469 research outputs found

    Direct-to-Patient Survey for Diagnosis of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo

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    Given the high incidence of dizziness and its frequent misdiagnosis, we aim to create a clinical support system to classify the presence or absence of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo with high accuracy and specificity. This paper describes a three-phase study currently underway for classification of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, which includes diagnosis by a specialist in a clinical setting. Patient background information is collected by a survey on an Android tablet and machine learning techniques are applied for classification. Decision trees and wrappers are employed for their ability to provide information about the question set. One goal of the study is to attain an optimal question set. Each phase of the study presents a unique set and style of questions. Results achieved in the first two phases of the survey indicate that our approach using decision trees with filters or wrappers does a good job of identifying benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

    Body Image in LGBTQ+ Young Adults: Current and Developmental Influences

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    HonorsPsychologyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/169412/1/arichbur.pd

    The value hierarchies of J.R.R. Tolkien and his legacy: a reimagining of fantasy fiction and the propagation of colonial racism

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    J.R.R. Tolkien’s impact on modern fantasy fiction is remarkable. However, while some of the changes to the genre ushered in by Tolkien’s work are positive, other aspects of his legacy are more problematic. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion are based on his colonial worldview. They are biographical in that Tolkien draws heavily from his life experience to tell his stories. The biographical influence manifests in a hierarchical representation of everything from trees and their ancestry to the elves, humans, dwarves, hobbits, and orcs that populate his fiction. The hierarchies are value structures and the nearer to the top of the value structure, the more agency is attributed to the character. The hierarchy of people is particularly problematic because it is built on nineteenth and early twentieth century ideologies of race inequality. The popularity of Tolkien’s fantasy fiction and its impact on the genre have allowed these ideologies to become embedded in fantasy fiction and propagate colonial racist ideas in the fantasy fiction genre

    Assessing Options For Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Increasing Energy Production From Municipal Solid Waste Utilizing EPA Models

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    The population of the planet surpassed the 8-billion-person mark in 2022, and the increase in population has brought about an increase in waste, both household and commercial. The municipal solid waste that is created is primarily stored in landfills, particularly in the United States. These landfills release methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, creating what is known as anthropogenic emissions, due to their being caused by man-made issues. These two primary gases, along with others, make up greenhouse gases, and their reduction is key to potentially reducing or even reversing the greenhouse effect. Total municipal solid waste generation in the United States reached 292.4 million tons in 2018, which was an increase from the 268.7 million tons in 2017. Of the 292.4 million tons in 2018, over 146 million tons were sent to landfills, over 69 million tons were recycled, and 34 million tons were combusted for energy. The large amount of waste sent to landfills creates a significant opportunity to avoid emissions, increase energy savings, produce energy through renewable energy, and create wage impacts, or employment, by way of recycling. The opportunity to study the avoidance of emissions, energy savings, and wage or employment impact, comes from a life-cycle analysis of the municipal solid waste. The studying of potential energy production will come from the emissions generated by the landfill over its lifespan. This dissertation will address both life-cycle analysis and landfill gas generation in the form of modeling. The life-cycle analysis will utilize an EPA model called the Waste Reduction Model (WARM), which takes a cradle-to-grave approach and analyzes alternatives to the current waste management methodology. The Landfill Gas Emissions Model (LandGEM) provides an estimation of the gases from the municipal solid waste landfill, which will then be utilized to provide an energy potential estimate. The dissertation will evaluate the models with the primary goal of producing a practical option or strategy to simulate the largest quantity of emissions avoided, the largest possible energy savings, and greatest renewable energy potential

    Evaluation of Crop Tolerance and Weed Control in Corn and Grain Sorghum with Atrazine Replacements

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    Atrazine is a foundational herbicide for weed control in both corn (Zea mays L.) and grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] production. However, studies have shown that while atrazine may be an effective herbicide for preemergence and postemergence control of weeds, it also has risks. The low Koc of atrazine as well as its extensive use over the past 50 years have led it to become the most common groundwater contaminant near agricultural soils. Given these findings, atrazine has faced severe scrutiny while under consideration for reregistration. In the event that atrazine is not reregistered, corn and grain sorghum producers will be forced to seek alternative herbicides for weed control. Therefore, research was conducted in 2017 and 2018 to test the tolerance of corn and grain sorghum to other photosystem II-inhibiting herbicides in combination with other herbicides and also to test weed control with and without atrazine in corn production systems. When applied preemergence in grain sorghum, all PSII herbicides tested reduced grain sorghum yield compared to atrazine treatments. However, when applied postemergence, diuron, fluometuron, linuron, metribuzin, prometryn, propazine, and simazine did not cause grain sorghum to suffer yield loss when compared to atrazine-containing treatments. When applied preemergence in corn, diuron, linuron, metribuzin, and simazine did not cause yield loss to corn when compared to atrazine. However, when applied postemergence in corn, only corn treated with metribuzin and simazine yielded comparable to corn treated with atrazine. Weed control studies displayed that Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Wats), pitted morningglory (Ipomoea lacunosa L.), and broadleaf signalgrass [Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv.] can all be controlled without atrazine; however, weed density was low in these studies. This research demonstrates some potential PSII-inhibiting herbicides should be further evaluated to assist corn and grain sorghum producers in controlling weeds if atrazine is not reregistered or its use is severely limited

    Going in Circles: An Exploration of Functions into the Circle Group

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    We investigate the properties of functions into the circle group. The circle group is given by the factor group R/Z. Functions into the circle group have real-valued domain and R/Z co-domain. Every real-valued function has an analogous function into the circle group. By wrapping the graph of a real-valued function around a horizontal cylinder with a circumference of one, we visualize the analogous function into the circle group. How does wrapping a real-valued function around such a cylinder affect the function outputs, limits, continuity, and rate of change? Function outputs are naturally transformed to reside on a circle with a circumference of one. Consequently, while every real-valued function has an analogous function into the circle group, this transformation is not one-to-one, i.e. two non-equal real-valued functions may have equal analogous functions into the circle group. Function limits, continuity, and rate of change are preserved with respect to this transformation. More interestingly, we find that for some real-valued functions non-existent limits become existent for the analogous functions into the circle group. Similarly, some discontinuous real-valued functions have continuous analogous functions into the circle group, and some non-differentiable real-valued functions have differentiable analogous functions into the circle group

    Manipulating Light: Creating a Biomimetic Photonic Crystal Material Inspired by the Chameleon

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    The purpose of this project is to create a chameleon-inspired biomimetic material using guanine crystals and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to form a tunable photonic crystal and then characterize the material. The method for developing this material is to first synthesize a photonic crystal made of a guanine microsphere lattice. Then embed the guanine lattice in PDMS. Since PDMS is an elastomer, it can be stretched to adjust the spacing between the guanine crystals. This should allow for the photonic crystal to be adjusted similarly to the way that the chameleon adjusts the photonic crystal in its skin by changing the spacing between the guanine particles. The material is characterized primarily through qualitative observations and scanning electron microscopy. It will be shown that the guanine microspheres are successfully synthesized. Two potential methods for embedding the guanine microspheres in PDMS are developed, experimented with, and explained. A third potential method is explored, but no experimentation was done with this method

    Economics of Aflatoxin Risk Management in Corn in Texas

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    Atoxigenics and crop insurance are available to producers to reduce economic loss from aflatoxin contamination in corn. Atoxigenics have shown in both test and practice to reduce aflatoxin contamination in corn. There have been a few studies on the economic feasibility of atoxigenics. This study expands a previous study that analyzed the economics of using atoxigenics for aflatoxin control in Bell County, Texas. The current study expands the previous study to other major corn producing districts in Texas. The current study also implements the One Sample Strategy aflatoxin testing method. The objective of this study is to perform an economic analysis on the decision to use atoxigenic treatments on a corn crop and to evaluate the economic outcomes at different crop insurance coverage levels for corn production in Texas. The study used a risk based partial budget simulation model combined with an aflatoxin contamination simulation model to complete a risk analysis on the decision to use atoxigenics in various agricultural districts in Texas. Field-level data for aflatoxin contamination comes from Bell County, Texas. The aflatoxin distributions for the Blacklands were adjusted to reflect the relative mean and variance indicated by Isakeit’s ranking of aflatoxin incidence for the remaining districts. Net incomes of a representative farm of 500 acres were simulated with and without atoxigenic treatments. Each scenario was simulated across a range of crop insurance options available to corn producers in their respective agricultural districts in Texas. A total of 882 scenarios were simulated and compared based on net income. Results show that, prior to crop insurance, atoxigenics provide financial benefits for seven of the nine Texas agricultural districts in the study. The treated non-insured net incomes of the Blacklands, Coastal Bend, Edwards Plateau, Lower Valley, South Central, South Texas, and Upper Coast districts were 10/acreto10/acre to 40/acre higher than the untreated non-insured net incomes of the same districts. The Northern High Plains and Southern High Plains districts’ results show that it is not cost effective to use atoxigenics. The treated non-insured net incomes from the Northern High Plains and Southern High Plains were 4.07/acreand4.07/acre and 7.43/acre lower, respectively, than the untreated non-insured net incomes from the same districts. When crop insurance was incorporated into the model, the results show that six of the nine agricultural districts have financial incentives to use atoxigenics for aflatoxin control. The Blacklands, Coastal Bend, Edwards Plateau, Lower Valley, South Central, and Upper Coast districts had higher net incomes for treated scenarios than non-treated scenarios. The South Texas, Northern High Plains, and Southern High Plains had higher net incomes for non-treated scenarios than treated scenarios
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