Track My Hoist

Construction sites all over the world rely on hoist lifts for transporting material and workers at the job site. Despite being such an integral part of construction projects, there is currently no tool to track the use of this critical and highly necessary piece of equipment at the construction site. The purpose of this project is to design a systemthat would enable the managers and employees of construction companies to efficiently track and manage the hoist lifts at their sites. Efficient tracking and management of the lifts would result in savings of cost, time, and energy for the construction companies. Such improvements would also help boost worker morale, which would consequently boost productivity. Over the course of this project the team has designed an interactive yet intuitive software application that helps effectively track and manage hoist lifts on construction sites

Resource centre at the South African museum

No Abstract

Restoring Energy Deficits in Traumatic Brain Injuries: A Key to Effective Treatment

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs when external forces cause the brain to move rapidly within the skull, resulting in an alteration of brain function. Following the initial injury, a cascade of cellular events known as the secondary injury reduces cerebral energy production and exacerbates pathological consequences. Conditions that close the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) provide effective treatment for TBI by restoring ionic balance and coupling of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation to ATP production. mPTP closure can be achieved during ketosis when the body metabolizes ketone bodies over glucose as a primary fuel source. Administration of exogenous ketones achieves therapeutic levels of ketosis more quickly and more effectively than fasting or ketogenic diets. No studies to date have evaluated the effectiveness of exogenous ketones in treating TBI in humans. This project will evaluate current scientific literature regarding the role of ketones in TBIs and identify potential future approaches to using ketones as a therapy for TBI.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/fsrs2019/1001/thumbnail.jp

Random Raman Lasing

The propagation of light in turbid media is something that is experienced by everyone, everywhere, everyday. These dynamics play an essential role in everything from the color of a material, to the multitude of colors present during a sunset. Considering the central role of these dynamics, there are still a great deal of outstanding questions that remain to be answered. Nonlinear light propagation in turbid media is one such question, with far ranging applications in biomedical imaging where it has potential to elucidate many biological processes label-free and in vivo. Conventional wisdom suggests that nonlinear effects, such as stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), should not play a significant role in the propagation of light through random media. The diffusive nature of elastic scattering restricts the interaction distance by limiting the depth at which high intensities can be delivered, thus reducing the efficiency of nonlinear optical effects. However, light scattering can dramatically increase the interaction length by multiply scattering the photons in a random walk type motion, making the overall outcome somewhat hard to predict. Random Raman lasing uses SRS as the primary gain mechanism for a lasing process that receives feedback through multiple elastic scattering in the material. This is a fundamentally new optical system that pushes the boundaries of the understanding of light propagation in turbid media. The discovery of this lasing system will be presented along with several fundamental measurements of the process, some of which contrast with classical light transport theory and point towards exciting new physics. Furthermore, random Raman lasing opens the door to many exciting applications ranging from remote chemical identification at unprecedented range, in a single laser pulse, to a revolutionary new light source for imaging microscopy 10,000 times brighter than conventional sources while maintaining the low spatial coherence required for speckle-free imaging

Description of a New Blood-fluke, \u3ci\u3eCruoricola lates\u3c/i\u3e n. g., n. sp. (Digenea: Sanguinicolidae), from Sea-bass \u3ci\u3eLates calcarifer\u3c/i\u3e (Bloch, 1790) (Centropomidae)

A new blood-fluke, Cruoricola lates n. g., n. sp., is described from sea-bass Lates calcarifer cultured in Malaysia. It is also found in Thailand and Australia. All fish examined over 15 cm in length were infected in the type-locality. This sanguinicolid is differentiated from other genera by the spherical seminal vesicle; the large, single testis extending beyond the intestinal caeca; the medial, bi-lobed ovary; and the single column of submarginal, laterally directed, evenly spaced spines. It has separate genital pores which are close together. Adults are found predominantly in the mesenteric venules of the venous circulation. Juveniles are commonest in the caudal kidney

The meaning of computers to a group of men who are homeless.

The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the experience with computers and the meaning of computers to a group of homeless men living in a long-term shelter. This descriptive exploratory study used semistructured interviews with seven men who had been given access to computers and had participated in individually tailored occupation based interventions through a Work Readiness Program. Three themes emerged from analyzing the interviews: access to computers, computers as a bridge to life-skill development, and changed self-perceptions as a result of connecting to technology. Because they lacked computer knowledge and feared failure, the majority of study participants had not sought out computers available through public access. The need for access to computers, the potential use of computers as a medium for intervention, and the meaning of computers to these men who represent the digital divide are described in this study

The masses, radii and luminosities of the components of U Geminorum

We present a phase-resolved spectroscopic study of the secondary star in the cataclysmic variable U Gem. We use our data to measure the radial velocity semi-amplitude, systemic velocity and rotational velocity of the secondary star. Combining this with literature data allows us to determine masses and radii for both the secondary star and white dwarf which are independent of any assumptions about their structure. We use these to compare their properties with those of field stars and find that both components follow field mass-radius relationships. The secondary star has the mass, radius, luminosity and photometric temperature of an M2 star, but a spectroscopic temperature of M4. The latter may well be due to a high metallicity. There is a troubling inconsistency between the radius of the white dwarf inferred from its gravitational redshift and inclination and that inferred from its temperature, flux, and astrometric distance. We find that there are two fundamental limits to the accuracy of the parameters we can derive. First the radial velocity curve of the secondary star deviates from a sinusoid, in part because of its asphericity (which can be modelled) and in part because the line flux is not evenly distributed over its surface. Second we cannot be certain which spectral type is the best match for the lines of the secondary star, and the derived rotational velocity is a function of the spectral type of the template star used.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for MNRA

Non-destructive characterization of thin layer resonant tunnelling diodes

We present an advanced nondestructive characterization scheme for high current density AlAs/InGaAs resonant tunneling diodes pseudomorphically grown on InP substrates. We show how low-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy (LT-PL) and high-resolution X-ray diffractometry (HR-XRD) are complementary techniques to increase the confidence of the characterized structure. The lattice-matched InGaAs is characterized and found to be of high quality. We discuss the inclusion of an undoped “copy” well (C-well) in terms of enhancements to HR-XRD and LT-PL characterization and quantify the improved precision in determining the structure. As a consequence of this enhanced precision in the determination of physical structure, the AlAs barriers and quantum well (QW) system are found to contain nonideal material interfaces. Their roughness is characterized in terms of the full width to half-maximum of the split LT-PL emission peaks, revealing a ±1 atomic sheet variance to the QW width. We show how barrier asymmetry can be detected through fitting of both optical spectra and HR-XRD rocking curves

Inflammation causes mood changes through alterations in subgenual cingulate activity and mesolimbic connectivity

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory cytokines are implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. In rodents, systemically administered inflammatory cytokines induce depression-like behavior. Similarly in humans, therapeutic interferon-alpha induces clinical depression in a third of patients. Conversely, patients with depression also show elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines. OBJECTIVES: To determine the neural mechanisms underlying inflammation-associated mood change and modulatory effects on circuits involved in mood homeostasis and affective processing. METHODS: In a double-blind, randomized crossover study, 16 healthy male volunteers received typhoid vaccination or saline (placebo) injection in two experimental sessions. Mood questionnaires were completed at baseline and at 2 and 3 hours. Two hours after injection, participants performed an implicit emotional face perception task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Analyses focused on neurobiological correlates of inflammation-associated mood change and affective processing within regions responsive to emotional expressions and implicated in the etiology of depression. RESULTS: Typhoid but not placebo injection produced an inflammatory response indexed by increased circulating interleukin-6 and significant mood reduction at 3 hours. Inflammation-associated mood deterioration correlated with enhanced activity within subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sACC) (a region implicated in the etiology of depression) during emotional face processing. Furthermore, inflammation-associated mood change reduced connectivity of sACC to amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, and superior temporal sulcus, which was modulated by peripheral interleukin-6. CONCLUSIONS: Inflammation-associated mood deterioration is reflected in changes in sACC activity and functional connectivity during evoked responses to emotional stimuli. Peripheral cytokine