High voltage pulse generator

Generator has an improved circuit for generating a controllable, high voltage spark having a constant known energy output. It can be used for testing the flash and ignition characteristics of nonmetallic materials in a controlled gas environment

High voltage pulse generator Patent

High voltage pulse generator for testing flash and ignition limits of nonmetallic materials in controlled atmosphere

Reducing the No-show Rate at a Community Mental Health Organization

Relative to other outpatient healthcare specialties, appointment nonattendance (no-shows) is most prevalent in psychiatric settings. Upon meeting with a community-based mental health organization in Louisville, KY (LCMHO), referral no-shows for intake appointments were identified as a significant issue. LCMHO’s intake appointment no-show rate, estimated at 25 – 40%, exceeded nonattendance trends in the literature. The purpose of this evidence-based practice (EBP) project was to develop and implement a referral engagement reminder intervention for improving intake appointment attendance. A systematic approach guided by the Model for Improvement was applied to foster this evidence-supported practice change. The project’s findings included a 16% reduction of LCMHO’s baseline no-show rate during the project implementation period. Age was the most predictive variable of no-shows, as older client referrals were more likely to miss their appointments compared to younger individuals

Cannabis sativa L.

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/herbarium_specimens_byname/20084/thumbnail.jp

The Effects of Botulinum Toxin Injections on Function in Patients with Spasticity

Spasticity can be one of the most challenging problems for patients with neurologic conditions such as cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, cerebrovascular accidents, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injuries, etc. It can lead to a wide variety of problems including decreased mobility, decreased quality of movement, interference with normal postural reactions, interference with functional activities, and pressure sores. Therefore, the medical community has focused on effective treatments for spasticity which do not produce overwhelming weakness, spasticity, paralysis, fatigue, and/or muscle atrophy. Since the late 1970\u27s, the use of botulinum toxin (BTX-A) injections to decrease spasticity has been investigated. The purpose of this paper is to review research studies involving the use of BTX-A injections for the management of spasticity arising from central nervous system dysfunction. This review will focus specifically on: (1) the effectiveness of BTX-A in decreasing spasticity, and (2) improvements in functional performance and quality of life due to this decrease in spasticity (including increased mobility, increased quality of movement, and increased independence in activities of daily living). In the majority of studies reviewed, significant decreases in spasticity upon injection of BTX-A were reported. These decreases in spasticity caused subsequent increases in active and passive range of motion, and decreases in pain and uncontrolled movements. Improvements in ambulation, transfer skills, hygiene skills, positioning ease, and overall function were less frequently examined, but reported in approximately half of the studies reviewed. Few studies mentioned the changes in quality of life or the increased ability in carrying out role functions in daily life following BTX-A injections. Additional research studies are needed to quantify the effects of BTX-A injections on functional limitations and on quality of life. If research shows that patients obtain improved function following BTXA injections, physical therapy may be paramount in helping clients recognize their newly found skills. The role of physical therapy following BTX-A injections is an area that warrants additional research

Determination of impact sensitivity of materials at high pressures

Compact device is used to determine impact sensitivity of material in static, high pressure, gaseous environment. It can also be instrumented to monitor and record pressure, temperature, and striker impact force. Device is used in conjunction with commercially available liquid oxygen impact tester which provides impact energy

Toward a Postmodern Avant-Garde: Labour, Virtuosity, and Aesthetics in an American New Music Ensemble

This dissertation examines the aesthetic beliefs and labour practices of the American new music ensemble eighth blackbird (lower-case intentional). Drawing on ethnographic research conducted with the ensemble for the past six years, I show how the ensemble responds to specific cultural pressures endemic to the classical music scene, its new music vanguard, and to the contemporary United States. eighth blackbird, I argue, has created an ensemble identity and performance style designed to satisfy numerous audience positions, from experts well-versed in the intricacies of musical techniques to lay-persons unacquainted with the values and practices of new or classical music. This attempt to satisfy such a range of perspectives has lead to an oscillation between modernist values traditionally associated with art music culture and postmodern values typically found within more profit-driven musical practices. Modernism—partially defined here as a belief in a linear and stable history, structural listening, musical virtuosity, and restrained performer movement—is foundational to eighth blackbird’s work. At the same time, ensemble members embrace postmodern values including a celebratory mix of musical styles, attempts to provide accessible concerts, and an adoption of post-Fordist branding wherein personality and the display of labour figures as part of a marketing strategy. By examining the specific rationalizations of and objections to eighth blackbird’s practices, I theorize the existence of a “postmodern avant-garde,” a subculture of musicians and arts workers who attempt to remake avant-garde music into a more accessible and profitable enterprise

Everyday Heroes: Making a Case for Compassionate Behavior toward Strangers

Helping and supportive behavior that reduced the suffering of others laid the foundation for the interconnected society we live in today, so why does it currently feel disconnected and chaotic? One need not look further than the news in 2020 to see that we have unprecedented awareness of human incivility and violence. Small but significant acts of compassion toward strangers are necessary to move our world past the unprecedented pain in which it is currently suffering. Compassion makes us aware of suffering in others, but also brings forth the best in us: our kindness, our willingness to help, our connection to humanity. This wellspring of goodness is studied within and amplified by positive psychology, or the study of what is good in an individual, family or organizational system. Amplification of individual resources is necessary so that individuals have the resources to achieve greater resilience and enact more pro-social behaviors in the face of the challenges we see in our modern society

Sound Scenes: Performativity, Politics, and Capital in New Music Ensembles

This thesis examines classical music as a cultural practice and centers on my ethnographies of three musical ensembles in the United States: Alarm Will Sound, eighth blackbird, and Yarn/Wire. Each group is a non-profit performing arts organization formed by conservatory-trained members and each performs and promotes new classical music, or new music as it is commonly called. I draw also on my own experience performing and interacting in new music communities. From these mixed domains, I demonstrate new music ensembles as dynamic and complex entities in which individuals negotiate between the elitist conventions of classical music and populist ideals. In particular, I argue that aesthetic differences correspond to political struggles for recognition. Groups perform musical works in certain styles that reflect their respective aesthetics. With such activities, new music ensembles endeavor to make a name for themselves and gain prominence in new music culture. They thus embody a struggle for prestige. The mechanism for these pursuits entails a circulation of symbolic capital and its conversion into real capital. I frame the activities of the three ensembles within an established history of practice and examine the documented tensions between classical composers and commercial musics, and between internal struggles of modernist and postmodern composers and performers. Finally, I problematize evolutionary concepts of modern and postmodern by portraying the older groups, Alarm Will Sound and eighth blackbird as postmodern, and the younger group, Yarn/Wire, as comparatively modernist