Evaluation of Mechanical Stability for a Patent Ductus Arteriosus Device

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a condition that occurs when the ductus arteriosus vessel, a vessel connecting the aorta to the main pulmonary artery, does not close after birth, causing irregularities in blood flow. A nitinol cage device has been created to address this pathology by straddling this opening and occluding it with a polymeric foam placed in the center of the device. As the pulsating high flow environment may contribute to unwanted device migration [1], stability testing for extraction is required to ensure the device has appropriate mechanical strength to withstand physiological conditions. Dislocation force testing was performed to evaluate device stability using an Instron 5965 test-frame (Instron, Norwood, MA) on bare foams (small and large pores) and hydrogel-clotted foams, i.e. foams covered in a gel that simulates conditions once a clot has formed within the prototype PDA device. The dislocation force provides the maximum force required to dislodge the prototype PDA device once positioned inside the PDA immediately after deployment (bare foam) and once clotted (hydrogel foam) to determine changes in stability as compared with the current clinical gold standard, the Amplatz Canine Ductal Occluder

The Fairness in Musical Licensing Act: The Tavern Bill Casts a Shadow

The Fairness in Musical Licensing Act, now pending before Congress, would allow restaurants owners and other businesses to play copyrighted music in their place of business without paying royalties or licensing fees to the copyright owner. This Article discusses the Fairness Act in the context of the 1976 Copyright Act and analyzes the effect of the Fairness Act on the future of the music industry if it passes into law. This Article also offers other possible solutions to the underlying conflicts that the Fairness Act seeks to remedy. The author concludes that the Fairness Act unreasonably exempts a large group of copyright users from paying licensing fees, and thus undermines the protection of copyrighted works the 1976 Act was designed to protect

EXPANDING HUMAN RIGHTS AND CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES: SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING POLICY

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, almost 300,000 hate crimes occurred in 2012 in the United States. An astonishing 90% of these crimes were violent. Even more shocking are the 60% of hate crimes that are not reported to law enforcement (Wilson, 2014). In response to these dismal reporting statistics, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has adopted a policy (the “Policy”) and Congress introduced the “See Something, Say Something Act” (the “Act”), an amendment to the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The Policy and the Actencourage ordinary citizens to suspect and report someone based on perceived demeanor and/or overall appearance without the usual requirement of articulable suspicion (Terry, 1968). Due to the discriminatory nature of both the Policy and the Act, the proposed measures would be subject to strict scrutiny if challenged in court. Challenges to the Act would most likely revolve around civil rights violations. More importantly, basic human rights as outlined in the articles of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (“UDHR”) are at issue.In practice, encouraging U.S. citizens to report each other without articulable suspicion opens the door for bias, prejudice, and intolerance. Even without these limitations, the Act may not achieve its ultimate goal of increasing reporting as only four percent of the 40% of hate crimes reported actually result in an arrest (Wilson, 2014). Increasing reporting of hate crimes, at best, may improve arrest rates into double digits

Some new results concerning the vacuum in Dirac Hole Theory

In Dirac's hole theory the vacuum state is generally believed to be the state of minimum energy. It will be shown that this is not, in fact, the case and that there must exist states in hole theory with less energy than the vacuum state. It will be shown that energy can be extracted from the hole theory vacuum state through the application of an electric field.Comment: Accepted by Physica Scripta, 19 page

EXPANDING HUMAN RIGHTS AND CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES: SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING POLICY

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, almost 300,000 hate crimes occurred in 2012 in the United States. An astonishing 90% of these crimes were violent. Even more shocking are the 60% of hate crimes that are not reported to law enforcement (Wilson, 2014). In response to these dismal reporting statistics, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has adopted a policy (the “Policy”) and Congress introduced the “See Something, Say Something Act” (the “Act”), an amendment to the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The Policy and the Actencourage ordinary citizens to suspect and report someone based on perceived demeanor and/or overall appearance without the usual requirement of articulable suspicion (Terry, 1968). Due to the discriminatory nature of both the Policy and the Act, the proposed measures would be subject to strict scrutiny if challenged in court. Challenges to the Act would most likely revolve around civil rights violations. More importantly, basic human rights as outlined in the articles of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (“UDHR”) are at issue.In practice, encouraging U.S. citizens to report each other without articulable suspicion opens the door for bias, prejudice, and intolerance. Even without these limitations, the Act may not achieve its ultimate goal of increasing reporting as only four percent of the 40% of hate crimes reported actually result in an arrest (Wilson, 2014). Increasing reporting of hate crimes, at best, may improve arrest rates into double digits

Effect of Irradiation On Nissl Granules In Rat Spinal Cord Neurons - A Pilot Study

Literature concerning the structure and function of Nissl granules and the effect of irradiation on the central nervous system is reviewed. Four groups of rats were irradiated in the lower thoracic spinal region, using doses of 600 r, 900 r, 1200 r, and 4200 r respectively. Higher doses of the irradiation caused depletion of the Nissl granules and other effects on the nerve cells. Increasing chromatolysis was found with increasing doses of irradiation. These findings warrant further study

Modeling and Evaluation of Received Signal Strength Using Reconfigurable Antennas in Complex Urban Environments

Today wireless communication has become paramount to everyday life. The strength of these signals can be diminished over long distances, which can increase in highly urban environments where more obstacles will hinder the signal’s ability to propagate in a straight path [1]. The two types of antennas used today include fixed and reconfigurable antennas. Fixed antennas remain within a set boundary between one fixed location and another. With a reconfigurable antenna the receiving and transmitting antenna location may change dynamically, requiring the antenna be capable of adjusting itself to maximize performance [2]. This study will determine how living in an urban environment with complex obstacles will affect the signal path and strength of both fixed and reconfigurable antennas. To evaluate the effects of an urban environment the engineering quadrant and Academic Plaza of the Texas A&M campus will be simulated in a simplified CAD drawing using Wireless InSite (Remcom). The path of an autonomous vehicle through these areas will then be simulated to gather antenna strength ‘measurements’ for both fixed and reconfigurable antennas. The signal propagation can be mapped in the simulated campus and the measurements taken will be used to analyze how this path affects the signal strength with varying frequencies and paths

Gemini-South + FLAMINGOS Demonstration Science: Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of the z=5.77 Quasar SDSS J083643.85+005453.3

We report an infrared 1-1.8 micron (J+H-bands), low-resolution (R=450) spectrogram of the highest-redshift radio-loud quasar currently known, SDSS J083643.85+005453.3, obtained during the spectroscopic commissioning run of the FLAMINGOS multi-object, near-infrared spectrograph at the 8m Gemini-South Observatory. These data show broad emission from both CIV 1549 and CIII] 1909, with strengths comparable to lower-redshift quasar composite spectra. The implication is that there is substantial enrichment of the quasar environment, even at times less than a billion years after the Big Bang. The redshift derived from these features is z = 5.774 +/- 0.003, more accurate and slightly lower than the z = 5.82 reported in the discovery paper based on the partially-absorbed Lyman-alpha emission line. The infrared continuum is significantly redder than lower-redshift quasar composites. Fitting the spectrum from 1.0 to 1.7 microns with a power law f(nu) ~ nu^(-alpha), the derived power law index is alpha = 1.55 compared to the average continuum spectral index = 0.44 derived from the first SDSS composite quasar. Assuming an SMC-like extinction curve, we infer a color excess of E(B-V) = 0.09 +/- 0.01 at the quasar redshift. Only approximately 6% of quasars in the optically-selected Sloan Digital Sky Survey show comparable levels of dust reddening.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure; to appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letter