Results of Panel Bending Tests and Screw Pullout Tests for Storage Buildings for Stor Mor, Incorporated

The Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) was requested by the Stor-Mor Corporation (SMC) to test a number of building panels that SMC uses to build small storage buildings and small recreational structures. SMC delivered to the KTC laboratories a number of the panels to be tested in bending and other modes as deemed appropriate by KTC. The panels are of sandwich construction consisting of two, thin sheet metal plates and a styrofoam interlayer. Each panel was approximately 64 inches in length and 22 inches in width. The thickness was approximately 1.63 inches. This report details the testing of the panels and includes the test data along with comments and recommendations. The panels were tested in what was perceived to be the two weakest modes of failure. These were in bending and in pull-out of the screw heads that are used to assemble the panels

Sparking a Movement: A Coordinated, Bottom-up Approach to Increase Voluntary Pro Bono Service and Mend the Justice Gap

For decades, the legal profession has tried and tried again to increase pro bono representation and reduce the ill effects of the Justice Gap. A common and increasing theme has been a top-down approach focused on laudable platitudes, jurisdictional reporting policies, and aspirational guidelines to inspire attorneys to voluntarily serve low-income Americans. These efforts have enjoyed very little success, however, and with the Justice Gap only getting worse, a new solution is needed. This Article shifts the focus away from these top-down methods and mandates, which lack accountability and incentives, to a bottom-up approach that offers a more viable solution to the Justice Gap. In a bottom-up approach, attorneys are not only encouraged, but empowered, to provide services in coordination with other stakeholders. The COVID-19 pandemic both aggravated and highlighted the Justice Gap and, as a result, it has the potential to act as the necessary “social change tipping point” to spark a movement. Therefore, the time is ripe for all legal professionals to collectively take steps toward service, however small they may seem, to effectively and sustainably treat the Justice Gap once and for all

Expression of Human Microsomal Epoxide Hydrolase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Reveals a Functional Role in Aflatoxin B1 Detoxification

The metabolism and genotoxicity of the carcinogenic mycotoxin, aflatoxin B1 (AFB), was studied in the lower eukaryotic yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Recombinant strains of yeast were engineered to express human cDNAs for CYP1A1, CYP1A2, and microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH). Coexpression of mEH with CYP1A1 or CYP1A2 resulted in significant decreases in measurements of AFB genotoxicity. In cells expressing CYP1A2 and mEH, the level of AFB-DNA adducts was decreased by 50% relative to cells expressing CYP1A2 alone. Mitotic recombination, as assayed by gene conversion at thetrp5locus, was diminished by 50% or greater in cells coexpressing mEH and CYP1A2 compared to CYP1A2 alone. The mutagenicity of AFB in the Ames assay was also decreased by approximately 50% when AFB was incubated with microsomes containing CYP1A1 or CYP1A2 and mEH versus CYP1A1 or CYP1A2 alone. The biotransformation of AFB by CYPs is known to involve the generation of a reactive epoxide intermediate, AFB-8,9-epoxide, but previous direct biochemical and kinetic studies have failed to demonstrate any functional role for mEH in AFB detoxification. By reconstructing a metabolic pathway in intact yeast, we have shown, for the first time, that mEH may play a role in mitigating the carcinogenic effects of AF

A combination of amino acids and caffeine enhances sprint running capacity in a hot, hypoxic environment

Heat and hypoxia exacerbate central nervous system (CNS) fatigue. We therefore investigated whether essential amino acid (EAA) and caffeine ingestion attenuates CNS fatigue in a simulated team sport–specific running protocol in a hot, hypoxic environment. Subelite male team sport athletes (n = 8) performed a repeat sprint running protocol on a nonmotorized treadmill in an extreme environment on 4 separate occasions. Participants ingested one of four supplements: a double placebo, 3 mg.kg⁻¹ body mass of caffeine + placebo, 2 × 7 g EAA (Musashi Create)+placebo, or caffeine + EAA before each exercise session using a randomized, double-blind crossover design. Electromyography (EMG) activity and quadriceps evoked responses to magnetic stimulation were assessed from the dominant leg at preexercise, halftime, and postexercise. Central activation ratio (CAR) was used to quantify completeness of quadriceps activation. Oxygenation of the prefrontal cortex was measured via near-infrared spectroscopy. Mean sprint work was higher (M = 174 J, 95% CI [23, 324], p < .05, d = 0.30; effect size, likely beneficial) in the caffeine + EAA condition versus EAAs alone. The decline in EMG activity was less (M = 13%, 95% CI [0, 26]; p < .01, d = 0.58, likely beneficial) in caffeine + EAA versus EAA alone. Similarly, the pre- to postexercise decrement in CAR was significantly less (M = −2.7%, 95% CI [0.4, 5.4]; p < .05, d = 0.50, likely beneficial) when caffeine + EAA were ingested compared with placebo. Cerebral oxygenation was lower (M = −5.6%, 95% CI [1.0, 10.1]; p < .01, d = 0.60, very likely beneficial) in the caffeine + EAA condition compared with LNAA alone. Coingestion of caffeine and EAA appears to maintain muscle activation and central drive, with a small improvement in running performance.13 page(s

Hail formation triggers rapid ash aggregation in volcanic plumes.

During explosive eruptions, airborne particles collide and stick together, accelerating the fallout of volcanic ash and climate-forcing aerosols. This aggregation process remains a major source of uncertainty both in ash dispersal forecasting and interpretation of eruptions from the geological record. Here we illuminate the mechanisms and timescales of particle aggregation from a well-characterized 'wet' eruption. The 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, incorporated water from the surface (in this case, a glacier), which is a common occurrence during explosive volcanism worldwide. Observations from C-band weather radar, fall deposits and numerical modelling demonstrate that hail-forming processes in the eruption plume triggered aggregation of ∼95% of the fine ash and stripped much of the erupted mass out of the atmosphere within 30 min. Based on these findings, we propose a mechanism of hail-like ash aggregation that contributes to the anomalously rapid fallout of fine ash and occurrence of concentrically layered aggregates in volcanic deposits.AVE acknowledges NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship EAR1250029 and a seed grant from NASA Ames Supercomputing Center. Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) software from UCAR/Unidata was used in the analysis and visualization of the large-eddy simulation. ASTER GDEM is a product of NASA and METI. NCAR Reanalysis data provided by the NOAA/OAR/ESRL Physical Sciences Division, Boulder, Colorado, USA. We acknowledge Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, for access to the laser particle size analyzer, and Matt Rogers at University of Alaska, Anchorage for use of the freeze dryer. Rick Hoblitt is thanked for discussions and comments on the manuscript.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from NPG via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms886

Building better Sex Robots: Lessons from Feminist Pornography

How should we react to the development of sexbot technology? Taking their cue from anti-porn feminism, several academic critics lament the development of sexbot technology, arguing that it objectifies and subordinates women, is likely to promote misogynistic attitudes toward sex, and may need to be banned or restricted. In this chapter I argue for an alternative response. Taking my cue from the sex positive ‘feminist porn’ movement, I argue that the best response to the development of ‘bad’ sexbots is to make better ones. This will require changes to the content, process and context of sexbot development. Doing so will acknowledge the valuable role that technology can play in human sexuality, and allow us to challenge gendered norms and assumptions about male and female sexual desire. This will not be a panacea to the social problems that could arise from sexbot development, but it offers a more realistic and hopeful vision for the future of this technology in a pluralistic and progressive society

Bounds for graph regularity and removal lemmas

We show, for any positive integer k, that there exists a graph in which any equitable partition of its vertices into k parts has at least ck^2/\log^* k pairs of parts which are not \epsilon-regular, where c,\epsilon>0 are absolute constants. This bound is tight up to the constant c and addresses a question of Gowers on the number of irregular pairs in Szemer\'edi's regularity lemma. In order to gain some control over irregular pairs, another regularity lemma, known as the strong regularity lemma, was developed by Alon, Fischer, Krivelevich, and Szegedy. For this lemma, we prove a lower bound of wowzer-type, which is one level higher in the Ackermann hierarchy than the tower function, on the number of parts in the strong regularity lemma, essentially matching the upper bound. On the other hand, for the induced graph removal lemma, the standard application of the strong regularity lemma, we find a different proof which yields a tower-type bound. We also discuss bounds on several related regularity lemmas, including the weak regularity lemma of Frieze and Kannan and the recently established regular approximation theorem. In particular, we show that a weak partition with approximation parameter \epsilon may require as many as 2^{\Omega(\epsilon^{-2})} parts. This is tight up to the implied constant and solves a problem studied by Lov\'asz and Szegedy.Comment: 62 page