Increasing Endurance of an Autonomous Robot using an Immune-Inspired Framework

This paper describes the implementation of an online immune-inspired framework to help increase endurance of an autonomous robot. Endurance is defined as the ability of the robot to exert itself for a long period of time. The immune-inspired framework provides such capability by monitoring the behavior of the robot to ensure continuous and safe behavior. The immune-inspired framework combines innate and adaptive immune inspired algorithms. Innate uses a dendritic cell based innate immune algorithm, and adaptive uses an instance based B-cell approach. Results presented in this paper shows that when the robot is implemented with the immune-inspired framework, health and survivability of a robot is improved, therefore increasing its endurance

The impact of synthetic biology in chemical engineering - Educational issues

This paper describes the development of syntheticbiology as a distinct entity from current industrial biotechnology and the implications for a future based on its concepts. The role of the engineering design cycle, in syntheticbiology is established and the difficulties in making and exact analogy between the two emphasised. It is suggested that process engineers can offer experience in the application of syntheticbiology to the manufacture of products which should influence the approach of the synthetic biologist. The style of teaching for syntheticbiology appears to offer a new approach at undergraduate level and the challenges to the education of process engineers in this technology are raised. Possible routes to the development of syntheticbiology teaching are suggested

Adaptive and Online Health Monitoring System for Autonomous Aircraft

Good situation awareness is one of the key attributes required to maintain safe flight, especially for an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). Good situation awareness can be achieved by incorporating an Adaptive Health Monitoring System (AHMS) to the aircraft. The AHMS monitors the flight outcome or flight behaviours of the aircraft based on its external environmental conditions and the behaviour of its internal systems. The AHMS does this by associating a health value to the aircraft's behaviour based on the progression of its sensory values produced by the aircraft's modules, components and/or subsystems. The AHMS indicates erroneous flight behaviour when a deviation to this health information is produced. This will be useful for a UAS because the pilot is taken out of the control loop and is unaware of how the environment and/or faults are affecting the behaviour of the aircraft. The autonomous pilot can use this health information to help produce safer and securer flight behaviour or fault tolerance to the aircraft. This allows the aircraft to fly safely in whatever the environmental conditions. This health information can also be used to help increase the endurance of the aircraft. This paper describes how the AHMS performs its capabilities

A Two-Stage Approach to Defining an Affected Community based on the Directly Affected Population and Sense of Community

Studies have demonstrated the inadequacy of relying on existing administrative boundaries or simple proximity to define an affected community. The proposal and siting of hazardous facilities can have a range of impacts upon people across wide areas, with some more affected than others as a result of living with the physical impacts of construction or the fear associated with perceived risk. We term those most affected the Directly Affected Population and propose a two-stage model for identifying an affected community which places those most affected at the centre of the definition. The second stage is to identify the relationships those most affected have with the wider elements of the Sense of Community to discover the existing community or communities which are affected. Illustrated by the siting of a low level radioactive waste disposal facility at Dounrey in the north of Scotland, we show that elements of the lived community experience may have very different shapes, extents and conflicting interests which pose challenges for their incorporation into a siting process. The two-stage model presented in this paper, by placing those most directly affected at the centre and working from there out into the existing communities, identifies issues early in any siting process to improve their incorporation and amelioration

Energy from waste and the food processing industry

The provision of a secure, continuous energy supply is becoming an issue for all sectors of society and the foodprocessingindustry as a major energy user must address these issues. This paper identifies anaerobic digestion as an opportunity to go some way to achieving energy security in a sustainable manner. However, a number of energy management and waste reduction concepts must also be brought into play if the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainability are to be balanced. The reporting of such activity will help to promote the green credentials of the industry. Cleaner production, supply chain and life cycle assessment approaches all have a part to play as tools supporting a new vision for integrated energy and waste management. Our reliance on high-energyprocessing, such as canning and freezing/chill storage, might also need re-assessment together with processing based on hurdle technology. Finally, the concepts of energy and power management for a distributed energy generation system must be brought into the foodprocessingindustry

Sustainability of the chemical manufacturing industry - Towards a new paradigm?

This paper describes the current situation of the chemicalmanufacturingindustry, with special reference to Europe and looks to the future sustainability demands on the sector, and the implications of these demands for chemical engineering education. These implications include definitions of sustainability criteria for the sector and the need for transparent reporting under the Triple Bottom Line approach. The response of the education system to the sustainability agenda over the years and a number of strategies to incorporate it into courses are described. The important role of chemical (or more generally, process) engineers in delivering sustainable solutions is emphasised but this also suggests that anew way of thinking about the discipline is required. Indeed, this paper argues that the demand for a sustainable chemicalmanufacturing sector could bring about the next paradigm shift in the discipline which has been predicted for some time

Geographic Variation in Influenza Vaccination Disparities Between Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White US Nursing Home Residents

BACKGROUND: Disparities in influenza vaccination exist between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White US nursing home (NH) residents, but the geographic areas with the largest disparities remain unknown. We examined how these racial/ethnic disparities differ across states and hospital referral regions (HRRs). METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included >14 million short-stay and long-stay US NH resident-seasons over 7 influenza seasons from October 1, 2011, to March 31, 2018, where residents could contribute to 1 or more seasons. Residents were aged ≥65 years and enrolled in Medicare fee-for-service. We used the Medicare Beneficiary Summary File to ascertain race/ethnicity and Minimum Data Set assessments for influenza vaccination. We calculated age- and sex-standardized percentage point (pp) differences in the proportions vaccinated between non-Hispanic White and Hispanic (any race) resident-seasons. Positive pp differences were considered disparities, where the proportion of non-Hispanic White residents vaccinated was greater than the proportion of Hispanic residents vaccinated. States and HRRs with ≥100 resident-seasons per age–sex stratum per racial/ethnic group were included in analyses. RESULTS: Among 7 442 241 short-stay resident-seasons (94.1% non-Hispanic White, 5.9% Hispanic), the median standardized disparities in influenza vaccination were 4.3 pp (minimum, maximum: 0.3, 19.2; n = 22 states) and 2.8 pp (minimum, maximum: −3.6, 10.3; n = 49 HRRs). Among 6 758 616 long-stay resident-seasons (93.7% non-Hispanic White, 6.5% Hispanic), the median standardized differences were −0.1 pp (minimum, maximum: −4.1, 11.4; n = 18 states) and −1.8 pp (minimum, maximum: −6.5, 7.6; n = 34 HRRs). CONCLUSIONS: Wide geographic variation in influenza vaccination disparities existed across US states and HRRs. Localized interventions targeted toward areas with high disparities may be a more effective strategy to promote health equity than one-size-fits-all national interventions

Modelling marine trophic transfer of radiocarbon (14C) from a nuclear facility

Sellafield marine discharges of 14C are the largest contributor to the global collective dose from the nuclear fuel industry. As such, it is important to understand the fate of these discharges beyond the limitations and scope of empirical analytical investigations for this highly mobile radioactive contaminant. Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) is widely used to model anthropogenic impacts on ecosystems, such as fishing, although very few EwE studies have modelled the fate of bioavailable contaminants. This work presents, for the first time, a spatial-temporal 14C model utilising recent developments in EwE software to predict the ecological fate of anthropogenic 14C in the marine environment. The model predicted observed trends in 14C activities between different species and through time. It also provided evidence for the integration of Sellafield 14C in species at higher trophic levels through time

Advancing Equity Planning Now

What can planners do to restore equity to their craft? Drawing upon the perspectives of a diverse group of planning experts, Advancing Equity Planning Now places the concepts of fairness and equal access squarely in the center of planning research and practice. Editors Norman Krumholz and Kathryn Wertheim Hexter provide essential resources for city leaders and planners, as well as for students and others, interested in shaping the built environment for a more just world.Advancing Equity Planning Now remind us that equity has always been an integral consideration in the planning profession. The historic roots of that ethical commitment go back more than a century. Yet a trend of growing inequality in America, as well as other recent socio-economic changes that divide the wealthiest from the middle and working classes, challenge the notion that a rising economic tide lifts all boats. When planning becomes mere place-making for elites, urban and regional planners need to return to the fundamentals of their profession. Although they have not always done so, planners are well-positioned to advocate for greater equity in public policies that address the multiple objectives of urban planning including housing, transportation, economic development, and the removal of noxious land uses in neighborhoods

Identification of PADI2 as a potential breast cancer biomarker and therapeutic target.

BACKGROUND: We have recently reported that the expression of peptidylarginine deiminase 2 (PADI2) is regulated by EGF in mammary cancer cells and appears to play a role in the proliferation of normal mammary epithelium; however, the role of PADI2 in the pathogenesis of human breast cancer has yet to be investigated. Thus, the goals of this study were to examine whether PADI2 plays a role in mammary tumor progression, and whether the inhibition of PADI activity has anti-tumor effects. METHODS: RNA-seq data from a collection of 57 breast cancer cell lines was queried for PADI2 levels, and correlations with known subtype and HER2/ERBB2 status were evaluated. To examine PADI2 expression levels during breast cancer progression, the cell lines from the MCF10AT model were used. The efficacy of the PADI inhibitor, Cl-amidine, was tested in vitro using MCF10DCIS cells grown in 2D-monolayers and 3D-spheroids, and in vivo using MCF10DCIS tumor xenografts. Treated MCF10DCIS cells were examined by flow-cytometry to determine the extent of apoptosis and by RT2 Profiler PCR Cell Cycle Array to detect alterations in cell cycle associated genes. RESULTS: We show by RNA-seq that PADI2 mRNA expression is highly correlated with HER2/ERBB2 (p = 2.2 x 106) in luminal breast cancer cell lines. Using the MCF10AT model of breast cancer progression, we then demonstrate that PADI2 expression increases during the transition of normal mammary epithelium to fully malignant breast carcinomas, with a strong peak of PADI2 expression and activity being observed in the MCF10DCIS cell line, which models human comedo-DCIS lesions. Next, we show that a PADI inhibitor, Cl-amidine, strongly suppresses the growth of MCF10DCIS monolayers and tumor spheroids in culture. We then carried out preclinical studies in nude (nu/nu) mice and found that Cl-amidine also suppressed the growth of xenografted MCF10DCIS tumors by more than 3-fold. Lastly, we performed cell cycle array analysis of Cl-amidine treated and control MCF10DCIS cells, and found that the PADI inhibitor strongly affects the expression of several cell cycle genes implicated in tumor progression, including p21, GADD45alpha, and Ki67. CONCLUSION: Together, these results suggest that PADI2 may function as an important new biomarker for HER2/ERBB2+ tumors and that Cl-amidine represents a new candidate for breast cancer therapy