Lab-scale Reproduction of Siloxane Foam Synthesis

Evonik has a synthesis reaction to create siloxane-based foam for sale that they run in their Hopewell plant. They would like to utilize a bench scale reactor system for experimentation on the process. The problem is that the foam created on the lab scale does not show the same properties as the foam created on the plant scale and to run experiments accurately they would have to use the plant reactor, wasting both reactor time and plant resources. Evonik wanted the Senior Design team to find a way of recreating the conditions of the plant reactor on the lab scale so that experiments could be run in a way that eliminates waste and gives accurate data. The final direction of the project was to provide a 1 Liter jacketed glass reactor and an outline for a recirculation bath that would mimic the heating profile of the plant reactor as closely as possible, as well as a way to provide a comparable agitation profile to the plant scale. To facilitate the agitation profile, an equation was found to relate the size and speed of both the lab and plant impellers. In addition, a quantitative method of measuring “good” and “bad” quality of the product was discovered in UV-Vis Spectroscopy, which allows Evonik to instantly test the liquid product without having to “foam up” the product and test qualitatively.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1157/thumbnail.jp

Transpulmonary thermodilution: its role in assessment of lung water and pulmonary edema

Tissue edema, in particular pulmonary edema, increasingly is recognized as a perioperative complication affecting outcome. Management strategies directed at avoiding excessive fluid administration, reducing inflammatory response, and decreasing capillary permeability commonly are advocated in perioperative care protocols. In this review, transpulmonary thermodilution (TPTD) as a bedside tool to quantitatively monitor lung water accumulation and optimize fluid therapy is examined. Furthermore, the roles of TPTD as an early detector of fluid accumulation before the development of overt pulmonary edema and in risk stratification are explored. In addition, the ability of TPTD to provide insight into the etiology of pulmonary edema, specifically differentiating hydrostatic versus increased pulmonary capillary permeability, is emerging as an aid in therapeutic decision-making. The combination of hemodynamic and lung water data afforded by TPTD offers unique benefits for the care of high-risk perioperative patients

Presidential Influence and Competitive Grant Funding: Reexamining Presidential Pork

How does partisan alignment with the president affect the distribution of federal competitive grant funding? This analysis contributes to the literature on distributive politics by reexamining the relationship between alignment with the president and competitive grant funding over the time period of 2001 to 2017. Furthermore, the analysis will test if the relationship between alignment and competitive grant funding changed after the enactment of the 2011 earmark moratorium. Fractional probit regression is used to model the relationship between a representative’s partisan alignment with the president and the portion of annual competitive grant funding that their district receives. The results suggest that there is no relationship between alignment and competitive grant funding when looking at grant funding across all federal agencies. However, when only examining agencies that are susceptible to presidential influence a weak relationship emerges. Findings also suggest that this relationship developed after the enactment of the earmark moratorium

System For Recurring Reminders Based On Calendar Events

A system for providing recurring reminders based on calendar events selected by a user is disclosed. The system provides the user with one or more reminders before a calendar event based on the content of earlier reminders and calendar events stored in the system. In one instance, the system determines the appropriate checklist based on the relation between the content of the reminder and the calendar event. The advantage of using the system is that the user may avoid the extra work of duplicating the same set of reminders for every similar calendar event. KEYWORDS: Calendar events, checklists, recurring events, personal assistan

Assessment of pulmonary edema: principles and practice

Pulmonary edema increasingly is recognized as a perioperative complication affecting outcome. Several risk factors have been identified, including those of cardiogenic origin, such as heart failure or excessive fluid administration, and those related to increased pulmonary capillary permeability secondary to inflammatory mediators. Effective treatment requires prompt diagnosis and early intervention. Consequently, over the past 2 centuries a concentrated effort to develop clinical tools to rapidly diagnose pulmonary edema and track response to treatment has occurred. The ideal properties of such a tool would include high sensitivity and specificity, easy availability, and the ability to diagnose early accumulation of lung water before the development of the full clinical presentation. In addition, clinicians highly value the ability to precisely quantify extravascular lung water accumulation and differentiate hydrostatic from high permeability etiologies of pulmonary edema. In this review, advances in understanding the physiology of extravascular lung water accumulation in health and in disease and the various mechanisms that protect against the development of pulmonary edema under physiologic conditions are discussed. In addition, the various bedside modalities available to diagnose early accumulation of extravascular lung water and pulmonary edema, including chest auscultation, chest roentgenography, lung ultrasonography, and transpulmonary thermodilution, are examined. Furthermore, advantages and limitations of these methods for the operating room and intensive care unit that are critical for proper modality selection in each individual case are explored