Mass Spectroscopy of Organic Compounds

The mass spectra of twelve dihydro-1,3-benzothiazines and six dihydro-1,3-benzoxazines are recorded. A brief discussion of the particular fragmentations of a few of these is given. The majority of the compounds have a substituted phenyl group on the 2-position of the oxazine or thiazine ring. These compounds fragment in a characteristic fashion in the mass spectrometer which can be described as a retro-Diels-Alder reaction. The relative abundances of the ions produced by this are related to the electron donating power of the substituents on the 2-phenyl group and the conclusion is reached that the phenyl ring opens on electron impact - which is in contrast to the findings of previous workers who studied the effect of substituents on the electron-impact-induced dissociation of aromatic ketones. A study of the relative rates of formation of ions produced by the retro-Diels-Alder reaction reveals that this is a two-step process and that a different bond is initially broken in the two series of compounds

Telehealth-Based Gay-Affirmative Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Young Gay and Bisexual Men in the Rural South

Young rural gay and bisexual men suffer a disproportionate burden of psychiatric disorders compared to their urban and heterosexual counterparts because of the increased stigma-related stressors they face. Co-occurring mental and behavioral health problems often affect them, including depression and substance use disorders. In two randomized controlled trials, a gay-affirmative cognitive behavioral therapy called Effective Skills to Empower Effective Men significantly decreased alcohol use, and improved mental health outcomes among urban gay and bisexual men by targeting stigma-related stress responses. However, the intervention’s efficacy has not been studied among rural populations. In a randomized controlled trial, we propose to deliver this intervention via telehealth to young gay and bisexual men with co-occurring mental and behavioral health problems in rural areas of the South. A successful ESTEEM trial among rural southern gay and bisexual men could address unmet mental health needs in other rural regions

Time perception, pacing and exercise intensity: maximal exercise distorts the perception of time

Introduction Currently there are no data examining the impact of exercise on the perception of time, which is surprising as optimal competitive performance is dependent on accurate pacing using knowledge of time elapsed. Methods With institutional ethics approval, 12 recreationally active adult participants (f = 7, m = 5) undertook both 30 s Wingate cycles and 20 min (1200 s) rowing ergometer bouts as short and long duration self-paced exercise trials, in each of three conditions on separate occasions: 1) light exertion: RPE 11, 2) heavy exertion: RPE 15, 3) maximal exertion: RPE 20. Participants were unaware of exercise duration and were required to verbally indicate when they perceived (subjective time) 1) 25%, 2) 50%, 3) 75% and 4) 100% of each bout's measured (chronological) time had elapsed. Results In response to the Wingate task, there was no difference between durations of subjective time at the 25%, nor at the 50% interval. However, at the 75% and 100% intervals, the estimate for the RPE 20 condition was shortest (P < 0.01). In response to rowing, there were no differences at the 25% interval, but there was some evidence that the RPE 20 condition was perceived shorter at 50%. At 75% and 100%, the RPE 20 condition was perceived to be shorter than both RPE 15 (P = 0.04) and RPE 11 (P = 0.008) conditions. Conclusion This study is the first to empirically demonstrate that exercise intensity distorts time perception, particularly during maximal exercise. Consequently external feedback of chronological time may be an important factor for athletes undertaking maximal effort tasks or competitions

An Approach to Tone Reproduction for Converting Transparencies to Reflection Prints

The purpose of this investigation was to study the useful criteria for converting transparencies to reflection prints, and examine the unavoidable departures from the criteria. A single useful criterion was found; that the relative brightness of the reproduction match those of the original. One significant compromise appeared to be in the shadow reproduction in low maximum density reflection prints. It was found that like reflection prints, transparencies do not typically reach relative brightnesses as low as zero. Thus, only a relatively small departure from the 1:1 criterion was likely . Flare in the camera system and viewing conditions limits the maximum density in transparencies to less than sensitometric curves indicate. A simple method for plotting transparency-to-print reproduction was proposed that encorporates the 1:1 relative brightness criterion

Segregation in social networks based on acquaintanceship and trust

Using newly collected data from the General Social Survey, we compare levels of segregation by race and along other potential dimensions of social cleavage for ties defined in terms of trust and acquaintanceship. We further estimate the size of the trust network and compare its size and structure to recent estimates obtained from the 2004 General Social Survey by McPherson et al. Americans are less disconnected than other recent evidence suggests. However, if racial segregation is the standard, then America is highly segregated across class and values dimensions as well as race and ethnicity. We further find that segregation is insensitive to tie strength. Scholars have long found homophily in close ties, while scholars such as Putnam have looked to weak ties for socially integrative bridging social capital. However, bridging social capital does not appear to be more plentiful for weak ties than it is for strong ties. --

WatkeRR - Robotic Research Platform and Machine Vision System: Design, Development and Construction

Rollators/wheeled walkers are a commonly used mobility aid that is utilized by people with a wide array of mobility challenges such as Alzheimer ’s disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and general loss of stability and control associated with ageing or injury. The main benefit of walkers is that they are low cost, have a simple design, and allow users to maintain independence and continued physical activity. The largest concern with walker use is that accidents and improper use can cause falls. Falls can have serious repercussions such as broken bones, soft tissue damage, further loss of mobility, and increased fear.The focus of this research is a continuation of previous work focused on making walkers safer through understanding the use of assistive automation. Walkers with the addition of automation are termed Robotic Rollator (RR).A significant amount of research has been already done on RR. Two main strategies for RR research is either modifying existing manual rollators or creating a custom RR from the ground up. Each option has its difficulties. The modified rollators have the problem that commercial walkers have such a wide variation in designs that sensor readings may not be transferable from one model to another model. From experience on an earlier iteration of the WatkeRR project, force and odometry measurements can be significantly affected by flexing and sliding of the lightweight frames. For these reasons it was decided that a custom RR would be used. This prompted the development of the Waterloo RoboticRollator (WatkeRR). The WatkeRR was built to be a platform for measuring and testing low-cost controls and sensors. The base frame is designed to be able to match existing dimensions of most, if not all, commercial rollators by adjusting to match height, width, handle position, and wheelbase. It was important that the controls and data collection systems are untethered to allow for use outside a lab. To make the project more accessible, the controls are modular and built on an open source control structure.The open source modular nature of the platform allows for parallel projects to be conducted at the same time. The following features are discussed: force sensing handles, modular caster wheels, wheel force loading, odometry, top-level human/WatkeRR control, Robot Operating System (ROS) integration/simulation, vision systems, and machine learning. Controlling the human/walker system is a challenging problem as the system can vary even during use. Change in the control of a walker is different for each user, including gripping, fatigue, injury, or walker type. The critical challenge of the control problem is the fact that the desired path of the user is not known. The data from a user can also vary depending on their physical and mental state. To be able to determine the desired path without direct input from the user three separate approaches can be utilized: 1) forces applied to the walker through the handles, 2) tracking position/pose of the user, and 3) detecting probable path to a known object. While the scope of determining user intent being larger than this thesis, a major focus will be on object detection. Determining what objects of interest are around a rollator allows for an insight into user intent.The use of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), a deep learning approach that has shown promise for object detection is a field that has recently been advancing rapidly. This advancement has enabled safer and more effective autonomous vehicles. The second part of this thesis focuses on enabling object detection on the WatkeRR and integrating into a larger control strategy. The challenges of CNN application to the WatkeRR is that it needs to be achieved with fewer sensors, lower cost components, and less processing power.The navigation of WatkeRR can be performed indoors or outdoors which, due to highly variable lighting conditions, can cause problems with a vision system. As well, moving in crowds is not as much of a well-defined problem as moving on roads with a car.Only a few years ago, to train a CNN to detect even simple cases required days or weeks and access to a supercomputer. Now, top-level retraining on a commercial GPU can take a few minutes. This top-level training utilizes existing inception network structures. My work covers methods for obtaining training data, comparisons to a wide array of different input data as well as a hierarchical structure for improving precision. A significant amount of current work on CNN is focused on black box approaches that can determine a large number of classes. The disadvantage of this is that training takes significantly longer and detection accuracy for specific classes can be lower. With the improved training data and the application of the proposed hierarchical structure being used to train an established network. You Only Look Once (YOLO) used for detecting and localizing a wide range of objects.The thesis concludes with a set of recommendations on how to utilize this network in the ROS and how it will be integrated into path planning

Pushing the limits of excited-state g-factor measurements

Current developments in excited-state g-factor measurements are discussed with an emphasis on cases where the experimental methodology is being extended into new regimes. The transient-field technique, the recoil in vacuum method, and moment measurements with LaBr3 detectors are discussed.This research was supported in part by the Australian Research Council grant numbers DP140102986, DP140103317 and DP70101673. B.P.M. T.J.G. and B.J.C. acknowledge the support of the Australian Government Research Training Program. Support for the Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility operations through the Australian National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) program is acknowledged