Sit. Rep. #135: Efficacy, Murphy, Heat Index

Body Fluids:

1- Your body uses and loses water every moment of your life.  Our bodies lose water thru breathing, sweating, urinating, and defecating.  Also through blood loss and female menstrual cycles.  Not to mention injuries.  Heat and cold exposure, high altitude, flying, burns, illness, and increased activity cause your body to need more water than normal.   This water must be replaced.  On a normal day at home, we need 2-3 liters of water to replenish what is lost.  Above average or below average temperatures and exercise will increase your body’s mandate for water.  Mental or physical stress will increase the water usage and mandate.

Several years ago I was put on a First Aid bicycle team to patrol a certain area of the Scout Jamboree.  The heat index hit 119 F (48.3 C) that afternoon.  My bike partner and I each drank 4 liters of water plus 2 liters of sports drink in less than 5 hours of our afternoon shift.  We plotted and planned to bike from shady spot to shady spot.  Even my socks were soaked with sweat.

1B- A simple loss of 5% of body fluids leads to a loss in performance and increases your susceptibility to shock.

W: You have been sitting around all day.  You are so lazy.
X: No I am not lazy.  I am just resting before I get tired.

Drug Development:

2- After a drug has been developed.  The Food & Drug Administration (The FDA) requires certain clinical research trials.
Phase 1: Limited to about 100 people with & without the disease to check for safety, efficacy, and dosage.  It lasts a few months.
Phase 2: Is limited to a few hundred people.  Phase 2 is also looking for more safety issues such as side effects.  Efficacy is also studied.  And this is where Phase 3 is designed.  This phase takes several months up to 2 years.
Phase 3: Lasts 1 to 4 years on a large population (with a control group).  Rare and long-term side effects are the main focus of this phase.
Phase 4: Is the Post-Market Safety Monitoring after the FDA approval for release.

 

Ham Radio:

3- Murphy’s Law in Ham World:  (Thanks to KB6NU Ham Radio Study Guides)

Since Murphy’s Law—the law that states if anything can go wrong, it will—applies to amateur radio as much as it does to any other pursuit, at some point, you will have to deal with problems. These may include overload, distortion, feedback, and interference.

Which of the following can cause radio frequency interference?
  All of these choices are correct
      • Fundamental overload
      • Harmonics
      • Spurious emissions.

Which of the following actions should you take if a neighbor tells you that your station’s transmissions are interfering with their radio or TV reception?
  Make sure that your station is functioning properly and that it does not cause interference to your own radio or television when it is tuned to the same channel.

What should be the first step to resolve cable TV interference from your ham radio transmission?
    Be sure all TV coaxial connectors are installed properly

What would cause a broadcast AM or FM radio to receive an amateur radio transmission unintentionally?
     The receiver is unable to reject strong signals outside the AM or FM band
How can overload of a non-amateur radio or TV receiver by an amateur signal be reduced or eliminated?
     Block the amateur signal with a filter at the antenna input of the affected receiver

Which of the following can reduce overload to a VHF transceiver from a nearby FM broadcast station?
     Band-reject filter
Which of the following is a way to reduce or eliminate interference from an amateur transmitter to a nearby telephone?
    Put an RF filter on the telephone

What is a Part 15 device?
     An unlicensed device that may emit low-powered radio signals on frequencies used by a licensed service

What should you should if something in a neighbor’s home is causing harmful interference to your amateur station?
    All of these choices are correct
       • Work with your neighbor to identify the offending device
       • Politely inform your neighbor about the rules that prohibit the use of devices that cause interference
       • Check your station and make sure it meets the standards of good amateur practice

What might be a problem if you receive a report that your audio signal through the repeater is distorted or unintelligible?
      All of these choices are correct
          • Your transmitter is slightly off frequency
          • Your batteries are running low
          • You are in a bad location

What is a symptom of RF feedback in a transmitter or transceiver?
     Reports of garbled, distorted, or unintelligible voice transmissions

What can you do if you are told your FM handheld or mobile transceiver is over-deviating?
    Talk farther away from the microphone

Y: Why is my pizza all squished.
Z: You said hurry it up and step on it.

Semper Paratus,
Gaither

 Campfire Skits:   by Thomas Mercaldo

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