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Archive for May, 2020

Army Research Shows Connection Between Stress, Stomach Ulcers

Monday, May 25th, 2020

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — New U.S. Army-funded research demonstrates a connection between stress and stomach ulcers.

The research, conducted at the University of Pittsburgh Brain Institute and funded by the Army Research Office traced neural pathways that connect the brain to the stomach, providing a biological mechanism that explains the connection.

ARO is an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory.

“The bidirectional connections between brain and gut are important conduits for communication within the mind-body axis,” said Dr. Frederick Gregory, ARO program manager. “The biological mechanisms into how stress might influence cognitive performance plays a central role in future strategies to mitigate Soldier stress through diet or other new gut-centric interventions. Not only is this important for combat missions but for the overall health and well-being of the entire Army.”

The findings, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, build a scientific basis for the brain’s influence over organ function and emphasize the importance of the brain-body connection.

Until now, research exploring the gut-brain interaction has largely focused on the influence of the gut and its microbiome on the brain and neurological disorders. But it’s not a one-way street – the brain also influences stomach function.

“Pavlov demonstrated many years ago that the central nervous system uses environmental signals and past experience to generate anticipatory responses that promote efficient digestion,” said Peter Strick, Ph.D., Brain Institute scientific director and chair of neurobiology at Pitt. “And we have long known that every increase in unemployment and its associated stress is accompanied by an increase in death rates from stomach ulcers.”

To find brain regions that control the gut, Strick and his coauthor David Levinthal, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition at Pitt, used a strain of rabies virus to track connections from the brain to the stomach.

After being injected into the stomach of a rat, the viral tracer made its way back to the brain by hopping from neuron to neuron – using the same trick that rabies virus uses to infiltrate the brain after entering the body through a bite or scratch – to reveal the brain areas that exert control over the stomach.

The researchers found that the parasympathetic – rest and digest – nervous system pathways trace back from the stomach mostly to a brain region known as the rostral insula, which is responsible for visceral sensation and emotion regulation.

“The stomach sends sensory information to the cortex, which sends instructions back to the gut,” Strick said. “That means our ‘gut feelings’ are constructed not only from signals derived from the stomach, but also from all the other influences on the rostral insula, such as past experiences and contextual knowledge.”

In contrast, the sympathetic – fight or flight – pathways of the central nervous system, which kick in when we’re stressed, predominantly trace back from the stomach to the primary motor cortex, which is the seat of voluntary control over the skeletal muscles that move the body around.

Identifying these neural pathways that connect the brain and stomach could provide new insights into common gut disorders.

For example, Helicobacter pylori infection typically triggers ulcer formation, but descending signals from the cerebral cortex could influence the bacteria’s growth by adjusting gastric secretions to make the stomach more or less hospitable to invaders.

These insights could also change clinical gastroenterology practice. Knowing that the brain exerts physical control over the gut gives doctors a new way to approach bowel problems.

“Several common gut disorders, such as dyspepsia or irritable bowel syndrome, might not get better with current treatments,” said Levinthal, who is also a gastroenterologist at UPMC. “Our results provide cortical targets that will be critical for developing new brain-based therapies that might be helpful for our patients.”

Gregory said that this is particularly relevant to combat casualty care where there are often bowel problems such as traveler’s diarrhea that can affect the overall health and performance of the military.

In addition to the U.S. Army, the National Institutes of Health and the DSF Charitable Foundation supported this work.

By U.S. Army CCDC Army Research Laboratory Public Affairs

Sneak Peek – Dynamis Alliance Neptune Dive Blade

Sunday, May 24th, 2020

Dynamis Alliance has been evaluating their prototype Neptune Dive Blade with a goal of producing the single most versatile and useful dive blade in the world. It also has to be Made in USA.

They are looking at long term compatibility with their existing IWB/IWS sheath as well as Salt Water corrosion on the metal they have selected. The metal and hardening processes is the single biggest factor in price point so this is an area where it will be worth spending some extra time and research.

The mission continues…

SCUBAPRO Sunday – Memorial Day

Sunday, May 24th, 2020

Shortly after the Civil War, Memorial Day began as Decoration Day. The reason for that is because it was a day on which Americans, North and South, would decorate the graves of soldiers who died in the Civil War.

Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, who lead a group for Northen Civil War veterans, declared in 1868 that Decoration Day would be observed on May 30. The date was chosen only for the reason that it didn’t coincide with any battles fought. It was a day for the North and South to honor their fallen and decorate their graves. After World War I the holiday was broadened to include service members who died in all of the country’s wars, not just the Civil War.

Multiple cities claim to be the birthplace of this holiday, but President Lyndon Johnson formally gave the honor to Waterloo, N.Y., in 1966. Up until 1971, Memorial Day was observed on May 30, the date Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. In 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May to create a three-day weekend for federal employees. The same law also declared Memorial Day as a federal holiday. It did not go into effect until 1971.

Most people look at the Memorial Day weekend as the unofficial start of summer, mattress, and furniture sales or a day for cooking out. I know most of the people that read SSD will understand what the real meaning is. This is a day to remember the fallen man and woman of the military that have gone before us. Like most holidays in the U.S., it has been turned into just a weekend for sales and people to try and make money. But please take the time to think about the fallen, and their families that have as President Lincoln said: “Laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.” We truly are lucky to live in the greatest country in the world, where “the pursuit of happiness” is a garneted right. You are never asked to do anything for it other than maybe do jury duty. But some people chose to serve for whatever reason and some die because they chose to server.

There are a couple small things you can do. One is if you fly an America flag lower it to half staff until noon. Then at noon raise it all the way up until sunset. Second, in the year 2000, the National Moment of Remembrance was passed in Congress this says at 3pm local time take a moment in your own way to remember the fallen.

Memorial Day is not Veterans Day. I have heard so many people say, “oh this weekend, we should really thank a veteran.” This isn’t for us; it is for the people that never came home and their families.

Lastly, I wanted to say something about what to say to someone else on Memorial Day as a greeting. Please do not say “Happy Memorial Day”. This is a little thing but it’s like saying happy funeral day. So, if you feel like “Happy Memorial Day” isn’t appropriate, try saying, “I hope you have a nice/good Memorial Day,”.

Long Live the Brotherhood

 

Wash Your Hands!

Sunday, May 24th, 2020

7th SFG(A) shared this the other day on IG. It’s a great reminder to wash your hands and if you’re in a situation where you need to wear a mask, be sure to wear it.

Remember to wash your hands regularly, social distance, and report symptoms to your medical provider. Maintain wearing a mask at required locations and continue to be Quiet Professionals!

Broken Arrow – Response to a Nuclear Weapons Accident

Sunday, May 24th, 2020

This 1980 informational film was produced by the Air Force to depict a Defense Nuclear Agency (now Defense Threat Reduction Agency) training exercise based on a nuclear weapons accident scenario and the steps that would be taken from the time of the incident to D+7.

HENSOLDT and Nano Dimension Achieve Breakthrough in Electronics 3D Printing

Saturday, May 23rd, 2020

New multi-layer PCB boosts electronics rapid prototyping

 

Munich, Germany/Nano Dimension’s USA HQ, South Florida (Nasdaq, TASE: NNDM), May 19, 2020 – Sensor solutions provider HENSOLDT together with the leading Additively Manufactured Electronics (AME)/Printed Electronics (PE) provider, Nano Dimension, has achieved a major breakthrough on its way to utilizing 3D printing in the development process of high-performance electronics components. Utilizing a newly developed dielectric polymer ink and conductive ink from Nano Dimension, HENSOLDT succeeded in assembling the world-wide first 10-layer printed circuit board (PCB) which carries high-performance electronic structures soldered to both outer sides. Until now, 3D printed boards could not bear the soldering process necessary for two sided population of components.

“Military sensor solutions require performance and reliability levels far above those of commercial components.” says HENSOLDT CEO, Thomas Müller. “To have high-density components quickly available with reduced effort by means of 3D printing gives us a competitive edge in the development process of such high-end electronic systems.”

“Nano Dimension’s relationship with HENSOLDT is the type of partnership with customers we are striving for,” commented Yoav Stern, Nano Dimension President & CEO. “Working together and learning from HENSOLDT led us to reach a first-of-its-kind in-depth knowledge of polymer materials applications. Additionally, it guided us in the development of Hi-PEDs (High Performance Electronic Device) that create competitive edges by enabling unique implementations with shortest time to market.”

AMEs are useful to verify a new design and functionality of specialized electronic components before production. AME is a highly agile and individual engineering methodology to prototype a new electronic circuitry. This leads to significant reduction of time and cost in the development process.  Furthermore AME allows for a verified and approved design before production starts, leading to higher quality of the final product.

HENSOLDT started working with Nano Dimension’s DragonFly 3D printing system in 2016, in order to examine the possibilities of 3D printing electronics. Last year, HENSOLDT successfully implemented the DragonFly Lights-Out Digital Manufacturing (LDM) printing technology, the industry’s only additive manufacturing platform for round-the-clock 3D printing of electronic circuitry.

Casca – A Blast From The Past

Saturday, May 23rd, 2020

We first mentioned the Casca series in 2013 and we like to bring the Casca books up every once in awhile because they were such a big part of growing up in the early 80s.

Casca is a legendary eternal mercenary who was charged by Christ on Golgotha to fight until the second coming, from conflict up conflict. Exciting stuff, and as a kid, I couldn’t put it down.

Did you devour this book like I did? If so, did you know that the Casca images by artist Darrel Millsap on the cover of every title were based on this photo of author Barry Sadler?

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And, did you know that same Special Forces Veteran Barry Sadler also wrote and performed the song “The Ballad of the Green Berets” which hit Number 1 on the charts in the Spring of 1966? If you’ve ever served at Ft Bragg, you’ve heard that diddy a time or two.

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Although Sadler passed away in 1989 of complications following a gun shot wound, the Casca-series of books carried on and still boast a website dedicated to the series.

KMW, Nexter and Rheinmetall Get the Go-ahead for Initial MGCS Architecture Study

Saturday, May 23rd, 2020

Munich / Versailles / Düsseldorf, 20 May 2020 – Standing for Main Ground Combat System, MGCS is a joint Franco-German defence project. The programme, to be implemented under German political leadership, is tasked with developing a main combat system to succeed the Bundeswehr’s Leopard 2 and the French Army’s Leclerc starting in 2035.

Making the start of the MGCS procurement programme Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), Nexter Systems and Rheinmetall AG established an ARGE in December 2019. Now, the partners and the German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw), acting in the name of Germany and France, have signed a contract for the “System Architecture Definition Study – Part 1” (SADS Part 1). This contract sounds the industrial starting gun for a MGCS Demonstration Phase.

At the Franco-German Ministerial Council meeting in Toulouse on 16 October 2019, the defence ministers of both nations, Florence Parly and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, emphasized their commitment to developing the MGCS.

The ARGE is a German acronym standing for Arbeitsgemeinschaft, or “working group”. Under German law, the ARGE serves as the contractual partner of the procurement authority (BAAINBw) during the first phase of the programme. Officials of the three companies represent the ARGE vis-à-vis third parties.

The aim of the study is to harmonize the final MGCS concepts of the previous phase, to analyse further details, and to propose a common multi-platform architecture. The three contractual partners will assess various aspects of different concepts: technical feasibility in the projected timeframe allotted for the programme; ability to fulfil the operational needs of both armies; efficiency and compatibility with national “systems of systems” (SCORPION for France and Digitization of Land-Based Operations (D-LBO) for Germany). Workshares in the SADS Part 1 are to be distributed equally between France and Germany on a fifty-fifty basis. The first phase of architecture work is expected to last 18 months.