Ultrasonic Tension Controller for Web Tensioning

Indiana University Purdue University IndianapolisThe design of the Ultrasonic Tension Control package provides an industrial package to a previously vulnerable product. The previous design utilized a microcontroller which took analog feedback from an ultrasonic sensor to control brake pressure to a tensioning system to wind or unwind different products. The system still uses an ultrasonic sensor but uses a programmable logic controller (PLC) and variable frequency drive (VFD) to control the winding and unwinding speed. By using more industrial components, the system is more durable and resistant to shock, temperature, or other extreme environments. The introduction of a touch screen is also favorable and provides a convenient interface for operators to run the full process or troubleshooting to be done on a screen that puts the system into a manual mode. Future design considerations include putting the design into a smaller footprint for further cost reduction. Also the ability to automatically detect the type of variable frequency drive connected would be beneficial to prevent the user from incorrectly entering data.Electrical Engineering Technolog

The recent development of South African short film making

Student Number : 9905214K - MA research report - School of Dramatic Art - Faculty of ArtsSouth Africa’s film industry presently has huge, unrealised potential for growth. Currently one of the most vibrant sectors of the local industry is short filmmaking. This research’s main contention is that, for a number of reasons the short form is the most viable form for film-making development to take. The short film’s value as a training tool and essential building block for local film-making is scrutinized. To this end the research incorporates a content and form analysis of selected short films, with special reference made to the modes and economic conditions of production that affect the film industry. To conclude, I take the position that film-making, as a form of artistic and cultural dialogue, has tremendous possibilities for the development of a national identity, the creation and perpetuation of local myths and the fostering of social cohesion. For these reasons the short form is worthy of more concerted institutional support

Extracurricular activities and their effects on Edgerton High School students’ Geometry State Test Scores

Extracurricular activities play a big role in developing some students into well-rounded adults, while other students choose to not participate in any. This study was performed to show a specific relationship between participating in extracurricular activities and higher test scores on the geometry state test in Ohio. This study was conducted at a rural high school in northwest Ohio, with a sample of 145 students who took both the geometry state test and the eighth-grade standardized test. With this data and the data of which of these students participated in which extracurricular activity, if any, this study could then answer questions about what are some significant predictors of the geometry state test scores or if being involved in a certain type of extracurricular activity has a significantly different mean geometry state test score. Results were found by running two different tests in the data. For the first result, the geometry state test scores were recoded to be zero if the score indicated that the student failed or one of the scores indicated that the student passed. Then a Logistic Regression model was run to find any significant predictors for the geometry state test scores from gender, the student’s eighth-grade standardized math scores, or the type of extracurricular activity a student was involved in. The next test was an ANOVA model to look at the differences in mean scores across the different types of extracurricular activities. From these two tests, there was a small but significant relationship showing that participating in an extracurricular activity is beneficial for students’ geometry state test scores. This implies that students at Edgerton High School should be a part of some type of extracurricular activity if they would want to increase their geometry state test scores. The two types that showed the most promise were the individual-based extracurricular activities (Cross-country, Golf, Wrestling, Track) and the team-based extracurricular activities (Football, Volleyball, Basketball, Softball, Baseball)

Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Control: a Global Perspective, 3rd ed.

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11. An examination of the species-area-energy relationship driving decomposer diversity within “sponge” habitats in an estuarine bay

The species-area relationship is a well-known pattern in ecology detailing a strong positive relationship between habitat area and species richness. Alternatively, the species-energy hypothesis suggests that total energy availability drives species richness, with higher richness in systems with more energy input. While these two hypotheses are difficult to separate as they are positively related, they can be mutually exclusive. Species richness may increase with both area and energy availability independently. Here we test the relative importance of habitat area vs energy availability by placing two artificial substrates, polypropylene and cellulose sponges, with four different surface areas in two estuarine habitats. Cellulose sponges are organic and therefore should increase biodiversity by providing both protective structure and nutrition, while polypropylene sponges only provide structure. Organic sponges with large surface areas should promote more diversity than synthetic sponges with the same surface area. To test this, 40 cellulose and 40 polypropylene pre-weighed sponges of each surface area were placed in salt marshes and the open ocean of Terrebonne Bay in Louisiana. After one month, organisms were removed and categorized, and dry weight of the sponges collected. Preliminary results show that abundance was negatively related to surface area, contrary to predictions. However, organic sponges lost more mass, but supported similar abundances of organisms than polypropylene sponges. These results suggest that cellulose sponges are primarily used as nutrition as their effect should be additive if used as structure as well. This project offers important insights into the complexities that habitat diversity has on decomposer systems

Blubber Testosterone: A Potential Marker of Male Reproductive Status in Short-Beaked Common Dolphins

A novel molecular technique was used to measure blubber testosterone (BT) in 114 male short-beaked common dolphins, Delphinus delphis, collected from incidental fishery bycatch and strandings. When these concentrations were compared across maturity states, the mean (± SEM) BT levels of mature D. delphis (14.3 ± 3.0 ng/g) were significantly higher than those of pubertal (2.5 ± 0.5 ng/g, P = 0.006) and immature animals (2.2 ± 0.3 ng/g, P \u3c 0.0001). BT concentrations in mature males were significantly higher in summer months (53.9 ± 2.0 ng/g) than during the rest of the year (7.9 ± 0.69 ng/g, P \u3c 0.0001), indicating reproductive seasonality. An analysis of BT in different anatomical locations showed that hormone concentrations were not homogenous throughout the body; the levels in the dorsal fin were significantly lower than in most other areas (F = 5.39, P = 0.043). Conversely, we found no significant differences in BT concentration with respect to subepidermal depth (F = 2.09, P = 0.146). Finally, testosterone levels in biopsies from 138 free-swimming male D. delphis, of unknown maturity state, sampled off California were found to be of concentrations similar to those from the fishery bycatch and stranding samples and revealed an analogous trend with respect to ordinal date

Blubber Testosterone: A Potential Marker of Male Reproductive Status in Short-Beaked Common Dolphins

A novel molecular technique was used to measure blubber testosterone (BT) in 114 male short-beaked common dolphins, Delphinus delphis, collected from incidental fishery bycatch and strandings. When these concentrations were compared across maturity states, the mean (± SEM) BT levels of mature D. delphis (14.3 ± 3.0 ng/g) were significantly higher than those of pubertal (2.5 ± 0.5 ng/g, P = 0.006) and immature animals (2.2 ± 0.3 ng/g, P \u3c 0.0001). BT concentrations in mature males were significantly higher in summer months (53.9 ± 2.0 ng/g) than during the rest of the year (7.9 ± 0.69 ng/g, P \u3c 0.0001), indicating reproductive seasonality. An analysis of BT in different anatomical locations showed that hormone concentrations were not homogenous throughout the body; the levels in the dorsal fin were significantly lower than in most other areas (F = 5.39, P = 0.043). Conversely, we found no significant differences in BT concentration with respect to subepidermal depth (F = 2.09, P = 0.146). Finally, testosterone levels in biopsies from 138 free-swimming male D. delphis, of unknown maturity state, sampled off California were found to be of concentrations similar to those from the fishery bycatch and stranding samples and revealed an analogous trend with respect to ordinal date

From progesterone in biopsies to estimates of pregnancy rates: Large scale reproductive patterns of two sympatric species of common dolphin, Delphinus spp. off California, USA and Baja, Mexico

Blubber progesterone levels were measured in biopsy samples and used to predict the pregnancy status of 507 female common dolphins (204 long-beaked common dolphins, Delphinus capensis, and 303 short-beaked common dolphins, D. delphis). Samples were collected in the coastal waters of the eastern North Pacific between central California, USA and the southern end of Baja California, Mexico. The percentage of females pregnant was similar between the two species: 22.1% (n = 45) of D. capensis and 28.1% (n = 85) of D. delphis. For both species we found strong geographic patterns in pregnancy, suggesting that some areas were more conducive for pregnant females. A sizable drop in percent pregnant from early (38.8%, n = 133) to late (25.3%, n = 91) autumn was found in D. delphis but not in D. capensis. The potential for sample selectivity was examined via biopsies collected either from a large research ship or from a small, rigid-hull inflatable boat (RHIB) launched from the larger ship. An analysis of “Tandem Biopsy Sampling”, replicate biopsy effort on the same schools from each vessel/platform, yielded little evidence that disproportionately more pregnant female common dolphins were biopsied from one platform versus the other. This result plus an analysis of pregnancy status relative to the duration of biopsy operations failed to uncover strong evidence of unaccounted sampling bias with respect to pregnancy state. In total, these results demonstrate the utility of blubber progesterone concentrations to assess pregnancy status in free-ranging cetaceans and they highlight potential factors associated with population-level variation in dolphin pregnancy rates

Contextual behavioural coaching: An evidence-based model for supporting behaviour change

As coaching psychology finds its feet, demands for evidence-based approaches are increasing both from inside and outside of the industry. There is an opportunity in the many evidence-based interventions in other areas of applied psychology that are of direct relevance to coaching psychology. However, there may too be risks associated with unprincipled eclecticism. Existing approaches that are gaining popularity in the coaching field such as Dialectic Behavioural Therapy and Mindfulness enjoy close affiliation with Contextual Behavioral Science (CBS). In this article, we provide a brief overview of CBS as a coherent philosophical, scientific, and practice framework for empirically supported coaching work. We review its evidence base, and its direct applicability to coaching by describing CBS’s most explicitly linked intervention – Acceptance and Commitment Therapy/Training (ACT). We highlight key strengths of ACT including: its great flexibility in regard of the kinds of client change it can support; the variety of materials and exercises available; and, the varied modes of delivery through which it has been shown to work. The article lays out guiding principles and provides a brief illustrative case study of Contextual Behavioural Coaching

Properties of magnetohydrodynamic normal modes in the Earth’s magnetosphere

Funding: MDH was supported by NASA 80NSSC19K0127, 80NSSC19K0907, 80NSSC21K1683, 80NSSC21K1677, 80NSSC23K0903, and NSF AGS-2307204. KT was supported by NASA 80NSSC19K0259 and 80NSSC21K0453. MOA was supported by a UKRI (STFC / EPSRC) Stephen Hawking Fellowship EP/T01735X/1. The research of A.W. was funded in part by Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) grant ST/W001195/1 (UK). T.E. was funded in part by a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship ECF-2019-155 (UK). AA and XZ were supported by NASA 80NSSC21K0729 and 80NSSC23K0108. We acknowledge support from ISSI Bern through ISSI International Team projects 483 “The Identification And Classification Of 3D Alfven Resonances” and 546 “Magnetohydrodynamic Surface Waves at Earth’s Magnetosphere (and Beyond).” We acknowledge NASA contract NAS5-02099.The Earth's magnetosphere supports a variety of Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) normal modes with Ultra Low Frequencies (ULF) including standing Alfvén waves and cavity/waveguide modes. Their amplitudes and frequencies depend in part on the properties of the magnetosphere (size of cavity, wave speed distribution). In this work, we use ∼13 years of Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms satellite magnetic field observations, combined with linearized MHD numerical simulations, to examine the properties of MHD normal modes in the region L > 5 and for frequencies 5 depend on both the magnetopause location and the location of peaks in the radial Alfvén speed profile. Finally, we discuss how these results might be used to better model radiation belt electron dynamics related to ULF waves.PostprintPeer reviewe