An Inventory of Regional Input-Output Studies in the United States

This report presents an inventory of regional input-output studies which have been undertaken in the United States (Part I), and a listing of studies which are currently in process (Part II). Only studies of basic empirical content are included in the bibliography. An arrangement alphabetically by state has been chosen for easy area reference; studies of multi-state regions appear at the end of each part. Fifty-two completed studies and an additional 28 currently in process are reported in this inventory. A later edition, including a brief description of each completed study, is planned for publication. The authors will be grateful for any omissions or corrections which are brought to their attention

An Inventory of Regional Input-Output Studies in the United States #17

This report presents an inventory of regional input-output studies which have been undertaken in the United States (Part I), and a listing of studies which are currently in process (Part II). Only studies of basic empirical content are included in the bibliography. An arrangement alphabetically by state has been chosen for easy area reference; studies of multi-state regions appear at the end of each part

Expression, secretion and folding of human growth hormone in Escherichia coli Purification and characterization

AbstractAn efficient secretion vector containing a gene coding for an E. coli signal peptide fused to human growth hormone (hGH) was cloned into E. coli. The recombinant fusion protein was expressed and correctly processed hGH was secreted into the periplasmic space at a yield of 10–15 μg hGH/A600. Purification of hGH from the periplasmic fraction by anion exchange and size exclusion gave hGH of greater than 90% purity. Characterization by SDS-PAGE, amino terminal analysis, trypsin mapping, and circular dichroism demonstrated that the fusion protein was correctly processed to authentic hGH and that the E. coli periplasm provided an appropriate environment for proper folding of hGH and disulfide bond formation

Dynamic Cell Structures for Calibration-free Adaptive Saccade Control of a Four-Degrees-of-Freedom Binocular Head

This paper describes calibration-free adaptive saccade control of a four-degrees- of-freedom binocular head by means of Dynamic Cell Structures (DCS) [2]. Incremental growth of this Radial Basis Function (RBF) based neural network model up to a pre-specified precision results in very small networks suitable for realtime saccade control. By learning and exploiting the topology of the input manifold the controller output calculation is particular fast. Training of the DCS is based on biological inspired error feedback learning and proceeds in two phases. In the first phase we use a crude model of the cameras and the kinematics of the head to learn the topology of the input manifold together with a rough ap proximation of the control function off-line. Different to e.g. Kohonen-type adaptation rules the distribution of neural units is shown to minimize the control error and not to merely mimic the input probability density. In the second phase, the operating phase, the linear output units of the DCS continue to adapt on-line. Besides our TRC binocular head we use a Datacube image processing system and a Staeubli R90 robot arm for automated training in the second phase. The controller is demonstrated to successfully correct errors in the model and to rapidly adapt to changing parameters. The paper also includes a comparison with a conventional (calibrated) inverse kinematics based controller

Real Time Tracking of Moving Objects with an Active Camera

This article is concerned with the design and implementation of a system for real time monocular tracking of a moving object using the two degrees of freedom of a camera platform. Figure-ground segregation is based on motion without making any a priori assumptions about the object form. Using only the first spatiotemporal image derivatives subtraction of the normal optical flow induced by camera motion yields the object image motion. Closed-loop control is achieved by combining a stationary Kalman estimator with an optimal Linear Quadratic Regulator. The implementation on a pipeline architecture enables a servo rate of 25 Hz. We study the effects of time-recursive filtering and fixed-point arithmetic in image processing and we test the performance of the control algorithm on controlled motion of objects

AN ASSESSMENT OF FLYWHEEL HIGH POWER ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGY FOR HYBRID VEHICLES

An assessment has been conducted for the DOE Vehicle Technologies Program to determine the state of the art of advanced flywheel high power energy storage systems to meet hybrid vehicle needs for high power energy storage and energy/power management. Flywheel systems can be implemented with either an electrical or a mechanical powertrain. The assessment elaborates upon flywheel rotor design issues of stress, materials and aspect ratio. Twelve organizations that produce flywheel systems submitted specifications for flywheel energy storage systems to meet minimum energy and power requirements for both light-duty and heavy-duty hybrid applications of interest to DOE. The most extensive experience operating flywheel high power energy storage systems in heavy-duty and light-duty hybrid vehicles is in Europe. Recent advances in Europe in a number of vehicle racing venues and also in road car advanced evaluations are discussed. As a frame of reference, nominal weight and specific power for non-energy storage components of Toyota hybrid electric vehicles are summarized. The most effective utilization of flywheels is in providing high power while providing just enough energy storage to accomplish the power assist mission effectively. Flywheels are shown to meet or exceed the USABC power related goals (discharge power, regenerative power, specific power, power density, weight and volume) for HEV and EV batteries and ultracapacitors. The greatest technical challenge facing the developer of vehicular flywheel systems remains the issue of safety and containment. Flywheel safety issues must be addressed during the design and testing phases to ensure that production flywheel systems can be operated with adequately low risk

Neonatal cytokines and chemokines and risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder: the Early Markers for Autism (EMA) study: a case-control study.

BackgroundBiologic markers of infection and inflammation have been associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) but prior studies have largely relied on specimens taken after clinical diagnosis. Research on potential biologic markers early in neurodevelopment is required to evaluate possible causal pathways and screening profiles.ObjectiveTo investigate levels of cytokines and chemokines in newborn blood specimens as possible early biologic markers for autism.MethodsWe conducted a population-based case-control study nested within the cohort of infants born from July 2000 to September 2001 to women who participated in the prenatal screening program in Orange County, California, USA. The study population included children ascertained from the California Department of Developmental Services with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD, n = 84), or developmental delay but not ASD (DD, n = 49), and general population controls randomly sampled from the birth certificate files and frequency matched to ASD cases on sex, birth month and birth year (GP, n = 159). Cytokine and chemokine concentrations were measured in archived neonatal blood specimens collected for routine newborn screening.ResultsCytokines were not detected in the vast majority of newborn samples regardless of case or control status. However, the chemokine monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) was elevated and the chemokine Regulated upon Activation Normal T-Cell Expressed and Secreted (RANTES) was decreased in ASD cases compared to GP controls. The chemokines macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha (MIP-1α) and RANTES were decreased in children with DD compared to GP controls.ConclusionMeasurement of immune system function in the first few days of life may aid in the early identification of abnormal neurodevelopment and shed light on the biologic mechanisms underlying normal neurodevelopment