Multipurpose microcontroller design for PUGAS 2

This paper will report on the past year's work on the development of the microcontroller design for the second Purdue University small self-contained payload. A first report on this effort was given at last year's conference by Ritter (1985). At that time, the project was still at the conceptual stage. Now a specific design has been set, prototyping has begun, and layout of the two-sided circuit board using CAD-techniques is nearing completion. A redesign of the overall concept of the circuit board was done to take advantage of the facilities available to students. An additional controller has been added to take large quantities of data concerning the shuttle environment during takeoff. The importance of setting a design time-line is discussed along with the electrical design considerations given to the controllers

The effect of sodium and carbohydrate in a rehydration beverage when consumed as a meal on subsequent exercise performance

The purpose of this investigation was to assess whether a food (chicken noodle soup) consumed during the initial stages of recovery from exercise in the heat improves subsequent temperature regulation and exercise performance by improving fluid retention and restoring plasma volume close to euhydrated levels. Ten subjects were studied during 2 h of rehydration after a 2.7% body mass loss. In a randomized crossover design, subjects rehydrated with chicken noodle soup (Soup: 161.0 mmol/l Na+, 5.3 mmol/l K+) or sugar-free Kool AidRTM (14.4 mmol/l Na+, 1.6 mmol/l K+). Subjects ingested 175 ml at the start of rehydration and 20 min later; H2O was given every 20 min thereafter for a total volume equal to body mass loss during dehydration. At the end of the rehydration period, plasma volume and fluid balance were similar between treatments, although urine volume was greater in the Placebo trial (P = 0.06). Plasma osmolality (P \u3c 0.02) and plasma sodium (P \u3c 0.02) were significantly higher during rehydration in the Soup trial. After rehydration, subjects performed 30 min of steady state exercise (SSE) at 70% VO2peak followed by a time trial (TT) (30 min 70% VO2peak) with no further fluid intake. Neither beverage conferred cardiovascular or temperature regulation benefits during SSE. There was a trend for improved performance (P = 0.127) with soup ingestion (Soup 30.6 +/- 0.9 min; Placebo 32.2 +/- 1.5 min). Future research is needed to determine whether ad libitum rehydration during the rehydration period, SSE, and TT provides benefits in temperature regulation and exercise performance

THE EFFECT OF CONTRACTILE ACTIVITY AND SUBSTRATE CHALLENGES ON METABOLIC FLEXIBILITY IN HUMAN PRIMARY MYOTUBES

The skeletal muscle of severely obese individuals (BMI > 40 kg/m²) is characterized by a depressed ability to oxidize fatty acids and a failure to upregulate fatty acid oxidation (FAO) in response to increased lipid availability, both of which may contribute to a positive lipid balance and weight gain. The inability to switch from predominately glucose oxidation to FAO in the presence of a lipid challenge, such as a high-fat diet (HFD), is part of a defect in obesity known as metabolic inflexibility. In severe obesity, ten consecutive days of aerobic training (short-term training) partially restores metabolic flexibility by increasing the ability of skeletal muscle to oxidize fatty acids. The purpose of this dissertation was to determine a) whether contractile activity in human primary skeletal muscle cell culture (HSkMC) via electrical stimulation provides a model to investigate the mechanisms underlying the ability of short-term aerobic training to normalize FAO and provide some degree of metabolic flexibility in severely obese individuals and b) whether the metabolic inflexibility present in obesity is unique to a lipid challenge such as a HFD or whether obese individuals are also metabolically inflexible when challenged with carbohydrates (CHO) such as galactose or pyruvate. The hypotheses were that 1) HSkMC would provide a model to investigate how in vivo contractile activity increases FAO and markers of mitochondrial content in response to short-term aerobic training and 2) HSkMC from severely obese individuals would be metabolically flexible in response to galactose or pyruvate but would remain metabolically inflexible to a lipid challenge. The results contained herein suggest that contractile activity in HSkMC for 48 h may be capable of mimicking some of the short-term training effects such as increased FAO; however, a longer electrical stimulation period is warranted to initiate changes in mitochondrial content and oxidative capacity. Although comparisons between lean and obese were not made in this study, the results and recommendations of the present investigation have laid the groundwork for future studies to investigate the effect of electrical stimulation on HSkMC established from severely obese individuals. In the second study of this investigation, HSkMC established from severely obese individuals were found to be metabolically flexible in response to 24 h incubations with lipid, galactose, or pyruvate as evidenced by an increase in state 3 palmitoyl-carnitine malate (PCM₃) and FCCP stimulated respiration in response to all three substrates. Citrate synthase activity and OXPHOS protein content also increased whereas glucose utilization decreased in response to substrate challenges in both lean and obese groups. The volunteers in the second study were young and likely not far into the progression of metabolic disease, which may explain why metabolic flexibility remained intact in this population. Although limited by the inability to fully recapitulate true physiological conditions, human primary skeletal muscle culture is a novel tool for investigations into the mechanisms underlying metabolic inflexibility in obesity.Ph.D

Implementation and preliminary clinical outcomes of a pharmacist-managed venous thromboembolism clinic for patients treated with rivaroxaban post emergency department discharge

Objective To describe the implementation, work flow, and differences in outcomes between a pharmacist-managed clinic for the outpatient treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE) using rivaroxaban versus care by a primary care provider. Interventions Patients in the studied health system that are diagnosed with low-risk VTE in the emergency department are often discharged without hospital admission. These patients are treated with rivaroxban and follow up either in a pharmacist-managed VTE clinic or with their primary care provider. Pharmacists in the VTE clinic work independently under a collaborative practice agreement. An evaluation of thirty-four patients, seventeen in each treatment arm, was conducted to compare the differences in treatment-related outcomes of rivaroxaban when managed by a pharmacist versus a primary care provider. Results The primary endpoint was a six month composite of anticoagulation treatment-related complications that included a diagnosis of major bleeding, recurrent thromboembolism, or fatality due to either major bleeding or recurrent thromboembolism. Secondary endpoints included number of hospitalizations, adverse events, and medication adherence. There was no difference in the primary endpoint between groups with one occurrence of the composite endpoint in each treatment arm (p=1.000), both of which were recurrent thromboembolic events. Medication adherence assessment was formally performed in 8 patients in the pharmacist group versus 0 patients in the control group. No differences were seen amongst other secondary endpoints. Conclusions The pharmacist-managed clinic is a novel expansion of clinical pharmacy services that treats patients with low-risk VTEs with rivaroxaban in the outpatient setting. The evaluation of outcomes provides support that pharmacist-managed care utilizing standardized protocols under a collaborative practice agreement may be as safe as care by a primary care provider

Scientific mindfulness: a foundation for future themes in international business

We conceptualize new ways to qualify what themes should dominate the future IB research agenda by examining three questions: Whom should we ask? What should we ask and which selection criteria should we apply? What are the contextual forces? We propose scientific mindfulness as the way forward for generating themes in IB research

Three-Dimensional Reconstructions of Tadpole Chondrocrania from Histological Sections

Reconstructing three dimensional structures (3DR) from histological sections has always been difficult but is becoming more accessible with the assistance of digital imaging. We sought to assemble a low cost system using readily available hardware and software to generate 3DR for a study of tadpole chondrocrania. We found that a combination of RGB camera, stereomicroscope, and Apple Macintosh PowerPC computers running NIH Image, Object Image, Rotater. and SURFdriver software provided acceptable reconstructions. These are limited in quality primarily by the distortions arising from histological protocols rather than hardware or software

Mitochondrial Respiratory Capacity and Content Are Normal in Young Insulin-Resistant Obese Humans

Considerable debate exists about whether alterations in mitochondrial respiratory capacity and/or content play a causal role in the development of insulin resistance during obesity. The current study was undertaken to determine whether such alterations are present during the initial stages of insulin resistance in humans. Young (∼23 years) insulin-sensitive lean and insulin-resistant obese men and women were studied. Insulin resistance was confirmed through an intravenous glucose tolerance test. Measures of mitochondrial respiratory capacity and content as well as H(2)O(2) emitting potential and the cellular redox environment were performed in permeabilized myofibers and primary myotubes prepared from vastus lateralis muscle biopsy specimens. No differences in mitochondrial respiratory function or content were observed between lean and obese subjects, despite elevations in H(2)O(2) emission rates and reductions in cellular glutathione. These findings were apparent in permeabilized myofibers as well as in primary myotubes. The results suggest that reductions in mitochondrial respiratory capacity and content are not required for the initial manifestation of peripheral insulin resistance

Semiconductor thermal and electrical properties decoupled by localized phonon resonances

Thermoelectric materials convert heat into electricity through thermally driven charge transport in solids, or vice versa for cooling. To be competitive with conventional energy-generation technologies, a thermoelectric material must possess the properties of both an electrical conductor and a thermal insulator. However, these properties are normally mutually exclusive because of the interconnection of the scattering mechanisms for charge carriers and phonons. Recent theoretical investigations on sub-device scales have revealed that silicon membranes covered by nanopillars exhibit a multitude of local phonon resonances, spanning the full spectrum, that couple with the heat-carrying phonons in the membrane and collectively cause a reduction in the in-plane thermal conductivity$-$while, in principle, not affecting the electrical properties because the nanopillars are external to the pathway of voltage generation and charge transport. Here this effect is demonstrated experimentally for the first time by investigating device-scale suspended silicon membranes with GaN nanopillars grown on the surface. The nanopillars cause up to 21 % reduction in the thermal conductivity while the electrical conductivity and the Seebeck coefficient remain unaffected, thus demonstrating an unprecedented decoupling in the semiconductor's thermoelectric properties. The measured thermal conductivity behavior for coalesced nanopillars and corresponding lattice-dynamics calculations provide further evidence that the reductions are mechanistically tied to the phonon resonances. This finding breaks a longstanding trade-off between competing properties in thermoelectricity and paves the way for engineered high-efficiency solid-state energy recovery and cooling

Should patients with abnormal liver function tests in primary care be tested for chronic viral hepatitis: cost minimisation analysis based on a comprehensively tested cohort

Background Liver function tests (LFTs) are ordered in large numbers in primary care, and the Birmingham and Lambeth Liver Evaluation Testing Strategies (BALLETS) study was set up to assess their usefulness in patients with no pre-existing or self-evident liver disease. All patients were tested for chronic viral hepatitis thereby providing an opportunity to compare various strategies for detection of this serious treatable disease. Methods This study uses data from the BALLETS cohort to compare various testing strategies for viral hepatitis in patients who had received an abnormal LFT result. The aim was to inform a strategy for identification of patients with chronic viral hepatitis. We used a cost-minimisation analysis to define a base case and then calculated the incremental cost per case detected to inform a strategy that could guide testing for chronic viral hepatitis. Results Of the 1,236 study patients with an abnormal LFT, 13 had chronic viral hepatitis (nine hepatitis B and four hepatitis C). The strategy advocated by the current guidelines (repeating the LFT with a view to testing for specific disease if it remained abnormal) was less efficient (more expensive per case detected) than a simple policy of testing all patients for viral hepatitis without repeating LFTs. A more selective strategy of viral testing all patients for viral hepatitis if they were born in countries where viral hepatitis was prevalent provided high efficiency with little loss of sensitivity. A notably high alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level (greater than twice the upper limit of normal) on the initial ALT test had high predictive value, but was insensitive, missing half the cases of viral infection. Conclusions Based on this analysis and on widely accepted clinical principles, a "fast and frugal" heuristic was produced to guide general practitioners with respect to diagnosing cases of viral hepatitis in asymptomatic patients with abnormal LFTs. It recommends testing all patients where a clear clinical indication of infection is present (e.g. evidence of intravenous drug use), followed by testing all patients who originated from countries where viral hepatitis is prevalent, and finally testing those who have a notably raised ALT level (more than twice the upper limit of normal). Patients not picked up by this efficient algorithm had a risk of chronic viral hepatitis that is lower than the general population

Deep Neural Networks for Energy and Position Reconstruction in EXO-200

We apply deep neural networks (DNN) to data from the EXO-200 experiment. In the studied cases, the DNN is able to reconstruct the relevant parameters - total energy and position - directly from raw digitized waveforms, with minimal exceptions. For the first time, the developed algorithms are evaluated on real detector calibration data. The accuracy of reconstruction either reaches or exceeds what was achieved by the conventional approaches developed by EXO-200 over the course of the experiment. Most existing DNN approaches to event reconstruction and classification in particle physics are trained on Monte Carlo simulated events. Such algorithms are inherently limited by the accuracy of the simulation. We describe a unique approach that, in an experiment such as EXO-200, allows to successfully perform certain reconstruction and analysis tasks by training the network on waveforms from experimental data, either reducing or eliminating the reliance on the Monte Carlo.Comment: Accepted version. 33 pages, 28 figure