Impulse

Features:[Page 2] Eliminating pain through electronic impulses drives SDSU grad to success[Page 4] South Dakota work ethic helps growth of Clear Lake plant[Page 6] Company excels in refinery turnarounds[Page 8] Schiller\u27s work: with NASA[Page 9] SDSU graduate directs Zytec to top award[Page 10] Buckley book shows another side of dean Departments:Faculty:[Page 12] Browning teaches telecourse statewide[Page 13] Egyptian Fulbright Scholar updating homeland maps[Page 13] Egyptian Fellow studies U.S. bridge design[Page 13] Sander honored by local Chamber of Commerce[Page 14] New faculty[Page 15] Engineering professors gain emeritus status[Page 15] Graetzer to retire to Colorado[Page 16] Duffey honored at reception in October[Page 16] ASAE announces Blue Ribbon Award winners[Page 16] Quist develops superconductor filmStudents:[Page 17] Knabach, students study electro-magnetic fields[Page 17] SDSU students find new source of financial aid[Page 18] 1991 Hobo Day memories[Page 19] Paulos Mebrahtu[Page 20] EEO event to incorporate Inventors\u27 Congress[Page 21] From the JEC president[Page 22] Business plans for awards program at SDSU requested by April 1[Page 22] Engineering societies[Page 24] University faculty integral part of recruitment effortResearch:[Page 26] Humboldt firm, SDSU to work cooperatively on computer projectBenefactors and Donors:[Page 11] Buckley scholarship[Page 21] SDSU students receive East River Cooperative scholarshipsAlumni:Phonathon planned for February Inside back coverhttps://openprairie.sdstate.edu/coe_impulse/1035/thumbnail.jp

Proposal for an astronaut mass measurement device for the Space Shuttle

For medical reasons, astronauts in space need to have their mass measured. Currently, this measurement is performed using a mass-spring system. The current system is large, inaccurate, and uncomfortable for the astronauts. NASA is looking for new, different, and preferably better ways to perform this measurement process. After careful analysis our design team decided on a linear acceleration process. Within the process, four possible concept variants are put forth. Among these four variants, one is suggested over the others. The variant suggested is that of a motor-winch system to linearly accelerate the astronaut. From acceleration and force measurements of the process combined Newton's second law, the mass of an astronaut can be calculated

Differences in vision performance in different scenarios and implications for design.

To design accessibly, designers need good, relevant population data on visual abilities. However, currently available data often focuses on clinical vision measures that are not entirely relevant to everyday product use. This paper presents data from a pilot survey of 362 participants in the UK, covering a range of vision measures of particular relevance to product design. The results from the different measures are compared, and recommendations are given for relative text sizes to use in different situations. The results indicate that text needs to be 17-18% larger for comfortable rather than perceived threshold viewing, and a further 20% larger when users are expected to wear their everyday vision setup rather than specific reading aids.The survey was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through the i~design 3 grant (Award Number: RG45089). The survey itself was conducted by the National Centre for Social Research under the direction of the research team. As well as the authors of this paper, several others made substantial contributions to the design and analysis of this survey, including Felicia Huppert, Pat Langdon, Kai Ruggeri, Eddy Elton, Jose Liht and John Ryan. Further analysis was funded by EPSRC through the KT-EQUAL project (grant number EP/G030898/2).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2016.02.00

Excretory-secretory products from the brown stomach worm, Teladorsagia circumcincta, exert antimicrobial activity in in vitro growth assays

BACKGROUND: Over the past decade, evidence has emerged of the ability of gastrointestinal (GI) helminth parasites to alter the composition of the host gut microbiome; however, the mechanism(s) underpinning such interactions remain unclear. In the current study, we (i) undertake proteomic analyses of the excretory-secretory products (ESPs), including secreted extracellular vesicles (EVs), of the ‘brown stomach worm’ Teladorsagia circumcincta, one of the major agents causing parasite gastroenteritis in temperate areas worldwide; (ii) conduct bioinformatic analyses to identify and characterise antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with putative antimicrobial activity; and (iii) assess the bactericidal and/or bacteriostatic properties of T. circumcincta EVs, and whole and EV-depleted ESPs, using bacterial growth inhibition assays. METHODS: Size-exclusion chromatography was applied to the isolation of EVs from whole T. circumcincta ESPs, followed by EV characterisation via nanoparticle tracking analysis and transmission electron microscopy. Proteomic analysis of EVs and EV-depleted ESPs was conducted using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and prediction of putative AMPs was performed using available online tools. The antimicrobial activities of T. circumcincta EVs and of whole and EV-depleted ESPs against Escherichia coli were evaluated using bacterial growth inhibition assays. RESULTS: Several molecules with putative antimicrobial activity were identified in both EVs and EV-depleted ESPs from adult T. circumcincta. Whilst exposure of E. coli to whole ESPs resulted in a significant reduction of colony-forming units over 3 h, bacterial growth was not reduced following exposure to worm EVs or EV-depleted ESPs. CONCLUSIONS: Our data points towards a bactericidal and/or bacteriostatic function of T. circumcincta ESPs, likely mediated by molecules with antimicrobial activity. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13071-022-05443-z

Public Health Research Priorities to Address US Human Trafficking

In this Perspective, HEAL Trafficking, the nation\u27s leading public health anti-trafficking organization maps out a national research agenda to tackle the problem of human trafficking. Given the paucity of research on trafficking, HEAL Trafficking engaged its membership in a consensus development process throughout 2016 to develop its national research agenda. HEAL Trafficking proposes five priorities that public health researchers should focus on in the decade ahead to make meaningful progress on preventing and responding to human trafficking in the Unites States

Peripheral refractive changes associated with myopia progression

Purpose.: To evaluate the changes in peripheral refraction profiles associated with myopia progression and treatment modalities used in the Cambridge Anti-Myopia Study. Methods.: One hundred and seventy-seven myopes in the age range of 14 to 22 years were enrolled in the study. The mean spherical equivalent refractive error was −3.12 ± 1.87 diopters (D) and the refractive error of each participant was corrected with contact lenses. The participants were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups, which included: altered spherical aberration and vision training, altered spherical aberration only, vision training only, and control. Peripheral refractive error was measured using an open field autorefractor in the central 60° of the retina in 10° steps. The refractive error was measured using cycloplegic autorefraction. Two-year refractive progression data and initial peripheral refraction measurements were available in 113 participants. Measurements of peripheral refraction and cycloplegic refraction were obtained at three visits over 2 years in 12-month intervals for 92 participants. Results.: All subjects showed a relative peripheral hyperopia, especially in the nasal retina. A limited magnitude of myopia progression of −0.34 ± 0.36 D over 2 years was found in each of the four groups on average. There were no significant differences in the rate of progression between any of the treatment groups (P > 0.05). Initial peripheral J45 astigmatic refractive error at 20° and 30° in the nasal retina was weakly correlated with progression of myopia over 2 years (r = −0.27, P = 0.004 and r = −0.20, P = 0.040, respectively; n = 113). The change in spherical equivalent peripheral refractive error at 30° nasal retina over time was also significantly correlated with progression of myopia especially at 24 months (r = −0.24, P = 0.017, n = 92). Conclusions.: Relative peripheral hyperopia is associated with myopia. Myopia progression may be weakly linked to changes in the peripheral refraction profiles in the nasal retina. However, a causative link between peripheral refractive error and myopia progression could not be established

Documentary Analysis within a Realist Evaluation: recommendations from a study of Sexual Assault Referral Centres

Realist approaches are increasingly used in studies of complex health interventions/evaluations to understand how programmes work, for whom, and under what circumstances. Mixed-method data sources can be used to generate, refine and test realist programme theories, which explore causal links about the contexts that affect the mechanisms of an intervention and lead to the production of different outcomes. The realist approach provides a framework for a detailed understanding of how a programme functions, aiding with the implementation, refinement or adaptation of interventions.Documentary analysis provides an overview of the theoretical and practical functioning of a service and the ways it is structured to provide interventions. Data is often collected early in the evaluation and can include service specifications, organisational policies and procedures and routine audit data. This paper describes a two-stage process of documentary analysis, where data extraction forms and journey maps are used to explore how Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) in England respond to the mental health and substance use needs of users. Using documentary analysis as part of a sequential data collection process can be valuable in informing subsequent data sources (e.g. qualitative interview schedules can be used to further test and refine theories from a documentary analysis). Considerations for researchers in applying documentary analysis include the value of keeping initial searches broad, to capture documents from a range of sources; the need for clarity about the prioritisation of data sources in the selection process; the benefit in establishing a standardised extraction form that incorporates the wider context within which the intervention functions; taking steps to ensure face validity and transferability during interpretation of data sources; the benefits of transforming information from the data extraction form into a visual journey map

The Cambridge Anti-myopia Study: variables associated with myopia progression

Purpose: To identify variables associated with myopia progression and to identify any interaction between accommodative function, myopia progression, age, and treatment effect in the Cambridge Anti-Myopia Study. Methods: Contact lenses were used to improve static accommodation by altering ocular spherical aberration, and vision training was performed to improve dynamic accommodation. One hundred forty-two subjects, aged 14–21 years, were recruited who had a minimum of −0.75D of myopia. Subjects were assigned to contact lens treatment only, vision training only, contact lens treatment and vision training, or control group. Spherical aberration, lag of accommodation, accommodative convergence/accommodation (AC/A) ratio, accommodative facility, ocular biometry, and refractive error were measured at regular intervals throughout the 2-year trial. Results: Ninety-five subjects completed the 24-month trial period. There was no significant difference in myopia progression between the four treatment groups at 24 months. Age, lag of accommodation, and AC/A ratio were significantly associated with myopia progression. There was a significant treatment effect at 12 months in the contact lens treatment group in younger subjects, based on a median split, aged under 16.9 years (p = 0.005). This treatment effect was not maintained over the second year of the trial. Younger subjects experienced a greater reduction in lag of accommodation with the treatment contact lens at 3 months (p = 0.03), compared to older contact lens treatment and control groups. There was no interaction between AC/A ratio and contact lens treatment effect. Conclusions: Age, lag of accommodation, and AC/A ratio were significantly associated with myopia progression. Although there was no significant treatment effect at 24 months, an interaction between age and contact lens treatment suggests younger subjects may be more amenable, at least in the short term, to alteration of the visual system using optical treatments

Deregulation of IGF-binding proteins -2 and -5 contributes to the development of endocrine resistant breast cancer in vitro

Tamoxifen (TAM) remains the adjuvant therapy of choice for pre-menopausal women with ERα-positive breast cancer. Resistance and recurrence remain, however, a major challenge with many women relapsing and subsequently dying. The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis is involved in breast cancer pathogenesis and progression to endocrine resistant disease, but there is very little data on the expression and potential role of IGF-binding proteins (IGFBP) during acquisition of the resistant phenotype. The aim of this study was to determine the expression and functional role of IGFBP-2 and -5 in the development of TAM resistance (TamR) in vitro and to test retrospectively whether they were predictive of resistance in a tissue microarray of 77 women with primary breast cancers who relapsed on/after endocrine therapy and 193 who did not with long term follow up. Reciprocal expression of IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-5 was observed at both mRNA and protein level in TamR cells. IGFBP-2 expression was increased by 10-fold while IGFBP-5 was decreased by 100-fold, compared to TAM sensitive control cells. shRNA-mediated silencing of IGFBP-2 in TamR cells restored TAM sensitivity suggesting a causal role for this gene in TamR. While silencing of IGFBP-5 in control cells had no effect on TAM sensitivity, it significantly increased the migratory capacity of these cells. Quantitative image analysis of immunohistochemical data failed, however, to demonstrate an effect of IGFBP2 expression in endocrine relapsed patients. Likewise, IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-5 expression failed to show any significant associations with survival either in patients relapsing or those not relapsing on/after endocrine therapy. By contrast, in silico mining of a separate published dataset showed that in patients who received endocrine treatment, loss of expression of IGBP-5 was significantly associated with worse survival. Overall these data suggest that co-ordinated and reciprocal alteration in IGFBP-2 and –5 expression may play a role in the acquisition of endocrine resistance