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Nuclear Power Source for Mars Base TEMPR
Get PDFTeam 12 was tasked with designing a nuclear power system to power a crewed base on Mars. The power system must be robust, reliable, modular, and require minimal maintenance. In September 2022, the team began by conducting research and discovery. Early research into Mars outpost power requirements and environmental factors led to the formation of design specifications. The requirements included a 150 kWe power requirement for a 4 person crewed base, a 30 year lifespan, and requirements for Mars wind speeds, emitted radiation, waste heat reprocessing, and core neutronics properties. Literature and patent searches were then conducted, sparking ideation within the group. In November 2022, the group began designing a CO2 cooled reactor, presenting preliminary designs in December 2022. In February 2023, the team picked up work on the design and began planning a final goal for the concept. Throughout the coming months, testing was conducted on various components, informing design and requirement changes. Testing was conducted with computer based simulation tools, including MFiX, Abaqus, and Fusion360. Essential test results come from coolant flow and stress analyses. The team planned and constructed a scale model to visualize the design using 3D printing techniques. At the end of April, the team presented the final design along with the scale model at the URI Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Showcase. The team also presented at the RI Space Grant Consortium in Newport, RI
Recovery of a Cylindrical Body into an Outer Tube
Get PDFThe use of unmanned vehicles by the U.S. Military is an evolving method of weapon deployment and data acquisition. As the use of these devices increase as the technology surrounding them evolves, the method of retrieval of these unmanned vehicles needs to advance as well. Consequently, The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) is interested in devising a method of recovering Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) and has asked Team 3 from the University of Rhode Island’s College of Engineering’s Capstone teams to design and build a device or method of retrieval. While methods of retrieval of these devices already exist, they require trained teams to be responsible for manually retrieving the UUV by means of divers, boats, and/or aircraft. These methods are effective but put personnel in harm’s way, require large amounts of time and patients, and come at a cost to employ the teams and equipment to complete the task. NUWC’s problem statement calls for the process to be unmanned, either remote control or completely autonomous, and for the retrieval to be achieved using a forward-facing launch tube of a larger host vehicle, such as a full-size submarine. Team 3 designed and began construction on what is being called “The Cone”, an electromechanically actuated device that is housed in the large host tube that operates by moving to the end of the tube where the exposed end of it expands to create a larger opening for the UUV to enter. The Cone is made up of five “fins” that are actuated using servo motors, and a base ring that holds the electronics and a thruster responsible for moving the apparatus. When the UUV is within the Cone, the fins will close around it, gripping it, and then pull it into the host tube. The electronics for the Cone are housed at the rear of the launch tube and are controlled using a serial connection from a microcontroller to a near-by computer. This machine was designed with a $300 USD budget and was able to be produced slightly under budget
Competing Visions of Fundamental Global Change: Comparative Book Review of Rethinking Humanity by Seba & Arbib
Get PDFScreening the PRISM Library against Staphylococcus aureus Reveals a Sesquiterpene Lactone from Liriodendron tulipifera with Inhibitory Activity
Get PDFInfections caused by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus continue to pose threats to human health and put a financial burden on the healthcare system. The overuse of antibiotics has contributed to mutations leading to the emergence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus, and there is a critical need for the discovery and development of new antibiotics to evade drug-resistant bacteria. Medicinal plants have shown promise as sources of new small-molecule therapeutics with potential uses against pathogenic infections. The principal Rhode Island secondary metabolite (PRISM) library is a botanical extract library generated from specimens in the URI Youngken Medicinal Garden by upper-division undergraduate students. PRISM extracts were screened for activity against strains of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA). An extract generated from the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) demonstrated growth inhibition against MSSA, and a bioassay-guided approach identified a sesquiterpene lactone, laurenobiolide, as the active constituent. Intriguingly, its isomers, tulipinolide and epi-tulipinolide, lacked potent activity against MSSA. Laurenobiolide also proved to be more potent against MSSA than the structurally similar sesquiterpene lactones, costunolide and dehydrocostus lactone. Laurenobiolide was the most abundant in the twig bark of the tulip tree, supporting the twig bark’s historical and cultural usage in poultices and teas
Implementation of a large-scale breast cancer early detection program in a resource-constrained setting: real-world experiences from 2 large states in India
Get PDFBackground:
The Breast Health Initiative (BHI) was launched to demonstrate a scalable model to improve access to early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.
Methods:
A package of evidence-based interventions was codesigned and implemented with the stakeholders, as part of the national noncommunicable disease program, through the existing primary health care system. Data from the first 18 months of the BHI are presented.
Results:
A total of 108,112 women received breast health education; 48% visited the health facilities for clinical breast examination (CBE), 3% had a positive CBE result, and 41% were referred to a diagnostic facility. The concordance of CBE findings between health care providers and adherence to follow-up care improved considerably, with more women visiting the diagnostic facilities and completing diagnostic evaluation within 1 month from initial screening, and with only 9% lost to follow-up. The authors observed a clinically meaningful decrease in time to complete diagnostic evaluation with biopsy, from 37 to 9 days.
Conclusions:
The results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing a large-scale, decentralized breast cancer early detection program delivered through the existing primary health care system in India
Innate Immune Responses of Vaccinees Determine Early Neutralizing Antibody Production After ChAdOx1nCoV-19 Vaccination
No full textBackground: Innate immunity, armed with pattern recognition receptors including Toll-like receptors (TLR), is critical for immune cell activation and the connection to anti-microbial adaptive immunity. However, information regarding the impact of age on the innate immunity in response to SARS-CoV2 adenovirus vector vaccines and its association with specific immune responses remains scarce. Methods: Fifteen subjects between 25-35 years (the young group) and five subjects between 60-70 years (the older adult group) were enrolled before ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccination. We determined activation markers and cytokine production of monocyte, natural killer (NK) cells and B cells ex vivo stimulated with TLR agonist (poly (I:C) for TLR3; LPS for TLR4; imiquimod for TLR7; CpG for TLR9) before vaccination and 3-5 days after each jab with flow cytometry. Anti-SARS-CoV2 neutralization antibody titers (surrogate virus neutralization tests, sVNTs) were measured using serum collected 2 months after the first jab and one month after full vaccination. Results: The older adult vaccinees had weaker vaccine-induced sVNTs than young vaccinees after 1st jab (47.2±19.3% vs. 21.2±22.2%, p value\u3c0.05), but this difference became insignificant after the 2nd jab. Imiquimod, LPS and CpG strongly induced CD86 expression in IgD+CD27- naïve and IgD-CD27+ memory B cells in the young group. In contrast, only the IgD+ CD27- naïve B cells responded to these TLR agonists in the older adult group. Imiquimode strongly induced the CD86 expression in CD14+ monocytes in the young group but not in the older adult group. After vaccination, the young group had significantly higher IFN-γ expression in CD3- CD56dim NK cells after the 1st jab, whilst the older adult group had significantly higher IFN-γ and granzyme B expression in CD56bright NK cells after the 2nd jab (all p value \u3c0.05). The IFN-γ expression in CD56dim and CD56bright NK cells after the first vaccination and CD86 expression in CD14+ monocyte and IgD-CD27-double-negative B cells after LPS and imiquimod stimulation correlated with vaccine-induced antibody responses. Conclusions: The innate immune responses after the first vaccination correlated with the neutralizing antibody production. Older people may have defective innate immune responses by TLR stimulation and weak or delayed innate immune activation profile after vaccination compared with young people
Molecularly Tracing of Children Exposure Pathways to Environmental Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Autism Spectrum Disorder Risk
Get PDFOrganic pollutants (OPs) including organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have showed neuro-damaging effects, but studies concerning the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk are limited. A case-control study with ASD (n=125) and healthy control (n=125) children was conducted on the different land use settings across Punjab, Pakistan. Serum concentrations of 26 OCPs, 29 PCB congeners, 11 PBDEs and 32 PAHs were measured. Serum PCB77 (AOR = 2.00; 95% CI: 1.43, 2.18), PCB118 (AOR = 1.49; 95% CI: 1.00, 2.00), PCB128 (AOR = 1.65; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.91), PCB153 (AOR = 1.80; 95% CI: 1.55, 1.93) were significantly higher, but PCB187 (AOR = 0.37; 95% CI: 0.24, 0.49) was significantly lower in the ASD cases when compared to the controls. Serum BDE99 (AOR = 0.48; 95% CI: 0.26, 0.89) was significantly higher in the healthy controls than in the ASD cases. Among the analysed OCPs, p,p′-DDE (AOR = 1.50; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.85) was significantly elevated in the ASD cases with comparison in the controls. For PAHs, serum dibenzothiophene (AOR = 7.30; 95% CI: 1.49, 35.85) was significantly higher in the ASD, while perylene (AOR = 0.25; 95% CI: 0.06, 1.10) and fluorene (AOR = 0.21; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.72) were significantly higher in the controls. In addition, many of the serum pollutants were significantly associated with GSTT1, GSTM1 (null/present polymorphism) and presented the genotypic variation to respond xenobiotics in children. The children living in proximity to urban and industrial areas had a greater exposure to most of the studied pollutants when compared to the rural children, however children residing in rural areas showed higher exposure to OCPs. This comprehensive study documents an association between environmental exposure risk of several organic pollutants (OPs) from some contaminated environmental settings with ASD risk in children from Pakistan
Barriers Middle School Students Face in the Pandemic: Addressing and Overcoming Them
Get PDFThe Covid-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on all factors of society, many still unknown. One of the obvious effects has been how it affects children in school. Middle school students are a part of this unique moment in history. The pandemic and its move to virtual learning has created a lasting impact on middle schoolers’ social skills at the most important time in their development. Quarantine required children to be incredibly isolated from their peers and life activities, in general. Instead, many were overexposed to social media which hindered their ability to interact with peers. I have chosen to study these effects and help a group of eighth graders transitioning to high school soon. I worked with students at the Islamic School of Rhode Island for this project. An anonymous survey administered to eighth graders guided my research themes. I then devised three areas to present to students and aid them in navigating high school in a pandemic: Extracurriculars and Branching Out, Self Confidence and Social Awareness, Socializing and Safety in Technology. The goal is to provide them with some of the key skills they lost during the months they were virtually learning, to create personal boundaries, build their identities, and increase awareness of the world they live in and the one created online. The survey was then administered again to measure the impact of the information I presented to them
Children\u27s Book on Pragmatics
Get PDFPragmatics of communication is the use of social language skills when communicating with others. These skills are important in learning how to appropriately communicate and in building relationships. This is one area of communication that children can have difficulties with when they are developing language skills.
This children’s book focuses on one pragmatic skill learned during development, using language to request permission, with the goal of teaching children aged two to five about its importance. I used my background knowledge in pragmatics and child development to write a story about a boy named Jacob that struggles to ask his Grandpa for permission to do various things on their day at the park. To promote engagement of children while reading or listening to the book, I used writing and illustration strategies like incorporating consistent repeated phrases, interesting font and text placement, and foreshadowing of events. An additional goal in writing and illustrating this book was to allow space for adults to make comments and pose questions to children they are reading with. As the story is read, children are able to practice recall skills, as well as make predictions, and learn new vocabulary.
While studying Communicative Disorders with a minor in Education and Human Development and Family Science, I learned about the excellent tool of children’s books in promoting language development. I’ve never written a children’s book before, which required research on guidelines and suggestions for an engaging story. Creating illustrations for the book is where most of my challenges occurred because I had to stretch my artistic abilities and try out different techniques. This project allowed me to challenge and expand my creativity, and combine my background knowledge into my own children’s book, to hopefully use in my future career as a speech-language pathologist