Campus-Based Agriculture: The Future of Food at Gettysburg College

This research investigates various methods for producing food on the campus of Gettysburg College in order to improve food sustainability. The transportation of food contributes to the increased use of fossil fuels, which in turn leads to global warming and climate change. By producing a larger portion of its food on-campus, Gettysburg College could reduce the amount of food transported to the school, thereby lessening the College’s environmental impact. Urban farming techniques, hydroponics, aquaponics, and greenhouse-based agriculture are explored as viable methods for achieving this goal. Examples of the use of these techniques on college campuses are drawn from Allegheny College, Acadia University, and Cornell University, among others. Possible strategies for Gettysburg College’s implementation of the farming techniques proposed in this research are also included throughout

Adaptive smartphone-based sensor fusion for estimating competitive rowing kinematic metrics.

Competitive rowing highly values boat position and velocity data for real-time feedback during training, racing and post-training analysis. The ubiquity of smartphones with embedded position (GPS) and motion (accelerometer) sensors motivates their possible use in these tasks. In this paper, we investigate the use of two real-time digital filters to achieve highly accurate yet reasonably priced measurements of boat speed and distance traveled. Both filters combine acceleration and location data to estimate boat distance and speed; the first using a complementary frequency response-based filter technique, the second with a Kalman filter formalism that includes adaptive, real-time estimates of effective accelerometer bias. The estimates of distance and speed from both filters were validated and compared with accurate reference data from a differential GPS system with better than 1 cm precision and a 5 Hz update rate, in experiments using two subjects (an experienced club-level rower and an elite rower) in two different boats on a 300 m course. Compared with single channel (smartphone GPS only) measures of distance and speed, the complementary filter improved the accuracy and precision of boat speed, boat distance traveled, and distance per stroke by 44%, 42%, and 73%, respectively, while the Kalman filter improved the accuracy and precision of boat speed, boat distance traveled, and distance per stroke by 48%, 22%, and 82%, respectively. Both filters demonstrate promise as general purpose methods to substantially improve estimates of important rowing performance metrics

Geographic Mobility of Trainees Leaving Vocational and Technical Education Programs in Oklahoma

Technical Educatio

The Hox Gene egl-5 Acts as a Terminal Selector for VD13 Development via Wnt Signaling

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Nervous systems are comprised of diverse cell types that differ functionally and morphologically. During development, extrinsic signals, e.g., growth factors, can activate intrinsic programs, usually orchestrated by networks of transcription factors. Within that network, transcription factors that drive the specification of features specific to a limited number of cells are often referred to as terminal selectors. While we still have an incomplete view of how individual neurons within organisms become specified, reporters limited to a subset of neurons in a nervous system can facilitate the discovery of cell specification programs. We have identified a fluorescent reporter that labels VD13, the most posterior of the 19 inhibitory GABA (γ-amino butyric acid)-ergic motorneurons, and two additional neurons, LUAL and LUAR. Loss of function in multiple Wnt signaling genes resulted in an incompletely penetrant loss of the marker, selectively in VD13, but not the LUAs, even though other aspects of GABAergic specification in VD13 were normal. The posterior Hox gene, egl-5, was necessary for expression of our marker in VD13, and ectopic expression of egl-5 in more anterior GABAergic neurons induced expression of the marker. These results suggest egl-5 is a terminal selector of VD13, subsequent to GABAergic specification

Substituent Effects and Mechanistic Insights on the Catalytic Activities of (Tetraarylcyclopentadienone)Iron Carbonyl Compounds in Transfer Hydrogenations and Dehydrogenations

(Cyclopentadienone)iron carbonyl compounds are catalytically active in carbonyl/imine reductions, alcohol oxidations, and borrowing hydrogen reactions, but the effect of cyclopentadienone electronics on their activity is not well established. A series of (tetraarylcyclopentadienone)iron tricarbonyl compounds with varied electron densities on the cyclopentadienone were prepared, and their activities in transfer hydrogenations and dehydrogenations were explored. Additionally, mechanistic studies, including kinetic isotope effect experiments and modifications to substrate electronics, were undertaken to gain insights into catalyst resting states and turnover-limiting steps of these reactions. As the cyclopentadienone electron density increased, both the transfer hydrogenation and dehydrogenation rates increased. A catalytically relevant, trimethylamine-ligated iron compound was isolated and characterized and was observed in solution under both transfer hydrogenation and dehydrogenation conditions. Importantly, it was catalytically active in both reactions. Kinetic isotope effect data and initial rates in transfer hydrogenation reactions with 4′-substituted acetophenones provided evidence that hydrogen transfer from the catalyst to the carbonyl substrate occurred during the turnover-limiting step, and NMR spectroscopy supports the trimethylamine adduct as an off-cycle resting state and the (hydroxycyclopentadienyl)iron hydride as an on-cycle resting state. In transfer dehydrogenations of alcohols, the use of electronically modified benzylic alcohols provided evidence that the turnover-limiting step involves the transfer of hydrogen from the alcohol substrate to the catalyst. The trimethylamine-ligated compound was proposed as the primary catalyst resting state in dehydrogenations

Implementation of High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin: Challenges From the International Experience.

ObjectiveImplementation of the newly approved high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) in the United States presents a challenge for clinical practice. Sex-specific cutoffs, clinical protocols, and workflows will likely require modifications before implementation.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey of international physicians and laboratorians already utilizing hs-cTn for the evaluation of acute myocardial infarction.ResultsTwenty-two of 54 (41%) eligible participants completed the survey, representing 9 countries and 18 hospitals. All reported successful hs-cTn implementation and diagnostic utility (mean 8.6 + 1.2 out of 10 for best implementation). The major perceived benefit was more rapid evaluation of acute myocardial infarction (14/19, 74%), and the most frequently cited limitation was an increase in the number of measurable hs-cTn values that required further evaluation (8/18, 44%). Institutions using the hs-cTnI assay favored sex-specific cutoffs (5/6, 83%), whereas institutions employing the hs-cTnT assay favored a combined cutoff (12/12, 100%). Timing of serial hs-cTn measurements varied, with 0-3 hours (8/17, 47%) most frequent, followed by 0-2 hours (4/17, 24%), 0-1 hour (3/17, 18%), and other (2/17, 12%).ConclusionsOur survey of hs-cTn implementation at international institutions reveals satisfaction with new assays but reflects important variations in clinical practice. The use of sex-specific vs. combined cutoffs and timing of serial hs-cTn measurements varies across institutions and are subjects that United States centers must define without consensus from international practices