Applied Industrial Augmented Reality

The goal of our project was to create an application that demonstrates the usefulness of augmented reality within an industrial context. In order to align our project goals with those of our sponsor, Newport News Shipbuilding, we created an augmented reality application to supplement a chainsaw’s instruction manual. Using an instruction manual for a Stihl MS361 chainsaw, we adapted the material into a digital context. In the application, we included step-by-step instructions for starting the chainsaw and changing the chain. In addition, we included an augmented part identification mode, where the user can identify parts of the chainsaw by touching them on the screen. Through the use of a mobile device’s camera and fiducial markers, the user is able to see the functionality of the instruction manual superimposed directly over the chainsaw. We created the application using Unity, a cross-platform game engine. We used a set of Unity plugins from Vuforia, an Augmented Reality Software Development Kit (SDK) for mobile devices. Vuforia provided us the tools for image target identification and tracking, allowing us to easily show augmented content on a digital device. Our application aims to maximize safe and proper chainsaw use, demonstrates the potential of augmented reality for future industrial applications and exemplifies a paperless and eco-friendly guide.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1180/thumbnail.jp

Determining the clog state of constructed wetlands using an embeddable Earth's Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance probe

The recent rise in interest of green technologies has led to significant adoption of the constructed wetland as a waste water treatment technique. This increased popularity has only been mired by the decline in operational lifetime of wetland units, leading to the need for more regular, time consuming, and expensive rejuvenation techniques to be performed than initially anticipated. To extend operational lifetimes and increase efficiency of wetland units, it is crucial to have an accurate method to determine the internal state of the wetland system. The most important parameter to measure within the reed bed is the clog state of the system, which is representative of the overall system health. In previous work, magnetic resonance (MR) measurements, parameters of T1 and T2eff, have been demonstrated as extremely powerful tools to determine the internal clog state of a wetland [1, 2]. Measurements have been performed in a laboratory setting, using low field permanent magnet arrangements. This work presents an Earth's Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (EFNMR) probe suitable for in situ measurements within constructed wetlands. We show T2eff and T1 measurements using the EFNMR probe. T1 values are shown to be sensitive to the change in the clog state with 1498 ms for the thickly clogged sample and 2728 ms for the thinly clogged sample. T2eff values are shown to be marginally more sensitive to clog state with 630 ms for a thickly clogged sample and 1212 ms for the thinly clogged sample. This gives distinguishable variation within both parameters suggesting that this probe is suitable for embedding into an operational constructed wetland. This work was conducted as part of an EU FP7 project to construct an Automated Reed Bed Installation, "ARBI"

Decreasing Falls Through Music Therapy in a Long-Term Care Facility

Falls are a continuous problem in long-term care facilities. Elderly people are at an increased risk of falling because of age related deterioration, changes in mental health status, neurological problems, polypharmacy, changes in vision and hearing, musculoskeletal problems or environmental factors. Although many facilities advocate for fall prevention, falls are still the number one cause of accidental death in older people. Over the past several months, a long-term care facility has noticed that a majority of falls happen on the dementia unit around the time of shift change (1900-2100). The goal of this quality improvement project was to decrease the number of falls on the dementia unit at this specific health care facility by decreasing agitation and restlessness before bedtime through relaxing music. A literature review has shown that increases in agitation among residents has been linked to increased falls and that music therapy has been shown to decrease agitation. The aim of this study is to determine if music therapy played from 1900-2100 will decrease the agitation and restlessness of the dementia residents which will then decrease the number of falls on the unit. To measure the effect of music therapy, the number of falls before and after implementation will be compared over a three week period

Understanding the design rules for a nonintrusive, textile, heart rate monitoring system

Background and Objectives: Nonintrusive heart rate (HR) monitoring can be a useful tool for health monitoring. By creating capacitively coupled textile electrodes, a comfortable monitoring system can be integrated into seating or bedding that can monitor HR through clothing. This work empirically studied two factors for a system of this type: the electrode size and the material worn by the subject. Materials and Methods: HR measurements were taken using six different sizes of the rectangular textile electrode with four subjects and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the signals were analyzed. A further set of experiments were conducted with a single subject and a fixed electrode size where different materials were worn. Results: Electrode size was seen to have a statistically insignificant effect on the collected signal quality. The SNR was also largely unaffected by the worn material type. Conclusion: This study provided empirical data relating to two important factors for nonintrusive, textile, and HR monitoring systems. This data will be helpful for designing a seat-based HR monitoring system or to understand the operational limitations of a system of this type

Barriers to recruiting primary care practices for implementation research during COVID-19: A qualitative study of practice coaches from the Stop Unhealthy (STUN) Alcohol Use Now trial

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought widespread change to health care practice and research. With heightened stress in the general population, increased unhealthy alcohol use, and added pressures on primary care practices, comes the need to better understand how we can continue practice-based research and address public health priorities amid the ongoing pandemic. The current study considers barriers and facilitators to conducting such research, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, within the context of recruiting practices for the STop UNhealthy (STUN) Alcohol Use Now trial. The STUN trial uses practice facilitation to implement screening and interventions for unhealthy alcohol use in primary care practices across the state of North Carolina. Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 15 practice coaches to discuss their recruitment experiences before and after recruitment was paused due to the pandemic. An inductive thematic analysis was used to identify themes and subthemes. Results: Pandemic-related barriers, including challenges in staffing, finances, and new COVID-19-related workflows, were most prominent. Competing priorities, such as quality improvement measures, North Carolina's implementation of Medicaid managed care, and organizational structures hampered recruitment efforts. Coaches also described barriers specific to the project and to the topic of alcohol. Several facilitators were identified, including the rising importance of behavioral health due to the pandemic, as well as existing relationships between practice coaches and practices. Conclusions: Difficulty managing competing priorities and obstacles within existing practice infrastructure inhibit the ability to participate in practice-based research and implementation of evidence-based practices. Lessons learned from this trial may inform strategies to recruit practices into research and to gain buy-in from practices in adopting evidence-based practices more generally. Plain Language Summary What is known: Unhealthy alcohol use is a significant public health issue, which has been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Screening and brief intervention for unhealthy alcohol use is an evidence-based practice shown to help reduce drinking-related behaviors, yet it remains rare in practice. What this study adds: Using a qualitative approach, we identify barriers and facilitators to recruiting primary care practices into a funded trial that uses practice facilitation to address unhealthy alcohol use. We identify general insights as well as those specific to the COVID-19 pandemic. Barriers are primarily related to competing priorities, incentives, and lack of infrastructure. Facilitators are related to framing of the project and the anticipated level and type of resources needed to address unhealthy alcohol use especially as the pandemic wanes. Implications: Our findings provide information on barriers and facilitators to recruiting primary care practices for behavioral health projects and to implementing these activities. Using our findings, we provide a discussion of suggestions for conducting these types of projects in the future which may be of interest to researchers, practice managers, and providers

Efficacy of an ankle orthosis with a subtalar locking system in restricting ankle kinetics and kinematics in lateral cutting

Introduction The ankle joint is the most injured joint during sports participation [1]. Ankle orthoses have been shown to be effective in reducing ankle inversion injuries and are often prescribed for rehabilitation and prevention of lateral ankle sprains. Efficacy of ankle orthoses is often assessed by comparing reduction of passive inversion ROM as well as ankle kinematics between braced and unbraced movements [2,3]. However, joint kinetic responses in lateral cutting were rarely examined. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a new semi-rigid ankle orthosis with a subtalar joint locking mechanism in restricting ankle kinetics and kinematics during a lateral cutting movement

Temperature dependence of magnetic resonance probes for use as embedded sensors in constructed wetlands

Constructed wetlands are now accepted as an environmentally friendly means of wastewater treatment however, their effectiveness can be limited by excessive clogging of the pores within the gravel matrix, making this an important parameter to monitor. It has previously been shown that the clog state can be characterised using magnetic resonance (MR) relaxation parameters with permanent magnet based sensors. One challenge with taking MR measurements over a time scale on the order of years is that seasonal temperature fluctuations will alter both the way that the sensor operates as well as the relaxation times recorded. Without an understanding of how the sensor will behave under different temperature conditions, meaningful information about the clog state cannot be successfully extracted from a wetland. This work reports the effect of temperature on a permanent magnet based MR sensor to determine if the received signal intensity is significantly compromised as a result of large temperature changes, and whether meaningful relaxation data can be extracted over the temperature range of interest. To do this, the central magnetic field of the sensor was monitored as a function of temperature, showing an expected linear relationship. Signal intensity was measured over a range of temperatures (5 °C to 44 °C) for which deterioration at high and low temperatures compared to room temperature was observed. The sensor was still operable at the extremes of this range and the reason for the signal loss has been studied and explained. Spin-lattice relaxation time measurements using the sensor at different temperatures have also been taken on a water sample and seem to agree with literature values. Further to this, measurements have been taken in an operational wetland over the course of 203 days and have shown a linear dependence with temperature as would be expected. This work concluded that the sensor can perform the task of measuring the spin-lattice relaxation time over the required temperature range making it suitable for long-term application in constructed wetlands

Mitochondrial uncoupling links lipid catabolism to Akt inhibition and resistance to tumorigenesis

To support growth, tumour cells reprogramme their metabolism to simultaneously upregulate macromolecular biosynthesis while maintaining energy production. Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) oppose this phenotype by inducing futile mitochondrial respiration that is uncoupled from ATP synthesis, resulting in nutrient wasting. Here using a UCP3 transgene targeted to the basal epidermis, we show that forced mitochondrial uncoupling inhibits skin carcinogenesis by blocking Akt activation. Similarly, Akt activation is markedly inhibited in UCP3 overexpressing primary human keratinocytes. Mechanistic studies reveal that uncoupling increases fatty acid oxidation and membrane phospholipid catabolism, and impairs recruitment of Akt to the plasma membrane. Overexpression of Akt overcomes metabolic regulation by UCP3, rescuing carcinogenesis. These findings demonstrate that mitochondrial uncoupling is an effective strategy to limit proliferation and tumorigenesis through inhibition of Akt, and illuminate a novel mechanism of crosstalk between mitochondrial metabolism and growth signalling

Evidence of Dopaminergic Processing of Executive Inhibition

Inhibition of unwanted response is an important function of the executive system. Since the inhibitory system is impaired in patients with dysregulated dopamine system, we examined dopamine neurotransmission in the human brain during processing of a task of executive inhibition. The experiment used a recently developed dynamic molecular imaging technique to detect and map dopamine released during performance of a modified Eriksen's flanker task. In this study, young healthy volunteers received an intravenous injection of a dopamine receptor ligand (11C-raclopride) after they were positioned in the PET camera. After the injection, volunteers performed the flanker task under Congruent and Incongruent conditions in a single scan session. They were required to inhibit competing options to select an appropriate response in the Incongruent but not in the Congruent condition. The PET data were dynamically acquired during the experiment and analyzed using two variants of the simplified reference region model. The analysis included estimation of a number of receptor kinetic parameters before and after initiation of the Incongruent condition. We found increase in the rate of ligand displacement (from receptor sites) and decrease in the ligand binding potential in the Incongruent condition, suggesting dopamine release during task performance. These changes were observed in small areas of the putamen and caudate bilaterally but were most significant on the dorsal aspect of the body of left caudate. The results provide evidence of dopaminergic processing of executive inhibition and demonstrate that neurochemical changes associated with cognitive processing can be detected and mapped in a single scan session using dynamic molecular imaging