Tie Installer for Great Heights to Extend Research

This senior project consisted of developing and creating a hand held device that automatically installed zip-ties. Our project began as an entry to the NASA Micro-G NExT competition but was redirected towards the new goal of creating a consumer product. Although installing zip-ties seems to be quite a simple process, throughout the entirety of our development we quickly determined that our device would have to embrace a higher level complexity to complete the objective of installing a zip-tie. The ultimate drive force of this project was meant to create a solution for the massive cost gap of already existing Zip-tie installers. In hopes of achieving this solution, we also did not want to neglect the quality of the product. We originally struggled with the balance of keeping the cost low, while wanting to still deliver a high quality product. Yet, we believed that both of those areas were met

The Breathing, Thinking, Functioning clinical model: a proposal to facilitate evidence-based breathlessness management in chronic respiratory disease.

Refractory breathlessness is a highly prevalent and distressing symptom in advanced chronic respiratory disease. Its intensity is not reliably predicted by the severity of lung pathology, with unhelpful emotions and behaviours inadvertently exacerbating and perpetuating the problem. Improved symptom management is possible if clinicians choose appropriate non-pharmacological approaches, but these require engagement and commitment from both patients and clinicians. The Breathing Thinking Functioning clinical model is a proposal, developed from current evidence, that has the potential to facilitate effective symptom control, by providing a rationale and focus for treatment

Lensing in the Hercules Supercluster

We report Keck LRIS observations of an arc-like background galaxy near the center of Abell 2152 (z=0.043), one of the three clusters comprising the Hercules supercluster. The background object has a redshift z=0.1423 and is situated 25 arcsec north of the primary component of the A2152 brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). The object is about 15 arcsec in total length and has a reddening-corrected R-band magnitude of $m_R = 18.55\pm0.03$. Its spectrum shows numerous strong emission lines, as well as absorption features. The strength of the H-alpha emission would imply a star formation rate \SFR \approx 3h^{-2} \msun yr$^{-1}$ in the absence of any lensing. However, the curved shaped of this object and its tangential orientation along the major axis of the BCG suggest lensing. We model the A2152 core mass distribution including the two BCG components and the cluster potential. We present velocity and velocity dispersion profile measurements for the two BCG components and use these to help constrain the potential. The lens modeling indicates a likely magnification factor of $\sim1.9$ for the lensed galaxy, making A2152 the nearest cluster in which such significant lensing of a background source has been observed. Finally, we see evidence for a concentration of early-type galaxies at $z=0.13$ near the centroid of the X-ray emission previously attributed to A2152. We suggest that emission from this background concentration is the cause of the offset of the X-ray center from the A2152 BCG. The background concentration and the dispersed mass of the Hercules supercluster could add further to the lensing strength of the A2152 cluster.Comment: Accepted for publication in AJ (January 2001). 9 pages; uses emulateapj.sty. The all-important "Figure 1" is included here in GIF format; for a version which includes Figure 1 as a high-resolution Postscript image, see: http://adcam.pha.jhu.edu/~jpb/a2152.ps.g

Scalar field in the Bianchi I: Non commutative classical and Quantum Cosmology

Using the ADM formalism in the minisuperspace, we obtain the commutative and noncommutative exact classical solutions and exact wave function to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation with an arbitrary factor ordering, for the anisotropic Bianchi type I cosmological model, coupled to a scalar field, cosmological term and barotropic perfect fluid. We introduce noncommutative scale factors, considering that all minisuperspace variables $\rm q^i$ do not commute, so the symplectic structure was modified. In the classical regime, it is shown that the anisotropic parameter $\rm \beta_{\pm nc}$ and the field $\phi$, for some value in the $\lambda_{eff}$ cosmological term and noncommutative $\theta$ parameter, present a dynamical isotropization up to a critical cosmic time $t_{c}$; after this time, the effects of isotropization in the noncommutative minisuperspace seems to disappear. In the quantum regimen, the probability density presents a new structure that corresponds to the value of the noncommutativity parameter.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, Acepted in IJT

Subject comparison of music production practices using the web audio evaluation tool

The Web Audio Evaluation Tool is an open-source, browser- based framework for creating and conducting listening tests. It allows remote deployment, GUI-guided setup, and analy- sis in the browser. While currently being used for listening tests in various fields, it was initially developed specifically for the study of music production practices. In this work, we highlight some of the features that facilitate evaluation of such content

E-cigarette Addiction and Harm perception: Does initiation flavor choice matter?

Introduction The 21st century was marked by a dramatic increase in adolescent e-cigarette use in the United States (US). The popularity of non-traditional flavor types, including fruit and pastry, is thought to contribute toward growing product use nationally, leading to a variety of federal and state regulations limiting the use of non-traditional flavors in the US. The relationship between flavor type and increased adolescent use suggests a possible link between flavor use and addiction and harm perception. This study assessed if the flavor type used when initiating e-cigarette use predicted addiction and harm perceptions. Methods The study utilized data from the multi-wave youth Population Assessment of Tobacco Health Study. It explored the impact initiating e-cigarette use with traditional versus non-traditional flavor types among cigarette users on the outcome variables: e-cigarette addiction and harm perception. Both e-cigarette addiction and harm perception were measured using self-report, Likert scale questionnaires. Descriptive statistics characterized the study variables and linear regression analyses performed to test whether flavor initiation type is associated with addiction and harm perception. Results The study sample consisted of 1,043 youth (weighted N = 1,873,617) aged 12 to 17 years who reported at least one instance of e-cigarette use. After adjusting for age, age of onset, sex, race and annual household income there was no statistically significant difference in addiction levels between those initiating with traditional versus non-traditional flavors (p = 0.294). Similarly, traditional versus non-traditional flavor initiation did not show a statistically significant difference in adolescent e-cigarette harm perceptions (p = 0.601). Conclusions Traditionally flavored e-cigarette initiation produces similar risk for addiction and harm perceptions as non-traditionally flavored initiation. These findings suggest that banning non-traditional flavors alone may be ineffective in curbing e-cigarette addiction and harm perception. Additional research is needed to better understand which e-cigarette product characteristics and behaviors may be associated with greater addiction and reduced harm perceptions

Noncommutative Quantum Cosmology

We propose a model for noncommutative quantum cosmology by means of a deformation of minisuperspace. For the Kantowski-Sachs metric we are able to find the exact wave function. We construct wave packets and show that new quantum states that ``compete'' to be the most probable state appear, in clear contrast with the commutative case. A tunneling process could be possible among these states.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, revtex4 file, major style changes, to be published in PR