CERVIS: Cervical Cancer Early Response Visual Identification System

The goal of CERVIS is to make a substantial, positive impact in the cervical cancer screening space through the development of a minimally invasive, cost effective solution that enables women in low-resource settings to test for cervical cancer on a frugal and effective platform. In the developed world, there are a variety of options that can aid in early detection, including Pap smears. However, due to the high cost and laboratory requirements that accompany this procedure, women in low-resource settings rarely have access to this preventative care or regular screenings for cervical cancer. Using new research about the changes in the vaginal microbiome, CERVIS aims to create a frugal, visual diagnostic screening tool for early stage cervical cancer as an alternative to the existing expensive, invasive, and clinic-dependent methods. Outcomes will be measured by partnering with a Kenyan NGO to collect data from several clinics

Electrolytic preparation of high dielectric thin films

Electrolytic formation techniques for high dielectric materials in thin films - barium salts - titanate, zirconate, and niobat

Electrolytic preparation of high dielectric films quarterly report, 3 aug. - 3 nov. 1964

Production of high dielectric films containing barium titanat

Electrolytic preparation of high dielectric films quarterly report, may 4 - aug. 3, 1965

Electrolytic preparation of high dielectric thin film coatings on refractory metal substrate

An Adjectival Interface for procedural content generation

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.In this thesis, a new interface for the generation of procedural content is proposed, in which the user describes the content that they wish to create by using adjectives. Procedural models are typically controlled by complex parameters and often require expert technical knowledge. Since people communicate with each other using language, an adjectival interface to the creation of procedural content is a natural step towards addressing the needs of non-technical and non-expert users. The key problem addressed is that of establishing a mapping between adjectival descriptors, and the parameters employed by procedural models. We show how this can be represented as a mapping between two multi-dimensional spaces, adjective space and parameter space, and approximate the mapping by applying novel function approximation techniques to points of correspondence between the two spaces. These corresponding point pairs are established through a training phase, in which random procedural content is generated and then described, allowing one to map from parameter space to adjective space. Since we ultimately seek a means of mapping from adjective space to parameter space, particle swarm optimisation is employed to select a point in parameter space that best matches any given point in adjective space. The overall result, is a system in which the user can specify adjectives that are then used to create appropriate procedural content, by mapping the adjectives to a suitable set of procedural parameters and employing the standard procedural technique using those parameters as inputs. In this way, none of the control offered by procedural modelling is sacrificed â although the adjectival interface is simpler, it can at any point be stripped away to reveal the standard procedural model and give users access to the full set of procedural parameters. As such, the adjectival interface can be used for rapid prototyping to create an approximation of the content desired, after which the procedural parameters can be used to fine-tune the result. The adjectival interface also serves as a means of intermediate bridging, affording users a more comfortable interface until they are fully conversant with the technicalities of the underlying procedural parameters. Finally, the adjectival interface is compared and contrasted to an interface that allows for direct specification of the procedural parameters. Through user experiments, it is found that the adjectival interface presented in this thesis is not only easier to use and understand, but also that it produces content which more accurately reflects usersâ intentions

Developing Activities on Uncharismatic Animals Found at Omaha\u27s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium

The Education Department at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium has a number of educational activities based on charismatic species found there. I wished to develop activities the department may use for less charismatic or misunderstood species at the zoo. I began by surveying the exhibits at the zoo and taking note of what species or groups didn’t receive as much visitor engagement, or what comments were made on species that were incorrect. I then began to brainstorm and narrow down potential species that I could develop an educational activity around. As I began to develop and create activities, a trend I noticed was the higher presence of activities based around uncharismatic aquatic species as opposed to uncharismatic terrestrial species; this was only mostly since aquatic species tended to fill more exotic niches or possess more diverse adaptations compared to terrestrial species. The current final product has ten activities I developed over the course of my summer internship at the Henry Doorly Zoo

Master of Science

thesisUsing biological assemblages for evaluating ecosystem integrity is dependent upon robust sampling techniques that adequately characterize the species composition. This thesis evaluated the performance of a wetland surface-sediment diatom collection methodology. The methodology did not result in collection of 95% of species present due to the richness of rare species in the ponded wetlands. However, because rare species added little to relative abundance, the method provided a community characterization that separated the communities based upon ponds within complexes and ponds between complexes. The mantel test indicated species distribution was dependent upon pond and complex (p<.001) with a model matrix of dissimilarity based upon 0, within pond, ½, within complex, and 1, between complex. The Multi-response Permutation Procedure supported the method's ability to separate complexes based upon communities (p=.012). The significant p-value is attributed to the very large affect size (A=.45) which adds further credence to the method's efficacy. Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling ordination was used to graphically interpret the separation of ponds. The ordination shows sizeable separation between complexes, considerable separation between most ponds within a complex, and relatively little separation between replicates. Culling rare species further improved the ordination with 91% of the variance explained by 2 axes with a stress of 7.35 and a probability of obtaining that stress by a chance of p=.004. The sampling methodology also provided an assemblage that correlated with biotic and abiotic environmental variables. The Mantel test indicated correlation with water chemistry variables (r=0.564, p=0.028) after controlling for vegetation variables. Vegetation variables also correlated with the diatom community (r=0.700, p=0.001) after controlling for chemical variables. Correlation increases for groups of environmental variables emphasizes the abilities of the Mantel test and BIOENV over ordination techniques in ponded wetlands when the factors influencing the community composition are working as a consortium. However, the ordination is still useful because it indicated the diatom community corresponds with our knowledge of shallow lake ecology where biotic and abiotic factors work as a consortium. The sampling methodology could provide another tool for environmental assessment and enhance our ability to deduce wetland status and promote desired wetland biota

Comparison of Physical Activity Recommendations in Previously Inactive Women

The main objective of this study was to compare the number of steps accumulated weekly by individuals given the recommendation to walk 10,000 steps per day with those told to take a brisk 30 minute walk on most, preferably all, days of the week. Average steps per day were compared for 58 sedentary women (mean age 45.0 ± 6.0 y) who were randomly assigned to one of the following physical activity groups, (1) walk 10,000 steps per day or (2) take a brisk 30 minute walk on most, preferably all, days of the week. After measuring height, weight, body composition, blood pressure, and waist and hip circumference, subjects wore a sealed pedometer for two weeks for a baseline physical activity assessment. If the subjects averaged ≤ 7000 steps/day they were randomly assigned to one of two physical activity groups for a four week intervention. All subjects wore a sealed pedometer capable of storing 7 days of data. Subjects reported to the laboratory each week so that investigators could gather step counts. The 10,000 steps per day group wore a second pedometer for viewing steps accumulated throughout the day. There were no differences between the groups at baseline testing. A statistically significant difference between groups was observed with average step accumulation over four weeks. The 30 minute group walked 8270 ± 354 steps per day and the 10K group walked 10,159 ± 292 steps per day. The 30 minute group averaged 9505 ± 326 steps per day on the days that a 30 minute walk occurred and 5597 ± 363 steps per day on the days that no walk occurred. The 10K group averaged 11,775 ± 207 steps on days when they walked at least 10,000 steps and 7780 ± 231 steps on days that their target was not achieved. This study compared the recommendation to engage in 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on most, preferably all days of the week with the recommendation to walk 10,000 steps per day. The 10,000 steps per day recommendation led to more weekly walking with less day-to day fluctuation in accumulated steps. The 30 minute group was close to accumulating 10,000 steps per day on the days that they took a 30 minute walk. This study shows that sedentary, middle-aged women accumulate more daily physical activity when given the recommendation to walk 10,000 steps per day compared to the recommendation of taking a brisk 30 minute walk on most, preferably all, days of the week