Historically, only clinicians and researchers have been involved with decisions about what research topics to pursue, and patients have been left out of the process. This creates a gap between clinical application of research and patients’ experience. By expanding the scope of how researchers and clinicians obtain patient data to include research topic priorities, we explore how to incorporate patient perspectives better. Although there are many studies that aim to analyze patient registries, there are limited studies that attempt to elucidate the degree of the participants’ interest, or willingness to get involved in providing input on research activities. Through a study funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), we developed a two-phase approach to prioritize topics for low back pain research. In phase one, we invited participants from a patient registry of older adults with back pain , and in phase two, invited participants using Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), an online crowd-sourcing platform. Participants completed an initial screening survey comprised of the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire, a standard tool to identify individuals experiencing back pain. Those scoring 7 or higher on the RMDQ were sent a research topic prioritization survey. 1966 people completed the screening survey, and 480 qualified, of which 353 completed the prioritization survey (completion rate: 74%). Using both recruitment strategies, we had a high response rate, and participants are diverse in terms of pain, gender, and age. Responses show participants’ effort to fully answer the survey and voice their opinion, including providing additional topics that had not been identified previously.This work highlights that recruiting from a patient registry or using MTurk are both effective tools to obtain patient input, and increases the flow of information from the public/patient to the researcher, and inevitably the clinician; we expect incorporating these methods will increase patient voice in research.

Dandy-Walker Malformation (DWM) is the most common cerebellar malformation in humans affecting one in every 10,000 live births. DWM is characterized by underdevelopment of the cerebellar vermis, as well as an enlarged fourth ventricle and posterior fossa. Symptoms range from intellectual disability to autism, although some patients are minimally affected. Recent research performed in our laboratory implicated deletion of a transcription factor called FOXC1 in DWM. Surprisingly, Foxc1 expression is absent in the developing cerebellum of mice. Instead, it is abundantly expressed in the meninges overlying the growing cerebellum. Therefore, we hypothesized that Foxc1-mediated meningeal signaling plays a critical role in cerebellar development. In Foxc1-/- mice, we used a combination of immunohistochemical and in vitro assays to demonstrate devastating decreases in neuronal proliferation in the cerebellar ventricular zone, concomitant with increased neuronal differentiation during crucial embryonic stages of cerebellar development. These contributed to a severe reduction of the neural progenitor pool and significantly reduced cerebellar size. Aberrant cell migration and dysmorphic radial glial cells were also detected in mutant mice. Sfd1α is a Foxc1-dependant secreted factor in the meninges that signals to Cxcr4 in the cerebellum. We demonstrated that disruption of Sdf1α-Cxcr4 signaling in Cxcr4 mutant mice phenocopied the Foxc1-/- mutant cerebellum. We conclude that interactions between head mesenchyme and the early embryonic cerebellum are crucial to the development of the cerebellum. Most recently we have extended these studies to show that the developing cerebellum in FOXC1 +/- human DWM patients largely resembles the Foxc1 and conditional Cxcr4 mouse mutant phenotypes. This suggests that key mechanisms controlling early cerebellar development are conserved between mouse and human. This also strongly argues that we have identified the key developmental pathological disruptions causing human DWM.

Europa is one of Jupiter’s moons which is covered in ice. Further research on Europa is needed to determine if the moon can sustain life. One of the barriers that has affected our understanding of the moon is the large velocity requirements to land on Europa, which make a soft landing on the surface too costly. To overcome this problem, research has being performed on penetrator technology that can withstand a hypervelocity impact. The initial system involves the study of the performance of a two-stage penetrator. The first stage would break the ice, making way for the second stage. The second stage of the penetrator would encounter weaker ice and therefore have a higher probability of surviving the impact. The electronics would be located in the second stage. Projectiles have been tested on impact qualities and post-impact properties. Further experimentation has been performed with various designs and materials that have varying densities. Density is expected to play an important role in the depth of penetration and the resulting deceleration forces on the system. Penetrators made of Lexan have been used along with wood as impact material. Seven inches of penetration has been achieved when fired at speeds close to 1 km/s. Smaller scale testing, at lower speeds, has been performed on larger Lexan projectiles fired into ice resulted in approximately 1.5 in. of penetration. Projectiles made of aluminum have been tested and fired into a bucket of ice. The ice was kept at -20° C, which is still significantly warmer that the surface conditions of the moon. Once the penetrators are optimized for these temperature conditions, additional testing would involve liquid nitrogen to cool the ice to colder temperatures. The penetrator system could lead to the discovery of new life, future missions to Europa and possible habitation or resource extraction.

The CubeSat form-factor is an increasingly popular design of small satellites utilized by a range of research orginizations. Consisting of stacks of 10x10x10cm cubes, CubeSats offer a compact and inexpensive means to place equipment and instrumentation into low-earth orbit, but suffer from limited or non-existent maneuvering capabilities. Currently available propulsion options for CubeSats may offer limited abilities to modify the shape of an orbit near to Earth, but suffer constraints on propellant efficiency, thrust duration, and thrust force. A new design of compact pulsed plasma thruster from the University of Washington for use on small satellites offers improved abilities to maneuver in not just low-Earth orbit but also in lunar insertion, lunar orbit, Earth escape trajectory, and a variety of trajectories reaching beyond. The orbital mechanics team has been responsible for studying the motion of PPT powered satellites in space and for the plotting of trajectories to potential mission targets. As the PPT has significantly different levels of thrust and efficiency from conventional liquid-fueled rockets, unique solutions to conventional problems must be found.

Studies suggest that Europa contains elements required to support life beneath its icy crust, but further data collection is required for verification. One of the largest issues in performing such a research expedition is the demanding cost of soft-landing an instrument on its surface to retrieve the data. To address this issue, research is currently being conducted for a new method involving a two-stage penetrator probe which would allow the hard-landing of the probe into the moon’s surface. The initial stage penetrator would weaken the ice and create a debris plume which would allow the second stage probe to decelerate and enter the surface intact. To optimize the system and further study its potential, the impact is being simulated in the ANSYS finite element analysis software. In working parallel with experimental data obtained from impact testing, the geometry and parameters within ANSYS were modeled to create a FEA explicit dynamics simulation of the impact. The analysis models the ice as concrete due to material properties of ice being difficult to obtain, and local mesh refinement methods were utilized to improve computational time. The focus of the simulation is to determine the optimal model in which the first stage penetrator has significant impact in the acceleration profile of the second stage probe. The impact pattern, the amount of material carved out, and the acceleration profile of the probe will be analyzed to relate the efficiency of various penetrator geometries at various speeds. Impacts involving the two stage system with various penetrator geometries show significant reductions in the acceleration profile of the probe. Future research will rely on refining the simulation parameters to derive a more accurate model of the impact.

As a response to the NASA Cubesat initiative, the UW ESS department started the effort to design and build a 3U Cubesat by the students from various technical backgrounds. 3U Cubesat is made of 3 units vertically stacked onto each other with each unit at 10x10x11.35cm. This team is assembled within the UW Cubesat project to work on the structure system of the Cubesat and is responsible for solving problems in structure system. Recent progress regarding the CAD modeling of the body, designing and manufacturing of the hinges, deployers, solar panel mounting and ideas about fixed solar array and launcher possibilities are discussed. Various models have been proposed and tested and the overall capability of the hinges is improved to better suit the mission. For getting the maximum exposure of sunlight and keeping the whole system optimal, different solar panel solutions were assessed. Deployer design to release the Cubesat from the launching system and to release the solar panels from the Cubesat body was studied. Before machining the deployer and hinge system at its actual size, multiple tests have been done on the enlarged 3D-printed versions of the deployer and hinge system to make sure the design works properly. Among our team members, the tasks to design and implement each section are collaborative and everybody made sizable contributions to the progress. The current results produced include a design of the full body CAD model for the 3U Cubesat and its major components, a preliminary design of the deployer and hinge system undergoing its initial testing stage, a decision to use existing design of PPOD launcher and a design of the location and dimensions of the solar panels. Multiple models and their respective numerical estimations have been used in multiple presentations and will be presented at the day of the Symposium.

This research details the design, construction, modeling, launch and post-flight analysis of a high-powered rocket through the Earth and Space Sciences’ Rockets and Instrumentation course at the University of Washington. The primary goal was to build and test a multistage cluster rocket, scheduled to launch March 2016 in Black Rock, NV. To exploit the exponentially decreasing drag at high altitudes the rocket was initially designed as a two-stage, with eight external motors and two internal motors providing 43 kN-s of total thrust with a max velocity of 750 m/s. Risk assessment shows three-stage ignition as a safer option, providing a ground launch of 10 kN-s of thrust. Once the main engine burns for 2 seconds, the external cluster motors will ignite, providing 19 kN-s of impulse before separating from the main stage at around 20,000 feet. The sustainer motor then ignites at a final impulse of 14 kN-s and will reach an apogee of approximately 47,000 feet. The recovery package was designed with two separate systems of dual deployment for drogue and main parachutes, as well as a GPS and an altimeter, using two different flight computers, one in each stage. Previously untested commercial telemetry instrumentation was chosen and simulated with electromagnetic software before launching. If the rocket performs as designed, it will be the highest rocket built and flown by a University of Washington student group.

Our research project was to design, construct, and launch a high powered rocket with the intention of pushing its velocity significantly past the speed of sound while simultaneously collecting data from which to interpret the max achieved acceleration, velocity, and altitude. The rocket's body has a three inch inner diameter made to fit the 3-inch motor casing without any extra room. This minimum diameter design reduced its weight so that less force was required to achieve higher acceleration, and it provided a smaller cross sectional area than a traditional rocket, thereby reducing the amount of drag force impeding its acceleration. Atypical of most high powered rocket designs, our rocket features a metal tipped nose cone to provide resistance to the heat caused by friction when breaking the sound barrier. At the speeds achieved, unmodified rocket fins will vibrate at extreme rates due to turbulent flow. In order to combat this destructive effect the fins were reinforced with carbon fiber to significantly stiffen them and reduce any resonant effects during flight. The payload consists of a StratoLogger SL100 Altimeter to keep track of the maximum altitude and velocities of our flights as well triggering two separate parachute deployments, achieving a safe landing while also minimizing drift time due to winds at altitude. It is our hope that our research rocket will push the boundaries of velocity and altitude achieved by a junior college rocket team as well as provide insight into ways to optimize our rocket designs to maximize future results.

Electric propulsion is an area of increasing research as it offers increased efficiency and versatility in operation. Electric propulsion systems ionize solid propellant and accelerate plasma out the back of spacecraft at high velocities using electric and magnetic fields to create thrust. Pulsed plasma thrusters (PPT) are an example of how electric propulsion offers a lightweight and cost-effective source of in-space propulsion for small spacecraft with space and power limitations. Traditional solid propellants like Teflon provide adequate fuel for PPTs but are limited by space and weight thresholds for small spacecraft. The Advanced Propulsion Lab (APL) at the University of Washington is interested in exploring the use of dust as a fuel source in PPTs. Dust would prolong the life and therefore research capabilities of such spacecraft due to its universal availability. In addition to using planetary/asteroid dust, we are interested in de-orbiting and using particle-sized pieces of retired space debris as a source for fuel. We hypothesize favorable thrust values for small spacecraft can be obtained by igniting dust in a PPT. The dust thruster is mounted inside a small vacuum and operates by using high frequency vibrations to agitate micrometer-sized particles into a plume of very fine dust that is sparked via firing a PPT. We are experimenting with Martian regolith simulant (a synthetic manufactured Mars dust), lunar regolith simulant (synthetic lunar dust), and aluminum powder, but the dust thruster can utilize virtually any dust sample. This experiment will serve as a proof of concept that dust particles can be used as a main fuel source for PPTs. The dust thruster is a sustainable system that will allow for longer missions and thus increase research capabilities, while proposing a sustainable solution to space debris traffic.

Previous studies have shown the importance of bitewing radiographs, xrays taken to detect caries (also known as cavities) in between teeth. Some dental schools have adopted individualized decision-making protocol in order to monitor the decay that lead to performing restorations. However, it is not clear if selective radiographic examinations based on caries risk have been applied routinely. The goals of this project are (1) to examine the frequency of dental radiographic examinations in both children and adult populations, and (2) to analyze the relationship between the frequency of dental examinations, bitewing radiograph prescriptions, and risk of dental caries. Factors that may influence how often radiographic examinations were prescribed, including patients’ age, gender, distance from clinics, and status of dental insurance, were investigated. Patients’ dental records and radiographic images at the University of Washington School of Dentistry from 2007 to 2015 were reviewed. Patients who have been examined for more than 3 visits over a span more than 2 years were selected. Data was collected from two clinics, the adult (n=109) and children's (n=172) clinics. Patients lacking posterior teeth, fewer than 3 exams, or no radiograph prescriptions were excluded from the study. The caries risk was calculated as the number of decay, missing, and filled teeth for the adult clinic and recorded as decay and filled teeth for the children's clinic. Missing teeth were not considered part of the caries risk due to the mixed dentition nature of most children. Our results showed no significant correlation between the clinical examination and radiograph prescription frequencies and the caries risk, age, gender, and distance from clinics. There are significant differences in both radiograph prescription frequencies between clinics and how soon patients return for their second visit among insurance statuses. Our data suggests that dental bitewing radiograph prescriptions were determined by clinic/providers, not caries risk factors.