Physical Factors Influencing Survival to Emergence and Time of Emergence of Shoreslope-Spawned Kokanee Salmon in Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Utah-Wyoming

I used incubation baskets containing viable eggs and spawning substrate to estimate the survival to emergence and time of emergence of kokanee salmon Oncorhynchus nerka at depths to 20 m in Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Utah-Wyoming. Traps on the incubation baskets captured fry emerging from a known quantity of eggs. Water drawn into a syringe from an intragravel pipe buried near each incubation basket was used to determine intragravel dissolved oxygen concentrations throughout the intragravel period. Water from control baskets without eggs did not have significantly greater dissolved oxygen concentrations than adjacent water. A jar associated with each incubation basket collected sediment to determine absolute and organic sedimentation during the study. Temperatures at the substrate water interface were used to describe degree-days accumulated before emergence. Survival to emergence ranged from zero to 66% and was most significantly related to mean intragravel dissolved oxygen concentrations. Survival to emergence, mean intragravel dissolved oxygen concentrations , and organic sedimentation decreased with depth

Trajectory design and optimization of a solar sail sun probe

There is a desire to observe the sun's poles to further deepen our understanding of solar activity. However, because of the large speeds needed to perform out-of-ecliptic plane maneuvers, chemical and electric rocket propulsion mechanisms have been proven to be costly and impractical, leaving alternative space technology systems like solar sails to be considered for these applications. In this paper, we study the possibility of using a solar sail as a probe observing the sun. We design and optimize the trajectories of the solar sail probe through the surface constraint approach, with the assumption that the sail moves on a displaced spherical surface. We first review the surface constraint approach, focusing on its important assumptions and limitations. Then, we solve and obtain a family of radial and azimuthal trajectory equations by choosing the correct constraint equation. We characterize the trajectories based on the functional dependence of the sail's orientation with the polar angle. Finally, we determine the trajectories of the probe that will give us the minimum flight time. Results show that increasing the number of mission stages decreases the total flight time, with minimal changes in the sail's radial and polar velocities. Furthermore, changing the functional dependence of the clock angle resets the azimuthal velocity, making the sail not reverse its direction and directly approach the sun along the spherical surface.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figure

Induction of cortical reorganisation for rehabilitation in stroke.

Stroke is a cerebrovascular injury to the brain leading to neural tissue death and is the leading cause of long-tenn disability in the world today. My primary goal in this study was to examine the possibility that reorganisation in the stroke-affected brain could be made in a manner that supported improved motor function. To achieve this, I induced reorganisation of the motor cortex by stimulating peripheral afferents, in both normal subjects and stroke-affected patients. I also carried out a series of experiments examining the reliability of the test methods used to evaluate cortical function, and to induce functional changes in the motur cortex. Reorganisation is possible in the neural networks of the adult nervous system following alteration of afferent inputs brought about by conditions such as motor leaming or by injury. This concept of dynamic functional plasticity in the nervous system provides the foundation for the development of learning and memory throughout life and offers a potential for repair and recovery in pathological conditions. The strOke-injured brain is capable of reorganisation; hence, rehabilitation techniques should be aimed at enhancing possible mechanisms for the brain to compensate for the lesion through reorganisation or brain plasticity. I used the technique of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to examine corticomotor function, and a series of functional tests to examine motor perfonnance. My first series of experiments in this thesis investigated the stability of TMS map parameters over time in healthy individuals. The areas of the scalp from which responses were evoked from corticospinal cells projecting to three intrinsic hand muscles were systematically mapped with TMS at intervals of 24 hours, one week and two weeks from eight nonnal subjects. The area, volume and centre of gravity of these maps did not change significantly over this period. I concluded that the conventional method for mapping the cortical representational areas of individual hand muscles gives maps that are stable over periods of up to two weeks. This validates the use of such maps for the investigation of both short-term and long-term effects of interventions that may modify the cortical representation of muscles. I induced prolonged changes in the excitability of the motor cortex in a group of stroke patients nsing the technique of dual stimulation. This combines a central stimulus (TMS) with electrical stimulation of afferent nerves. The experiments described in Chapters 4 and 5 aimed to determine the effect of dual stimulation on cortical reorganisation and motor function in a group of stroke patients. Chapter 4 describes the results of my intervention on stroke-affected lower limbs and chapter 5 on upper limbs. Neurophysiological and functional changes were seen in the affected upper and lower limb muscles. Some stroke-affected individuals showed marked neurophysiological and functional changes. Furthermore, stroke-affected subjects who had the largest changes in neurophysiological measures were also the ones with the largest change in functional measures. However, the effect of the intervention was highly variable and the overall changes in the group scores were not statistically significant. The final series of experiments described in this thesis (Chapter 6) investigated the effects of a short period of anodal direct current (DC) stimulation and peripheral nerve stimulation on corticospinal excitability. The effect of this combined DC stimulation and peripheral nerve stimulation was contrasted with peripheral nerve stimulation alone. It demonstrated that the effects of peripheral nerve stimulation on cortical excitability could be potentiated by a preceding period of DC stimulation.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Molecular and Biomedical Science, 200

De l’intuition à la formalisation de la pensée musicale : retour sur 11 œuvres composées dans le cadre du doctorat = From intuition to formalization of musical thought : a look back at 11 works within a doctoral framework

Cette thèse revient sur les onze œuvres musicales ayant jalonné mon parcours compositionnel et marqué le développement de ma pensée de créatrice. J’ai divisé la production de ces sept années de doctorat en trois sections, correspondant à trois phases distinctes de l’évolution de mon langage. Ce parcours est un passage graduel d’une pensée intuitive vers une pensée de plus en plus structurée. Bailo, String Quartet no.1, et Con fuoco sont les œuvres composées durant la première phase. La deuxième phase a mené à la composition de deux pièces où sont juxtaposées musique instrumentale et musique électroacoustique : le Concerto pour clarinette et bande et Impressions pour basson et bande. Afin d’arrimer ces deux mondes disparates, l’approche intuitive a tranquillement été écartée au profit d’une meilleure organisation des paramètres à travers l’introduction de la formalisation. La troisième phase correspond à une exploration plus rigoureuse de la formalisation par l’entremise de modèles. Quatre modèles sont abordés dans cette thèse; soit le modèle de l’objet sonore, le modèle de la linguistique, le modèle du timbre et le modèle de l’art visuel. Dans le modèle de l’objet sonore, utilisé dans la pièce Nevaliashka, la formalisation se construit autour d’un jouet duquel j’extrais le plus d’information possible. Utilisé dans les opéras Les bottes jaunes et The Feast of Nemesis, le modèle linguistique aborde la sémantique et phonétique des différentes langues. Le modèle du timbre, que l’on retrouve dans FLAW/LESS et Transition, s’attarde à la corporéité des instruments traditionnels et à leurs potentialités acoustiques. L’écriture instrumentale y est pensée comme une sculpture de timbres et la méthodologie est dérivée de celle généralement utilisée pour la composition de la musique électroacoustique. Enfin, avec le modèle de l’art visuel, mis en valeur dans la pièce Galženjaki, je m’intéresse aux interactions entre art visuel et littérature, de même qu’à la manière de transposer ce dialogue en musique.This thesis returns to the eleven musical works that marked my compositional journey as well as my development as an artist. I divided the production of these seven years of doctoral studies into three sections, corresponding to three distinct phases of the evolution of my language. This journey is a gradual transition from an intuitive approach to musical writing to a more structured approach. Bailo, String Quartet no.1, and Con fuoco were composed in the first phase. The second phase led to two pieces in which instrumental music and electroacoustic music were juxtaposed: the Concerto pour clarinette et bande and Impressions for bassoon and tape. In order to bridge the gap between these two distinct worlds, intuition gradually gave way to a better organization of parameters through the introduction of formalization. The third phase corresponds to a more rigorous exploration of formalization through the use of models. Four models are addressed in this thesis; the sound object model, the linguistics model, the timbre model and the visual arts model. In the sound object model, used in the Nevaliashka piece, formalization is built around an object of everyday life from which a maximum of information is extracted and analyzed. Used in the operas Les bottes jaunes and The Feast of Nemesis, the linguistics model incorporates the semantics and phonetics of different languages into the compositional process. The timbre model, found in FLAW/LESS and Transition, focuses on the corporeality of traditional instruments and their acoustic potential. Instrumental writing is thought of as a sculpture of timbres and follows the methodology generally used in electroacoustic music composition. Finally, with the visual arts model, highlighted in the Galženjaki piece, I analyze the interactions between visual arts and literature and attempt to translate this dialogue into music

STRIKE 3000 Electric Trike

The Strike 3000 is an electric, three-wheeled vehicle designed to revolutionize the way people travel. This vehicle will be the first of its kind to be designed for operation while standing rather than sitting like all current market designs. It is designed to create a healthier lifestyle to help combat the sedentary lives that many people are being forced to live, to be a comfortable, safe, and affordable mode of transportation for short-distance, everyday travel. It will include several cubic feet of storage space for things like groceries, small packages and other common cargo items. To be up to the leading edge of vehicle technology, this design also use a zero-emissions electric drive system using a 8.1kW LiFePO4 battery and a 10kW brush-less DC motor. The objective of this project is to design, test, and, at least in part, construct the vehicle by May 2017. Unfortunately, construction of the the vehicle was not implemented, but the design for the chassis and roll cage was finalized after consulting the Baja SAE 2017 rules and regulations and the NHTSA safety regulations, which were used as the primary design template along with the project sponsor, Ken Howes for aesthetic preferences. Once that was established, the components of the suspension system were designed based on the dimensions of the chassis. The steering system and the wheel knuckle were simultaneously researched and designed in the same manner. Because of unforeseen hurdles, time constraints, and underestimation of the costs of designing and building a vehicle prototype, other systems and components of the Strike have been re-prioritized and have not be receiving as much attention as it previously had. Instead how to go about continuing the design and build process is detailed in this report to provide constructive suggestions and recommendations to the future design teams of the Strike 3000

Opinions on registering trial details: a survey of academic researchers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The World Health Organization (WHO) has established a set of items related to study design and administrative information that should build the minimum set of data in a study register. A more comprehensive data set for registration is currently developed by the Ottawa Group. Since nothing is known about the attitudes of academic researchers towards prospective study registration, we surveyed academic researchers about their opinion regarding the registration of study details proposed by the WHO and the Ottawa Group.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a web-based survey of academic researchers currently running an investigator-initiated clinical study which is registered with clinicaltrials.gov. In July 2006 we contacted 1299 principal investigators of clinical studies by e-mail explaining the purpose of the survey and a link to access a 52-item questionnaire based on the proposed minimum data set by the Ottawa Group. Two reminder e-mails were sent each two weeks apart. Association between willingness to disclose study details and study phase was assessed using the chi-squared test for trend. To explore the potential influence of non-response bias we used logistic regression to assess associations between factors associated with non-response and the willingness to register study details.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall response was low as only 282/1299 (22%) principal investigators participated in the survey. Disclosing study documents, in particular the study protocol and financial agreements, was found to be most problematic with only 31% of respondents willing to disclose these publicly. Consequently, only 34/282 (12%) agreed to disclose all details proposed by the Ottawa Group. Logistic regression indicated no association between characteristics of non-responders and willingness to disclose details.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Principal investigators of non-industry sponsored studies are reluctant to disclose all data items proposed by the Ottawa Group. Disclosing the study protocol and financial agreements was found to be most problematic. Future discussions on trial registration should not only focus on industry but also on academic researchers.</p

TEM and STEM investigations of SrO-doped Sr(Ti,Nb)O3-δ thermoelectrics

Sr(Ti1-xNbx)O3-δ solid solutions are promising materials for n-type high-temperature thermoelectrics1. In our study 10 mol% of SrO excess was added to stoichiometric composition with x=0.2 in order to introduce Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) type-planar faults2,3 into the material, thus minimizing thermal conductivity. TEM and STEM were used to study possible ordering and/or distribution of Nb on Ti sites in the perovskite structure. All results were obtained in a Jeol ARM-200F with a CFEG and Cs probe corrector. HAADF imaging was performed at angles from 70 to 175 mrad, while ABF imaging from 11 to 23 mrad. EDXS spectra were acquired using JEOL Centurio Dry SD100GV SDD Detector. RP planar faults, as viewed along [001] zone axis, are shown in HRTEM micrograph in figure 1. The commonly observed number of perovskite unit cells between the planar faults is >2, which corresponds to various homologous compounds with the formula Srn+1(Ti,Nb)nO3n+1. However, solid solution Sr(Ti,Nb)O3-type grains with no RP faults can also be observed (bottom inset in Fig. 1). A HR HAADF STEM image of ordered RP faults (Fig. 2) shows that while the measured intensities of individual Sr atomic columns along a single fault do not scatter significantly, the (Ti,Nb)O atom columns exhibit quite large differences in measured intensities, thus indicating significant variation in Nb and Ti content within a single atom column. Quantitative analysis of measured intensities is in progress. The comparison between simultaneously acquired HAADF and ABF images of a single RP fault is shown in figure 3. While pure oxygen atomic columns cannot be resolved in the HAADF image, they can be readily observed using ABF imaging. The positions of oxygen atom columns along the planar faults are in full agreement with the structural model of a RP planar fault. Additional information on Nb distribution within perovskite matrix/RP faults was obtained by EDXS. While low magnification EDXS mappings show enrichment of Sr at RP faults accompanied by a corresponding decrease in Ti and Nb content, atom-resolved EDXS mappings confirm that individual mixed (Ti,Nb)O atom columns contain different Nb content (annotated atom column). Additionally, the spot EDXS line analysis (net counts) again shows much larger scatter in accumulated net counts for Ti as compared with Sr. The results being presented clearly show that no Nb is incorporated into the SrO RP faults and that the Nb is inhomogeneously incorporated within (Ti,Nb)O atom columns

La caracterización molecular de aislamientos de Staphylococcus aureus meticilino-resistente revela la diseminación de un nuevo clon en la ciudad de Buenos Aires

We performed a hospital - acquired methicillin - resistant Staphylococcus aureus molecular study in Buenos Aires city. Four clones were found harboring the transposable elementsTn4001 and Tn5405 and the erythromycin resistance determinants ermA and mef(E). Of the isolates, 73% belonged to a clone found previously in the city of Córdoba, which showed an epidemic behavior initially attributed to a widely disseminated South American clone.Fil: Jeric, Paola Elba. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina; ArgentinaFil: Matteo, Mario José. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina; ArgentinaFil: Ramirez, Maria Soledad. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; ArgentinaFil: Couto, Elsa. Hospital Francés; ArgentinaFil: Tokumoto, Marta. Fundación Favaloro; ArgentinaFil: Centron, Daniela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina; Argentin

Application for White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) Monitoring using Edge Machine Learning

The aquaculture industry, strongly reliant on shrimp exports, faces challenges due to viral infections like the White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) that severely impact output yields. In this context, computer vision can play a significant role in identifying features not immediately evident to skilled or untrained eyes, potentially reducing the time required to report WSSV infections. In this study, the challenge of limited data for WSSV recognition was addressed. A mobile application dedicated to data collection and monitoring was developed to facilitate the creation of an image dataset to train a WSSV recognition model and improve country-wide disease surveillance. The study also includes a thorough analysis of WSSV recognition to address the challenge of imbalanced learning and on-device inference. The models explored, MobileNetV3-Small and EfficientNetV2-B0, gained an F1-Score of 0.72 and 0.99 respectively. The saliency heatmaps of both models were also observed to uncover the "black-box" nature of these models and to gain insight as to what features in the images are most important in making a prediction. These results highlight the effectiveness and limitations of using models designed for resource-constrained devices and balancing their performance in accurately recognizing WSSV, providing valuable information and direction in the use of computer vision in this domain.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, conferenc