overcome these issues is by using an IBC technique because it can operate at lower frequencies and power consumption compared to the existing techniques. The first objective is to design the IBC's transmitter and receiver modules using the off the shelf components. The specifications of the modules such as frequency, data rate, modulation and demodulation coding system were defined. The individual module were designed and tested separately. The modules was integrated as an IBC system and tested for functionality then was implemented on PCB. Next objective is to model and implement the digital parts of the transmitter and receiver modules on the Altera's FPGA board. The digital blocks were interfaced with the FPGA's on board modules and the discrete components. The signals that have been received from the transmitter were converted into a proper waveform and it can be viewed via external devices such as oscilloscope and Labview. The signals such as heartbeats or pulses can also be displayed on LCD. In conclusion, the IBC project presents medical health monitoring model

  13. Hybrid Force Control Based on ICMAC for an Astronaut Rehabilitative Training Robot

    OpenAIRE

    Lixun Zhang; Yupeng Zou; Lan Wang; Xinping Pei

    2012-01-01

    A novel Astronaut Rehabilitative Training Robot (ART) based on a cable‐driven mechanism is represented in this paper. ART, a typical passive force servo system, can help astronauts to bench press in a microgravity environment. The purpose of this paper is to design controllers to eliminate the surplus force caused by an astronaut’s active movements. Based on the dynamics modelling of the cable‐driven unit, a hybrid force controller based on improved credit assignment CMAC (ICMAC) is presented...

  14. Astronauts Scott and Armstrong undergoe water egress training

    Science.gov (United States)

    1966-01-01

    Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong (on left), command pilot, and David R. Scott, pilot of the Gemini 8 prime crew, use a boilerplate model of a Gemini spacecraft during water egress training in the Gulf of Mexico. Three Manned Spacecraft Center swimmers assist in the training exercise.

  15. Radiation dosimetry for crewmember exposure to cosmic radiation during astronaut training operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shavers, M.R.; Gersey, B.B.; Wilkins, R.T.; Semones, E.J.; Cucinotta, F.A.

    2003-01-01

    'Atmospheric exposures' of astronauts to cosmic ions and secondary particles during air-flight training are being measured and analytically modeled for inclusion in the astronaut medical records database. For many of the ∼170 astronauts currently in the astronaut corps, their occupational radiation exposure history will be dominated by cosmic ion exposures during air-travel rather than short-duration spaceflight. Relatively low (usually <10 μSv hr -1 ) and uniform organ dose rates result from the penetrating mix of cosmic particles during atmospheric exposures at all altitudes, but at rates that vary greatly due to differences in flight profiles and the geomagnetic conditions at the time of flight. The precision and accuracy to which possible deleterious effects of the exposures can be assessed suffers from limitations that similarly impact assessment of human exposures in low-Earth orbit: uncertainties associated with the environmental measurements and their interpretation, uncertainties associated with the analytical tools that transport the cosmic radiation environment, and uncertain biological responses to low-dose-rate exposures to radiation fields of mixed radiation 'quality'. Lineal energy spectra will be measured using a Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter designed for training and operational sorties frequently flown in T-38, Space Shuttle Trainer, and high altitude WB-57 aircraft. Linear energy spectra will be measured over multiple flights using CR-39 plastic nuclear track detectors, as well. Flight records are available for nearly 200,000 sorties flown in NASA aircraft by astronauts and flight officers in the Johnson Space Center Aircraft Operations Division over the past 25 years, yet this database only partially documents the complete exposure histories. Age-dependent risk analysis indicates significant impact, particularly to young women who anticipate lengthy on-orbit careers

  16. An autonomous structural health monitoring solution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Featherston, Carol A.; Holford, Karen M.; Pullin, Rhys; Lees, Jonathan; Eaton, Mark; Pearson, Matthew

    2013-05-01

    Combining advanced sensor technologies, with optimised data acquisition and diagnostic and prognostic capability, structural health monitoring (SHM) systems provide real-time assessment of the integrity of bridges, buildings, aircraft, wind turbines, oil pipelines and ships, leading to improved safety and reliability and reduced inspection and maintenance costs. The implementation of power harvesting, using energy scavenged from ambient sources such as thermal gradients and sources of vibration in conjunction with wireless transmission enables truly autonomous systems, reducing the need for batteries and associated maintenance in often inaccessible locations, alongside bulky and expensive wiring looms. The design and implementation of such a system however presents numerous challenges. A suitable energy source or multiple sources capable of meeting the power requirements of the system, over the entire monitoring period, in a location close to the sensor must be identified. Efficient power management techniques must be used to condition the power and deliver it, as required, to enable appropriate measurements to be taken. Energy storage may be necessary, to match a continuously changing supply and demand for a range of different monitoring states including sleep, record and transmit. An appropriate monitoring technique, capable of detecting, locating and characterising damage and delivering reliable information, whilst minimising power consumption, must be selected. Finally a wireless protocol capable of transmitting the levels of information generated at the rate needed in the required operating environment must be chosen. This paper considers solutions to some of these challenges, and in particular examines SHM in the context of the aircraft environment.

  17. Apollo 11 Astronaut Armstrong Arrives at the Flight Crew Training Building

    Science.gov (United States)

    1969-01-01

    In this photograph, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong walks to the flight crew training building at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, one week before the nation's first lunar landing mission. The Apollo 11 mission launched from KSC via the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) developed Saturn V launch vehicle on July 16, 1969 and safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. Aboard the space craft were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, Command Module (CM) pilot; and Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module (LM) pilot. The CM, 'Columbia', piloted by Collins, remained in a parking orbit around the Moon while the LM, 'Eagle'', carrying astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin, landed on the Moon. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface, followed by Aldrin. During 2½ hours of surface exploration, the crew collected 47 pounds of lunar surface material for analysis back on Earth. With the success of Apollo 11, the national objective to land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished.

  18. A comprehensive health service evaluation and monitoring framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reeve, Carole; Humphreys, John; Wakerman, John

    2015-12-01

    To develop a framework for evaluating and monitoring a primary health care service, integrating hospital and community services. A targeted literature review of primary health service evaluation frameworks was performed to inform the development of the framework specifically for remote communities. Key principles underlying primary health care evaluation were determined and sentinel indicators developed to operationalise the evaluation framework. This framework was then validated with key stakeholders. The framework includes Donabedian's three seminal domains of structure, process and outcomes to determine health service performance. These in turn are dependent on sustainability, quality of patient care and the determinants of health to provide a comprehensive health service evaluation framework. The principles underpinning primary health service evaluation were pertinent to health services in remote contexts. Sentinel indicators were developed to fit the demographic characteristics and health needs of the population. Consultation with key stakeholders confirmed that the evaluation framework was applicable. Data collected routinely by health services can be used to operationalise the proposed health service evaluation framework. Use of an evaluation framework which links policy and health service performance to health outcomes will assist health services to improve performance as part of a continuous quality improvement cycle. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  19. Health Monitoring of Composite Material Structures using a Vibrometry Technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schulz, Mark J.

    1997-01-01

    Large composite material structures such as aircraft and Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVS) operate in severe environments comprised of vehicle dynamic loads, aerodynamic loads, engine vibration, foreign object impact, lightning strikes, corrosion, and moisture absorption. These structures are susceptible to damage such as delamination, fiber breaking/pullout, matrix cracking, and hygrothermal strain. To ensure human safety and load-bearing integrity, these structures must be inspected to detect and locate often invisible damage and faults before becoming catastrophic. Moreover, nearly all future structures will need some type of in-service inspection technique to increase their useful life and reduce maintenance and overall costs. Possible techniques for monitoring the health and indicating damage on composite structures include: c-scan, thermography, acoustic emissions using piezoceramic actuators or fiber-optic wires with gratings, laser ultrasound, shearography, holography, x-ray, and others. These techniques have limitations in detecting damage that is beneath the surface of the structure, far away from a sensor location, or during operation of the vehicle. The objective of this project is to develop a more global method for damage detection that is based on structural dynamics principles, and can inspect for damage when the structure is subjected to vibratory loads to expose faults that may not be evident by static inspection. A Transmittance Function Monitoring (TFM) method is being developed in this project for ground-based inspection and operational health monitoring of large composite structures as a RLV. A comparison of the features of existing health monitoring approaches and the proposed TFM method is given.

  20. Temporal Informative Analysis in Smart-ICU Monitoring: M-HealthCare Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhatia, Munish; Sood, Sandeep K

    2016-08-01

    The rapid introduction of Internet of Things (IoT) Technology has boosted the service deliverance aspects of health sector in terms of m-health, and remote patient monitoring. IoT Technology is not only capable of sensing the acute details of sensitive events from wider perspectives, but it also provides a means to deliver services in time sensitive and efficient manner. Henceforth, IoT Technology has been efficiently adopted in different fields of the healthcare domain. In this paper, a framework for IoT based patient monitoring in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is presented to enhance the deliverance of curative services. Though ICUs remained a center of attraction for high quality care among researchers, still number of studies have depicted the vulnerability to a patient's life during ICU stay. The work presented in this study addresses such concerns in terms of efficient monitoring of various events (and anomalies) with temporal associations, followed by time sensitive alert generation procedure. In order to validate the system, it was deployed in 3 ICU room facilities for 30 days in which nearly 81 patients were monitored during their ICU stay. The results obtained after implementation depicts that IoT equipped ICUs are more efficient in monitoring sensitive events as compared to manual monitoring and traditional Tele-ICU monitoring. Moreover, the adopted methodology for alert generation with information presentation further enhances the utility of the system.

  1. Astronautics and aeronautics, 1972. [a chronology of events

    Science.gov (United States)

    1974-01-01

    Important events of the U. S. space program during 1972 are recorded in a chronology which encompasses all NASA, NASA related, and international cooperative efforts in aeronautics and astronautics. Personnel and budget concerns are documented, along with the major developments in aircraft research, manned space flight, and interplanetary exploration.

  2. Multidisciplinary health monitoring of a steel bridge deck structure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pahlavan, P.L.; Pijpers, R.J.M.; Paulissen, J.H.; Hakkesteegt, H.C.; Jansen, T.H.

    2013-01-01

    Fatigue cracks in orthotropic bridge decks are an important cause for the necessary renovation of existing bridges. Parallel utilization of various technologies based on different physical sensing principles can potentially maximize the efficiency of structural health monitoring (SHM) systems for

  3. Challenges of monitoring reproductive health services: a case study ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Challenges of monitoring reproductive health services: a case study of antenatal clinics in Kinondoni municipality, Dar Es Salaam. ... was descriptive cross sectional employing both qualitative and quantitative methods. The sample population included nurse-midwives who manage ANC clinics in Kinondoni Municipality.

  4. Smartphone ownership and interest in mobile applications to monitor symptoms of mental health conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torous, John; Friedman, Rohn; Keshavan, Matcheri

    2014-01-21

    Patient retrospective recollection is a mainstay of assessing symptoms in mental health and psychiatry. However, evidence suggests that these retrospective recollections may not be as accurate as data collection though the experience sampling method (ESM), which captures patient data in "real time" and "real life." However, the difficulties in practical implementation of ESM data collection have limited its impact in psychiatry and mental health. Smartphones with the capability to run mobile applications may offer a novel method of collecting ESM data that may represent a practical and feasible tool for mental health and psychiatry. This paper aims to provide data on psychiatric patients' prevalence of smartphone ownership, patterns of use, and interest in utilizing mobile applications to monitor their mental health conditions. One hundred psychiatric outpatients at a large urban teaching hospital completed a paper-and-pencil survey regarding smartphone ownership, use, and interest in utilizing mobile applications to monitor their mental health condition. Ninety-seven percent of patients reported owning a phone and 72% reported that their phone was a smartphone. Patients in all age groups indicated greater than 50% interest in using a mobile application on a daily basis to monitor their mental health condition. Smartphone and mobile applications represent a practical opportunity to explore new modalities of monitoring, treatment, and research of psychiatric and mental health conditions.

  5. Patient Health Monitoring Using Wireless Body Area Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hsu Myat Thwe

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Nowadays remote patient health monitoring using wireless technology plays very vigorous role in a society. Wireless technology helps monitoring of physiological parameters like body temperature heart rate respiration blood pressure and ECG. The main aim of this paper is to propose a wireless sensor network system in which both heart rate and body temperature ofmultiplepatients can monitor on PC at the same time via RF network. The proposed prototype system includes two sensor nodes and receiver node base station. The sensor nodes are able to transmit data to receiver using wireless nRF transceiver module.The nRF transceiver module is used to transfer the data from microcontroller to PC and a graphical user interface GUI is developed to display the measured data and save to database. This system can provide very cheaper easier and quick respondent history of patient.

  6. Passive in-home health and wellness monitoring: overview, value and examples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alwan, Majd

    2009-01-01

    Modern sensor and communication technology, coupled with advances in data analysis and artificial intelligence techniques, is causing a paradigm shift in remote management and monitoring of chronic disease. In-home monitoring technology brings the added benefit of measuring individualized health status and reporting it to the care provider and caregivers alike, allowing timely and targeted preventive interventions, even in home and community based settings. This paper presents a paradigm for geriatric care based on monitoring older adults passively in their own living settings through placing sensors in their living environments or the objects they use. Activity and physiological data can be analyzed, archived and mined to detect indicators of early disease onset or changes in health conditions at various levels. Examples of monitoring systems are discussed and results from field evaluation pilot studies are summarized. The approach has shown great promise for a significant value proposition to all the stakeholders involved in caring for older adults. The paradigm would allow care providers to extend their services into the communities they serve.

  7. Behavioral Issues Associated With Long Duration Space Expeditions: Review and Analysis of Astronaut Journals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Struster, Jack

    2010-01-01

    Personal journals maintained by NASA astronauts during six-month expeditions onboard the International Space Station were analyzed to obtain information concerning a wide range of behavioral and human factors issues. Astronauts wrote most about their work, followed by outside communications (with mission control, family, and friends), adjustment to the conditions, interactions with crew mates, recreation/leisure, equipment (installation, maintenance), events (launches, docking, hurricanes, etc.), organization/management, sleep, and food. The study found evidence of a decline in morale during the third quarters of the missions and identified key factors that contribute to sustained adjustment and optimal performance during long-duration space expeditions. Astronauts reported that they benefited personally from writing in their journals because it helped maintain perspective on their work and relations with others. Responses to questions asked before, during, and after the expeditions show that living and working onboard the ISS is not as difficult as the astronauts anticipate before starting their six-month tours of duty. Recommendations include application of study results and continuation of the experiment to obtain additional data as crew size increases and operations evolve.

  8. Toward youth self-report of health and quality of life in population monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Topolski, Tari D; Edwards, Todd C; Patrick, Donald L

    2004-01-01

    This paper addresses population monitoring of youth health and quality of life, including the concepts used, methodological and practical criteria for indicators, and existing surveys and measures. Current population surveys of youth generally focus on poor health, such as disability or health-risk behaviors. Although these are important end points, indicators of illness or risk do not reflect the health or life perspective of the majority of youth who do not experience health problems. The measures used to monitor youth health should be appropriate and sensitive to future needs and capture the perspectives of youths. Two potential concepts for this "scorecard" are self-perceived health and quality of life, which have been shown to be useful in adults. For youth, the quality of life framework seems particularly relevant as it incorporates both positive and negative aspects of health and well-being and also captures salient aspects of health other than physical health, such as sense of self, social relationships, environment and culture, and life satisfaction.

  9. Structural Health Monitoring for a Z-Type Special Vehicle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chaolin Yuan

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays there exist various kinds of special vehicles designed for some purposes, which are different from regular vehicles in overall dimension and design. In that case, accidents such as overturning will lead to large economical loss and casualties. There are still no technical specifications to follow to ensure the safe operation and driving of these special vehicles. Owing to the poor efficiency of regular maintenance, it is more feasible and effective to apply real-time monitoring during the operation and driving process. In this paper, the fiber Bragg grating (FBG sensors are used to monitor the safety of a z-type special vehicle. Based on the structural features and force distribution, a reasonable structural health monitoring (SHM scheme is presented. Comparing the monitoring results with the finite element simulation results guarantees the accuracy and reliability of the monitoring results. Large amounts of data are collected during the operation and driving progress to evaluate the structural safety condition and provide reference for SHM systems developed for other special vehicles.

  10. Structural health monitoring of wind turbine blades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rumsey, Mark A.; Paquette, Joshua A.

    2008-03-01

    As electric utility wind turbines increase in size, and correspondingly, increase in initial capital investment cost, there is an increasing need to monitor the health of the structure. Acquiring an early indication of structural or mechanical problems allows operators to better plan for maintenance, possibly operate the machine in a de-rated condition rather than taking the unit off-line, or in the case of an emergency, shut the machine down to avoid further damage. This paper describes several promising structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques that were recently exercised during a fatigue test of a 9 meter glass-epoxy and carbon-epoxy wind turbine blade. The SHM systems were implemented by teams from NASA Kennedy Space Center, Purdue University and Virginia Tech. A commercial off-the-shelf acoustic emission (AE) NDT system gathered blade AE data throughout the test. At a fatigue load cycle rate around 1.2 Hertz, and after more than 4,000,000 fatigue cycles, the blade was diagnostically and visibly failing at the out-board blade spar-cap termination point at 4.5 meters. For safety reasons, the test was stopped just before the blade completely failed. This paper provides an overview of the SHM and NDT system setups and some current test results.

  11. Astronauts McNair and Stewart prepare for reentry

    Science.gov (United States)

    1984-01-01

    Astronauts Ronald E. McNair and Robert L. Stewart prepare for the re-entry phase of the shuttle Challenger near the end of the 41-B mission. The are stationed behind the crew commander and pilot. Stewart is already wearing his helmet. McNair is stowing some of his gear.

  12. Do Astronauts have a Higher Rate of Orthopedic Shoulder Conditions than a Cohort of Working Professionals?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laughlin, Mitzi S.; Murray, Jocelyn D.; Young, Millenia; Wear, Mary L.; Tarver, W. J.; Van Baalen, Mary

    2016-01-01

    Occupational surveillance of astronaut shoulder injuries began with operational concerns at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) during Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) training. NASA has implemented several occupational health initiatives during the past 20 years to decrease the number and severity of injuries, but the individual success rate is unknown. Orthopedic shoulder injury and surgery rates were calculated, but classifying the rates as normal, high or low was highly dependent on the comparison group. The purpose of this study was to identify a population of working professionals and compare orthopedic shoulder consultation and surgery rates.

  13. Structural Health Monitoring of Nuclear Spent Fuel Storage Facilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yu, Lingyu

    2018-04-10

    Interim storage of spent nuclear fuel from reactor sites has gained additional importance and urgency for resolving waste-management-related technical issues. To ensure that nuclear power remains clean energy, monitoring has been identified by DOE as a high priority cross-cutting need, necessary to determine and predict the degradation state of the systems, structures, and components (SSCs) important to safety (ITS). Therefore, nondestructive structural condition monitoring becomes a need to be installed on existing or to be integrated into future storage system to quantify the state of health or to guarantee the safe operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs) during their extended life span. In this project, the lead university and the collaborating national laboratory teamed to develop a nuclear structural health monitoring (n-SHM) system based on in-situ piezoelectric sensing technologies that can monitor structural degradation and aging for nuclear spent fuel DCSS and similar structures. We also aimed to identify and quantify possible influences of nuclear spent fuel environment (temperature and radiation) to the piezoelectric sensor system and come up with adequate solutions and guidelines therefore. We have therefore developed analytical model for piezoelectric based n-SHM methods, with considerations of temperature and irradiation influence on the model of sensing and algorithms in acoustic emission (AE), guided ultrasonic waves (GUW), and electromechanical impedance spectroscopy (EMIS). On the other side, experimentally the temperature and irradiation influence on the piezoelectric sensors and sensing capabilities were investigated. Both short-term and long-term irradiation investigation with our collaborating national laboratory were performed. Moreover, we developed multi-modal sensing, validated in laboratory setup, and conducted the testing on the We performed multi-modal sensing development, verification and validation tests on very complex structures

  14. Design of an Air Pollution Monitoring Campaign in Beijing for Application to Cohort Health Studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vedal, Sverre; Han, Bin; Xu, Jia; Szpiro, Adam; Bai, Zhipeng

    2017-12-15

    No cohort studies in China on the health effects of long-term air pollution exposure have employed exposure estimates at the fine spatial scales desirable for cohort studies with individual-level health outcome data. Here we assess an array of modern air pollution exposure estimation approaches for assigning within-city exposure estimates in Beijing for individual pollutants and pollutant sources to individual members of a cohort. Issues considered in selecting specific monitoring data or new monitoring campaigns include: needed spatial resolution, exposure measurement error and its impact on health effect estimates, spatial alignment and compatibility with the cohort, and feasibility and expense. Sources of existing data largely include administrative monitoring data, predictions from air dispersion or chemical transport models and remote sensing (specifically satellite) data. New air monitoring campaigns include additional fixed site monitoring, snapshot monitoring, passive badge or micro-sensor saturation monitoring and mobile monitoring, as well as combinations of these. Each of these has relative advantages and disadvantages. It is concluded that a campaign in Beijing that at least includes a mobile monitoring component, when coupled with currently available spatio-temporal modeling methods, should be strongly considered. Such a campaign is economical and capable of providing the desired fine-scale spatial resolution for pollutants and sources.

  15. Design of an Air Pollution Monitoring Campaign in Beijing for Application to Cohort Health Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sverre Vedal

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available No cohort studies in China on the health effects of long-term air pollution exposure have employed exposure estimates at the fine spatial scales desirable for cohort studies with individual-level health outcome data. Here we assess an array of modern air pollution exposure estimation approaches for assigning within-city exposure estimates in Beijing for individual pollutants and pollutant sources to individual members of a cohort. Issues considered in selecting specific monitoring data or new monitoring campaigns include: needed spatial resolution, exposure measurement error and its impact on health effect estimates, spatial alignment and compatibility with the cohort, and feasibility and expense. Sources of existing data largely include administrative monitoring data, predictions from air dispersion or chemical transport models and remote sensing (specifically satellite data. New air monitoring campaigns include additional fixed site monitoring, snapshot monitoring, passive badge or micro-sensor saturation monitoring and mobile monitoring, as well as combinations of these. Each of these has relative advantages and disadvantages. It is concluded that a campaign in Beijing that at least includes a mobile monitoring component, when coupled with currently available spatio-temporal modeling methods, should be strongly considered. Such a campaign is economical and capable of providing the desired fine-scale spatial resolution for pollutants and sources.

  16. Astronaut Neil Armstrong participates in simulation of moon's surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    1969-01-01

    Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, wearing an Extravehicular Mobility Unit, deploys a lunar surface television camera during lunar surface simulation training in bldg 9, Manned Spacecraft Center. Armstrong is the prime crew commander of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission.

  17. Astronauts Armstrong and Scott during photo session outside KSC

    Science.gov (United States)

    1966-01-01

    Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong (left), command pilot, and David R. Scott, pilot, the Gemini 8 prime crew, during a photo session outside the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Mission Control Center. They are standing in front of a radar dish.

  18. 78 FR 72011 - Interpretation Concerning Involvement of NASA Astronauts During a Licensed Launch or Reentry

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-12-02

    ..., from engaging in operational functions during an FAA-licensed launch or reentry. NASA noted that all... environmental controls and life support systems.'' NASA also asked the FAA whether NASA's astronauts could... an off-nominal or emergency situation, the NASA astronaut would, much of the time, be using...

  19. Ultrasonic wireless health monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petit, Lionel; Lefeuvre, Elie; Guyomar, Daniel; Richard, Claude; Guy, Philippe; Yuse, Kaori; Monnier, Thomas

    2006-03-01

    The integration of autonomous wireless elements in health monitoring network increases the reliability by suppressing power supplies and data transmission wiring. Micro-power piezoelectric generators are an attractive alternative to primary batteries which are limited by a finite amount of energy, a limited capacity retention and a short shelf life (few years). Our goal is to implement such an energy harvesting system for powering a single AWT (Autonomous Wireless Transmitter) using our SSH (Synchronized Switch Harvesting) method. Based on a non linear process of the piezoelement voltage, this SSH method optimizes the energy extraction from the mechanical vibrations. This AWT has two main functions : The generation of an identifier code by RF transmission to the central receiver and the Lamb wave generation for the health monitoring of the host structure. A damage index is derived from the variation between the transmitted wave spectrum and a reference spectrum. The same piezoelements are used for the energy harvesting function and the Lamb wave generation, thus reducing mass and cost. A micro-controller drives the energy balance and synchronizes the functions. Such an autonomous transmitter has been evaluated on a 300x50x2 mm 3 composite cantilever beam. Four 33x11x0.3 mm 3 piezoelements are used for the energy harvesting and for the wave lamb generation. A piezoelectric sensor is placed at the free end of the beam to track the transmitted Lamb wave. In this configuration, the needed energy for the RF emission is 0.1 mJ for a 1 byte-information and the Lamb wave emission requires less than 0.1mJ. The AWT can harvested an energy quantity of approximately 20 mJ (for a 1.5 Mpa lateral stress) with a 470 μF storage capacitor. This corresponds to a power density near to 6mW/cm 3. The experimental AWT energy abilities are presented and the damage detection process is discussed. Finally, some envisaged solutions are introduced for the implementation of the required data

  20. The last of NASA's original pilot astronauts expanding the space frontier in the late sixties

    CERN Document Server

    Shayler, David J

    2017-01-01

    Resulting from the authors’ deep research into these two pre-Shuttle astronaut groups, many intriguing and untold stories behind the selection process are revealed in the book. The often extraordinary backgrounds and personal ambitions of these skilled pilots, chosen to continue NASA’s exploration and knowledge of the space frontier, are also examined. In April 1966 NASA selected 19 pilot astronauts whose training was specifically targeted to the Apollo lunar landing missions and the Earth-orbiting Skylab space station. Three years later, following the sudden cancellation of the USAF’s highly classified Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) project, seven military astronauts were also co-opted into NASA’s space program. This book represents the final chapter by the authors in the story of American astronaut selections prior to the era of the Space Shuttle. Through personal interviews and original NASA documentation, readers will also gain a true insight into a remarkable age of space travel as it unfolded ...

  1. Northern Rivers Basins human health monitoring program : report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gabos, S.

    1999-04-01

    The Northern River Basins Human Health Monitoring Program was established in 1994 to investigate the possible relationships between various environmental risk factors and the health of northern residents in the province. This report presents the initial analysis of the health program and examines the differences in health outcomes across the province and compares the Northern Rivers Basin Study (NRBS) area with the other areas of the province. A series of maps and graphs showed the prevalence of certain diseases and disorders within the Peace and Athabasca river basins. The focus of the report was on reproductive health, congenital anomalies, respiratory ailments, circulatory diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, endocrine and metabolic disorders, and neurocognitive disorders. The study showed that compared to other areas of the province, the NRBS area had higher incidences of endometriosis, selected congenital anomalies, bronchitis, pneumonia, peptic ulcers and epilepsy. There were three potential exposure pathways to environmental contaminants. These were through ingestion of water or food, inhalation of air and through dermal exposure. refs., tabs., figs

  2. Northern Rivers Basins human health monitoring program : report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gabos, S. [Alberta Health, Edmonton, AB (Canada). Health Surveillance

    1999-04-01

    The Northern River Basins Human Health Monitoring Program was established in 1994 to investigate the possible relationships between various environmental risk factors and the health of northern residents in the province. This report presents the initial analysis of the health program and examines the differences in health outcomes across the province and compares the Northern Rivers Basin Study (NRBS) area with the other areas of the province. A series of maps and graphs showed the prevalence of certain diseases and disorders within the Peace and Athabasca river basins. The focus of the report was on reproductive health, congenital anomalies, respiratory ailments, circulatory diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, endocrine and metabolic disorders, and neurocognitive disorders. The study showed that compared to other areas of the province, the NRBS area had higher incidences of endometriosis, selected congenital anomalies, bronchitis, pneumonia, peptic ulcers and epilepsy. There were three potential exposure pathways to environmental contaminants. These were through ingestion of water or food, inhalation of air and through dermal exposure. refs., tabs., figs.

  3. Smart home-based health platform for behavioral monitoring and alteration of diabetes patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helal, Abdelsalam; Cook, Diane J; Schmalz, Mark

    2009-01-01

    Researchers and medical practitioners have long sought the ability to continuously and automatically monitor patients beyond the confines of a doctor's office. We describe a smart home monitoring and analysis platform that facilitates the automatic gathering of rich databases of behavioral information in a manner that is transparent to the patient. Collected information will be automatically or manually analyzed and reported to the caregivers and may be interpreted for behavioral modification in the patient. Our health platform consists of five technology layers. The architecture is designed to be flexible, extensible, and transparent, to support plug-and-play operation of new devices and components, and to provide remote monitoring and programming opportunities. The smart home-based health platform technologies have been tested in two physical smart environments. Data that are collected in these implemented physical layers are processed and analyzed by our activity recognition and chewing classification algorithms. All of these components have yielded accurate analyses for subjects in the smart environment test beds. This work represents an important first step in the field of smart environment-based health monitoring and assistance. The architecture can be used to monitor the activity, diet, and exercise compliance of diabetes patients and evaluate the effects of alternative medicine and behavior regimens. We believe these technologies are essential for providing accessible, low-cost health assistance in an individual's own home and for providing the best possible quality of life for individuals with diabetes. © Diabetes Technology Society

  4. Psycho-social aspects of personal health monitoring: a descriptive literature review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muehlan, Holger; Schmidt, Silke

    2013-01-01

    We aimed at providing a short review on already published studies addressing psycho-social issues of personal health monitoring (PHM). Both core questions addressed within this review are: What is the impact of PHM on intended psycho-social and health-related outcomes? And which psycho-social issues affected by or related to PHM have already been investigated? This descriptive review based on a literature search using various databases (Psycinfo, Psyndex, Pubmed, SSCI). Resulting 428 abstracts were coded regarding their psycho-social content. Inspection of results was carried out along the relevance of the papers regarding psycho-social issues. Research in PHM focuses on telemonitoring and smart home applications: Tele-monitoring studies are directed to outcome-related questions, smart home studies to feasibility issues. Despite of technological matters, comparability of both systems in psycho-social issues is lacking. Tele-monitoring has been proven for impact on patient groups with chronic diseases, yet smart home still lacks evidence in health-related and psycho-social matters. Smart home applications have been investigated with respect to attitudes, perceptions and concerns of end-users, telemonitoring regarding acceptance and adherence.

  5. Astronaut Anna Fisher demonstrates sleep restraints on shuttle

    Science.gov (United States)

    1984-01-01

    Astronaut Anna L. Fisher demonstrates the versatility of shuttle sleep restraints to accommodate the preference of crewmembers as she appears to have configured hers in a horizontal hammock mode. Stowage lockers, one of the middeck walls, another sleep restraint, a jury-rigged foot and hand restraint are among other items in the frame.

  6. Monitoring public health following a major firework factory explosion.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dirkzwager, A.J.E.; IJzermans, C.J.; Kerssens, J.J.

    2003-01-01

    Background: In May 2000, a firework factory exploded in a residential area in the Netherlands, resulting in 22 deaths, 947 wounded people, and about 2.000 severely damaged houses. Following the explosion, a largescale monitoring study was implemented to examine disaster-related health consequences

  7. Monitoring health status following a major firework factory explosion.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dirkzwager, A.; IJzermans, J.

    2003-01-01

    In May 2000, a firework factory exploded in a residential area in the Netherlands, resulting in 22 death, 947 wounded people, 500 destroyed houses, and 1.500 severely damaged houses. Following the explosion, a large-scale monitoring study was implemented to investigate disaster-related health

  8. Health and usage monitoring system for the small aircraft composite structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Růžička, Milan; Dvořák, Milan; Schmidová, Nikola; Šašek, Ladislav; Štěpánek, Martin

    2017-07-01

    This paper is focused on the design of the health and usage monitoring system (HUMS) of the composite ultra-light aircrafts. A multichannel measuring system was developed and installed for recording of the long-term operational measurements of the UL airplane. Many fiber Bragg grating sensors were implemented into the composite aircraft structure, mainly in the glue joints. More than ten other analog functions and signals of the aircraft is monitored and can be correlated together. Changing of the FBG sensors responses in monitored places and their correlations, comparing with the calibration and recalibration procedures during a monitored life may indicate damage (eg. in bonded joints) and complements the HUMS system.

  9. High Temperatures Health Monitoring of the Condensed Water Height in Steam Pipe Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lih, Shyh-Shiuh; Bar-Cohen, Yoseph; Lee, Hyeong Jae; Badescu, Mircea; Bao, Xiaoqi; Sherrit, Stewart; Takano, Nobuyuki; Ostlund, Patrick; Blosiu, Julian

    2013-01-01

    Ultrasonic probes were designed, fabricated and tested for high temperature health monitoring system. The goal of this work was to develop the health monitoring system that can determine the height level of the condensed water through the pipe wall at high temperature up to 250 deg while accounting for the effects of surface perturbation. Among different ultrasonic probe designs, 2.25 MHz probes with air backed configuration provide satisfactory results in terms of sensitivity, receiving reflections from the target through the pipe wall. A series of tests were performed using the air-backed probes under irregular conditions, such as surface perturbation and surface disturbance at elevated temperature, to qualify the developed ultrasonic system. The results demonstrate that the fabricated air-backed probes combined with advanced signal processing techniques offer the capability of health monitoring of steam pipe under various operating conditions.

  10. Physiological responses of astronaut candidates to simulated +Gx orbital emergency re-entry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Bin; Xue, Yueying; Wu, Ping; Gu, Zhiming; Wang, Yue; Jing, Xiaolu

    2012-08-01

    We investigated astronaut candidates' physiological and pathological responses to +Gx exposure during simulated emergency return from a running orbit to advance astronaut +Gx tolerance training and medical support in manned spaceflight. There were 13 male astronaut candidates who were exposed to a simulated high +Gx acceleration profile in a spacecraft during an emergency return lasting for 230 s. The peak value was 8.5 G. Subjective feelings and symptoms, cardiovascular and respiratory responses, and changes in urine component before, during, and after +Gx exposure were investigated. Under high +Gx exposure, 15.4% of subjects exhibited arrhythmia. Heart rate (HR) increased significantly and four different types of HR response curves were distinguished. The ratio of QT to RR interval on the electrocardiograms was significantly increased. Arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) declined with increasing G value and then returned gradually. SaO2 reached a minimum (87.7%) at 3 G during the decline phase of the +Gx curve. Respiratory rate increased significantly with increasing G value, while the amplitude and area of the respiratory waves were significantly reduced. The overshoot appeared immediately after +Gx exposure. A few subjects suffered from slight injuries, including positive urine protein (1/13), positive urinary occult blood (1/13), and a large area of petechiae on the back (1/13). Astronaut candidates have relatively good tolerance to the +Gx profile during a simulation of spacecraft emergent ballistic re-entry. However, a few subjects exhibited adverse physiological responses and slight reversible pathological injuries.

  11. Dynamic Analysis with Fibre Optic Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Paolozzi, Antonio; Gasbarri, Paolo

    2006-01-01

    Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a new frontier of non destructing testing. Often SHM is associated with fibre optic sensors whose signals can be used to identify the structure and consequently its damage...

  12. A Program of Research and Education in Astronautics at the NASA Langley Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tolson, Robert H.

    2000-01-01

    The objectives of the Program were to conduct research at the NASA Langley Research Center in the area of astronautics and to provide a comprehensive education program at the Center leading to advanced degrees in Astronautics. We believe that the program has successfully met the objectives and has been of significant benefit to NASA LaRC, the GWU and the nation.

  13. ICT and the future of healthcare: Aspects of pervasive health monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haluza, Daniela; Jungwirth, David

    2018-01-01

    Along with the digital revolution, information and communication technology applications are currently transforming the delivery of health and social care services. This paper investigates prevailing opinions toward future technology-based healthcare solutions among Austrian healthcare professionals. During a biphasic online Delphi survey, panelists rated expected outcomes of two future scenarios describing pervasive health monitoring applications. Experts perceived that the scenarios were highly innovative, but only moderately desirable, and that their implementation could especially improve patients' knowledge, quality of healthcare, and living standard. Contrarily, monetary aspects, technical prerequisites, and data security were identified as key obstacles. We further compared the impact of professional affiliation. Clearly, opinions toward pervasive healthcare differed between the interest groups, medical professionals, patient advocates, and administrative personnel. These data suggest closer collaborations between stakeholder groups to harmonize differences in expectations regarding pervasive health monitoring.

  14. Damage Detection Sensitivity of a Vehicle-based Bridge Health Monitoring System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyamoto, Ayaho; Yabe, Akito; Lúcio, Válter J. G.

    2017-05-01

    As one solution to the problem for condition assessment of existing short and medium span (10-30m) reinforced/prestressed concrete bridges, a new monitoring method using a public bus as part of a public transit system (called “Bus monitoring system”) was proposed, along with safety indices, namely, “characteristic deflection”, which is relatively free from the influence of dynamic disturbances due to such factors as the roughness of the road surface, and a structural anomaly parameter. In this study, to evaluate the practicality of the newly developed bus monitoring system, it has been field-tested over a period of about four years by using an in-service fixed-route bus operating on a bus route in the city of Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. In here, although there are some useful monitoring methods for short and medium span bridges based on the qualitative or quantitative information, the sensitivity of damage detection was newly discussed for safety assessment based on long term health monitoring data. The verification results thus obtained are also described in this paper, and also evaluates the sensitivity of the “characteristic deflection”, which is a bridge (health) condition indicator used by the bus monitoring system, in damage detection. Sensitivity of “characteristic deflection” is verified by introducing artificial damage into a bridge that has ended its service life and is awaiting removal. Furthermore, the sensitivity of “characteristic deflection” is verified by 3D FEM analysis.

  15. New seismic array solution for earthquake observations and hydropower plant health monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antonovskaya, Galina N.; Kapustian, Natalya K.; Moshkunov, Alexander I.; Danilov, Alexey V.; Moshkunov, Konstantin A.

    2017-09-01

    We present the novel fusion of seismic safety monitoring data of the hydropower plant in Chirkey (Caucasus Mountains, Russia). This includes new hardware solutions and observation methods, along with technical limitations for three types of applications: (a) seismic monitoring of the Chirkey reservoir area, (b) structure monitoring of the dam, and (c) monitoring of turbine vibrations. Previous observations and data processing for health monitoring do not include complex data analysis, while the new system is more rational and less expensive. The key new feature of the new system is remote monitoring of turbine vibration. A comparison of the data obtained at the test facilities and by hydropower plant inspection with remote sensors enables early detection of hazardous hydrodynamic phenomena.

  16. Human monitoring, smart health and assisted living techniques and technologies

    CERN Document Server

    Longhi, Sauro; Freddi, Alessandro

    2017-01-01

    This book covers the three main scientific and technological areas critical for improving people's quality of life - namely human monitoring, smart health and assisted living - from both the research and development points of view.

  17. Astronaut Curtis L. Brown, Jr., pilot, works with his life raft during emergency bailout training

    Science.gov (United States)

    1996-01-01

    STS-77 TRAINING VIEW --- Astronaut Curtis L. Brown, Jr., pilot, works with his life raft during emergency bailout training for crew members in the Johnson Space Centers (JSC) Weightless Environment Training Facility (WET-F). Brown will join five other astronauts for nine days aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour next month.

  18. College of Engineering alumnus honored with American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Abe M. Zarem Award

    OpenAIRE

    Nystrom, Lynn A.

    2009-01-01

    Adam Cowling, a recent master's graduate of Virginia Tech's Aerospace and Ocean Engineering Department in the College of Engineering, is the 2009 recipient of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Abe M. Zarem Award for Distinguished Achievement in Astronautics.

  19. Signature Optical Cues: Emerging Technologies for Monitoring Plant Health

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anand K. Asundi

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Optical technologies can be developed as practical tools for monitoring plant health by providing unique spectral signatures that can be related to specific plant stresses. Signatures from thermal and fluorescence imaging have been used successfully to track pathogen invasion before visual symptoms are observed. Another approach for noninvasive plant health monitoring involves elucidating the manner with which light interacts with the plant leaf and being able to identify changes in spectral characteristics in response to specific stresses. To achieve this, an important step is to understand the biochemical and anatomical features governing leaf reflectance, transmission and absorption. Many studies have opened up possibilities that subtle changes in leaf reflectance spectra can be analyzed in a plethora of ways for discriminating nutrient and water stress, but with limited success. There has also been interest in developing transgenic phytosensors to elucidate plant status in relation to environmental conditions. This approach involves unambiguous signal creation whereby genetic modification to generate reporter plants has resulted in distinct optical signals emitted in response to specific stressors. Most of these studies are limited to laboratory or controlled greenhouse environments at leaf level. The practical translation of spectral cues for application under field conditions at canopy and regional levels by remote aerial sensing remains a challenge. The movement towards technology development is well exemplified by the Controlled Ecological Life Support System under development by NASA which brings together technologies for monitoring plant status concomitantly with instrumentation for environmental monitoring and feedback control.

  20. Identification of Psychological Stresses for Astronauts and Cosmonauts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marsh, Melinda

    As humans continue to explore and expand in the solar system, psychological problems brought about by high stress of living in the space environment will continue to increase. Unfortunately, due to many reasons, including relative difficulties with gaining access to astronauts and cosmonauts and to gather psychological data from them regarding stressors, this area is not very well known and discussed. Five astronauts and cosmonauts from three space agencies: ESA, RSA, and JAXA were unoffi- cially surveyed regarding their experiences with ten general categories of psychological stressors as well as eight subcategories of interpersonal conflict stressors accepted in space related community of psychologists. The two subjects in space for longer periods of time reported more stressors and were likely to rate stressors as having a greater effect on the chance of mission failure. Shorter duration flyers reported nearly all general stressors were likely to increase in the event of a longer duration space flight. With the increased interest in long duration spaceflight, psychological stressors are more likely to affect mission success.

  1. Diagnostic tool for structural health monitoring: effect of material nonlinearity and vibro-impact process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hiwarkar, V. R.; Babitsky, V. I.; Silberschmidt, V. V.

    2013-07-01

    Numerous techniques are available for monitoring structural health. Most of these techniques are expensive and time-consuming. In this paper, vibration-based techniques are explored together with their use as diagnostic tools for structural health monitoring. Finite-element simulations are used to study the effect of material nonlinearity on dynamics of a cracked bar. Additionally, several experiments are performed to study the effect of vibro-impact behavior of crack on its dynamics. It was observed that a change in the natural frequency of the cracked bar due to crack-tip plasticity and vibro-impact behavior linked to interaction of crack faces, obtained from experiments, led to generation of higher harmonics; this can be used as a diagnostic tool for structural health monitoring.

  2. Recyclable Nonfunctionalized Paper-Based Ultralow-Cost Wearable Health Monitoring System

    KAUST Repository

    Nassar, Joanna M.; Mishra, Kush; Lau, Kirklann; Aguirre-Pablo, Andres A.; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

    2017-01-01

    A wearable health monitor using low-cost and recyclable paper continuously supervises and assesses body vital conditions simultaneously and in real time, such as blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, and skin hydration. The affordability

  3. Application of data fusion techniques and technologies for wearable health monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Rachel C; Villeneuve, Emma; White, Ruth J; Sherratt, R Simon; Holderbaum, William; Harwin, William S

    2017-04-01

    Technological advances in sensors and communications have enabled discrete integration into everyday objects, both in the home and about the person. Information gathered by monitoring physiological, behavioural, and social aspects of our lives, can be used to achieve a positive impact on quality of life, health, and well-being. Wearable sensors are at the cusp of becoming truly pervasive, and could be woven into the clothes and accessories that we wear such that they become ubiquitous and transparent. To interpret the complex multidimensional information provided by these sensors, data fusion techniques are employed to provide a meaningful representation of the sensor outputs. This paper is intended to provide a short overview of data fusion techniques and algorithms that can be used to interpret wearable sensor data in the context of health monitoring applications. The application of these techniques are then described in the context of healthcare including activity and ambulatory monitoring, gait analysis, fall detection, and biometric monitoring. A snap-shot of current commercially available sensors is also provided, focusing on their sensing capability, and a commentary on the gaps that need to be bridged to bring research to market. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  4. [Indicators to monitor the evolution of the economic crisis and its effects on health and health inequalities. SESPAS report 2014].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérez, Glòria; Rodríguez-Sanz, Maica; Domínguez-Berjón, Felicitas; Cabeza, Elena; Borrell, Carme

    2014-06-01

    The economic crisis has adverse effects on determinants of health and health inequalities. The aim of this article was to present a set of indicators of health and its determinants to monitor the effects of the crisis in Spain. On the basis of the conceptual framework proposed by the Commission for the Reduction of Social Health Inequalities in Spain, we searched for indicators of social, economic, and political (structural and intermediate) determinants of health, as well as for health indicators, bearing in mind the axes of social inequality (gender, age, socioeconomic status, and country of origin). The indicators were mainly obtained from official data sources published on the internet. The selected indicators are periodically updated and are comparable over time and among territories (among autonomous communities and in some cases among European Union countries), and are available for age groups, gender, socio-economic status, and country of origin. However, many of these indicators are not sufficiently reactive to rapid change, which occurs in the economic crisis, and consequently require monitoring over time. Another limitation is the lack of availability of indicators for the various axes of social inequality. In conclusion, the proposed indicators allow for progress in monitoring the effects of the economic crisis on health and health inequalities in Spain. Copyright © 2013 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  5. Wireless connectivity for health and sports monitoring: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armstrong, S

    2007-05-01

    This is a review of health and sports monitoring research that uses or could benefit from wireless connectivity. New, enabling wireless connectivity standards are evaluated for their suitability, and an assessment of current exploitation of these technologies is summarised. An example of the application is given, highlighting the capabilities of a network of wireless sensors. Issues of timing and power consumption in a battery-powered system are addressed to highlight the benefits networking can provide, and a suggestion of how monitoring different biometric signals might allow one to gain additional information about an athlete or patient is made.

  6. A Remote Health Monitoring System for the Elderly Based on Smart Home Gateway

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kai Guan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposed a remote health monitoring system for the elderly based on smart home gateway. The proposed system consists of three parts: the smart clothing, the smart home gateway, and the health care server. The smart clothing collects the elderly’s electrocardiogram (ECG and motion signals. The home gateway is used for data transmission. The health care server provides services of data storage and user information management; it is constructed on the Windows-Apache-MySQL-PHP (WAMP platform and is tested on the Ali Cloud platform. To resolve the issues of data overload and network congestion of the home gateway, an ECG compression algorithm is applied. System demonstration shows that the ECG signals and motion signals of the elderly can be monitored. Evaluation of the compression algorithm shows that it has a high compression ratio and low distortion and consumes little time, which is suitable for home gateways. The proposed system has good scalability, and it is simple to operate. It has the potential to provide long-term and continuous home health monitoring services for the elderly.

  7. A Remote Health Monitoring System for the Elderly Based on Smart Home Gateway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guan, Kai; Shao, Minggang; Wu, Shuicai

    2017-01-01

    This paper proposed a remote health monitoring system for the elderly based on smart home gateway. The proposed system consists of three parts: the smart clothing, the smart home gateway, and the health care server. The smart clothing collects the elderly's electrocardiogram (ECG) and motion signals. The home gateway is used for data transmission. The health care server provides services of data storage and user information management; it is constructed on the Windows-Apache-MySQL-PHP (WAMP) platform and is tested on the Ali Cloud platform. To resolve the issues of data overload and network congestion of the home gateway, an ECG compression algorithm is applied. System demonstration shows that the ECG signals and motion signals of the elderly can be monitored. Evaluation of the compression algorithm shows that it has a high compression ratio and low distortion and consumes little time, which is suitable for home gateways. The proposed system has good scalability, and it is simple to operate. It has the potential to provide long-term and continuous home health monitoring services for the elderly.

  8. A Remote Health Monitoring System for the Elderly Based on Smart Home Gateway

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shao, Minggang

    2017-01-01

    This paper proposed a remote health monitoring system for the elderly based on smart home gateway. The proposed system consists of three parts: the smart clothing, the smart home gateway, and the health care server. The smart clothing collects the elderly's electrocardiogram (ECG) and motion signals. The home gateway is used for data transmission. The health care server provides services of data storage and user information management; it is constructed on the Windows-Apache-MySQL-PHP (WAMP) platform and is tested on the Ali Cloud platform. To resolve the issues of data overload and network congestion of the home gateway, an ECG compression algorithm is applied. System demonstration shows that the ECG signals and motion signals of the elderly can be monitored. Evaluation of the compression algorithm shows that it has a high compression ratio and low distortion and consumes little time, which is suitable for home gateways. The proposed system has good scalability, and it is simple to operate. It has the potential to provide long-term and continuous home health monitoring services for the elderly. PMID:29204258

  9. Development of a wearable wireless body area network for health monitoring of the elderly and disabled

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rushambwa, Munyaradzi C.; Gezimati, Mavis; Jeeva, J. B.

    2017-11-01

    Novel advancements in systems miniaturization, electronics in health care and communication technologies are enabling the integration of both patients and doctors involvement in health care system. A Wearable Wireless Body Area Network (WWBAN) provides continuous, unobtrusive ambulatory, ubiquitous health monitoring, and provide real time patient’s status to the physician without any constraint on their normal daily life activities. In this project we developed a wearable wireless body area network system that continuously monitor the health of the elderly and the disabled and provide them with independent, safe and secure living. The WWBAN system monitors the following parameters; blood oxygen saturation using a pulse oximeter sensor (SpO2), heart rate (HR) pulse sensor, Temperature, hydration, glucose level and fall detection. When the wearable system is put on, the sensor values are processed and analysed. If any of the monitored parameter values falls below or exceeds the normal range, there is trigger of remote alert by which an SMS is send to a doctor or physician via GSM module and network. The developed system offers flexibility and mobility to the user; it is a real time system and has significance in revolutionizing health care system by enabling non-invasive, inexpensive, continuous health monitoring.

  10. Ultra low power signal oriented approach for wireless health monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marinkovic, Stevan; Popovici, Emanuel

    2012-01-01

    In recent years there is growing pressure on the medical sector to reduce costs while maintaining or even improving the quality of care. A potential solution to this problem is real time and/or remote patient monitoring by using mobile devices. To achieve this, medical sensors with wireless communication, computational and energy harvesting capabilities are networked on, or in, the human body forming what is commonly called a Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN). We present the implementation of a novel Wake Up Receiver (WUR) in the context of standardised wireless protocols, in a signal-oriented WBAN environment and present a novel protocol intended for wireless health monitoring (WhMAC). WhMAC is a TDMA-based protocol with very low power consumption. It utilises WBAN-specific features and a novel ultra low power wake up receiver technology, to achieve flexible and at the same time very low power wireless data transfer of physiological signals. As the main application is in the medical domain, or personal health monitoring, the protocol caters for different types of medical sensors. We define four sensor modes, in which the sensors can transmit data, depending on the sensor type and emergency level. A full power dissipation model is provided for the protocol, with individual hardware and application parameters. Finally, an example application shows the reduction in the power consumption for different data monitoring scenarios.

  11. Astronaut Neil Armstrong studies rock samples during geological field trip

    Science.gov (United States)

    1969-01-01

    Astronaut Neil Armstrong, commander of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, studies rock samples during a geological field trip to the Quitman Mountains area near the Fort Quitman ruins in far west Texas.

  12. Data Integration for Health and Stress Monitoring: Biological Metabolites, Wearables Data, and Self-Reporting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunn, Jocelyn T.

    Integrative and unobtrusive approaches to monitoring health and stress can assist in preventative medicine and disease management, and provide capabilities for complex work environments, such as military deployments and long-duration human space exploration missions. With many data streams that could potentially provide critical information about the health, behavior, and psychosocial states of individuals or small groups, the central question of this research is how to reliably measure health and stress states over time. This integrative approach to health and stress monitoring has implemented biological metabolite profiling, wearables data analysis, and survey assessment for comparing biological, behavioral, and psychological perspectives. Health monitoring technologies aim to provide objective data about health status. Providing objective information can help mitigate biases or blind spots in an individual's perception. Consider an individual who is unwilling to openly admit to psychosocial distress and unhealthy habits, or an individual who has habituated to long-term stressors and is unable to recognize a chronic state of high stress. Both honesty and self-awareness are required for accurate self-reporting. Digital health technologies, such as wearable devices, provide objective data for health monitoring. Compared to surveys, wearables are less influenced by participant openness, and compared to biological samples, wearables require less equipment and less labor for analysis. However, inherent to every data stream are limitations due to uncertainty and sensitivity. This research has been conducted in collaboration with Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS), which is a Mars analog research site on the slopes on Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. During 8-month and 12-month HI-SEAS missions in the 2014-2016 timeframe, twelve individuals provided hair and urine samples for metabolite profiling, utilized consumer-grade wearables to monitor sleep and

  13. Private Astronaut Training Prepares Commercial Crews of Tomorrow

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-01-01

    A new company that includes a handful of former NASA personnel is already taking applications for the first comprehensive commercial astronaut training approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. Waypoint 2 Space, located at Johnson Space Center, hopes to draw space tourists and enthusiasts and future commercial crewmembers with first-hand NASA know-how, as well as agency training technology.

  14. New Sensors and Techniques for the Structural Health Monitoring of Propulsion Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark Woike

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The ability to monitor the structural health of the rotating components, especially in the hot sections of turbine engines, is of major interest to aero community in improving engine safety and reliability. The use of instrumentation for these applications remains very challenging. It requires sensors and techniques that are highly accurate, are able to operate in a high temperature environment, and can detect minute changes and hidden flaws before catastrophic events occur. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, through the Aviation Safety Program (AVSP, has taken a lead role in the development of new sensor technologies and techniques for the in situ structural health monitoring of gas turbine engines. This paper presents a summary of key results and findings obtained from three different structural health monitoring approaches that have been investigated. This includes evaluating the performance of a novel microwave blade tip clearance sensor; a vibration based crack detection technique using an externally mounted capacitive blade tip clearance sensor; and lastly the results of using data driven anomaly detection algorithms for detecting cracks in a rotating disk.

  15. Analysis of decision fusion algorithms in handling uncertainties for integrated health monitoring systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zein-Sabatto, Saleh; Mikhail, Maged; Bodruzzaman, Mohammad; DeSimio, Martin; Derriso, Mark; Behbahani, Alireza

    2012-06-01

    It has been widely accepted that data fusion and information fusion methods can improve the accuracy and robustness of decision-making in structural health monitoring systems. It is arguably true nonetheless, that decision-level is equally beneficial when applied to integrated health monitoring systems. Several decisions at low-levels of abstraction may be produced by different decision-makers; however, decision-level fusion is required at the final stage of the process to provide accurate assessment about the health of the monitored system as a whole. An example of such integrated systems with complex decision-making scenarios is the integrated health monitoring of aircraft. Thorough understanding of the characteristics of the decision-fusion methodologies is a crucial step for successful implementation of such decision-fusion systems. In this paper, we have presented the major information fusion methodologies reported in the literature, i.e., probabilistic, evidential, and artificial intelligent based methods. The theoretical basis and characteristics of these methodologies are explained and their performances are analyzed. Second, candidate methods from the above fusion methodologies, i.e., Bayesian, Dempster-Shafer, and fuzzy logic algorithms are selected and their applications are extended to decisions fusion. Finally, fusion algorithms are developed based on the selected fusion methods and their performance are tested on decisions generated from synthetic data and from experimental data. Also in this paper, a modeling methodology, i.e. cloud model, for generating synthetic decisions is presented and used. Using the cloud model, both types of uncertainties; randomness and fuzziness, involved in real decision-making are modeled. Synthetic decisions are generated with an unbiased process and varying interaction complexities among decisions to provide for fair performance comparison of the selected decision-fusion algorithms. For verification purposes

  16. Astronaut Dale Gardner rehearses control of MMU during EVA practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    1984-01-01

    Astronaut Dale A. Gardner, 51-A mission specialist, rehearses control of manned maneuvering unit (MMU) during a practice for an extravehicular activity (EVA). Gardner is in the Shuttle mockup and integration laboratory at JSC.

  17. Performance Health Monitoring of Large-Scale Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rajamony, Ram [IBM Research, Austin, TX (United States)

    2014-11-20

    This report details the progress made on the ASCR funded project Performance Health Monitoring for Large Scale Systems. A large-­scale application may not achieve its full performance potential due to degraded performance of even a single subsystem. Detecting performance faults, isolating them, and taking remedial action is critical for the scale of systems on the horizon. PHM aims to develop techniques and tools that can be used to identify and mitigate such performance problems. We accomplish this through two main aspects. The PHM framework encompasses diagnostics, system monitoring, fault isolation, and performance evaluation capabilities that indicates when a performance fault has been detected, either due to an anomaly present in the system itself or due to contention for shared resources between concurrently executing jobs. Software components called the PHM Control system then build upon the capabilities provided by the PHM framework to mitigate degradation caused by performance problems.

  18. Interoperability as a quality label for portable & wearable health monitoring systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chronaki, Catherine E; Chiarugi, Franco

    2005-01-01

    Advances in ICT promising universal access to high quality care, reduction of medical errors, and containment of health care costs, have renewed interest in electronic health records (EHR) standards and resulted in comprehensive EHR adoption programs in many European states. Health cards, and in particular the European health insurance card, present an opportunity for instant cross-border access to emergency health data including allergies, medication, even a reference ECG. At the same time, research and development in miniaturized medical devices and wearable medical sensors promise continuous health monitoring in a comfortable, flexible, and fashionable way. These trends call for the seamless integration of medical devices and intelligent wearables into an active EHR exploiting the vast information available to increase medical knowledge and establish personal wellness profiles. In a mobile connected world with empowered health consumers and fading barriers between health and healthcare, interoperability has a strong impact on consumer trust. As a result, current interoperability initiatives are extending the traditional standardization process to embrace implementation, validation, and conformance testing. In this paper, starting from the OpenECG initiative, which promotes the consistent implementation of interoperability standards in electrocardiography and supports a worldwide community with data sets, open source tools, specifications, and online conformance testing, we discuss EHR interoperability as a quality label for personalized health monitoring systems. Such a quality label would support big players and small enterprises in creating interoperable eHealth products, while opening the way for pervasive healthcare and the take-up of the eHealth market.

  19. Structural Health Monitoring of Railway Transition Zones Using Satellite Radar Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haoyu Wang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Transition zones in railway tracks are locations with considerable changes in the rail-supporting structure. Typically, they are located near engineering structures, such as bridges, culverts and tunnels. In such locations, severe differential settlements often occur due to the different material properties and structure behavior. Without timely maintenance, the differential settlement may lead to the damage of track components and loss of passenger’s comfort. To ensure the safety of railway operations and reduce the maintenance costs, it is necessary to consecutively monitor the structural health condition of the transition zones in an economical manner and detect the changes at an early stage. However, using the current in situ monitoring of transition zones is hard to achieve this goal, because most in situ techniques (e.g., track-measuring coaches are labor-consuming and usually not frequently performed (approximately twice a year in the Netherlands. To tackle the limitations of the in situ techniques, a Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR system is presented in this paper, which provides a potential solution for a consecutive structural health monitoring of transition zones with bi-/tri-weekly data update and mm-level precision. To demonstrate the feasibility of the InSAR system for monitoring transition zones, a transition zone is tested. The results show that the differential settlement in the transition zone and the settlement rate can be observed and detected by the InSAR measurements. Moreover, the InSAR results are cross-validated against measurements obtained using a measuring coach and a Digital Image Correlation (DIC device. The results of the three measuring techniques show a good correlation, which proves the applicability of InSAR for the structural health monitoring of transition zones in railway track.

  20. Structural Health Monitoring of Railway Transition Zones Using Satellite Radar Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Haoyu; Chang, Ling; Markine, Valeri

    2018-01-31

    Transition zones in railway tracks are locations with considerable changes in the rail-supporting structure. Typically, they are located near engineering structures, such as bridges, culverts and tunnels. In such locations, severe differential settlements often occur due to the different material properties and structure behavior. Without timely maintenance, the differential settlement may lead to the damage of track components and loss of passenger's comfort. To ensure the safety of railway operations and reduce the maintenance costs, it is necessary to consecutively monitor the structural health condition of the transition zones in an economical manner and detect the changes at an early stage. However, using the current in situ monitoring of transition zones is hard to achieve this goal, because most in situ techniques (e.g., track-measuring coaches) are labor-consuming and usually not frequently performed (approximately twice a year in the Netherlands). To tackle the limitations of the in situ techniques, a Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) system is presented in this paper, which provides a potential solution for a consecutive structural health monitoring of transition zones with bi-/tri-weekly data update and mm-level precision. To demonstrate the feasibility of the InSAR system for monitoring transition zones, a transition zone is tested. The results show that the differential settlement in the transition zone and the settlement rate can be observed and detected by the InSAR measurements. Moreover, the InSAR results are cross-validated against measurements obtained using a measuring coach and a Digital Image Correlation (DIC) device. The results of the three measuring techniques show a good correlation, which proves the applicability of InSAR for the structural health monitoring of transition zones in railway track.

  1. A novel variable-gravity simulation method: potential for astronaut training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sussingham, J C; Cocks, F H

    1995-11-01

    Zero gravity conditions for astronaut training have traditionally used neutral buoyancy tanks, and with such tanks hypogravity conditions are produced by the use of supplemental weights. This technique does not allow for the influence of water viscosity on any reduced gravity exercise regime. With a water-foam fluid produced by using a microbubble air flow together with surface active agents to prevent bubble agglomeration, it has been found possible to simulate a range of gravity conditions without the need for supplemental weights and additionally with a substantial reduction in the resulting fluid viscosity. This new technique appears to have application in improving the simulation environment for astronaut training under the reduced gravity conditions to be found on the moon or on Mars, and may have terrestrial applications in patient rehabilitation and exercise as well.

  2. Security And Privacy Issues in Health Monitoring Systems: eCare@Home Case Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wearing, Thomas; Dragoni, Nicola

    2016-01-01

    Automated systems for monitoring elderly people in their home are becoming more and more common. Indeed, an increasing number of home sensor networks for healthcare can be found in the recent literature, indicating a clear research direction in smart homes for health-care. Although the huge amount...... of sensitive data these systems deal with and expose to the external world, security and privacy issues are surpris-ingly not taken into consideration. The aim of this paper is to raise some key security and privacy issues that home health monitor systems should face with. The analysis is based on a real world...... monitoring sensor network for healthcare built in the context of the eCare@Home project....

  3. Children’s health and development: results of a 20-year monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aleksandra Anatol’evna Shabunova

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The analysis of the data from domestic and foreign theory and practice has shown that the monitoring of the cohort of children is the most effective method of studying and assessing the health and development of children in order to make efficient and adequate management decisions. The paper presents the results of the medical-and-sociological monitoring “Research into the conditions for the formation of a healthy generation”, performed by RAS Institute of Socio-Economic Development of Territories since 1995 with the active support on the part of the Vologda Oblast Department of Healthcare. The authors have found out that each age period is characterized by a specific set of factors influencing health. Infancy and early age are dominated by the impact of medico-biological and social factors (poor health of the parents; low level of hemoglobin during pregnancy; mother’s smoking during pregnancy; labour conditions of the mother that do not meet sanitary standards; specifics of the infant’s feeding. In preschool and primary school age greater importance is attached to environmental factors, lifestyle and standard of living of the family (comfort of living conditions, environmental conditions in the area of residence, level of sociohygienic literacy and health-preserving activity of the parents. Using the cohort of children born in 2014 as an example, the authors show certain positive trends that emerged during the reforms of the economy and social sphere, reflected in the living conditions of families with children, in the level of satisfaction with their health, infant health, and key indicators of obstetrics system. In this regard, the authors substantiate the necessity of such monitoring to determine the correct vector of government policy

  4. Intracranial pressure-induced optic nerve sheath response as a predictive biomarker for optic disc edema in astronauts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wostyn, Peter; De Deyn, Peter Paul

    2017-11-01

    A significant proportion of the astronauts who spend extended periods in microgravity develop ophthalmic abnormalities. Understanding this syndrome, called visual impairment and intracranial pressure (VIIP), has become a high priority for National Aeronautics and Space Administration, especially in view of future long-duration missions (e.g., Mars missions). Moreover, to ensure selection of astronaut candidates who will be able to complete long-duration missions with low risk of the VIIP syndrome, it is imperative to identify biomarkers for VIIP risk prediction. Here, we hypothesize that the optic nerve sheath response to alterations in intracranial pressure may be a potential predictive biomarker for optic disc edema in astronauts. If confirmed, this biomarker could be used for preflight identification of astronauts at risk for developing VIIP-associated optic disc edema.

  5. Effect of oxygen pressure on sensitivity of CR-39 used for astronauts radiation dosimetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murai, T.; Yabe, S.; Nagamatsu, A.; Tawara, H.; Kumagai, H.; Miyazawa, Y.; Kitajo, K.; Kodaira, S.; Yasuda, N.

    2006-01-01

    The personal radiation dosimeters for astronauts are exposed to low-pressure oxygen gas (0.29 atmospheres) during extra-vehicle activities. CR-39 plastic track detectors are one of the typical passive dosimeters for space radiation monitoring. We investigated change in track formation sensitivity of the antioxidant-doped CR-39 plastic with which oxygen gas comes in contact at different pressures up to 2 atmospheres for 1h to 10 days. The oxygen effect on sensitivity was measured for the C, Si and Fe ions (10-200 keV/μm) from the HIMAC heavy ion accelerator. The sensitivity is obviously sensitive to oxygen pressure at heavy-ion exposures, but not sensitive to the experience of oxygen atmosphere before and after the ion exposures. The maximum sensitivity is obtained at 0.29 atmospheres. The present experimental data suggested that the effect depends on LET of incident particles. (author)

  6. Astronaut Pedro Duque Watches A Water Bubble

    Science.gov (United States)

    2003-01-01

    Aboard the International Space Station (ISS), European Space Agency astronaut Pedro Duque of Spain watches a water bubble float between a camera and himself. The bubble shows his reflection (reversed). Duque was launched aboard a Russian Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on October 18th, along with expedition-8 crew members Michael C. Foale, Mission Commander and NASA ISS Science Officer, and Cosmonaut Alexander Y. Kaleri, Soyuz Commander and flight engineer.

  7. The F.I.T. Story: Astronautics at F.I.T.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aviation/Space, 1980

    1980-01-01

    Describes the astronautic programs and research at the Florida Institute of Technology, Melborne, Florida. Undergraduate and graduate students participate in research, such as Lighter-Than-Air vehicles, optical observation, auroral-magnetospheric research, and geomagnetism. (DS)

  8. Geological trainings for analogue astronauts: Lessons learned from MARS2013 expedition, Morocco

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orgel, C.; Achorner, I.; Losiak, A.; Gołębiowska, I.; Rampey, M.; Groemer, G.

    2013-09-01

    The Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) is a national organisation for space professionals and space enthusiasts. In collaboration with internal partner organisations, the OeWF focuses on Mars analogue research with their space volunteers and organises space-related outreach/education activities and conducts field tests with the Aouda.X and Aouda.S spacesuit simulators in Mars analogue environment. The main project of OeWF is called "PolAres" [1]. As the result of lessons learned from the Río Tinto 2011 expedition [4], we started to organise geological training sessions for the analogue astronauts. The idea was to give them basic geological background to perform more efficiently in the field. This was done in close imitation of the Apollo astronaut trainings that included theoretical lectures (between Jan. 1963-Nov. 1972) about impact geology, igneous petrology of the Moon, geophysics and geochemistry as well as several field trips to make them capable to collect useful samples for the geoscientists on Earth [3] [5]. In the last year the OeWF has organised three geoscience workshops for analogue astronauts as the part of their "astronaut" training. The aim was to educate the participants to make them understand the fundamentals in geology in theory and in the field (Fig. 1.). We proposed the "Geological Experiment Sampling Usefulness" (GESU) experiment for the MARS2013 simulation to improve the efficiency of the geological trainings. This simulation was conducted during February 2013, a one month Mars analogue research was conducted in the desert of Morocco [2] (Fig. 2.).

  9. Fatigue evaluation for Tsing Ma Bridge using structural health monitoring data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Hung-tin Tommy; Ko, Jan Ming; Li, Zhao-Xia

    2001-08-01

    Fatigue assessment for the Tsing Ma Bridge (TMB) are presented based on the British standard BS5400 and the real-time structural health monitoring data under railway loading. TMB, as an essential portion of transport network for the Hong Kong airport, is the longest suspension bridge in the world carrying both highway and railway traffic. The bridge design has been mainly based on BS5400. A structural health monitoring system - Wind and Structural Health Monitoring System (WASHMS) for TMB has been operated since the bridge commissioning in May 1997. In order to assess the fatigue behavior of TMB under railway loading, strain gauges were installed on the bridge deck to measure the strain-time histories as soon as the bridge is loaded by a standard railway loading due to the service of an actual train. The strain-time history data at the critical members are then used to determine the stress spectrum, of which the rainflow method recommended for railway bridges by BS5400 is applied to count cycles of stress range. Miner's law is employed to evaluate fatigue damage and remaining service life of the bridge. The evaluated results of fatigue damage and remaining service life would help us to well understand about the fatigue design of the bridge and status in fatigue accumulation.

  10. A review on architectures and communications technologies for wearable health-monitoring systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Custodio, Víctor; Herrera, Francisco J; López, Gregorio; Moreno, José Ignacio

    2012-10-16

    Nowadays society is demanding more and more smart healthcare services that allow monitoring patient status in a non-invasive way, anywhere and anytime. Thus, healthcare applications are currently facing important challenges guided by the u-health (ubiquitous health) and p-health (pervasive health) paradigms. New emerging technologies can be combined with other widely deployed ones to develop such next-generation healthcare systems. The main objective of this paper is to review and provide more details on the work presented in "LOBIN: E-Textile and Wireless-Sensor-Network-Based Platform for Healthcare Monitoring in Future Hospital Environments", published in the IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine, as well as to extend and update the comparison with other similar systems. As a result, the paper discusses the main advantages and disadvantages of using different architectures and communications technologies to develop wearable systems for pervasive healthcare applications.

  11. A Review on Architectures and Communications Technologies for Wearable Health-Monitoring Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Ignacio Moreno

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays society is demanding more and more smart healthcare services that allow monitoring patient status in a non-invasive way, anywhere and anytime. Thus, healthcare applications are currently facing important challenges guided by the u-health (ubiquitous health and p-health (pervasive health paradigms. New emerging technologies can be combined with other widely deployed ones to develop such next-generation healthcare systems. The main objective of this paper is to review and provide more details on the work presented in “LOBIN: E-Textile and Wireless-Sensor-Network-Based Platform for Healthcare Monitoring in Future Hospital Environments”, published in the IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine, as well as to extend and update the comparison with other similar systems. As a result, the paper discusses the main advantages and disadvantages of using different architectures and communications technologies to develop wearable systems for pervasive healthcare applications.

  12. Health-Based Cyanotoxin Guideline Values Allow for Cyanotoxin-Based Monitoring and Efficient Public Health Response to Cyanobacterial Blooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farrer, David; Counter, Marina; Hillwig, Rebecca; Cude, Curtis

    2015-01-01

    Human health risks from cyanobacterial blooms are primarily related to cyanotoxins that some cyanobacteria produce. Not all species of cyanobacteria can produce toxins. Those that do often do not produce toxins at levels harmful to human health. Monitoring programs that use identification of cyanobacteria genus and species and enumeration of cyanobacterial cells as a surrogate for cyanotoxin presence can overestimate risk and lead to unnecessary health advisories. In the absence of federal criteria for cyanotoxins in recreational water, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) developed guideline values for the four most common cyanotoxins in Oregon’s fresh waters (anatoxin-a, cylindrospermopsin, microcystins, and saxitoxins). OHA developed three guideline values for each of the cyanotoxins found in Oregon. Each of the guideline values is for a specific use of cyanobacteria-affected water: drinking water, human recreational exposure and dog recreational exposure. Having cyanotoxin guidelines allows OHA to promote toxin-based monitoring (TBM) programs, which reduce the number of health advisories and focus advisories on times and places where actual, rather than potential, risks to health exist. TBM allows OHA to more efficiently protect public health while reducing burdens on local economies that depend on water recreation-related tourism. PMID:25664510

  13. Space Toxicology: Human Health during Space Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan-Mayberry, Noreen; James, John T.; Tyl, ROchelle; Lam, Chiu-Wing

    2010-01-01

    Space Toxicology is a unique and targeted discipline for spaceflight, space habitation and occupation of celestial bodies including planets, moons and asteroids. Astronaut explorers face distinctive health challenges and limited resources for rescue and medical care during space operation. A central goal of space toxicology is to protect the health of the astronaut by assessing potential chemical exposures during spaceflight and setting safe limits that will protect the astronaut against chemical exposures, in a physiologically altered state. In order to maintain sustained occupation in space on the International Space Station (ISS), toxicological risks must be assessed and managed within the context of isolation continuous exposures, reuse of air and water, limited rescue options, and the need to use highly toxic compounds for propulsion. As we begin to explore other celestial bodies in situ toxicological risks, such as inhalation of reactive mineral dusts, must also be managed.

  14. Astronaut Clothing for Exploration Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poritz, Darwin H.; Orndoff, Evelyne; Kaspranskiy, Rustem R.; Schesinger, Thilini; Byrne, Vicky

    2016-01-01

    Astronaut clothes for exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit need to satisfy several challenges not met by the currently-used mostly-cotton clothing. A laundering system is not expected to be available, and thus soiled garments must be trashed. Jettisoning waste does not seem feasible at this time. The cabin oxygen concentration is expected to be higher than standard, and thus fabrics must better resist ignition and burning. Fabrics need to be identified that reduce logistical mass, that can be worn longer before disposal, that are at least as comfortable as cotton, and that resist ignition or that char immediately after ignition. Human factors and psychology indicate that crew well-being and morale require a variety of colors and styles to accommodate personal identity and preferences. Over the past four years, the Logistics Reduction Project under NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Program has sponsored the Advanced Clothing System Task to conduct several ground studies and one ISS study. These studies have evaluated length of wear and personal preferences of commercially-available exercise- and routine-wear garments made from several fabrics (cotton, polyester, Merino wool, and modacrylic), woven and knitted. Note that Merino wool and modacrylic char like cotton in ambient air, while polyester unacceptably melts. This paper focuses on the two components of an International Space Station study, onboard and on the ground, with astronauts and cosmonauts. Fabrics were randomized to participants. Length of wear was assessed by statistical survival analysis, and preference by exact binomial confidence limits. Merino wool and modacrylic t-shirts were worn longer on average than polyester t-shirts. Interestingly, self-assessed preferences were inconsistent with length-of-wear behavior, as polyester was preferred to Merino wool and modacrylic.

  15. Promoting health and reducing costs: a role for reform of self-monitoring of blood glucose provision within the National Health Service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leigh, S; Idris, I; Collins, B; Granby, P; Noble, M; Parker, M

    2016-05-01

    To determine the cost-effectiveness of all options for the self-monitoring of blood glucose funded by the National Health Service, providing guidance for disinvestment and testing the hypothesis that advanced meter features may justify higher prices. Using data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre concerning all 8 340 700 self-monitoring of blood glucose-related prescriptions during 2013/2014, we conducted a cost-minimization analysis, considering both strip and lancet costs, including all clinically equivalent technologies for self-monitoring of blood glucose, as determined by the ability to meet ISO-15197:2013 guidelines for meter accuracy. A total of 56 glucose monitor, test strip and lancet combinations were identified, of which 38 met the required accuracy standards. Of these, the mean (range) net ingredient costs for test strips and lancets were £0.27 (£0.14-£0.32) and £0.04 (£0.02-£0.05), respectively, resulting in a weighted average of £0.28 (£0.18-£0.37) per test. Systems providing four or more advanced features were priced equal to those providing just one feature. A total of £12 m was invested in providing 42 million self-monitoring of blood glucose tests with systems that fail to meet acceptable accuracy standards, and efficiency savings of £23.2 m per annum are achievable if the National Health Service were to disinvest from technologies providing lesser functionality than available alternatives, but at a much higher price. The study uncovered considerable variation in the price paid by the National Health Service for self-monitoring of blood glucose, which could not be explained by the availability of advanced meter features. A standardized approach to self-monitoring of blood glucose prescribing could achieve significant efficiency savings for the National Health Service, whilst increasing overall utilisation and improving safety for those currently using systems that fail to meet acceptable standards for measurement accuracy

  16. Smart Sensing Technologies for Structural Health Monitoring of Civil Engineering Structures

    OpenAIRE

    M. Sun; W. J. Staszewski; R. N. Swamy

    2010-01-01

    Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) aims to develop automated systems for the continuous monitoring, inspection, and damage detection of structures with minimum labour involvement. The first step to set up a SHM system is to incorporate a level of structural sensing capability that is reliable and possesses long term stability. Smart sensing technologies including the applications of fibre optic sensors, piezoelectric sensors, magnetostrictive sensors and self-diagnosing fibre reinforced compo...

  17. Aircraft Control Augmentation and Health Monitoring Using FADS Technology, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This Phase I research proposal is aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of an innovative architecture comprising control augmentation and on-line health monitoring...

  18. Automatic Sensor-Fault Detection System for Comprehensive Structural Health Monitoring System

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Chan, Hian-Leng; Zhang, Chang; Qing, Peter X; Ooi, Teng K; Marotta, Steve A

    2005-01-01

    Structural health monitoring systems are viewed as viable means to reduce life-cycle costs, increase structural reliability, and extend the operational hours for a wide variety of composite structures...

  19. eWALL Innovation for Smart e-Health Monitoring Devices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mihovska, Albena Dimitrova; Kyriazakos, Sofoklis

    2017-01-01

    E-health environments should be designed to provide personalized services and applications to their primary users (i.e. the patients) by breaking the barrier of technology acceptance and addressing their daily needs, under strict regulation and security constraints. A typical scenario would employ...... wireless and wired sensors and local or cloud-based processing units to collect, process, store and communicate data related to the patients’ needs and condition. E-health devices can be located on the patients’ bodies or immediate environments to monitor and interact with the patients, while they perform...

  20. Contributions of national and global health estimates to monitoring health-related sustainable development goals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bundhamcharoen, Kanitta; Limwattananon, Supon; Kusreesakul, Khanitta; Tangcharoensathien, Viroj

    2016-01-01

    The millennium development goals triggered an increased demand for data on child and maternal mortalities for monitoring progress. With the advent of the sustainable development goals and growing evidence of an epidemiological transition toward non-communicable diseases, policymakers need data on mortality and disease trends and distribution to inform effective policies and support monitoring progress. Where there are limited capacities to produce national health estimates (NHEs), global health estimates (GHEs) can fill gaps for global monitoring and comparisons. This paper discusses lessons learned from Thailand's burden of disease (BOD) study on capacity development on NHEs and discusses the contributions and limitations of GHEs in informing policies at the country level. Through training and technical support by external partners, capacities are gradually strengthened and institutionalized to enable regular updates of BOD at national and subnational levels. Initially, the quality of cause-of-death reporting in death certificates was inadequate, especially for deaths occurring in the community. Verbal autopsies were conducted, using domestic resources, to determine probable causes of deaths occurring in the community. This method helped to improve the estimation of years of life lost. Since the achievement of universal health coverage in 2002, the quality of clinical data on morbidities has also considerably improved. There are significant discrepancies between the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study estimates for Thailand and the 1999 nationally generated BOD, especially for years of life lost due to HIV/AIDS, and the ranking of priority diseases. National ownership of NHEs and an effective interface between researchers and decision-makers contribute to enhanced country policy responses, whereas subnational data are intended to be used by various subnational partners. Although GHEs contribute to benchmarking country achievement compared with global health