Ranking and Selection of Motor Carrier Safety Performance by Commodity

We use recent safety performance data to rank US motor carrier commodity segments (e.g., Tank segment or Produce segment) in terms of several driver-related, vehicle-related, and crash-related safety measures. Ranking and selection inference techniques are used to determine the best and worst performing commodity segments at the 95% confidence level. The results are mixed, however the Passenger segment is generally best, while the Produce, Intermodal, and Refrigerated segments tend to be worst

Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive, neurodegenerative condition that has increasingly been linked with mitochondrial dysfunction and inhibition of the electron transport chain. This inhibition leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species and depletion of cellular energy levels, which can consequently cause cellular damage and death mediated by oxidative stress and excitotoxicity. A number of genes that have been shown to have links with inherited forms of PD encode mitochondrial proteins or proteins implicated in mitochondrial dysfunction, supporting the central involvement of mitochondria in PD. This involvement is corroborated by reports that environmental toxins that inhibit the mitochondrial respiratory chain have been shown to be associated with PD. This paper aims to illustrate the considerable body of evidence linking mitochondrial dysfunction with neuronal cell death in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) of PD patients and to highlight the important need for further research in this area

Cob Development in Forage Maize: Influence of Harvest Date, Cultivar and Plastic Mulch

Forage maize grown for silage tends to be a compromise between reproductive and vegetative yield, and the cob component is the main driver of feeding value (Keane et al., 2003). Thus the aim is to produce a well-developed crop of high dry matter (DM) and starch content reflecting large cobs of well-filled grains rather than crops with low DM and starch contents reflecting poorly developed (immature) cob components at harvest. The use of plastic mulch can increase total DM yields with the increase in cob yield accounting for 75% of the total yield increase (Easson & Fearnehough, 1997). In this experiment the composition of cob components (i.e. rachis plus kernel) of two cultivars of different maturity under Irish conditions grown with or without plastic mulch were monitored between the harvest dates of 10 September to 9 November

Yield and Composition of Forage Maize: Interaction of Harvest Date, Cultivar and Plastic Mulch

Forage maize is established as a crop with the potential to consistently supply high yields of quality forage on some Irish farms. Despite its success, considerable variability in crop yield, quality and maturity at harvest can exist from year to year. These reflect differing prevailing weather conditions, particularly temperature during May to September. The use of plastic mulch has increased the likelihood of achieving higher yields of high quality crops and has permitted maize production to extend into areas once considered unsuitable for the crop. In this experiment two cultivars of differing maturity were grown with or without plastic mulch to examine how yield and composition altered during the harvest window of early September to early November

A Linear Approach to Absolute Pose Estimation for Light Fields

This paper presents the first absolute pose estimation approach tailored to Light Field cameras. It builds on the observation that the ratio between the disparity arising in different sub-aperture images and their corresponding baseline is constant. Hence, we augment the 2D pixel coordinates with the corresponding normalised disparity to obtain the Light Field feature. This new representation reduces the effect of noise by aggregating multiple projections and allows for linear estimation of the absolute pose of a Light Field camera using the well-known Direct Linear Transformation algorithm. We evaluate the resulting absolute pose estimates with extensive simulations and experiments involving real Light Field datasets, demonstrating the competitive performance of our linear approach. Furthermore, we integrate our approach in a state-of-the-art Light Field Structure from Motion pipeline and demonstrate accurate multi-view 3D reconstruction

Amorphous, Self-Healed (ASH-G) geopolymer and (ASH-C) ceramic composites

Basalt is a common volcanic rock found all around the world and on Mars. The abundance of basalt has attracted attention from construction firms and material researchers as an alternative reinforcement source. Potassium geopolymer in the stoichiometric composition K2O • Al2O3 • 4SiO2 • 11H2O was produced from fumed silica, deionized water, potassium hydroxide, (i.e. water glass) and metakaolin. The geopolymer matrix was fabricated in an IKA® high shear mixer. ½” chopped basalt fibers from Kameny Vek in Moscow were added to potassium geopolymer in amounts of 7.5 wt %. The basalt fibers and 7.5 wt % glass frit (900°C) were then dispersed in KGP using a planetary high shear Thinky mixer and the samples were allowed to set under applied pressure at ambient temperatures for 1 day followed by 1 day at 50°C to complete the reaction. A low melting temperature fine glass frit (Tm = 900°C) was added to produce self-sealing/crack filling in a dehydrated but un-crystallized geopolymer composite (900-1000 °C). Sample geometries were 1” x 1” x 6” in dimensions. Six samples from each basalt weight class were heated to 400, 800, 900, 1000, 1100, and 1200 °C. The ramp up and down rates were 7 °C/min with a 1 hour soak time at each set temperature. SEM/EDS data indicated that melting and bonding of the glass phase dispersed into the surrounding KGP matrix, produced a self-sealing effect on the dehydrated and cracked matrix. The chopped basalt fibers melted after the KGP matrix crystallized into leucite, providing a network/glass filling system in a ceramic (1200 °C). At intermediate temperatures the geopolymer was converted to a ceramic, but the basalt fibers remained intact. The amorphous self-healing effect of the glass frit significantly improved to the flexure strength of the geopolymer and ceramic composite

Optical coherence tomography angiography of foveal hypoplasia

AIMS: To discuss foveal development in the context of detailed retinal vasculature imaging in foveal hypoplasia using optical coherence tomography angiography. METHODS: In this case series, the optical coherence tomography angiography results of four patients with idiopathic foveal hypoplasia and two patients with foveal hypoplasia secondary to oculocutaneous albinism are presented. RESULTS: Cases with intact visual acuity demonstrated lower grades of foveal hypoplasia on optical coherence tomography, while those with poor vision demonstrated high grades of foveal hypoplasia. The superficial retinal capillary plexus was intact in the foveal area in all cases, with no demonstrable foveal avascular zone. The deep retinal capillary plexus was absent to variable degrees in most cases, but was most persistent in those cases with reduced vision. CONCLUSIONS: The superficial retinal capillary plexus is present in cases with foveal hypoplasia, while the deep retinal capillary plexus is absent to varying degrees. Our findings support the hypothesis that an intact foveal avascular zone of the deep capillary plexus allows for outer retinal photoreceptor specialisation to occur unimpeded, resulting in preserved visual acuity, while this process may be inhibited by an absent deep capillary foveal avascular zone with resultant poor vision

Herschel evidence for disk flattening or gas depletion in transitional disks

Transitional disks are protoplanetary disks characterized by reduced near- and mid-infrared emission with respect to full disks. This characteristic spectral energy distribution indicates the presence of an optically thin inner cavity within the dust disk believed to mark the disappearance of the primordial massive disk. We present new Herschel Space Observatory PACS spectra of [OI] 63 micron for 21 transitional disks. Our survey complements the larger Herschel GASPS program "Gas in Protoplanetary Systems" (Dent et al. 2013) by quadrupling the number of transitional disks observed with PACS at this wavelength. [OI] 63 micron traces material in the outer regions of the disk, beyond the inner cavity of most transitional disks. We find that transitional disks have [OI] 63 micron line luminosities two times fainter than their full disk counterparts. We self consistently determine various stellar properties (e.g. bolometric luminosity, FUV excess, etc.) and disk properties (e.g. disk dust mass, etc.) that could influence the [OI] 63 micron line luminosity and we find no correlations that can explain the lower [OI] 63 micron line luminosities in transitional disks. Using a grid of thermo-chemical protoplanetary disk models, we conclude that either transitional disks are less flared than full disks or they possess lower gas-to-dust ratios due to a depletion of gas mass. This result suggests that transitional disks are more evolved than their full disk counterparts, possibly even at large radii.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 52 pages, 16 figures, 8 table

Low-energy electron scattering from methanol and ethanol

Measured and calculated differential cross sections for elastic (rotationally unresolved) electron scattering from two primary alcohols, methanol (CH3OH) and ethanol (C2H5OH), are reported. The measurements are obtained using the relative flow method with helium as the standard gas and a thin aperture as the collimating target gas source. The relative flow method is applied without the restriction imposed by the relative flow pressure conditions on helium and the unknown gas. The experimental data were taken at incident electron energies of 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 50, and 100 eV and for scattering angles of 5°–130°. There are no previous reports of experimental electron scattering differential cross sections for CH3OH and C2H5OH in the literature. The calculated differential cross sections are obtained using two different implementations of the Schwinger multichannel method, one that takes all electrons into account and is adapted for parallel computers, and another that uses pseudopotentials and considers only the valence electrons. Comparison between theory and experiment shows that theory is able to describe low-energy electron scattering from these polyatomic targets quite well

Degree Classification: Does the Calculation Model Affect the Award?

Background Universities have the freedom to define their own calculation model to define the degree classification awarded. The output profile features as a key metric in ranking tables, yet this conceptually could be affected by the calculation method and provide a source of inequality. Method The scores from Level 5 & 6 modules from a group of final year students (n=50) was selected. Four different (A,B,C,D) models were applied to the same data to calculate the final degree score and subsequent award classification and analysed based on raw scores and rounded values. Results All four models appear to deliver similar calculated scores (Mean: A=62.9%: B=65.7%: C=64.8%: D=62.7%) however there is a distinct impact on the degree classification profiles. The proportion of students achieving First or Upper Second class awards for models A to D are 72%, 80%, 74%, 70% respectively. If rounding is applied this changes to 72%, 82%, 78%, 70%. Additional application of discretion at classification boundaries may further positively impact the results. Calculation models have minimal impact on lower class awards. Conclusion The results demonstrate that the calculation model has an effect on the degree classification awarded. In particular, models B and C produce more favourable outcomes. Universities using these models may benefit from an improved contribution to ranking performance. Burgess, R. (2007) Beyond the honours degree classification: Burgess Group Final Report, Universities U