Skylux Smartphone Controlled Skylight

There are numerous electric skylight openers available for purchase for home-use, but the majority of them are remote based, or operated by a wall-unit. Furthermore, these devices are in hard to reach places, so if one were to lose the remote on a remote operated system, the only option is to contact the manufacturer for a new device. As such, my senior project, in collaboration with Colton Sundstrom’s senior project, build upon our existing capstone project in order to allow operation of the Internet of Things (IoT) device over the internet. Our client, Richard Murray, was unsatisfied with the current state of his Velux skylight operator, so we wanted to create an end-product that could allow the operation to be controllable with any of his iOS devices, whether or not he was at home. Furthermore, the end-product should be secure, in that only authorized users could control the device. Since my client deemed that this project is very expansive, this project will also include a setup guide for new students to get the system running on their own environment for further improvements in areas such as scheduling, security, and more expansive features

From the Laboratory to The Vineyard—Evolution of The Measurement of Grape Composition using NIR Spectroscopy towards High-Throughput Analysis

Compared to traditional laboratory methods, spectroscopic techniques (e.g., near infrared, hyperspectralimaging)provideanalystswithaninnovativeandimprovedunderstandingofcomplex issuesbydeterminingseveralchemicalcompoundsandmetabolitesatonce,allowingforthecollection of the sample “fingerprint”. These techniques have the potential to deliver high-throughput options for the analysis of the chemical composition of grapes in the laboratory, the vineyard and before or during harvest, to provide better insights of the chemistry, nutrition and physiology of grapes. Faster computers, the development of software and portable easy to use spectrophotometers and data analytical methods allow for the development of innovative applications of these techniques for the analyses of grape composition

From the Laboratory to The Vineyard—Evolution of The Measurement of Grape Composition using NIR Spectroscopy towards High-Throughput Analysis

Compared to traditional laboratory methods, spectroscopic techniques (e.g., near infrared, hyperspectralimaging)provideanalystswithaninnovativeandimprovedunderstandingofcomplex issuesbydeterminingseveralchemicalcompoundsandmetabolitesatonce,allowingforthecollection of the sample “fingerprint”. These techniques have the potential to deliver high-throughput options for the analysis of the chemical composition of grapes in the laboratory, the vineyard and before or during harvest, to provide better insights of the chemistry, nutrition and physiology of grapes. Faster computers, the development of software and portable easy to use spectrophotometers and data analytical methods allow for the development of innovative applications of these techniques for the analyses of grape composition

An Advanced Driver-Assistance System: Using Mono-Camera Vision-Based Detection and Tracking for Control of an Autonomous Vehicle

Advanced driver assistance systems used to increase the safety of everyday transportation are increasingly common in today’s automotive industry. In conducting research for the Texas Department of Transportation’s Commercial Truck Platooning Project, an autonomous truck capable of communicating with a manually driven lead vehicle can follow at close distances to increase the fuel economy and safety of both vehicles. In the event of a communications failure, however, the following vehicle requires immediate human intervention to regain control of the vehicle. To increase the safety of these situations, a backup vision-based advanced driver assistance system comprised of a separate camera and computer was developed and successfully implemented in an autonomous vehicle. The system is comprised of a controller that takes inputs from a truck detection algorithm and a tracking algorithm that run in parallel at all times. The detection algorithm passes new detection information to the tracking algorithm when available. In each frame of incoming video, the tracking algorithm communicates the position of the lead vehicle to the controller. Based upon the size of the detection and the intrinsic properties of the camera, the longitudinal distance to the lead vehicle and the lateral error are calculated. The detection, tracking, and control algorithms were implemented in an autonomous car. A variety of lane changes and emergency stop maneuvers were successfully completed. GPS position information was gathered during testing to validate the accuracy of the algorithms. The results of the GPS information show that the tracking algorithm can encounter some error in estimating the separation at large following distances of more than 30 meters. Overall, the single camera system is capable of providing smooth and safe control in a variety of test scenarios

Anxious/depressed symptoms are related to microstructural maturation of white matter in typically developing youths

AbstractThere are multiple recent reports of an association between anxious/depressed (A/D) symptomatology and the rate of cerebral cortical thickness maturation in typically developing youths. We investigated the degree to which anxious/depressed symptoms are tied to age-related microstructural changes in cerebral fiber pathways. The participants were part of the NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development. Child Behavior Checklist A/D scores and diffusion imaging were available for 175 youths (84 males, 91 females; 241 magnetic resonance imagings) at up to three visits. The participants ranged from 5.7 to 18.4 years of age at the time of the scan. Alignment of fractional anisotropy data was implemented using FSL/Tract-Based Spatial Statistics, and linear mixed model regression was carried out using SPSS. Child Behavior Checklist A/D was associated with the rate of microstructural development in several white matter pathways, including the bilateral anterior thalamic radiation, bilateral inferior longitudinal fasciculus, left superior longitudinal fasciculus, and right cingulum. Across these pathways, greater age-related fractional anisotropy increases were observed at lower levels of A/D. The results suggest that subclinical A/D symptoms are associated with the rate of microstructural development within several white matter pathways that have been implicated in affect regulation, as well as mood and anxiety psychopathology.</jats:p

Synthetic Alkaloid Treatment Influences the Intestinal Epithelium and Mesenteric Adipose Transcriptome in Holstein Steers

Holstein steers (n = 16) were used to determine if a synthetic alkaloid, bromocriptine, would alter the transcriptome of the small intestine and adjacent mesenteric adipose. On d 0, steers were assigned to one of two treatments: control (CON; saline only) or bromocriptine (BROMO; 0.1 mg/kg BW bromocriptine mesylate injected intramuscularly every 3 d for 30 d). Steers were slaughtered and midpoint sections of jejunal epithelium and associated mesenteric fat were collected for RNA isolation. Transcriptome analysis was completed via RNA-Seq to determine if BROMO differed compared with CON within intestinal epithelium or mesenteric adipose mRNA isolates. Differential expression thresholds were set at a significant P-value (P \u3c 0.05) and a fold change ≥ 1.5. Only two genes were differentially expressed within the intestinal epithelium but there were 20 differentially expressed genes in the mesenteric adipose tissue (six up regulated and 14 down regulated). Functions related to cell movement, cell development, cell growth and proliferation, cell death, and overall cellular function and maintenance were the top five functional molecular categories influenced by BROMO treatment within the intestinal epithelium. The top molecular categories within mesenteric adipose were antigen presentation, protein synthesis, cell death, cell movement, and cell to cell signaling and interaction. In conclusion, BROMO treatment influenced the intestinal epithelium and mesenteric adipose transcriptome and identified genes and pathways influential to the effects associated with alkaloid exposure which are important to beef production

The ongoing value of first few X studies for COVID-19 in the Western Pacific Region

First few ‘X’ (FFX) studies for COVID-19 involve data collection from confirmed cases and their close contacts. They remain relevant especially as many remain susceptible to infection, and as they can provide detailed insight into vaccine effectiveness and the epidemiology of variants of concern, helping to inform a proportionate health response

Analytical method for perturbed frozen orbit around an Asteroid in highly inhomogeneous gravitational fields : A first approach

This article provides a method for nding initial conditions for perturbed frozen orbits around inhomogeneous fast rotating asteroids. These orbits can be used as reference trajectories in missions that require close inspection of any rigid body. The generalized perturbative procedure followed exploits the analytical methods of relegation of the argument of node and Delaunay normalisation to arbitrary order. These analytical methods are extremely powerful but highly computational. The gravitational potential of the heterogeneous body is rstly stated, in polar-nodal coordinates, which takes into account the coecients of the spherical harmonics up to an arbitrary order. Through the relegation of the argument of node and the Delaunay normalization, a series of canonical transformations of coordinates is found, which reduces the Hamiltonian describing the system to a integrable, two degrees of freedom Hamiltonian plus a truncated reminder of higher order. Setting eccentricity, argument of pericenter and inclination of the orbit of the truncated system to be constant, initial conditions are found, which evolve into frozen orbits for the truncated system. Using the same initial conditions yields perturbed frozen orbits for the full system, whose perturbation decreases with the consideration of arbitrary homologic equations in the relegation and normalization procedures. Such procedure can be automated for the first homologic equation up to the consideration of any arbitrary number of spherical harmonics coefficients. The project has been developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA)

Severe painful vaso-occlusive crises and mortality in a contemporary adult sickle cell anemia cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Frequent painful vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs) were associated with mortality in the Cooperative Study of Sickle Cell Disease (CSSCD) over twenty years ago. Modern therapies for sickle cell anemia (SCA) like hydroxyurea are believed to have improved overall patient survival. The current study sought to determine the relevance of the association between more frequent VOCs and death and its relative impact upon overall mortality compared to other known risk factors in a contemporary adult SCA cohort. METHODS: Two hundred sixty four SCA adults were assigned into two groups based on patient reported outcomes for emergency department (ED) visits or hospitalizations for painful VOC treatment during the 12 months prior to evaluation. RESULTS: Higher baseline hematocrit (p = 0.0008), ferritin (p = 0.005), and HDL cholesterol (p = 0.01) were independently associated with 1 or more painful VOCs requiring an ED visit or hospitalization for acute pain. During a median follow-up of 5 years, mortality was higher in the ED visit/hospitalization group (relative risk [RR] 2.68, 95% CI 1.1-6.5, p = 0.03). Higher tricuspid regurgitatant jet velocity (TRV) (RR 2.41, 95% CI 1.5-3.9, p \u3c 0.0001), elevated ferritin (RR 4.00, 95% CI 1.8-9.0, p = 0.001) and lower glomerular filtration rate (RR=2.73, 95% CI 1.6-4.6, p \u3c 0.0001) were also independent risk factors for mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Severe painful VOCs remain a marker for SCA disease severity and premature mortality in a modern cohort along with other known risk factors for death including high TRV, high ferritin and lower renal function. The number of patient reported pain crises requiring healthcare utilization is an easily obtained outcome that could help to identify high risk patients for disease modifying therapies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00011648 http://clinicaltrials.gov