The relationship of isometric strength to peak dynamic hand forces during submaximal weight lifting

Reports have indicated that approximately one third of the US workforce is presently required to exert significant strength as part of their jobs. In addressing the prevention of these types of injuries, the assessment of muscular strength can provide a method of predicting whether a person is capable of performing the job without incurring injury. Currently, isometric strength assessments are often used to assist in predicting the capability to safely perform a lifting task. However, given the dynamic nature of work activities, isometric values may be limited, particularly if the load is well below a person's strength capability. Thus, it is of interest to evaluate the relationship between isometric strength values and peak dynamic hand forces under varied submaximal loading. It is shown in this study that the peak hand forces, exhibited while dynamically lifting different submaximal loads, are not highly correlated with a person's isometric lifting strength in similar postures. It is also shown that for very light load lifting, the peak accelerations approached 2.5 g's, further supporting the need to limit such lifting from floor level by using ergonomic interventions.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/30255/1/0000651.pd

Finite Element Analysis of Continuous Plates Using a High-Performance Programming Language (MATLAB)

This paper uses MATLAB, a finite element software program to compare the results of several finite analysis methods for continuous plates and check the degree of correlation with the exact values obtained by Timoshenko (1959) and Cheung (1996). The results showed little or no significant difference between plates in finite elements. Two different finite Numerical techniques are used. The Finite Strip and Exact methods and their results are compared to the results from the MATLAB program. Finite element analysis (FEA) workflow using MATLAB includes generation of meshes, geometry creation, defining physics of load, initial conditions and boundary problems, calculation, and results from visualization. FEA is a very general approach for solving Equations in science and engineering. This work offers solutions to the increasing errors associated with several other numerical methods when solving any equations of plates (сontinuous). It makes it easier to calculate and design larger structures through geometry discretization of plates and plains into more minor elements

NASA’s Terabyte Infrared Delivery (TBIRD) Program: Large-Volume Data Transfer from LEO

Satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) have on-board sensors that can generate large amounts of data to be delivered to a ground user. Direct-to-Earth delivery from LEO is challenging because of the sparse contact with a ground terminal, but the short link distances involved can enable very high data rates by exploiting the abundance of spectrum available at optical frequencies. We provide an overview and update of NASA’s Terabyte Infrared Delivery (TBIRD) program, which will demonstrate a direct-to-Earth laser communication link from a small satellite platform to a small ground terminal at burst rates up to 200Gbps. Such a link is capable of transferring several terabytes per day to a single ground terminal. The high burst rates are achieved by leveraging off-the-shelf fiber-telecommunications transceivers for use in space applications. A 2U TBIRD payload is currently being developed for flight on a 6U NASA CubeSat

2018 Alumni Achievement Awards Presentation

2018 Alumni Achievement Awards presentation

Mitochondrial bioenergetic deficits in C9orf72 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis motor neurons cause dysfunctional axonal homeostasis

ARM is a Lady Edith Wolfson Clinical Fellow and is jointly funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MR/R001162/1). He also acknowledges support from the Rowling Scholars scheme, administered by the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic (ARRNC), University of Edinburgh, and a seedcorn grant from The Chief Scientist Office and the RS Macdonald Charitable Trust via the Scottish Neurological Research Fund, administered by the University of St Andrews. JMG is funded by a starter grant for clinical lecturers from the Academy of Medical Sciences. CS is supported by a Medical Research Council grant (MR/L016400/1). NMM was funded by a Wellcome Trust New Investigator Award (100981/Z/13/Z). RNC and NMM are funded by a Diabetes UK grant (17/0005697). The Hardingham and Chandran laboratories are supported by the Euan MacDonald Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Research, and the UK Dementia Research Institute (DRI), which receives its funding from UK DRI Ltd, funded by the MRC, Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer's Research UK. SC also acknowledges funding from the ARRNC, My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, and an MRC Dementias Platform UK Stem Cell Partnership grant (MR/N013255/1). BTS is a Rowling-DRI Fellow.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Levels of knowledge regarding malaria causes, symptoms, and prevention measures among Malawian women of reproductive age

Background: Malawi is a malaria-endemic country and approximately 6 million cases are reported annually. Improving knowledge of malaria causes and symptoms, and the overall perception towards malaria and its preventive measures is vital for malaria control. The current study investigated the levels of knowledge of the causes, symptoms and prevention of malaria among Malawian women. Methods: Data from the 2017 wave of the Malawi Malaria Indicator Survey (MMIS) were analysed. In total, 3422 women of reproductive age (15–49 years) were sampled and analysed. The levels of women’s knowledge about: (1) causes of malaria; (2) symptoms of malaria; and, (3) preventive measures were assessed. The tertiles of the composite score were used as the cut-offs to categorize the levels of knowledge as ‘low’, ‘medium’ and ‘high’. Multinomial logistic regression models were constructed to assess the independent factors while taking into account the complex survey design. Results: Approximately 50% of all respondents had high levels of knowledge of causes, symptoms and preventive measures. The high level of knowledge was 45% for rural women and 55% for urban dwellers. After adjusting for the a wide range of factors, women of age group 15–19 years adjusted odds ratio ((aOR): 2.58; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.69–3.92), women with no formal education (aOR: 3.73; 95% CI 2.20–6.33), women whose household had no television (aOR: 1.50; 95% CI 1.02–2.22), women who had not seen/heard malaria message (aOR: 1.53; 95% CI 1.20–1.95), women of Yao tribe (aOR: 1.95; 95% CI 1.10–3.46), and women from rural areas had low levels of knowledge about the causes of malaria, symptoms of malaria and preventive measures. Additionally, the results also showed that women aged 15–19 years (beta [β] = − 0.73, standard error [SE] = 0.12); P < .0001, women with no formal education (β = − 1.17, SE = 0.15); P < .0001, women whose household had no radio (β = − 0.15, SE = 0.0816); P = 0.0715 and women who had not seen or heard malaria message (β = − 0.41, SE = 0.07); P < .0001 were likely to have a lower knowledge score. Conclusions: The levels of malaria knowledge were reported to be unsatisfactory among adult women, underscoring the need to scale up efforts on malaria education. Beside insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) and prompt diagnosis, malaria can be best managed in Malawi by increasing knowledge of malaria causes, and symptoms especially for younger women, women with no formal education, women whose households have no media, women from Yao tribes, and rural dwellers

The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) Spectrographs

We describe the design and performance of the near-infrared (1.51--1.70 micron), fiber-fed, multi-object (300 fibers), high resolution (R = lambda/delta lambda ~ 22,500) spectrograph built for the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE). APOGEE is a survey of ~ 10^5 red giant stars that systematically sampled all Milky Way populations (bulge, disk, and halo) to study the Galaxy's chemical and kinematical history. It was part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) from 2011 -- 2014 using the 2.5 m Sloan Foundation Telescope at Apache Point Observatory, New Mexico. The APOGEE-2 survey is now using the spectrograph as part of SDSS-IV, as well as a second spectrograph, a close copy of the first, operating at the 2.5 m du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Although several fiber-fed, multi-object, high resolution spectrographs have been built for visual wavelength spectroscopy, the APOGEE spectrograph is one of the first such instruments built for observations in the near-infrared. The instrument's successful development was enabled by several key innovations, including a "gang connector" to allow simultaneous connections of 300 fibers; hermetically sealed feedthroughs to allow fibers to pass through the cryostat wall continuously; the first cryogenically deployed mosaic volume phase holographic grating; and a large refractive camera that includes mono-crystalline silicon and fused silica elements with diameters as large as ~ 400 mm. This paper contains a comprehensive description of all aspects of the instrument including the fiber system, optics and opto-mechanics, detector arrays, mechanics and cryogenics, instrument control, calibration system, optical performance and stability, lessons learned, and design changes for the second instrument.Comment: 81 pages, 67 figures, PASP, accepte