Automated U-Bolt Inspection System

Consolidated Metal Products has a unique cold-forming process to create U-bolts that makes themthe industry leader in U-bolt production. This process has a tendency to create cracks due to high residualstresses. The senior design team researched several methods of crack detection including ultrasonic, dyepenetrant, and visual camera inspection. The conventional ultrasonic method was tested by NDT systems inhouse and was shown to work with the curvature of the U-bolt. Fluorescent dye penetrant was tested byapplying the dye to the bolts with, and without cracks in them and then observed the difference in light valuesin and out of the cracks. Camera inspection was tested statistically by comparing light intensity values insideand out of crack areas on gathered images without the application of dye. After testing these methods, camerainspection was chosen through the use of a selection matrix. In The senior design, the team began withconstruction of a controlled lighting environment box for taking photographs of U-bolts. A Matlab code wasformed to compare light intensity values of bolt images and to work in unison with an Arduino to outputseparate signals for normal and defective U-Bolts. The Matlab code also automatically analyzed images takenby the camera. The Matlab code was then tested with sample bolts. Threshold light values were obtained tooptimize the system’s ability to detect cracks

Potential effects of financial conflicts of interest of speakers at the Pulmonary/Allergy Drug Advisory meetings

Rationale: The Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee (PADAC) evaluates the safety and efficacy of new drugs used in the treatment of pulmonary, allergic, and immunologic diseases. Previous studies have shown, however, that positive recommendations from advisory committees are associated with drug approval by the FDA in up to 79% of cases.Objective: To investigate the relationship between FCOI among public speakers and their recommendations for the drug under review at PADAC meetings and to determine whether the number of speakers and the number of speakers with FOCI were related to PADAC voting patterns.Methods: We included the testimonies of all public speakers at the PADAC meetings from November 2009 to May 2019 using verbatim transcripts deposited on the FDA website. We used a pilot tested Google form to perform blinded, independent data extraction for each speaker. An ordered logistic regression was performed with each speaker's overall statement about the drug — negative, positive or neutral — serving as the dependent variable. Independent variables included whether the speaker was taking the drug in question, whether the speaker had the disorder treated by the drug, and whether the speaker disclosed a FCOI. Stata 15.1 was used for all analyses.Results: From 16 PADAC meetings, we extracted data for 128 speakers. From all meetings included in our sample, 38% (49/128) disclosed a FCOI. Our ordered logistic regression model found that speakers who disclosed a FCOI were significantly more likely to give a positive testimony than those who did not (OR = 5.13, 95% CI = 1.83—14.37, P < 0.001) and that speakers who had the disorder for which the drug was taken were significantly more likely to provide positive testimony than speakers who did not have the disorder (OR=5.49, 95% CI = 1.84 — 14.37, P < .01).Conclusion: Our findings suggest that public speakers who have FCOI are more likely to recommend drugs for approval, at least within the context of PADAC. However, these findings combined with others show a consistent effect. Greater efforts are needed to understand the effects of public speakers on voting behaviors. Changes to the current guidance on FDA FCOI disclosure are needed, and the future role of public speakers should be questioned

HD 35502: a hierarchical triple system with a magnetic B5IVpe primary

We present our analysis of HD~35502 based on high- and medium-resolution spectropolarimetric observations. Our results indicate that the magnetic B5IVsnp star is the primary component of a spectroscopic triple system and that it has an effective temperature of $18.4\pm0.6\,{\rm kK}$, a mass of $5.7\pm0.6\,M_\odot$, and a polar radius of $3.0^{+1.1}_{-0.5}\,R_\odot$. The two secondary components are found to be essentially identical A-type stars for which we derive effective temperatures ($8.9\pm0.3\,{\rm kK}$), masses ($2.1\pm0.2\,M_\odot$), and radii ($2.1\pm0.4\,R_\odot$). We infer a hierarchical orbital configuration for the system in which the secondary components form a tight binary with an orbital period of $5.66866(6)\,{\rm d}$ that orbits the primary component with a period of over $40\,{\rm yrs}$. Least-Squares Deconvolution (LSD) profiles reveal Zeeman signatures in Stokes $V$ indicative of a longitudinal magnetic field produced by the B star ranging from approximately $-4$ to $0\,{\rm kG}$ with a median uncertainty of $0.4\,{\rm kG}$. These measurements, along with the line variability produced by strong emission in H$\alpha$, are used to derive a rotational period of $0.853807(3)\,{\rm d}$. We find that the measured $v\sin{i}=75\pm5\,{\rm km\,s}^{-1}$ of the B star then implies an inclination angle of the star's rotation axis to the line of sight of $24^{+6}_{-10}\degree$. Assuming the Oblique Rotator Model, we derive the magnetic field strength of the B star's dipolar component ($14^{+9}_{-3}\,{\rm kG}$) and its obliquity ($63\pm13\degree$). Furthermore, we demonstrate that the calculated Alfv\'{e}n radius ($41^{+17}_{-6}\,R_\ast$) and Kepler radius ($2.1^{+0.4}_{-0.7}\,R_\ast$) place HD~35502's central B star well within the regime of centrifugal magnetosphere-hosting stars.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

Publication trends among internal medicine residents, fellows, and graduates and its relationship to future academic achievement

Background: Medical research is essential for establishing evidence-based care and furthering clinical practice knowledge for the success of physicians. For example, research is considered a scholarly activity by the American College of Graduate Medical Education and is a requirement during residency (1). Furthermore, research is used as a tool to measure academic success given that it allows for a qualitative measure for residency and fellowship applications. Publication trends among internal medicine have previously been studied (2,3); however, our follow-up study also adjusts for gender when comparing research success and outcomes. Our primary objective is to assess the influence that research in medical school has on residency success by analyzing fellowship placement, h-index scores, and continued research success measured by publications.Methods: Using Doximity residency navigator, we reviewed internal medicine graduates from 50 randomly sampled residency programs. From each included program, publicly available graduate records were obtained and included for identification of each graduate. After extracting our list of graduates, each graduate was searched on SCOPUS for degree, gender, fellowship pursued, h-index, academics pursued, and publications. Microsoft Excel and Stata 15.1 were used for all statistical analysis functions.Results: Our initial search of internal medicine residency programs yielded 530 programs of which we randomly sampled 50 programs. Among the 50 programs, 328 graduates were identified and included in our analysis. Over half of our sample were males with the most common fellowship pursued being cardiology (Table 1). Graduates with first authorship publication prior to residency were more likely to pursue a fellowship or go into academic medicine (Table 2).Conclusion: Our study found that graduates with primary author publication before residency were more likely to go into academic medicine or pursue a fellowship after internal medicine residency. Given that Internal medicine provides several options following residency, research provides a qualitative measure of academic performance and future success. Our study highlighted no difference among gender and future career success. These results are comparable to other studies (2,3). In conclusion, total publications, first author publication, and h-index scores independently indicate a significant positive correlation in pursuing a fellowship or academic medicine after residency