State and local red ink: crisis or opportunity?

An examination of the costs and benefits of cutbacks in federal aid to state and local governments during the 1980s, concluding that less reliance on federal funds may result in long-term benefits.State finance ; Local government

Preparing Information Systems Graduates for a Complex Society: Aligning IS Curricula with Liberal Education Learning Outcomes

The purpose of this paper is to encourage Information Systems (IS) faculty to intentionally revise their curriculum to address (and assess) higher-order learning skills which are demanded by industry and society and are representative of a liberal arts based education. We substantiated the need for this proposed curriculum revision by first examining the extent to which learning outcomes of U.S. Information Systems (IS) programs are aligned with college learning outcomes, university liberal education learning outcomes and with those of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Most IS programs focus on discipline-specific, course-level learning outcomes rather than considering ways IS courses could be integrated into a holistic academic package. We suggest that learning outcomes at the course level be aligned through the program and college levels to align with university-defined learning outcomes. Our hope is that this proposed design, coupled with a call from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools in Business (AACSB) to prepare liberal arts educated business students, will increase awareness of the need for a liberal arts educated IS graduate and facilitate intentional curriculum revisions to address that need

Optimal Control in the Treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa

Numerous therapies have been implemented in an effort to minimize the debilitating effects of the degenerative eye disease Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), yet none have provided satisfactory long-term solution. To date there is no treatment that can halt the degeneration of photoreceptors. The recent discovery of the RdCVF protein has provided researchers with a potential therapy that could slow the secondary wave of cone death. In this work, we build on an existing mathematical model of photoreceptor interactions in the presence of RP and incorporate various treatment regiments via RdCVF. Our results show that an optimal control exists for the administration of RdCVF. In addition, our numerical solutions show the experimentally observed rescue effect that the RdCVF has on the cones

Optimal control with MANF treatment of photoreceptor degeneration

People afflicted with diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration experience a decline in vision due to photoreceptor degeneration, which is currently unstoppable and irreversible. Currently there is no cure for diseases linked to photoreceptor degeneration. Recent experimental work showed that mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF) can reduce neuron death and, in particular, photoreceptor death by reducing the number of cells that undergo apoptosis. In this work, we build on an existing system of ordinary differential equations that represent photoreceptor interactions and incorporate MANF treatment for three experimental mouse models having undergone varying degrees of photoreceptor degeneration. Using MANF treatment levels as controls, we investigate optimal control results in the three mouse models. In addition, our numerical solutions match the experimentally observed surviving percentage of photoreceptors and our uncertainty and sensitivity analysis identifies significant parameters in the math model both with and without MANF treatment

Mathematical models of bipolar disorder

We use limit cycle oscillators to model bipolar II disorder, which is characterized by alternating hypomanic and depressive episodes and afflicts about 1% of the United States adult population. We consider two non-linear oscillator models of a single bipolar patient. In both frameworks, we begin with an untreated individual and examine the mathematical effects and resulting biological consequences of treatment. We also briefly consider the dynamics of interacting bipolar II individuals using weakly-coupled, weakly-damped harmonic oscillators. We discuss how the proposed models can be used as a framework for refined models that incorporate additional biological data. We conclude with a discussion of possible generalizations of our work, as there are several biologically-motivated extensions that can be readily incorporated into the series of models presented here

ESROCOS: a robotic operating system for space and terrestrial applications

ESROCOS (http://www.h2020-esrocos.eu) is a European Project in the frame of the PERASPERA SRC, (http://www.h2020-peraspera.eu/), targeting the design of a Robot Control Operating Software (RCOS) for space robotics applications. The goal of the ESROCOS project is to provide an open-source framework to assist in the development of flight software for space robots, providing adequate features and performance with space-grade Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety (RAMS) properties. This paper presents the ESROCOS project and summarizes the approach and the current status

New Analogues of Proline-Rich Protein Fragments. Synthesis and Their Effect on Resistance of Murine Thymocytes to Hydrocortisone

New analogues of proline-rich protein (PRP) fragment were synthesized by the solid phase method using Boc/Bzl procedure. Dimer of the nonapeptide as well as dimer, trimer and tetramer of hexapeptide fragments of PRP possessing immunotropic activity were obtained. Effect of the peptides on the resistance of murine thymocytes to hydrocortisone was the same as that of the reference compounds (hexapeptide and nonapeptide). Key words: PRP fragments analogues, solid phase peptide synthesis, immunotropic activity A proline-rich protein (PRP) was isolated by Janusz et al. from ovine colostrum The aim of the present paper was to obtain synthetic analogues of NP and HP, which could replace PRP isolated from colostrum and might show the same or even Biochem., 138, 9 (1984)]

Mass-modulation schemes for a class of wave energy converters: Experiments, models, and efficacy

In a recent series of works, mass-modulation schemes have been proposed for a class of ocean wave energy converter (WEC). The goal of the schemes is to improve the energy harvesting capabilities of these devices by taking advantage of the ambient water. However this improvement comes at the cost of increased system complexity and possible impulse loadings at the instances where the mass changes. In the present work, experimental results for a pair of these schemes are presented and one of them is shown to be effective in increasing the energy harvesting potential of a WEC. Building and testing prototype WECs are costly and challenging and so, in order to examine as wide a range of parameters and designs as possible, a detailed two degree-of-freedom model is developed for a WEC equipped with a mass-modulation scheme. Numerical analysis of the model also shows the potential benefits of the mass-modulation scheme

A course in ordinary differential equations

Suitable for a first undergraduate course, the book includes all the basics necessary to prepare students for their future studies in mathematics, engineering, and the sciences. It presents the syntax from MATLAB, Maple, and Mathematica to give students a better grasp of the theory and gain more insight into real-world problems. Along with covering traditional topics, the text describes a number of modern topics, such as direction fields, phase lines, the Runge-Kutta method, and epidemiological and ecological models. It also explains concepts from linear algebra so that students acquire a thorough understanding of differential equations