Local Climatological Data : Urbana, 1889-1970

Urbana has a temperate continental climate with characteristics reflecting its geographical position in Illinois. Urbana's climate is representative of the conditions found in East Central Illinois, which is primarily an area of climatic transition between the northern and southern sectors of the state.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewedOpenOpe

On the Equivalence of Quadratic APN Functions

Establishing the CCZ-equivalence of a pair of APN functions is generally quite difficult. In some cases, when seeking to show that a putative new infinite family of APN functions is CCZ inequivalent to an already known family, we rely on computer calculation for small values of n. In this paper we present a method to prove the inequivalence of quadratic APN functions with the Gold functions. Our main result is that a quadratic function is CCZ-equivalent to an APN Gold function if and only if it is EA-equivalent to that Gold function. As an application of this result, we prove that a trinomial family of APN functions that exist on finite fields of order 2^n where n = 2 mod 4 are CCZ inequivalent to the Gold functions. The proof relies on some knowledge of the automorphism group of a code associated with such a function.Comment: 13 p

ANALYSIS OF MARKETING MARGINS IN THE U.S. LAMB INDUSTRY

Factors affecting marketing margins were identified and assessed using a relative price spread technique. Margins were disaggregated into slaughter-to-wholesale and wholesale-to-retail for a more complete understanding. Marketing costs, concentration, demand, and price were used to explain variations within these margins. Results showed that packer concentration had a significant effect on margins. Forces of supply and demand (as represented by production and market price) and changes in marketing costs also explained the variation in margins. A higher degree of price transmission from slaughter-to-wholesale level was observed in comparison to the wholesale-to-retail level.Marketing,

The effect of impact location on brain strain

Objective: To determine the effect of impact direction on strains within the brain. Research design: Laboratory drop tests of hybrid III head-form and finite element simulation of impacts. Methods and procedures: A head-form instrumented with accelerometers and gyroscopes was dropped from 10 different heights in four orientations: front, rear, left and right hand side. Twelve impacts with constant impact energy were chosen to simulate, to determine the effect of impact location. A finite element head model was used to simulate these impacts, using 6 degrees of freedom. Following this a further set of simulations were performed, where the same acceleration profiles were applied to different head locations. Main outcome and results: The angular accelerations recorded were up to 30% higher in lateral and rear impacts when compared to frontal impacts. High strains in the mid-brain (41%) were recorded from severe frontal impacts where as high strains in the corpus callosum (44%) resulted from lateral impacts with the same energy. Conclusion: Impact direction is very significant in determining the subsequent strains developed in the brain. Lateral impacts result in the highest strains in the corpus callosum and frontal impacts result in high strains in the mid-brain

B Cells Activated in Lymph Nodes in Response to Ultraviolet Irradiation or by Interleukin-10 Inhibit Dendritic Cell Induction of Immunity

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation suppresses systemic immunity. We explored these cellular mechanisms by exposing mice to systemically immunosuppressive doses of UV radiation and then analyzing cell phenotype and function in the lymphoid organs. Although UV radiation increased total cell number in the draining lymph nodes (DLN), it did not alter the activation state of dendritic cells (DC). Rather, UV radiation selectively activated lymph node B cells, with these cells being larger and expressing higher levels of both anti-major histocompatibility complex II and B220 but not co-stimulatory molecules. This phenotype resembled that of a B cell geared toward immune tolerance. To test whether UV radiation-activated B cells were responsible for immunosuppression, DC and B cells were conjugated to antigen ex vivo and transferred into naïve hosts. Although DC by themselves activated T cells, when the B cells from UV radiation-irradiated mice were co-injected with DC, they suppressed DC activation of immunity. Interleukin (IL)-10-activated B cells also suppressed DC induction of immunity, suggesting that IL-10 may be involved in this suppressive effect of UV radiation. These results demonstrate a new mechanism of UV radiation immunosuppression whereby UV radiation activates B cells in the skin-DLN that can suppress DC activation of T cell-mediated immunity

Evaluation of Skin-mounted Sensor for Head Impact Measurement

Background: The requirement to measure the number and severity of head impacts in sports has led to the development of wearable sensors. Aim: The objective of this study was to determine the reliability and accuracy of a wearable head impact sensor: xPatch, X2Biosystems Inc. Methods: The skin mounted sensor, xPatch, was fixed onto a Hybrid III headform, and dropped using an impact test rig. Four hundred impacts were performed, ranging from 20 to 200g linear acceleration, and impact velocities of 1.2m/s to 3.9m/s. During each impact, the peak linear acceleration, angular velocity and angular acceleration, were recorded and compared to reference calibrated data. Impacts were also recorded using a high-speed video camera. Results: The linear acceleration recorded by the xPatch during frontal and side impacts had errors of up to 24% when compared to the referenced data. The angular velocity and angular acceleration had substantially larger errors of up to 47.5% and 57% respectively. The location of the impact had a significant effect on the results: if the impact was to the side of the head, the device on that side may have an error of up to 71%, thus highlighting the importance of device location. All impacts were recorded using two separate xPatches and, in certain cases, the difference in angular velocity between the devices was 43%. Conclusion: The xPatch can be useful for identifying impacts and recording linear accelerations during front and side impacts, but the rotational velocity and acceleration data needs to be interpreted with caution

Demonstration project in low-cost shoreline erosion control : final report to County Administrator, County of Accomack, Virginia

·1ow cost erosion control structures were installed at ten shoreline sites located in the lower Chesapeake Bay and on the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers to further test the applicability of the perched beach concept under diverse littoral environments. The perched beach is achieved via installation of a low sill parallel to the shoreline. The objective of the sill is to provide a partial barrier behind which an elevated (perched) beach is accreted. When successful, ~he perched beach backshore and foreshore acts to reduce the frequency of direct wave attack against the fastland and thereby reducing the erosion rate. In this study, sills were used in conjunction with existing groins as well as alone. Some testing was performed on the use of a spur with existing groins as a device to prevent the formation of a downdrift erosion notch where the groin intersects the fastland. The sills were formed with a series of large PVC-coated nylon bags hydraulically filled with sand or with stone filled gabions. In one case compacted used auto tires were utilized as fill for a gabion. Evaluation of the response to the structures was based upon a series of surveyed beach profiles at each site and sequential photography. At each site the beach profiles were surveyed for several months prior to and following the installation of the various structures. Additional profiles were run adjacent to the treated areas. The structures were emplaced between late March and early June of 1978

A Few More Quadratic APN Functions

We present two infinite families of APN functions on GF(2n) where n is divisible by 3 but not 9. Our families contain two already known families as special cases. We also discuss the inequivalence proof (by computation) which shows that these functions are new