Dietary Effects on Behavior and Performance for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

With autism spectrum disorder (ASD) becoming more prevalent, the more we are understanding the manifestations correlated with this disorder; one of which being the dietary issues that are common with those with ASD. This is an important topic to discuss with those with ASD, parents and family members of someone with ASD, and medical providers. To further investigate this topic, this paper will highlight background information about what ASD is, what gastrointestinal issues those with ASD typically have, dietary approaches that are commonly used, and the role that nutrition and diet plays for occupational therapists helping to treat those with ASD.B.A. (Bachelor of Arts

Novel Concepts to Integrate Dense and Sparse Infill Regions in Material Extrusion AM Parts

Modern toolpath generation softwares, or “slicers," allow for multiple regions within a Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing produced part to be assigned different processing parameters, including infill density. Contemporary slicers develop these different infill regions independently, leading to discontinuities in the toolpaths at the region's boundaries. This work investigates the effect these discontinuities have on part strength, and tests a variety of novel approaches to connect infill regions in a continuous manner to improve part properties. Mechanical properties of parts built by toolpaths generated using Ultimaker Cura and Slic3r are compared to those of parts built using the novel build strategies presented in this work. The continuous and sequential novel build strategies presented in this work show statistically significant mechanical property increases.Mechanical Engineerin

G-WING: A NOVEL SOFTWARE TOOL FOR TOOLPATH-CENTRIC DESIGN OF WINGS FOR MATERIAL EXTRUSION

A novel software tool for the design of small aircraft wings to be fabricated with material extrusion is presented where the key requirement of the tool is to minimize the time from identified need to realized capability. The tool, named G-Wing, uses rapid design algorithms based on lifting line theory to determine the outer-mold line of the wing based on desired aerodynamic behavior. The resulting wing shape and flight-load distribution are given to a structural design algorithm to determine the internal structure of the wing based on both expected flight loads and manufacturing constraints. Finally, manufacturing instructions in the form of G-Code are created directly from the wing shape and internal structure. This process removes explicit geometric modeling and slicing from the critical design path and directly converts airfoil coordinates to perimeter G-Code points, minimizing the introduction of geometric error. This process has been used to design and fabricate multiple small aircraft wings that have successfully flown. G-Code for an example wing section is shown to be lighter and require less build time compared to G-Code generated by a standard CAD-slicing toolchain.Mechanical Engineerin

EFFECTIVENESS OF EX-SITU HEAT TREATMENT OF L-PBF AM 17-4PH STAINLESS STEEL SPECIMENS INTENTIONALLY EXPOSED TO DIFFERENT AS-BUILT THERMAL HISTORIES

The presented research demonstrates the effectiveness of H900 heat treatment in eliminating microstructural and mechanical property differences between additively manufactured 17-4PH stainless steel samples of varying thermal histories. For this effort, 17-4PH stainless steel was manufactured using laser-based powder bed fusion on an EOS M280 machine in two geometries: ASTM Standard E8 subsize rectangular tensile specimen geometry with thicknesses of 2mm and 6mm. Thermal histories were manipulated by adding secondary laser passes on each layer at varying levels of reduced power. All samples were heat treated after the build following H900 procedures. Mechanical performance was evaluated with uniaxial quasi-static tensile testing and Vickers microhardness measurements. Metallography was examined qualitatively with optical and electron microscopy as well as quantitatively through electron backscatter diffraction. No statistically significant mechanical property or microstructural differences were discovered, suggesting a successful ex-situ heat treatment.Mechanical Engineerin

Improving the Mechanical Response of the IWP Exo-skeletal Lattice Through Shape Optimization

Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces have been identified as good candidates for the generation of lattice structures produced with additive manufacturing. These TPMS-based lattice structures avoid sharp features that are characteristic of strut-based lattice structures because of their constant zero mean curvature. Although studies have explored part-scale optimization using TPMS-based lattice structures, they have only varied the volume fraction by changing the level set in the approximate surface equations. By defining new parameterizations in the approximate surface equation, we can redistribute volume within the lattice structure at any volume fraction. In this paper, we introduce an approach for optimization of this new parameterization of TPMS equations using the Borg multi-objective evolutionary algorithm. We demonstrate this framework on the IWP exo-skeletal lattice under uniaxial compression. A relationship between the new parameters and the level set is derived for designs on the Pareto frontier of the optimized IWP TPxS. The performance of the Pareto optimal designs and the efficacy of the optimization approach are shown by comparing to the standard IWP lattice and four other lattices that share the same topology. The optimized designs are implemented and shared in custom nTopology blocks.Mechanical Engineerin

Ritorno allo sport dopo lesione del legamento collaterale mediale in uno sciatore agonista: case report

Introduzione: la lesione del legamento collaterale mediale è la più frequente lesione legamentosa del ginocchio. È causata da uno stress in valgo e rotazione tibiale esterna ed è uno degli infortuni che si verificano con maggior frequenza nello sci alpino. In questo case report, si descrive un trattamento conservativo suddiviso in 5 fasi. Il Test isocinetico e il Movement Analysis Test vengono proposti come misure di outcome e come criterio per il return to sport in sicurezza. Presentazione del caso: un ragazzo con lesione di 2° grado del LCM subita durante una gara sciistica ha svolto 5 sedute settimanali della durata di circa tre ore per 8 settimane. La suddivisione in 5 fasi comprende: fase 1 - controllo dolore e flogosi, 2 - recupero articolarità, 3 - recupero forza e resistenza, 4 - recupero coordinazione, equilibrio e prevenzione del re-infortunio, 5 - recupero delle gestualità sport-specifica. Al termine della fase 3 è stato eseguito il Test isocinetico per verificare lo stato della forza dell’arto inferiore. Nella 4° fase è stato affrontato un training neuromotorio allo scopo di ridurre i fattori di rischio biomeccanici. Il test MAT ha valutato la qualità del movimento ed è stato eseguito all’inizio e al termine della fase 4. Entrambi i test sono stati ripetuti dopo 6 mesi per verificare la ritenzione a lungo termine. Inoltre, sono state somministrate scale per la valutazione della funzionalità del ginocchio e della kinesiofobia. Conclusioni: l’intervento riabilitativo proposto si è dimostrato valido. Il Test isocinetico ha mostrato il recupero della forza massima e della resistenza dell’arto infortunato. Il MAT ha invece accertato i miglioramenti nella qualità del movimento. Tali test funzionali si sono rivelati strumenti valutativi idonei. Il paziente è tornato alla pratica sportiva in sicurezza e non ha subito infortuni al ginocchio nei mesi seguenti. Il follow-up eseguito a distanza di 6 mesi ha certificato l’efficacia dell’intervento a lungo termine

The role of the mitochondrial fission proteins Drp1 and Fis1 in the myeloid lineage

reservedMitochondria have recently been found to transcend their traditional role as ‘cellular powerhouses’ to emerge as central hubs for cellular metabolism and signaling. Indeed, mitochondria are involved in several cellular processes, including autophagy, apoptosis, cell proliferation and differentiation, and immune response regulation. Moreover, mitochondria are remarkably dynamic organelles as their morphology is constantly reshaped in perpetual cycles of fusion and fission, comprehensively referred to as ‘mitochondrial dynamics’. Mitochondrial fission is primarily enacted by dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1), a cytosolic large GTPase that is actively recruited to the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) upon fission. In mammals, Drp1 recruitment relies on four binding partners located on the OMM: mitochondrial fission factor (Mff), mitochondrial dynamics proteins of 49 kDa and 51 kDa (MiD49 and MiD51), and mitochondrial fission 1 protein (Fis1). As opposed to Drp1, which has been extensively characterized as a master regulator of mitochondrial fission and implicated in several human pathologies, the role of Fis1 in mammalian mitochondrial fission and pathophysiology has remained controversial, with studies being limited to in vitro models and only recent evidence positioning Fis1 as a key factor in mitophagy, i.e. the process of selective degradation of mitochondria by autophagy. Recently, Fis1 has been implicated in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a clonal malignancy of the myeloid lineage. Specifically, Fis1 appears to contribute to disease pathogenesis and progression by sustaining the function and the stem-like properties of leukemia stem cells (LSCs), a tumor cell subpopulation that drives the disease by replenishing the proliferating tumor cells (myeloblasts). Indeed, Fis1 is overexpressed in LSCs and seems to support their function through mitophagy. Therefore, we set out to investigate the physiological relevance of mitochondrial fission in the myeloid lineage by resorting to bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) from myeloid-specific Drp1 and Fis1 conditional knock-out mice, with the aim to unravel new molecular mechanisms that may potentially underlie AML development.Mitochondria have recently been found to transcend their traditional role as ‘cellular powerhouses’ to emerge as central hubs for cellular metabolism and signaling. Indeed, mitochondria are involved in several cellular processes, including autophagy, apoptosis, cell proliferation and differentiation, and immune response regulation. Moreover, mitochondria are remarkably dynamic organelles as their morphology is constantly reshaped in perpetual cycles of fusion and fission, comprehensively referred to as ‘mitochondrial dynamics’. Mitochondrial fission is primarily enacted by dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1), a cytosolic large GTPase that is actively recruited to the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) upon fission. In mammals, Drp1 recruitment relies on four binding partners located on the OMM: mitochondrial fission factor (Mff), mitochondrial dynamics proteins of 49 kDa and 51 kDa (MiD49 and MiD51), and mitochondrial fission 1 protein (Fis1). As opposed to Drp1, which has been extensively characterized as a master regulator of mitochondrial fission and implicated in several human pathologies, the role of Fis1 in mammalian mitochondrial fission and pathophysiology has remained controversial, with studies being limited to in vitro models and only recent evidence positioning Fis1 as a key factor in mitophagy, i.e. the process of selective degradation of mitochondria by autophagy. Recently, Fis1 has been implicated in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a clonal malignancy of the myeloid lineage. Specifically, Fis1 appears to contribute to disease pathogenesis and progression by sustaining the function and the stem-like properties of leukemia stem cells (LSCs), a tumor cell subpopulation that drives the disease by replenishing the proliferating tumor cells (myeloblasts). Indeed, Fis1 is overexpressed in LSCs and seems to support their function through mitophagy. Therefore, we set out to investigate the physiological relevance of mitochondrial fission in the myeloid lineage by resorting to bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) from myeloid-specific Drp1 and Fis1 conditional knock-out mice, with the aim to unravel new molecular mechanisms that may potentially underlie AML development

Predicting Strength of Thermoplastic Polymer Parts Produced Using Additive Manufacturing

The weakest point in polymer parts produced by Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is the interface between adjacent layers and deposition toolpaths, or “roads”. We introduce a novel approach that uses the temperature history of these interfaces, polymer rheological data, and polymer welding theory to predict the mechanical strength of parts subjected to uniaxial tension. Interface temperature history data is collected in-situ using infrared imaging. Rheological data of the polycarbonate (PC) used to fabricate the parts in this study was determined experimentally. The prediction of strength of the interfaces was performed using polymer weld theory from the literature adapted to the PC feedstock used in this study. Understanding how the strength of the road and layer interfaces develop mechanical strength will lead to stronger FFF parts through intelligent toolpath optimization and temperature control.Mechanical Engineerin