Design and Control of a Peristaltic Pump to Simulate Left Atrial Pressure in a Conductive Silicone Model

According to the CDC, atrial fibrillation is responsible for more than 454,000 hospitalizations and approximately 158,000 deaths per year. A common treatment for atrial fibrillation is catheter ablation, a process in which a long flexible tube is guided through the femoral artery and to the source of arrhythmia in the heart, where it measures the electrical potential at various locations and converts problematic heart tissue to scar tissue via ablation. This paper details the design and control of a low-cost ($400) peristaltic pump system using repetitive control to replicate blood pressure in the left atrium in a conductive silicone model for use in modeling catheter ablation. Using repetitive control, an average root-mean-square error of 0.038 psi was achieved

Electoral guerrilla theatre in the 2015 UK general election: critique, legitimacy and incorporation in the news coverage of celebrity election campaigns

The involvement of celebrities in politics raises issues of legitimacy and representation, and fuels concern over the impact on traditional or conventional political activity. This paper analyses the 2015 UK general election campaigns of the comedian Al Murray, who stood against UKIP leader Nigel Farage, and the artist Bob and Roberta Smith, who stood in the constituency of Conservative minister Michael Gove. Conceptions of public representation via Nancy Fraser’s notion of subaltern counterpublics are considered, and definitions of celebrity politics are briefly explored. Each of these celebrity candidates displayed elements of theatricality in their campaign techniques, and the paper argues that while the campaigns could be seen as a form of electoral guerrilla theatre, the news coverage of the period leading up to the election suggests that neither campaign provided the kind of critical satirical edge that such a term might suggest. Consequently they were incorporated into the electoral process rather than providing any direct challenge to it

Legitimacy and the celebrity single-issue candidate

While news coverage of General Elections can be argued to 'crowd out' other topics of public interest in the public sphere, some saw the election as an opportunity to attract publicity to a cause. The artist Bob and Roberta Smith stood in Michael Gove's Surrey Heath constituency in protest at the coalition’s changes to the education curriculum downgrading the importance of art, while the comedian Al Murray’s 'Pub Landlord' candidacy in South Thanet was presented, perhaps more ambiguously, as a satirical criticism of fellow candidate Nigel Farage (the initials of Murray's 'Free United Kingdom Party' (FUKP) illustrating the blunt nature of any ironical intent). Murray's manifesto pledged to brick up the channel tunnel using British bricks and Polish workers; Smith’s platform was built around placing art at the centre of the curriculum. Towards the end of the campaign, and notwithstanding the final outcome, legitimacy - in the sense of the various potential parliamentary combinations of the main parties - became a key media topic. To what extent was the legitimacy of candidates such as Murray and Smith questioned

A comparative evaluation of algorithms for discovering translational patterns in Baroque keyboard works

We consider the problem of intra-opus pattern discovery, that is, the task of discovering patterns of a specified type within a piece of music. A music analyst undertook this task for works by Domenico Scarlattti and Johann Sebastian Bach, forming a benchmark of 'target' patterns. The performance of two existing algorithms and one of our own creation, called SIACT, is evaluated by comparison with this benchmark. SIACT out-performs the existing algorithms with regard to recall and, more often than not, precision. It is demonstrated that in all but the most carefully selected excerpts of music, the two existing algorithms can be affected by what is termed the 'problem of isolated membership'. Central to the relative success of SIACT is our intention that it should address this particular problem. The paper contrasts string-based and geometric approaches to pattern discovery, with an introduction to the latter. Suggestions for future work are given

The first confirmed superoutburst of the SU UMa type dwarf nova SDSS J083931.35+282824.0

We report unfiltered CCD photometry of the first confirmed superoutburst of the recently discovered dwarf nova, SDSS J083931.35+282824.0 in April 2010. From a quiescence magnitude of ~19.8 it rose to 14.0, an outburst amplitude of at least 5.8 magnitudes. Only the plateau phase of the outburst was observed during which superhumps with peak-to-peak amplitude of up to 0.28 magnitudes were present, confirming this to be an SU UMa type dwarf nova. The mean superhump period was Psh = 0.07836(2) during the first 3 days and this subsequently decreased to 0.07800(3) d. Analysis of the data revealed tentative evidence for an orbital period Porb = 0.07531(25) d. The fractional superhump period excess was epsilon = 0.039(6), which is consistent with other dwarf novae of similar orbital period.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in the Journal of the British Astronomical Associatio

Collaborative Venture: Foundry Practice in the Age of Austerity

This presentation will talk about a collaborative venture between fine art foundry programs at West Virginia University and Fairmont State University. The presentation by Professors Collins and Entwistle will be followed by a group discussion and participatory session led by Kurt Dyrhaug of the Texas Atomic Iron Commission, regarding the founding of an east coast foundry/sculptor\u27s guild