3D Printed Embedded Force Sensors

Additive Manufacturing and 3D printing has opened the door to an endless amount of opportunities, including recent advances in conductive and resistive circuit printing. Taking advantage of these new technologies, we have designed a 3D printed insole with embedded plantar pressure sensor arrays. The customizable aspect of 3D printing allowed us to uniquely design a multitude of sensors. With the use of a dual extrusion printer we were able to produce a model that printed both the resistive circuit and complete insole simultaneously. These distinctive technologies have given us the capability to capture valuable pressure data from the sole of the foot. Analog signals sent from the pressure sensor arrays are received and processed through an attached multiplexer designed specifically for this application. The signal is then digitized and transmitted over the SPI transfer protocol to a processor and wirelessly communicated, via Bluetooth Low Energy, to a mobile android device to allow the user to easily record and interpret the array\u27s pressure data in real-time. The android device houses a pressure mapping view to show the gradient of force throughout the insole. With the capabilities of this insole we have provided an avenue for physicians and physical therapists to gather quantifiable insight into their patient\u27s progression throughout the rehabilitation process. With more intelligent and personalized data the applications of this technology are countless.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1147/thumbnail.jp

More than symbioses : orchid ecology ; with examples from the Sydney Region

The Orchidaceae are one of the largest and most diverse families of flowering plants. Orchids grow as terrestrial, lithophytic, epiphytic or climbing herbs but most orchids native to the Sydney Region can be placed in one of two categories. The first consists of terrestrial, deciduous plants that live in fire-prone environments, die back seasonally to dormant underground root tubers, possess exclusively subterranean roots, which die off as the plants become dormant, and belong to the subfamily Orchidoideae. The second consists of epiphytic or lithophytic, evergreen plants that live in fire-free environments, either lack specialised storage structures or possess succulent stems or leaves that are unprotected from fire, possess aerial roots that grow over the surface of, or free of, the substrate, and which do not die off seasonally, and belong to the subfamily Epidendroideae. Orchid seeds are numerous and tiny, lacking cotyledons and endosperm and containing minimal nutrient reserves. Although the seeds of some species can commence germination on their own, all rely on infection by mycorrhizal fungi, which may be species-specific, to grow beyond the earliest stages of development. Many epidendroid orchids are viable from an early stage without their mycorrhizal fungi but most orchidoid orchids rely, at least to some extent, on their mycorrhizal fungi throughout their lives. Some are completely parasitic on their fungi and have lost the ability to photosynthesize. Some orchids parasitize highly pathogenic mycorrhizal fungi and are thus indirectly parasitic on other plants. Most orchids have specialised relationships with pollinating animals, with many species each pollinated by only one species of insect. Deceptive pollination systems, in which the plants provide no tangible reward to their pollinators, are common in the Orchidaceae. The most common form of deceit is food mimicry, while at least a few taxa mimic insect brood sites. At least six lineages of Australian orchids have independently evolved sexual deception. In this syndrome, a flower mimics the female of the pollinating insect species. Male insects are attracted to the flower and attempt to mate with it, and pollinate it in the process. Little is known of most aspects of the population ecology of orchids native to the Sydney Region, especially their responses to fire. Such knowledge would be very useful in informing decisions in wildlife management

Practical Implementation of Machine tool Metrology and Maintenance Management Systems

Maximising asset utilisation and minimising downtime and waste are becoming increasingly important to all manufacturing facilities as competition increases and profits decrease. The tools to assist with monitoring these machining processes are becoming more and more in demand. A system designed to fulfil the needs of machine tool operators and supervisors has been developed and its impact on the precision manufacturing industry is being considered. The benefits of implementing this system, compared to traditional methods, will be discussed here

Not Written In Letters of Blood: The Forgotten Legacy of the Army of the Cumberland

While the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the Tennessee have each rightly earned their spots in the annals of Civil War history, the Army of the Cumberland has fallen through the cracks into unfortunate neglect and undue malice, despite the large number of successes and triumphs achieved by its men. This paper advances four theories explaining why this has happened, including the timing of battles, conflict between Union generals, the failures of the army\u27s commanders, and the unfortunate influence of Southern romanticism

Not Written in Letters of Blood: The Forgotten Legacy of the Army of the Cumberland

There is a chapter missing in the annals of Civil War history. The story of an entire army, the Army of the Cumberland, is not being told. Instead, the army teeters on the verge of absolute obscurity due to three factors: poorly timed battles, personal feuds between Union officers, and the undue emphasis of Civil War historians on Southern Romanticism. The Army of the Cumberland won numerous victories, including Shiloh, Stones’ River and the Tullahoma Campaign. Yet, because the Eastern army, the Army of the Potomac, fought larger battles at nearly the same times, the Cumberlanders did not receive their deserved attention from the press or public. As these real battles were waged, a battle of politics was occurring in the Union camps between Ulysses S. Grant and William Rosecrans. Rosecrans, commander of the Army of the Cumberland, had ignited Grant’s jealousy, and the two men feuded until Grant was placed in command over Rosecrans, when he immediately began rewriting the war in his image, first by replacing Rosecrans. Similarly, at war’s end, Southern Romanticists immediately picked up their pens and began to rewrite it. Because the Army of Tennessee, the Army of the Cumberland’s opponent, did not perform well, its existence was largely looked over, thus also the Cumberlanders were ignored as well. It doesn’t have to be this way. There is no reason the Army of the Cumberland must fall undeservedly into the abyss of neglect. Instead, perhaps a new look into the Civil War is in order, one that will be much kinder to those who were proud to call themselves Cumberlanders

British liberalism and the Balkans, c. 1875-1925

This is a study of the place of the Balkans in British liberal politics from the late-Victorian era to the aftermath of the First World War. It argues that engagement with the region was part of a wider reformist dynamic in British politics and society in this period. The late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries saw the final collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and the emergence of independent successor states in the Balkans against a background of nationalist tension, political violence, and humanitarian suffering. This raised questions and concerns that resonated particularly strongly within British liberal political culture, as revealed through analysis of correspondence and memoir, journalism, public and parliamentary debate, humanitarian initiatives, political activism, and diplomacy. In particular, the thesis considers: the political agitation in response to atrocities in Ottoman Bulgaria in 1876 (chapter 1); the wider impact of this agitation on late-Victorian politics (chapter 2); the renewed activism in response to Ottoman misrule in early-twentieth century Macedonia (chapter 3); the dilemmas and debates generated by the Balkan Wars and the First World War between 1912 and 1918 (chapter 4); and the impact of this on the new internationalist agendas of the 1920s (chapter 5). Liberal engagement with the Balkans is shown to have intersected closely with domestic reformist political agendas, as well as with other international causes, both European and imperial. By exploring these intersections, the thesis re-examines aspects of change, continuity and conflict in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century British politics and society, and reconsiders the multifaceted relationships that linked that society to the rest of the world

Behavioural counselling to increase consumption of fruit and vegetables in low income adults : randomised trial

Objective To measure the effect of brief behavioural counselling in general practice on patients’ consumption of fruit and vegetables in adults from a low income population. Design Parallel group randomised controlled trial. Setting Primary health centre in a deprived, ethnically mixed inner city area. Participants 271 patients aged 18-70 years without serious illness. Intervention Brief individual behavioural counselling based on the stage of change model; time matched nutrition education counselling. Main outcome measures Self reported number of portions of fruit and vegetables eaten per day, plasma β carotene, α tocopherol, and ascorbic acid concentrations, and 24 hour urinary potassium excretion. Assessment at baseline, eight weeks, and 12 months. Results Consumption of fruit and vegetables increased from baseline to 12 months by 1.5 and 0.9 portions per day in the behavioural and nutrition groups (mean difference 0.6 portions, 95% confidence interval 0.1 to 1.1). The proportion of participants eating five or more portions a day increased by 42% and 27% in the two groups (mean difference 15%, 3% to 28%). Plasma β carotene and α tocopherol concentrations increased in both groups, but the rise in β carotene was greater in the behavioural group (mean difference 0.16 μmol/l, 0.001 μmol/l to 1.34 μmol/l). There were no changes in plasma ascorbic acid concentrations or urinary potassium excretion. Differences were maintained when analysis was restricted to the 177 participants with incomes ≤ £400 (€596, $640) a week. Conclusions Brief individual counselling in primary care can elicit sustained increases in consumption of fruit and vegetables in low income adults in the general population

Espacios florecientes: por unos asentamientos de refugiados más ecológicos

Al incorporar iniciativas de agricultura urbana en los entornos de los campos de refugiados se puede ampliar el concepto de alojamiento para incluir la protección contra el clima, abordar las deficiencias nutricionales y aumentar los niveles de dignidad humana, creación de espacios y autosuficiencia

Rediscovery and updated description of the enigmatic annual Hydrocotyle corynophora F.Muell. (Araliaceae)

Hydrocotyle corynophora F.Muell. (Araliaceae), a rare species endemic to Western Australia, was recently rediscovered in the field and in the Western Australian herbarium (PERTH) collection. Prior to these rediscoveries, little was known about the extant nature of this species, since its description by Ferdinand von Mueller in 1890. In light of the availability of new voucher material held at PERTH, an updated description is provided, along with descriptions of habitat, phenology and a formal citation of Mueller’s holotype held at the National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL)

Rising from the ashes - Hydrocotyle phoenix (Araliaceae), a new annual species from south-western Australia

A recently discovered fire ephemeral Hydrocotyle phoenix A.J.Perkins sp. nov. from south-west Western Australia is described and compared to other Australian species of Hydrocotyle. Photographic images of the new species are provided, along with a list of diagnostic features to aid in identification. The annual fire ephemeral life history of this species is novel for the genus