Controlling flexible structures: A survey of methods

Most of the presently available control system design techniques applicable to flexible structure problems were developed to design controllers for rigid body systems. Although many of these design methods can be applied to flexible dynamics problems, recently developed techniques may be more suitable for flexible structure controller design. The purpose of this presentation is to examine briefly the peculiarities of the dynamics of flexible structures and to stimulate discussion about top level controller design approaches when designing controllers for flexible structures. Presented here is a suggestion of a set of categories of design methods for designing controllers for flexible structures as well as a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each category. No attempt has been made herein to select one category of design techniques as the best for flexible structure controller design. Instead, it is hoped that the structure suggested by these categories will facilitate further discussion on the merits of particular methods that will eventually point to those design techniques suitable for further development

A Pseudomonas fluorescens- based platform for robust vaccine manufacturing

Pfenex Expression Technology™ has been developed specifically as a protein production platform to enable rapid development of high quality protein therapeutics including novel vaccines and biosimilars. Pfenex represents a new paradigm of microbial strain development that overcomes today’s slow, iterative, error-prone process through use of a robotically-enabled, high-throughput parallel strain screening technology, delivering unprecedented speed and success in identifying protein production strains capable of producing large amounts of soluble, active product. Capitalizing on the efficiencies of our platform technology, we are able to effectively develop lower cost, higher quality vaccines including a novel rPA based anthrax vaccine

Improving Nurse-to-Nurse Handover Through Implementation of Standardized SBAR

In today’s health care environment, nurses are faced with caring for an increased number of patients with more complex issues. In caring for these complex patients, communication among nurses becomes an essential piece of patient care. Handover provides nurses the opportunity to share patient information to achieve positive patient outcomes. When poor patient outcomes became linked to poor communication during handover, recommendations for a standardized handover form emerged. Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendations (SBAR) is an example of a standardized handover form which provides structure to the handover process and decreases gaps in patient information. The aim of this descriptive study was to evaluate nurses’ perception of the handover process. To guide the study, Imogene King’s Goal Attainment Theory provided the framework. The concepts of the goal attainment theory offer a way to organize patient information to meet the needs of the triad of systems to ultimately improve patient care. The study involved the Handover Evaluation Scale (HES) survey which evaluated nurses’ perceptions pre- and post-SBAR implementation at a 143-bed hospital. Prior to SBAR implementation, education was provided to introduce SBAR to the registered nurses employed at the facility. Utilization of the SBAR form occurred over a four-week period. Post-SBAR implementation found a significant difference in the quality of information provided during handover while also decreasing documentation time and handover time. This study builds evidence that quality information is provided during handover with the use of a standardized form

Enhancing Undergraduate AI Courses through Machine Learning Projects

It is generally recognized that an undergraduate introductory Artificial Intelligence course is challenging to teach. This is, in part, due to the diverse and seemingly disconnected core topics that are typically covered. The paper presents work funded by the National Science Foundation to address this problem and to enhance the student learning experience in the course. Our work involves the development of an adaptable framework for the presentation of core AI topics through a unifying theme of machine learning. A suite of hands-on semester-long projects are developed, each involving the design and implementation of a learning system that enhances a commonly-deployed application. The projects use machine learning as a unifying theme to tie together the core AI topics. In this paper, we will first provide an overview of our model and the projects being developed and will then present in some detail our experiences with one of the projects – Web User Profiling which we have used in our AI class

The Effects of an ActiPed Pedometer Intervention Program on Body Composition and Aerobic Capacity of Youth in a School System in East Tennessee.

The purpose of this study is to determine if the ActiPed Pedometer Intervention Program would sustain or improve aerobic capacity or body composition scores over a 12-week period for students ages 8-12 in a school system in East Tennessee. Obesity is an epidemic in Tennessee and in the United States. In fact, Tennessee has the 5th highest obesity rates for youth in the United States. National and State Legislations with physical activity and wellness mandates are being passed at an alarming rate as the need to combat the obesity epidemic is astonishing. The responsibility to decrease the obesity rates in children is falling on schools systems, administrators, school nutrition personnel, and teachers. Therefore, the search for effective programs to fight the battle of the bulge in a school setting is becoming increasingly popular. This study focused on the ActiPed Pedometer Program and its effort to increase activity levels of students in a school setting. The local Young Men\u27s Christian Association (YMCA) composed and received a grant from Wellmont Health System to help Activate Bristol and get students moving. The YMCA partnered with the Bristol Tennessee City School System in the fight against inactivity and childhood diabetes implementing the ActiPed Pedometer Intervention Program in January of 2008. Secondary data were collected by the investigator which included pretest and posttest Fitness Tests measures for body composition and aerobic capacity scores for both a treatment and a control group to determine success of the program. There were 310 students in the treatment group and 295 students in the control group for the body composition analysis for students at a healthy weight. The body composition analysis for overweight students included 83 students in the treatment group and 82 students in the control group. The aerobic capacity analysis for students at a healthy weight included 371 students in the treatment group and 323 students in the control group. The aerobic capacity analysis for overweight students included 78 students in the treatment group and 79 students in the control group. Population numbers differed because of missing or incomplete data on students. Base level findings revealed mixed results. Because a successful score is dependent on age and gender, students\u27 scores were analyzed accordingly using Chi Square and Independent t tests. Statistically, the ActiPed Intervention Program did not appear to have a great impact on aerobic capacity scores or body mass index scores for students for the 12-week period. However, all groups had positive mean gains. A significant difference was found for 9-year-old girls in aerobic capacity gains between the control and treatment group. Eight-year-olds, 9-year-olds, and 10-year-olds tended to have more positive results and higher gains than 11 and 12-year-olds

Size optimization of dairy manure storage

The purpose of this study was to develop a method for determining the size of manure storage structure which would minimize the cost of operating a liquid manure and commercial fertilizer application system on any given dairy farm. An earthen manure storage structure of 193,646 gallons (6 months storage) was determined to be optimum for a synthetic 60 milking cow dairy farm. An earthen manure storage structure capable of storing manure for 8.5 months (500,000 gallons) was optimum for a synthetic 100 milking cow dairy farm, utilizing pasture. An earthen manure storage structure of 630,000 gallons (9 months storage) was shown to be optimum for a synthetic 100 milking cow dairy farm, utilizing a drylot. Manure storage structures, fabricated from metal or concrete staves, were inferior to structures fabricated from earth on a cost basis as long as manure was maintainable at a moisture content of less than 92 percent in the earthen structure. The optimum manure storage structure size depended upon a number of factors. The size of and distance to fields utilized for corn silage greatly influenced the optimum amount of manure storage. Increasing the price of commercial fertilizer by 50 percent increased the optimum amount of manure storage on a synthetic 60 milking cow dairy farm from 193,646 gallons to 320,000 gallons. Injecting manure, rather than surface applying it, normally reduced the optimum amount of manure storage and the cost of operating a liquid manure and commercial fertilizer application system. The cost of meeting the plant nutrient requirements of an acre of corn silage was reduced from $101.43 with surface application to$77.83 with manure injection. The linear programming model, utilized in the study, was tested for validity by varying the value assumed for key parameters. The analysis did not uncover any erratic or implausible results; however, model validity was shown to depend upon explicit knowledge of the moisture content of manure prior to land application and upon the nutrient composition of manure as it is produced. The model showed little sensitivity to the value assumed for the plant nutrient loss rate from field applied manure over a range from 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent per month. Varying the amount of manure input to the liquid manure system and varying the time required for the surface application of manure produced very small changes in the cost of operating the system and in the optimum manure storage structure size. A hand-held programmable calculator program was developed which is capable of determining the optimum manure storage structure size for any given dairy farm. The calculator program utilized a branch and bound type algorithm and produced results generally comparable to those obtained with the linear programming model

Regurgitation by the Face Fly, \u3cem\u3eMusca autumnalis\u3c/em\u3e DeGeer

Face flies normally began regurgitating within 10 minutes after feeding, and continued for periods of up to 240 minutes. Almost 100 percent of flies fed a concentrated (4.8%) solution of trypticase-soy broth were observed regurgitating. The deposition of droplets onto a substrate was almost never observed, indicating that the regurgitation is not analogous to vomiting. The droplet exuded contained from five to ten percent of the food consumed, with the crop the source of the fluid. The crop is also the most likely destination of the regurgitated materiel. The purpose of this phenomenon is still not clear. However, the fluid in the regurgitation droplet was almost constantly circulating, possibly increasing the concentration of the liquid through the evaporation of excess water. This theory is supported by results from tests on the osmolality of the regurgitated droplets. The osmolality of the regurgitated droplets was more than two times greater than that of the ingested food, indicating some change had taken place. The effect of various factors on regurgitation was also determined. The concentration and amount and type of food all significantly affected regurgitation. Solid foods did not result in regurgitation, and large amounts and high concentrations of liquids increased the frequency and duration of the process. Low relative humidity levels significantly increased the occurrence of regurgitation. Significant differences were found when interactions between these factors were examined. Since regurgitation droplets were rarely deposited onto a substrate, various factors were examined which would result in this deposition. Increasing the number of flies within a given area increased the number of drops deposited, however, the actual number of drops deposited per fly did not increase. More important was the effect of adding unfed flies to flies already regurgitating. Flies which were regurgitating normally remained motionless, with no interactions occurring between regurgitation flies. Unfed flies actively searched for a meal, and during the search often disturbed regurgitating flies. This resulted in the deposition of droplets onto the substrate. The presence of a cow also increased this deposition of droplets. This was due to activity of the cow, and may also have been a result of the microclimate produced by the cow. These results prove that face flies frequently regurgitate and may in fact be ideal vectors of pathogens