In-line Monitoring of Lubricant Addition Through Passive Vibration Measurements in a V-blender

Process analytical technologies can improve product monitoring and process efficiency in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Passive vibration measurements were evaluated for their potential as a technique to monitor lubricant dispersal in a V-blender. An accelerometer was attached to the lid of a V-blender shell to measure vibrations from particle collisions. Lubricants formed a layer around the surface of particles, altering energy dissipation upon impact. With mixing, vibrational amplitudes approached a stable value indicating a mixing end-point. Mixing profiles were sensitive to changes in particle type, particle size and distribution, and lubricant concentrations for ideal particles and pharmaceutical granules. Axial loading configurations provided better mixing performance compared to radial configurations. An optimal fill level for effective convective mixing was determined through vibration measurements. Overall, this research demonstrated the potential of using passive vibration measurements as a monitoring technique for lubricant dispersal in pharmaceutical manufacturing to improve control and efficiency of the mixing process

Senior Recital: Cameron Austin, percussion, To Sober and Quiet the Mind: The Music of John Cage

This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Bachelor of Music in Music Education. Mr. Austin studies percussion with John Lawless.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1183/thumbnail.jp

Feasibility Evaluation of Commercially Available Video Conferencing Devices to Technically Direct Untrained Nonmedical Personnel to Perform a Rapid Trauma Ultrasound Examination.

Introduction: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a rapidly expanding discipline that has proven to be a valuable modality in the hospital setting. Recent evidence has demonstrated the utility of commercially available video conferencing technologies, namely, FaceTime (Apple Inc, Cupertino, CA, USA) and Google Glass (Google Inc, Mountain View, CA, USA), to allow an expert POCUS examiner to remotely guide a novice medical professional. However, few studies have evaluated the ability to use these teleultrasound technologies to guide a nonmedical novice to perform an acute care POCUS examination for cardiac, pulmonary, and abdominal assessments. Additionally, few studies have shown the ability of a POCUS-trained cardiac anesthesiologist to perform the role of an expert instructor. This study sought to evaluate the ability of a POCUS-trained anesthesiologist to remotely guide a nonmedically trained participant to perform an acute care POCUS examination. Methods: A total of 21 nonmedically trained undergraduate students who had no prior ultrasound experience were recruited to perform a three-part ultrasound examination on a standardized patient with the guidance of a remote expert who was a POCUS-trained cardiac anesthesiologist. The examination included the following acute care POCUS topics: (1) cardiac function via parasternal long/short axis views, (2) pneumothorax assessment via pleural sliding exam via anterior lung views, and (3) abdominal free fluid exam via right upper quadrant abdominal view. Each examiner was given a handout with static images of probe placement and actual ultrasound images for the three views. After a brief 8 min tutorial on the teleultrasound technologies, a connection was established with the expert, and they were guided through the acute care POCUS exam. Each view was deemed to be complete when the expert sonographer was satisfied with the obtained image or if the expert sonographer determined that the image could not be obtained after 5 min. Image quality was scored on a previously validated 0 to 4 grading scale. The entire session was recorded, and the image quality was scored during the exam by the remote expert instructor as well as by a separate POCUS-trained, blinded expert anesthesiologist. Results: A total of 21 subjects completed the study. The average total time for the exam was 8.5 min (standard deviation = 4.6). A comparison between the live expert examiner and the blinded postexam reviewer showed a 100% agreement between image interpretations. A review of the exams rated as three or higher demonstrated that 87% of abdominal, 90% of cardiac, and 95% of pulmonary exams achieved this level of image quality. A satisfaction survey of the novice users demonstrated higher ease of following commands for the cardiac and pulmonary exams compared to the abdominal exam. Conclusions: The results from this pilot study demonstrate that nonmedically trained individuals can be guided to complete a relevant ultrasound examination within a short period. Further evaluation of using telemedicine technologies to promote POCUS should be evaluated

Senior Recital: Catherine Flinchum, flute

This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Bachelor of Music in Performance. Ms. Flinchum studies flute with Christina Smith.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1510/thumbnail.jp

Senior Recital: Cameron Austin, jazz percussion

This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Bachelor of Music in Performance. Mr. Austin studies jazz percussion with Justin Chesarek.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1789/thumbnail.jp

Junior Recital: Nicolas Franz, jazz guitar

This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Bachelor of Music in Performance. Mr. Franz studies guitar with Trey Wright.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1475/thumbnail.jp

Self-Assembly of Any Shape with Constant Tile Types using High Temperature

Inspired by nature and motivated by a lack of top-down tools for precise nanoscale manufacture, self-assembly is a bottom-up process where simple, unorganized components autonomously combine to form larger more complex structures. Such systems hide rich algorithmic properties - notably, Turing universality - and a self-assembly system can be seen as both the object to be manufactured as well as the machine controlling the manufacturing process. Thus, a benchmark problem in self-assembly is the unique assembly of shapes: to design a set of simple agents which, based on aggregation rules and random movement, self-assemble into a particular shape and nothing else. We use a popular model of self-assembly, the 2-handed or hierarchical tile assembly model, and allow the existence of repulsive forces, which is a well-studied variant. The technique utilizes a finely-tuned temperature (the minimum required affinity required for aggregation of separate complexes). We show that calibrating the temperature and the strength of the aggregation between the tiles, one can encode the shape to be assembled without increasing the number of distinct tile types. Precisely, we show one tile set for which the following holds: for any finite connected shape S, there exists a setting of binding strengths between tiles and a temperature under which the system uniquely assembles S at some scale factor. Our tile system only uses one repulsive glue type and the system is growth-only (it produces no unstable assemblies). The best previous unique shape assembly results in tile assembly models use O(K(S)/(log K(S))) distinct tile types, where K(S) is the Kolmogorov (descriptional) complexity of the shape S

Investigating the Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training on Baroreflex Sensitivity

Cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity (cvBRS) is known to be influenced by endurance exercise. In fact, endurance exercisers typically display a greater cvBRS compared to sedentary controls. Despite the merits of endurance training, adherence to exercise is a problem for many individuals. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) protocols generally involve less time and work completed while imparting similar cardiovascular responses compared to endurance training. To our current knowledge, the findings of HIIT and cvBRS have been equivocal. This study investigated the effects of 12-weeks of HIIT on cvBRS and the relationship between cvBRS and measures of arterial stiffness in 16 young, healthy males. Following HIIT, cvBRS appeared to be unchanged along with most measures of arterial stiffness (carotid to femoral pulse wave velocity, common carotid artery (CCA) distensibility, and compliance); however, CCA intima-media thickness (IMT) significantly improved. Systolic blood pressure, a major determinant of cvBRS, was unchanged, while resting heart rate appeared to improve following 12-weeks of HIIT. Therefore, these findings suggest that in this sample, 12-weeks of HIIT does not appear to influence cvBRS