Patient vital sign monitoring within hospitals requires the use of non-invasivesensors that are hardwired to bedside monitors. This set-up is cumbersome, forcing thepatient to be confined to his hospital bed thereby not allowing him to move around freelywithin the hospital premises. This paper addresses the use of wireless sensor networks formonitoring patient vital sign data in a hospital setting. Crossbow MICAz motes have beenused to design a robust mesh network that routes patient data to a remote base station withinthe hospital premises. A hospital care giver can have access to this data at any point in timeand doesn’t have to be physically present in the patient’s room to review the readings. Thenetwork infrastructure nodes are self-powered and draw energy from overhead 34Wfluorescent lights via solar panels. The sensor nodes can be interfaced to a variety of vitalsign sensors such as electrocardiograms (ECGs), pulse-oximeters and blood pressure (BP)sensors. In order to verify a completely functioning system, a commercial BP/heart-ratemonitor (BPM) was interfaced to a wireless sensor node. The sensor node controls the BPMto initiate a reading, then collects the data and forwards it to the base station. An attractivegraphical user interface (GUI) was designed to store and display patient data on the basestation PC. The set-up was found to be extremely robust with low power consumption.
This report presents the Initial Interface Standards for subsystem components of a typical rapid transit car system. These standards were derived from an interface definition analysis of 128 product-applications on seven of the newest North American rapid transit car system designs. Twenty one major components of a rapid transit car which the carbuilder purchases as shippable items were selected for interface definition. Analysis of the product-specific data which was made available by the original equipment manufacturers provided the basis for either defining the functional and physical interfaces of each major component and the minimal space which must be allocated upon the carbody structure or truck frames to incorporate a major component into the carbody structural design, or determining that a major component does not appear to be amenable to interface standardization. Transit industry adoption of interface standards for car-mounted equipment should result in cars which would cost less to build and own.
LIMITED DATA INDICATE THAT THE BEHAVIOR OF DRIVERS OPERATING UNDER ARTIFICIAL LIGHT MAY CONFORM VERY NEARLY TO THEIR BEHAVIOR IN THE DAYTIME, BUT THAT THE BEHAVIOR OF NIGHTTIME DRIVERS WITHOUT OVERHEAD LIGHTS MAY DIFFER MEASURABLY FROM THEIR BEHAVIOR IN THE DAYTIME. IN THESE OBSERVATIONS DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE BEHAVIORS OF DRIVERS DURING DAYLIGHT AND DARKNESS WERE MOST APPARENT IN THE FREQUENCY OF PASSING AND IN THE TRANSVERSE POSITIONS OF VEHICLES ON THE PAVEMENT. THERE IS INCONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE THAT SPEED MAY ALSO BE AFFECTED. DURING DAYTIME THE DRIVERS UTILIZED 57.7 PERCENT OF THE AVAILABLE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PASSING AS COMPARED TO 55.6 PERCENT DURING NIGHTTIME WITH THE HIGHWAY LIGHTED. AT NIGHT WITH THE HIGHWAY UNLIGHTED THE DRIVERS UTILIZED ONLY 38.5 PERCENT OF THE AVAILABLE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PASSING. THE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS OF TRANSVERSE POSITIONS WERE ALMOST IDENTICAL FOR CONDITIONS OF DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME WITH THE HIGHWAY LIGHTED, BUT THERE IS A MARKED DIFFERENCE IN THESE DISTRIBUTIONS FOR CONDITIONS OF DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME WITH THE HIGHWAY UNLIGHTED. THE AVERAGE POSITION OF THE RIGHT WHEEL OF PASSENGER CARS MOVING FREELY WAS 3.3 FT. FROM THE EDGE OF A 20-FT. PAVEMENT DURING BOTH DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME WITH THE HIGHWAY LIGHTED. WITH THE HIGHWAY UNLIGHTED, THIS AVERAGE POSITION WAS ONE-HALF FOOT NEARER THE CENTER OF THE ROADWAY. /AUTHOR/
Insular carcinoma, once considered a poorly-differentiated thyroid cancer, has been reclassified as a distinct thyroid neoplasm. Since this neoplasm is composed of follicular epithelial cells, it may concentrate radioiodide (131I) making postoperative 131I imaging for detection of metastases and radiotherapy possible. A 20-yr review of 35 cases diagnosed as anaplastic or undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma at this medical center revealed five patients with insular carcinoma. Four patients showed postoperative 131I localization and received therapeutic doses of 131I. Three of the four showed extrathyroidal 131I localization in neoplastic lesions. In one patient, the resolution of metastatic lesions by magnetic resonance and 131I imaging suggests that 131I may have an important therapeutic role in this aggressive neoplasm.
The concept to use twin turbo-powered boosters for acceleration to supersonic staging speed followed by an all rocket powered orbiter stage was proposed. A follow-on design study was then made of the concept with the performance objective of placing a 29,483 Kg payload into a .2.6 X 195.3 km orbit. The study was performed in terms of analysis and trade studies, conceptual design, utility and economic analysis, and technology assessment. Design features of the final configuration included: strakes and area rule for improved take off and low transonic drag, variable area inlets, exits and turbine, and low profile fixed landing gear for turbojet booster stage. The payload required an estimated GLOW of 1,270,000 kg for injection in orbit. Each twin booster required afterburning turbojet engines each with a static sea level thrust rating of 444,800 N. Life cycle costs for this concept were comparable to a SSTO/SLED concept except for increased development cost due to the turbojet engine propulsion system.
Abstract : The threat of litigation is a very real and ominous prospect facing collegiate athletic departments in the 199Os. Therefore, it is imperative that collegiate athletic directors employ preventive law practices to minimize their department's legal vulnerability. The purpose of this study was to identify, classify, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize litigation directed exclusively at intercollegiate athletic programs. This study was also designed to provide intercollegiate athletic directors with a comprehensive outline of litigation in the 199Os and recommendations to align their programs in accordance with current court rulings. The primary method used to locate case law for this study was computer-assisted legal research (CALR). CALR provided the specificity and flexibility required to identify the most current litigation involving intercollegiate athletic departments. After identification of all relevant litigation was accomplished, a typology was developed to classify all identified litigation into major areas of law. Seventy-two percent of the cases fell into three major areas of law identified as: (a) gender equity, (b) contract law, and (c) tort liability. These three areas were further divided into sub-areas into which individual cases were classified. All cases classified in the three major areas of law were thoroughly analyzed through the use of a litigation analysis worksheet. Evaluation and synthesis of the cases within each major area was provided with a corresponding discussion of emerging trends and conclusions. As a result of the synthesis, 52 recommendations to make intercollegiate athletic programs less vulnerable to litigation were forwarded.
THE COMMITTEE ON OPERATING SPEEDS IN URBAN AREAS WAS ORGANIZED FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEVELOPING A TECHNIQUE FOR MEASURING THE SPEED OF TRAFFIC OR URBAN FACILITIES ON AN ANNUAL AVERAGE BASIS. TRAVEL TIME DATA ARE USEFUL IN MAKING ECONOMIC APPRAISALS OF ROAD-USER COSTS AND BENEFITS, IN PREDICTING THE DIVERSION OF TRAFFIC FROM OLD TO NEW OR IMPROVED FACILITIES, AND IN OTHER RELATED ANALYSES. VARIOUS METHODS FOR SAMPLING SPEED OR TRAVEL TIME HAVE EITHER BEEN INVESTIGATED BY MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE OR THE RESULTS OF OTHER INVESTIGATIONS EXAMINED. THE MERITS AS TO ACCURACY, ECONOMY, AND PRACTICABILITY OF SEVERAL METHODS FOR DETERMINING TRAVEL TIME ARE COMPARED. THESE INCLUDE: (1) LICENSE MATCHING METHOD, (2) FLOATING CAR METHODS (OF WHICH THERE ARE SEVERAL VARIATIONS), (3) SPOT SPEED METHOD, (4) ARRIVAL-OUTPUT VOLUME RATE METHOD, (5) INTERVIEW METHOD, AND (6) PHOTOGRAPHIC METHOD. VARIABLE CONDITIONS THAT AFFECT THE SPEED OF TRAFFIC ARE DISCUSSED AND COVERAGE IS GIVEN TO THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR SCHEDULING SPEED STUDIES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR SO THAT THE ANNUAL AVERAGE SPEED ON A FACILITY MAY BE DETERMINED. /AUTHOR/
