Archive | February 28, 2011 | Armed with Science

Navy Doctor’s Work in ‘Mirror Therapy’ Benefits Military Amputees

Filed under Life Sciences by Armed with Science on February 28, 2011 at 4:42 pm {no comments}

Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Jack Tsao helps Army Sgt. Nicholas Paupore at Walter Reed Army Medical Center through the application of Mirror Therapy. Paupore was a 101st Airborne Division artilleryman who was serving on a military transition team training Iraqi troops when he was wounded in July 2006. Photo by Navy Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jeff Hopkins

Cmdr. Jack Tsao is the director of Traumatic Brain Injury programs at theU.S. Bureau of Navy Medicine and Surgery.

In the last five years, through my academic affiliation appointment at the Uniformed Services University, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some amazing people at Walter Reed Army Medical Center including COL Paul Pasquina (head of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation) and COL (ret.) Charles Scoville to examine why Mirror Therapy seems to be an effective treatment in what is a common phenomenon in Wounded Warriors with amputation: Phantom Limb Pain (PLP).

Phantom Limb Pain is the sensation that a limb is still present and experiencing pain following amputation and occurs in 90 percent of amputees. Often an amputee begins to experience this phenomenon immediately after surgery; this is typically followed by a gradual fading of the limb from memory. Patients frequently report that this phantom limb is stuck in an uncomfortable position or has the sensation of pain, electric shocks, or itching. There are an infinite variety of sensations associated with PLP, from merely uncomfortable to debilitating, but they have one thing in common: pharmacologic therapies are generally ineffectual.

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Energy Innovation In California

Filed under Earth Sciences, Policy by Armed with Science on February 25, 2011 at 4:53 pm {no comments}

Jay Keasling, CEO of the Joint BioEnergy Institute, discusses feedstocks for advanced biofuels with Assistant Secretary of Defense Sharon Burke. (Photo: DOD)

By Ms. Sharon E. Burke, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs

Last week, President Obama released his 2012 budget proposal. In it, the President proposed doubling funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy innovation. While the budget was being sent up to Capitol Hill, I was in California, learning how energy innovations will help the Department of Defense more strategically use energy today and in the future.

For the nation, accelerating energy innovation means new technologies for energy efficiency and new supplies of energy. Both are critical if we are to transition to a clean energy future. For the Department of Defense, the challenge is even more direct. As the single largest consumer of fossil fuels in the Nation, the Department spent almost $13.5 billion last year to purchase energy. While secure access to this energy enables us to protect the Nation, our dependence on fossil fuels comes at a cost in mission effectiveness and dollars. And unfortunately, we’ve seen with attacks on fuel convoys in Iraq and Afghanistan, it can also cost U.S. military lives.

The good news is that a huge range of scientists and entrepreneurs have mobilized to transform the way we use energy. At Stanford University, Former Secretary of State George Shultz and Former Secretary of Defense Bill Perry, and a team of military fellows, representing every service, have clearly articulated the connection between our national security and our energy security and are finding effective ways government can respond.

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Ask the Chairman About Science and Technology!

Filed under Education & Culture, Policy, Videos by Julie Weckerlein on February 24, 2011 at 4:30 pm {12 comments}

This is your chance to ask the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff anything you ever wanted about science and technology.

Admiral Mike Mullen is collecting questions on any topic to answer during an upcoming virtual town hall meeting. The conversation is not limited to servicemembers and their families. Anyone can participate.

As he said, “I hope to hear from family members, other concerned Americans and citizens of the world as well, because in these critical times, there are challenges across the globe which demand our attention and our steady focus.”

Specifically, this is your chance to ask any science and techonology-related questions you have for this military leader. Your questions could be featured here on Armed with Science!

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Keeping America’s Top Fighter Pilots Flying High

Filed under STEM, Technology by Armed with Science on February 23, 2011 at 11:07 am {3 comments}

Airmen on board an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System. (Photo: DOD)

This blog post was shared by the Modeling & Simulation Information Analysis Center. It is the eight in our 22-part series produced by the Defense Technical Information Center.

The pilots who man and fly the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft are charged with an important task: keeping America’s top fighter pilots safe from potential enemy aircraft. But making sure AWACS pilots can keep up with the increasingly rigorous training can be almost as daunting; especially at a time when advancing threats are constantly changing.

So, how does the Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC) handle situations like this? By leveraging real-world experts in modeling and simulation technologies to design and develop simulated training.

Simulated training is just one of the many modeling and simulation capabilities the Modeling and Simulation Information Analysis Center (MSIAC) maintains. In fact, MSIAC routinely works with organizations, including the ACC, to employ modeling and simulation technologies to solve some of DoD’s toughest challenges. In the case of the ACC, MSIAC developed a unique combination of simulation-based training and live-fly training missions to ensure AWACS pilots remained mission ready. Through this hybrid solution, the ACC was able to cut training costs by 50% and increase the rigor of the overall training.

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Building the Future Force of Navy Medicine

Filed under Education & Culture, Life Sciences, Policy by Armed with Science on February 20, 2011 at 10:42 am {no comments}

Vice Admiral Robinson is the 36th Surgeon General of the Navy and Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. (Photo: US Navy)

This blog post was shared with us by the US Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Stay connected on Twitter and Facebook.

“Our mission spans the globe, from U.S. hospitals within the TRICARE network, to our operational fleet and fleet Marine forces, overseas hospitals, Medical Battalions, Research Units, and hospital ships. None of this would be possible without a razor sharp focus on taking care of our people. Integral to that is having the right education, training, recruiting/retention, and diversity programs that attract, train, retain, and build our future force.”

~ Vice Admiral Adam M. Robinson Jr., MC, Surgeon General of the Navy

Background

This year’s focus of the Navy Surgeon General annual Leadership Symposium was “Total Force-Focusing on the Future.” The Symposium’s focus was building the future force of Navy Medicine and objectives included: 1) Improving readiness to fully support current and future operations; 2) Attaining agility in how we lead, how we communicate, and how we support our diverse staff; 3) strengthening our delivery of primary care; and 4) adapting to the changing environmental healthcare needs of our population.

The foundation of our future force is having a highly skilled and diverse people with the right education and training in order to deliver cutting edge health care, anytime, anywhere, in support of the full range of military operations, from the benefit mission at home, to the research and development advancements that save lives, to the combat casualty care we provide, from the battlefield to the bedside.

Our personnel are the single most important asset in our organization, constituting about 70% of our O&M budget. How we educate, train, organize, and lead our people is critical to mission accomplishment. This includes Active Duty and Reserve personnel, Officers and Enlisted, Civilians, and Contractors.
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VIDEO: Super-Pressure Balloon Launch [Dispatches from Antarctica]

Filed under Earth Sciences, Education & Culture, Videos by Armed with Science on February 18, 2011 at 1:00 pm {no comments}

This is the 41st entry in the Armed with Science series, Dispatches from Antarctica. The series features Air Force Lt. Col. Ed Vaughan’s first-hand experiences on OPERATION: DEEP FREEZE, the Defense Department’s support of National Science Foundation research in Antarctica.

Near McMurdo Station, Antarctica

The bright sun is cold. Prismatic ice crystals suspended in air trace a circular rainbow of color around its light. I guess that would be better called an “icebow”.

A single red balloon about twice as big as a basketball goes up. It stays on a tight vertical track climbing skyward. This small sounding balloon tells the gathered scientists and helpers that winds are light and final launch conditions are good.

Team members assume their positions and draw in one last, deep collective breath. Someone mutters “showtime”. A short countdown in French is shouted.
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This Ain’t No Rodeo: Robots on a Mission

Filed under Physical Sciences, STEM, Technology by Armed with Science on February 17, 2011 at 2:15 pm {one comment}

This blog post was shared by the Military Sensing Information Analysis Center. It is the seventh in our 22-part series produced by the Defense Technical Information Center.

We’re all familiar with robots. They seem to be everywhere these days – building vehicles, performing surgeries, and even vacuuming our living room floors. But did you know that innovative robotics research has also entered the battlefield? With the help of experts from the Military Sensing Information Analysis Center (SENSIAC), researchers recently demonstrated to the U.S. Army an advanced approach that enables autonomous collaboration among dissimilar robotic vehicles.

So…what exactly does that mean? Imagine two small-scale aircraft and a full-size automobile that can perform a complex, interactive mission without human intervention. This system, known as the Collaborative Unmanned Systems Technology Demonstrator (CUSTD), uses onboard computers running advanced collaborative-vehicle software – along with novel sensors and open standards-based communications and interfaces – to create an autonomous system with unique capabilities.

The CUSTD system took part in the 2010 Robotics Rodeo, held at Fort Benning, Georgia and hosted by the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC).

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Inside Operation Deep Freeze – Part 1

Filed under Earth Sciences, Education & Culture, Videos by Armed with Science on February 15, 2011 at 3:28 pm {5 comments}

This blog post was contributed by MSgt Lee E. Hoover Jr., a Combat Correspondent at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base, Tennessee, as a follow up to our Dispatches from Antarctica series. MSgt Hoover recently traveled to Antarctica to produce a video series highlighting Air Force and Air National Guard operations throughout the continent, including the South Pole.

First things first: the chance to go to Antarctica was simply amazing. I had heard of Operation Deep Freeze a few years ago and as a journalist I considered it a dream assignment, but I never thought I would have the chance to cover the operation. So the opportunity to do so was truly a blessing.

My assignment was to cover the entirety of the operation in order to produce a half hour show highlighting the joint mission. I was to spend six days in Antarctica talking to as many people as possible. I wanted to interview maintainers, pilots, scientists, and loadmasters — anybody who played a role in the operation.

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