The objectives, instrumentation, methods and data leading up to launch of the NASA Living With a Star (LWS) Space Environment Testbed (SET) payload onboard the Air Force Research Laboratory ...Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX) spacecraft are described. The experiments characterize the space radiation environment and how it affects hardware performance. The payload consists of a compact space weather instrument and a carrier containing four board experiments.
The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) is the most widely used scale which assesses psychological resilience. Although it is recommended to be applied as a unidimensional scale, its factor ...structure, reliability, as well as discriminant and predictive validity need to be assessed when used in a new context. Moreover, the original five-factor structure has not been replicated in previous investigations. This study aimed to explore psychometric properties of the scale in a Swedish context.
Construct validity of the five-factor model of CD-RISC was assessed using Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses. Its discriminant validity was assessed in relation to a measure of emotion regulation (Brief Version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale) using a Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Predictive validity of CD-RISC was assessed in relation to measures of physical and mental health-related quality of life (The 12-Item Short Form Survey) using hierarchical multiple regression analyses. A population based sample cohort was employed (N = 2599).
Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses suggested a 22-item unidimensional model of CD-RISC. Psychological resilience was found to be independent from the measure of emotion regulation. It was shown to predict both physical and mental health-related quality of life, being especially strongly associated with mental health aspects.
The study showed that the Swedish version of CD-RISC is an instrument with high discriminant and predictive validity, although the original factor structure does not apply in this context. CD-RISC can thus be used to identify individuals with a higher need of psychosocial support, especially relating to mental health needs.
Significant increases to the atmospheric radiation environment are recorded by a network of ground level neutron monitors as ground level enhancements (GLEs). These space weather phenomena pose a ...risk to aviation via single event effects in aircraft electronics and ionizing dose to passengers and crew. Under the UK Space Weather Instrumentation, Measurement, Modeling and Risk programme, we have developed a new model to provide nowcasts of the aviation radiation environment, including both the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) background and during GLE events. The Model for Atmospheric Ionising Radiation Effects (MAIRE+) uses multiple data sources to characterize primary GCR and GLE particle spectra and combines these with precalculated geomagnetic and atmospheric response matrices to predict particle fluxes from ground level to 20 km altitude across the entire globe. Two European neutron monitors (located at Oulu in Finland and Dourbes in Belgium) are used as the primary indicators of GLE intensity in order to maximize accuracy over UK airspace. Outputs from MAIRE+ for the historical GLEs in September and October 1989 are compared to recalibrated empirical data from a solid‐state detector that was carried on Concorde in that period. The model will be hosted in the UK and will provide additional capability to the Met Office Space Weather Operations Center (MOSWOC).
Plain Language Summary
Ionizing radiation in the atmosphere is primarily caused by galactic cosmic rays (GCR) interacting with the upper atmosphere, creating showers of secondary radiation. At aviation altitudes the radiation environment is hundreds of times more intense than that experienced at the ground level. This relatively stable background level of radiation is punctuated by space weather events called ground level enhancements (GLEs), when energetic solar protons arrive at Earth and lead to elevated atmospheric radiation levels that can be orders of magnitude greater than background levels. Under the UK Space Weather Instrumentation, Measurement, Modeling and Risk programme, we have developed a new model to provide nowcasts of the aviation radiation environment, including both the GCR background and during GLE events. Through our Model for Atmospheric Ionising Radiation Effects, we show how data from ground level neutron monitors can be used to characterize the atmospheric radiation environment from ground level to 20 km altitude across the entire globe.
Key Points
The new Model for Atmospheric Ionising Radiation Effects (MAIRE+) is presented
MAIRE+ uses neutron monitor data, sunspot number, Kp, and geostationary proton flux to nowcast the aviation radiation environment
Model outputs are compared to data from a solid‐state detector carried on board Concorde during ground level enhancements in 1989
Background
Diagnosis by screening mammography is considered an independent positive prognostic factor, although the data are not fully in agreement. The aim of the study was to explore whether the ...mode of detection (screening‐detected versus symptomatic) adds prognostic information to the St Gallen molecular subtypes of primary breast cancer, in terms of 10‐year cumulative breast cancer mortality (BCM).
Methods
A prospective cohort of patients with primary breast cancer, who had regularly been invited to screening mammography, were included. Tissue microarrays were constructed from primary tumours and lymph node metastases, and evaluated by two independent pathologists. Primary tumours and lymph node metastases were classified into St Gallen molecular subtypes. Cause of death was retrieved from the Central Statistics Office.
Results
A total of 434 patients with primary breast cancer were included in the study. Some 370 primary tumours and 111 lymph node metastases were classified into St Gallen molecular subtypes. The luminal A‐like subtype was more common among the screening‐detected primary tumours (P = 0·035) and corresponding lymph node metastases (P = 0·114) than among symptomatic cancers. Patients with screening‐detected tumours had a lower BCM (P = 0·017), and for those diagnosed with luminal A‐like tumours the 10‐year cumulative BCM was 3 per cent. For patients with luminal A‐like lymph node metastases, there was no BCM. In a stepwise multivariable analysis, the prognostic information yielded by screening detection was hampered by stage and tumour biology.
Conclusion
The prognosis was excellent for patients within the screening programme who were diagnosed with a luminal A‐like primary tumour and/or lymph node metastases. Stage, molecular pathology and mode of detection help to define patients at low risk of death from breast cancer.
Low‐risk group identified
High‐energy trapped electrons in the Van Allen belts pose a threat to the survivability of orbiting spacecraft. Two key radiation effects are total ionizing dose and displacement damage dose in ...components and materials, both of which cause cumulative and largely irreversible damage. During an extreme space weather event, trapped electron fluxes in the Van Allen belts can increase by several orders of magnitude in intensity, leading to an enhanced risk of satellite failure. We use extreme environments generated by modeling and statistical analyses to estimate the consequences for satellites in terms of the radiation effects described above. A worst‐case event could lead to significant losses in power generating capability—up to almost 8%—and cause up to four years' worth of ionizing dose degradation, leading to component damage and a life‐shortening effect on satellites. The consequences of such losses are hugely significant given our increasing reliance on satellites for a vast array of services, including communication, navigation, defense, and critical infrastructure.
Plain Language Summary
Satellites are exposed to a variety of sources of potentially damaging space radiation. One of the most important of these is the population of high‐energy electrons that lies trapped by the Earth's magnetic field—the so‐called Van Allen belts. During an extreme space weather event, trapped electron fluxes in the Van Allen belts can increase by several orders of magnitude in intensity, leading to an enhanced risk of satellite damage. One example of this damage is degradation in the power‐generating capability of satellite solar panels. The threat from space weather in this context has hitherto been associated with solar proton events, that is, bursts of energetic protons that are sporadically emitted from the Sun. However, our analysis shows that enhancements in the Van Allen belt electron population can exceed the solar proton threat, which has implications for the protection of satellites from such phenomena. It is essential that sufficiently robust engineering design measures are put in place, in order to ensure the future reliability of satellite technology, on which our society is increasingly reliant.
Key Points
Extreme space radiation environments are used to calculate cumulative engineering effects on spacecraft in geostationary and medium Earth orbits
Extreme enhancements to trapped electrons in the Van Allen belts cause more cumulative damage than extreme solar energetic particle events
A temporary enhancement in trapped electron intensity could result in up to 7.6% degradation of solar cell power capacity
Ground level enhancements (GLEs) are space weather events that pose a potential hazard to the aviation environment through single event effects in avionics and increased dose to passengers and crew. ...The existing ground level neutron monitoring network provides continuous and well‐characterized measurements of the radiation environment. However, there are only a few dozen active stations worldwide, and there has not been a UK‐based station for several decades. Much smaller neutron detectors are increasingly deployed throughout the world with the purpose of using secondary neutrons from cosmic rays to monitor local soil moisture conditions (COSMOS). Space weather signals from GLEs and Forbush decreases have been identified in COSMOS data. Monte Carlo simulations of atmospheric radiation propagation show that a single COSMOS detector is sufficient to detect the signal of a medium‐strength (10%–100% increase above background) GLE at high statistical significance, including at fine temporal resolution. Use of fine temporal resolution would also provide a capability to detect Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes (via secondary neutrons) which are produced by certain lightning discharges and which can provide a hazard to aircraft, particularly in tropical regions. We also show how the COsmic‐ray Soil Moisture Observing System‐UK detector network could be used to provide warnings at the International Civil Aviation Organization “Moderate” and “Severe” dose rate thresholds at aviation altitudes, and how multiple‐detector hubs situated at strategic UK locations could detect a small GLE at high statistical significance and infer crucial information on the nature of the primary spectrum.
Plain Language Summary
Space weather events can lead to significant increases in the intensity of the atmospheric radiation environment, including at ground level. These ground level enhancements (GLEs) have been detected by a global network of neutron monitors for over 70 years. However, these instruments are expensive to construct and maintain. Only a few dozen are currently active, with no station located in the United Kingdom for several decades. As part of an effort to improve the resilience of UK infrastructure to space weather, we have studied the possibility of using alternative detectors to supplement neutron monitor measurements. COSMOS detector networks in the United Kingdom, North America, Australia and elsewhere use variations in ground level neutron flux to infer information on local soil moisture conditions for hydrological applications. We show that these same detectors could be dual‐purposed to provide information on GLEs that would complement the global neutron monitor network by providing much finer spatial resolution and, therefore, a highly localized warning system for space weather threats to aviation.
Key Points
Data from cosmic ray neutron sensor (CRNS) networks have been reprocessed and analyzed in the novel context of Space Weather
Ground level enhancements from solar cycle 24 present weak signals in the data
Monte Carlo simulations show such CRNS networks are suitable for dual‐purposing as space weather detectors
The NASA Radiation Dosimetry Experiment (RaD‐X) successfully deployed four radiation detectors on a high‐altitude balloon for a period of approximately 20 h. One of these detectors was the RaySure ...in‐flight monitor, which is a solid‐state instrument designed to measure ionizing dose rates to aircrew and passengers. Data from RaySure on RaD‐X show absorbed dose rates rising steadily as a function of altitude up to a peak at approximately 60,000 feet, known as the Pfotzer‐Regener maximum. Above this altitude absorbed dose rates level off before showing a small decline as the RaD‐X balloon approaches its maximum altitude of around 125,000 feet. The picture for biological dose equivalent, however, is very different. At high altitudes the fraction of dose from highly ionizing particles increases significantly. Dose from these particles causes a disproportionate amount of biological damage compared to dose from more lightly ionizing particles, and this is reflected in the quality factors used to calculate the dose equivalent quantity. By calculating dose equivalent from RaySure data, using coefficients derived from previous calibrations, we show that there is no peak in the dose equivalent rate at the Pfotzer‐Regener maximum. Instead, the dose equivalent rate keeps increasing with altitude as the influence of dose from primary cosmic rays becomes increasingly important. This result has implications for high altitude aviation, space tourism and, due to its thinner atmosphere, the surface radiation environment on Mars.
Key Points
Atmospheric radiation measurements from a solid‐state detector are presented
Biological dose equivalent is calculated from discrete energy deposition channels
Pfotzer‐Regener maximum in atmospheric ionization rate is found to be absent for dose equivalent
We use electron flux derived from the environment monitoring unit "(EMU)-SURF" current monitor on board a Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) constellation satellite to modify and ...update the model of outer belt electrons for dielectric internal charging (MOBE-DIC). We describe how this data set, together with data from similar current-measuring instruments on Van Allen Probes, Giove-A, and STRV1d, are used to improve and expand the model. We have extended the spatial range to include the inner belt, exploited EMU data to widen the energy range for the electron spectrum, updated the statistical analysis of flux variation using a data set double the size used for the original model, and established a new and independent latitude function that yields improved agreement in medium earth orbit compared to the original model. The model is entirely characterized by a set of equations and parameters that produce fluxes as a function of magnetic coordinates at three distinct statistical levels.
Within the next decade it is likely that the space tourism industry will grow and the number of humans travelling into space via commercial entities such as Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, will ...increase significantly. Current space tourism ventures focus on short duration sub-orbital flights and visits to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). In the next few decades, a journey into space could become as normal as a transatlantic flight. During these new commercial ventures, the effects of cosmic radiation exposure, especially during sudden changes in space weather, such as ground level enhancement (GLE) or solar particle events (SPEs), could have significant health implications for crew and passengers. Such changes in space weather could expose space tourists to radiation doses in excess of the recommended maximum 1 mSv yearly effective dose uptake for a member of the public and 20 mSv yearly effective dose limit for those working with radiation (ICRP Publication 103, 2007 1). Domestic legislation and regulation focussing on potential radiation exposure for space tourists is limited and largely untested; there is heavy focus on conventional risk and wider safety, with guidance stemming from regulation of commercial high-level flights, which are significantly different to space tourism enterprises.
In this paper we consider the current domestic legislation and regulations adopted by the USA and the UK, as two examples of launch nations with legislation and regulation relating to space tourism activities. We acknowledge and consider feedback we have received from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on current regulations and topics outlined in this paper. We discuss whether current legislation and regulation offers sufficient protection for space flight participants (space tourists), and whether risk is balanced appropriately between the operators who provide space tourism services and those taking part. Finally, we discuss the routes to acceptance of the radiation risks and make recommendations for legislators, regulators and operators to support them in ensuring that the risks are managed appropriately while also supporting the development of the industry.
Individual patients differ in their psychological response when receiving a cancer diagnosis, in this case breast cancer. Given the same disease burden, some patients master the situation well, while ...others experience a great deal of stress, depression and lowered quality of life. Patients with high psychological resilience are likely to experience fewer stress reactions and better adapt to and manage the life threat and the demanding treatment that follows the diagnosis. If this phenomenon of mastering difficult situations is reflected also in biomolecular processes is not much studied, nor has its capacity for impacting the cancer prognosis been addressed. This project specifically aims, for the first time, to investigate how a breast cancer patient's psychological resilience is coupled to biomolecular parameters using advanced "omics" and, as a secondary aim, whether it relates to prognosis and quality of life one year after diagnosis.
The study population consists of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients enrolled in the Sweden Cancerome Analysis Network - Breast (SCAN-B) at four hospitals in Sweden. At the time of cancer diagnosis, the patient fills out the standardized method to measure psychological resilience, the "Connor-Davidson Resilience scale" (CD-RISC), the quality of life measure SF-36, as well as providing social and socioeconomic variables. In addition, one blood sample is collected. At the one-year follow-up, the patient will be subjected to the same assessments, and we also collect information regarding smoking, exercise habits, and BMI, as well as patients' trust in the treatment and their satisfaction with the care and treatment.
This explorative hypothesis-generating project will pave the way for larger validation studies, potentially leading to a standardized method of measuring psychological resilience as an important parameter in cancer care. Revealing the body-mind interaction, in terms of psychological resilience and quality of life, will herald the development of truly personalized psychosocial care and cancer intervention treatment strategies.
This is a retrospectively registered trial at ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT03430492 on February 6, 2018.
PDF
