Wire neutralization system

A wire neutralizing system for use with a vehicle including a frame adapted to be hitched to a vehicle. At least one wheel supports the frame while a bottom of the wheel rolls over terrain having buried wires. The system also includes a blade movable between a stowed position in which the blade is above the bottom of the wheel and a deployed position in which the blade is below the bottom of the wheel, such that the blade plows through the terrain to disable buried wires when in the deployed position.https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/patents/1134/thumbnail.jp

From microarray to biology: an integrated experimental, statistical and in silico analysis of how the extracellular matrix modulates the phenotype of cancer cells

A statistically robust and biologically-based approach for analysis of microarray data is described that integrates independent biological knowledge and data with a global F-test for finding genes of interest that minimizes the need for replicates when used for hypothesis generation. First, each microarray is normalized to its noise level around zero. The microarray dataset is then globally adjusted by robust linear regression. Second, genes of interest that capture significant responses to experimental conditions are selected by finding those that express significantly higher variance than those expressing only technical variability. Clustering expression data and identifying expression-independent properties of genes of interest including upstream transcriptional regulatory elements (TREs), ontologies and networks or pathways organizes the data into a biologically meaningful system. We demonstrate that when the number of genes of interest is inconveniently large, identifying a subset of "beacon genes" representing the largest changes will identify pathways or networks altered by biological manipulation. The entire dataset is then used to complete the picture outlined by the "beacon genes." This allow construction of a structured model of a system that can generate biologically testable hypotheses. We illustrate this approach by comparing cells cultured on plastic or an extracellular matrix which organizes a dataset of over 2,000 genes of interest from a genome wide scan of transcription. The resulting model was confirmed by comparing the predicted pattern of TREs with experimental determination of active transcription factors

Protocol for the detection and nutritional management of high-output stomas

Introduction: An issue of recent research interest is excessive stoma output and its relation to electrolyte abnormalities. Some studies have identified this as a precursor of dehydration and renal dysfunction. A prospective study was performed of the complications associated with high-output stomas, to identify their causes, consequences and management.Materials and methods: This study was carried out by a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, gastroenterologists, nutritionists and hospital pharmacists. High-output stoma (HOS) was defined as output ≥1500 ml for two consecutive days. The subjects included in the study population, 43 patients with a new permanent or temporary stoma, were classified according to the time of HOS onset as early HOS (<3 weeks after initial surgery) or late HOS (≥3 weeks after surgery). Circumstances permitting, a specific protocol for response to HOS was applied. Each patient was followed up until the fourth month after surgery.Results: Early HOS was observed in 7 (16 %) of the sample population of 43 hospital patients, and late HOS, in 6 of the 37 (16 %) non-early HOS population. By type of stoma, nearly all HOS cases affected ileostomy, rather than colostomy, patients. The patients with early HOS remained in hospital for 18 days post surgery, significantly longer than those with no HOS (12 days). The protocol was applied to the majority of EHOS patients and achieved 100 % effectiveness. 50 % of readmissions were due to altered electrolyte balance. Hypomagnesaemia was observed in 33 % of the late HOS patients.Conclusion: The protocol developed at our hospital for the detection and management of HOS effectively addresses possible long-term complications arising from poor nutritional status and chronic electrolyte alteration

Sea surface temperature and salinity variability at Bermuda during the end of the Little Ice Age

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Paleoceanography 23 (2008): PA3203, doi:10.1029/2007PA001532.We use geochemical and isotope measurements on a 225-year old brain coral (Diploria labyrinthiformis) from the south shore of Bermuda (64°W, 32°N) to construct a record of decadal-to-centennial-scale climate variability. The coral was collected alive, and annual density bands visible in X radiographs delineate cold and warm seasons allowing for precise dating. Coral skeletons incorporate strontium (Sr) and calcium (Ca) in relative proportions inversely to the sea surface temperature (SST) in which the skeleton is secreted. Previous studies on this and other coral colonies from this region document the ability to reconstruct mean annual and wintertime SST using Sr/Ca measurements ( Goodkin et al., 2007 , 2005). The coral-based records of SST for the past 2 centuries show abrupt shifts at both decadal and centennial timescales and suggest that SST at the end of the Little Ice Age (between 1840 and 1860) was 1.5° ± 0.4°C colder than today (1990s). Coral-reconstructed SST has a greater magnitude change than does a gridded instrumental SST record from this region. This may result from several physical processes including high rates of mesoscale eddy propagation in this region. Oxygen isotope values (δ 18O) of the coral skeleton reflect changes in both temperature and the δ 18O of seawater (δOw), where δOw is proportional to sea surface salinity (SSS). We show in this study that mean annual and wintertime δ 18O of the carbonate (δOc) are correlated to both SST and SSS, but a robust, quantitative measure of SSS is not found with present calibration data. In combination, however, the Sr/Ca and δOc qualitatively reconstruct lower salinities at the end of the Little Ice Age relative to modern day. Temperature changes agree with other records from the Bermuda region. Radiative and atmospheric forcing may explain some of the SST variability, but the scales of implied changes in SST and SSS indicate large-scale ocean circulation impacts as well.A WHOI OCCI Fellowship (N.F.G.), and grants from NSF (OCE-0402728) and WHOI (N.F.G., K.A.H., A.L.C., and M.S.M.) supported this work

Cross-Dehydrogenative Couplings between Indoles and β-Keto Esters : Ligand-Assisted Ligand Tautomerization and Dehydrogenation via a Proton-Assisted Electron Transfer to Pd(II)

Cross-dehydrogenative coupling reactions between -ketoesters and electron-rich arenes, such as indoles, proceed with high regiochemical fidelity with a range of -ketoesters and indoles. The mechanism of the reaction between a prototypical -ketoester, ethyl 2-oxocyclopentanonecarboxylate and N-methylindole, has been studied experimentally by monitoring the temporal course of the reaction by 1H NMR, kinetic isotope effect studies, and control experiments. DFT calculations have been carried out using a dispersion-corrected range-separated hybrid functional (B97X-D) to explore the basic elementary steps of the catalytic cycle. The experimental results indicate that the reaction proceeds via two catalytic cycles. Cycle A, the dehydrogenation cycle, produces an enone intermediate. The dehydrogenation is assisted by N-methylindole, which acts as a ligand for Pd(II). The compu-tational studies agree with this conclusion, and identify the turnover-limiting step of the dehydrogenation step, which involves a change in the coordination mode of the -keto ester ligand from an O,O’-chelate to an C-bound Pd enolate. This ligand tautom-erization event is assisted by the -bound indole ligand. Subsequent scission of the ’-C–H bond takes place via a proton-assisted electron transfer mechanism, where Pd(II) acts as an electron sink and the trifluoroacetate ligand acts as a proton acceptor, to pro-duce the Pd(0) complex of the enone intermediate. The coupling is completed in cycle B, where the enone is coupled with indole. Pd(TFA)2 and TFA-catalyzed pathways were examined experimentally and computationally for this cycle, and both were found to be viable routes for the coupling step

Corporate Entrepreneurship:From Structures to Mindset

Corporate entrepreneurship dispersed throughout an organization and leveraging the entrepreneurial potential of all its employees bears significant benefits for those organizations that embrace it. However, it appears more difficult to instill and requires strong investment in the development of human capital and entrepreneurial mindset among the employees and across the organization. In this chapter, we discuss the essence of corporate entrepreneurship mindset and show that across an organization, there might be different entrepreneurial mindsets that correspond to different people, opportunities, and contexts. Although different, they all lead to enactment of entrepreneurial projects. This chapter, thus, contributes to the discussion regarding the nature of corporate entrepreneurial mindsets, and their development and stimulation within an organization, from both academic and practical view