Cal Poly Microgrid Fixed PV Array

The Mechanical Engineering Department at California Polytechnic State University of San Luis Obispo would like an adjustable, fixed angle solar panel mount to help educate students on basic solar energy principles. Our team has developed a unique sawhorse design utilizing ideation techniques and design selection tools. The selected design allows for multiple panel adjustability and control of both azimuth and tilt angle. Safety concerns are addressed with action plans to mitigate risk. Concept prototypes to justify gearbox functionality and subsystem cohesion was utilized to reduce manufacturing issues. Manufacturing began in March 2020 and proceed through until the end of the month. The manufacturing of the mount was halted due to COVID-19, forcing the design to end strictly in a what-if manufacturing procedure to allow the construction of it to be done in future time

Anxiety severity and prescription medication utilization in first-time medical marijuana users

Background Anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are qualifying psychiatric conditions for medical marijuana (MM) treatment in Pennsylvania. This study examined baseline prevalence and changes in prescription anxiety medication use three months following MM treatment initiation among individuals with these qualifying conditions. Methods The study sample was comprised of 108 adults with anxiety or PTSD as a referring condition; they were enrolled in a longitudinal study evaluating biopsychosocial outcomes in new MM patients. Consenting participants completed an assessment battery at baseline and Month 3 (n = 94, 87 % follow-up rate) that included a measure of anxiety severity and questions about current anxiety medication prescription and desired (baseline) and actual (Month 3) reductions in medication use. Results Findings indicated that 59 % of participants reported prescription medications for anxiety, with 70 % reporting at least a moderate desire to reduce medication use. Overall and within the medication sub-sample, participants displayed significant reductions in anxiety severity from baseline to Month 3 (p’s \u3c0.0001). Furthermore, 32 % reported actual reductions in medication use at Month 3, and reductions were more likely among patients prescribed benzodiazepines than other drug classes. Conclusions Results suggest that a significant number of MM patients with anxiety and/or PTSD diagnoses are currently being prescribed antianxiety medications and that MM may help to reduce their use of these medications. Limitations Limitations include the observational study design and the lack of a PTSD-specific measure. More controlled longitudinal studies are necessary to better understand the role of MM in the treatment of anxiety and PTSD

Weight stability in adults with obesity initiating medical marijuana treatment for other medical conditions

Few studies have evaluated weight change in patients who initiate medical marijuana treatment to address diagnosed health concerns. The objective of this study was to examine whether patients initiating medical marijuana use for a qualifying health condition experienced changes in health and biopsychosocial functioning over time, including weight gain or loss. Specifically, this observational, longitudinal study evaluated changes in the body mass index (BMI) of adults with co-morbid obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 30 kg/m2) and severe obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2) who were starting medical marijuana treatment for any of the 23 qualifying medical conditions at one of three dispensaries in Pennsylvania. Height and weight measurements were collected at baseline (prior to medical marijuana use) and then 90 days (± 14 days) later. Participants included in analyses (n = 52, M = 55.0 ± 13.6 years, 59.6% female) had a mean baseline BMI of 36.2 ± 5.4 kg/m2 and the majority sought medical marijuana for chronic pain (73.1%). No significant change in BMI was observed from baseline to month three (p \u3e 0.05) in the sample. Additionally, no significant change in BMI was observed in the subset of patients with severe obesity (n = 12, p \u3e 0.05). Our findings are limited by low follow-up rates and convenience sampling methodology but may help to mitigate weight gain concerns in the context of medical marijuana use

Clinical Characteristics and Quality of Life in Adults Initiating Medical Marijuana Treatment

Introduction: Despite the rising availability and use of medical marijuana (MM) in the USA, little is known about the demographics, clinical characteristics, or quality of life of MM patients. This study describes the demographic characteristics and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of MM patients who are initiating treatment in Pennsylvania. Methods: Two-hundred adults naive to MM and referred for any of the 23 state-approved qualifying conditions were recruited at three MM dispensaries in Pennsylvania between September 2020 and March 2021. All participants consented to the study; completed semi-structured interviews that included demographic questionnaires, the Short Form-36 (SF-36), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7); provided height and weight measurements; and allowed access their dispensary medical records. Results: Participants had a mean age of 48.5 ± 15.6 years, predominantly identified as female (67.5%), and were most commonly referred for chronic pain (63.5%) and/or anxiety (58.5%). Additionally, 46.0% were living with obesity as determined by BMI. Relative to a normative sample, participants reported diminished HRQoL in several domains, most notably in role limitations due to physical health (M = 46.0 ± 42.0), role limitations due to emotional problems (M = 52.5 ± 42.3), energy and fatigue (M = 39.8 ± 20.2), and pain (M = 49.4 ± 26.0). Discussion/Conclusion: Patients initiating MM treatment experienced low HRQoL in multiple domains. Future studies could evaluate the relationship between HRQoL and patients’ decisions to pursue MM treatment, as well as changes in HRQoL with MM use over time

Subduction factory: 4. Depth‐dependent flux of H 2 O from subducting slabs worldwide

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95328/1/jgrb16727.pd

Slab melting as a barrier to deep carbon subduction

Interactions between crustal and mantle reservoirs dominate the surface inventory of volatile elements over geological time, moderating atmospheric composition and maintaining a lifesupporting planet1. While volcanoes expel volatile components into surface reservoirs, subduction of oceanic crust is responsible for replenishment of mantle reservoirs2,3. Many natural, ‘superdeep’ diamonds originating in the deep upper mantle and transition zone host mineral inclusions, indicating an affinity to subducted oceanic crust4–7. Here we show that the majority of slab geotherms will intersect a deep depression along the melting curve of carbonated oceanic crust at depths of approximately 300 to 700 kilometres, creating a barrier to direct carbonate recycling into the deep mantle. Low-degree partial melts are alkaline carbonatites that are highly reactive with reduced ambient mantle, producing diamond. Many inclusions in superdeep diamonds are best explained by carbonate melt–peridotite reaction. A deep carbon barrier may dominate the recycling of carbon in the mantle and contribute to chemical and isotopic heterogeneity of the mantle reservoir

Imaging crustal structure in South-Central Costa Rica with Receiver Functions

An array of broadband seismometers transecting the Talamanca Range in southern Costa Rica was operated from 2005 until 2007. In combination with data from a short‐period network near Quepos in central Costa Rica, this data is analyzed by the receiver function method to image the crustal structure in south‐central Costa Rica. Two strong positive signals are seen in the migrated images, interpreted as the Moho (at around 35 km depth) and an intra‐crustal discontinuity (15 km depth). A relatively flat crustal and Moho interface underneath the north‐east flank of the Talamanca Range can be followed for a lateral distance of about 50 km parallel to the trench, with only slight changes in the overall geometry. Closer to the coast, the topography of the discontinuities shows several features, most notably a deeper Moho underneath the Talamanca Mountain Range and volcanic arc. Under the highest part of the mountain ranges, the Moho reaches a depth of about 50 km, which indicates that the mountain ranges are approximately isostatically compensated. Local deviations from the crustal thickness expected for isostatic equilibrium occur under the active volcanic arc and in south Costa Rica. In the transition region between the active volcanic arc and the Talamanca Range, both the Moho and intracrustal discontinuity appear distorted, possibly related to the southern edge of the active volcanic zone and deformation within the southern part of the Central Costa Rica Deformed Belt. Near the volcanoes Irazu and Turrialba, a shallow converter occurs, correlating with a low‐velocity, low‐density body seen in tomography and gravimetry. Applying a grid search for the crustal interface depth and vp/vs ratio cannot constrain vp/vs values well, but points to generally low values (<1.7) in the upper crust. This is consistent with quartz‐rich rocks forming the mountain range

Late Cenozoic tephrostratigraphy offshore the southern Central American Volcanic Arc: 1. Tephra ages and provenance

We studied the tephra inventory of 18 deep sea drill sites from six DSDP/ODP legs (Legs 84, 138, 170, 202, 205, 206) and two IODP legs (Legs 334 and 344) offshore the southern Central American Volcanic Arc (CAVA). Eight drill sites are located on the incoming Cocos plate and ten drill sites on the continental slope of the Caribbean plate. In total we examined ∼840 ash-bearing horizons and identified ∼650 of these as primary ash beds of which 430 originated from the CAVA. Correlations of ash beds were established between marine cores and with terrestrial tephra deposits, using major and trace element glass compositions with respect to relative stratigraphic order. As a prerequisite for marine-terrestrial correlations we present a new geochemical data set for significant Neogene and Quaternary Costa Rican tephras. Moreover, new Ar/Ar ages for marine tephras have been determined and marine ash beds are also dated using the pelagic sedimentation rates. The resulting correlations and provenance analyses build a tephrochronostratigraphic framework for Costa Rica and Nicaragua that covers the last >8 Myr. We define 39 correlations of marine ash beds to specific tephra formations in Costa Rica and Nicaragua; from the 4.15 Ma Lower Sandillal Ignimbrite to the 3.5 ka Rincón de la Vieja Tephra from Costa Rica, as well as another 32 widely distributed tephra layers for which their specific region of origin along Costa Rica and Nicaragua can be constrained