Moisus from the Sierra

While still in the midst of their study abroad experiences, students at Linfield College write reflective essays. Their essays address issues of cultural similarity and difference, compare lifestyles, mores, norms, and habits between their host countries and home, and examine changes in perceptions about their host countries and the United States. In this essay, Kellen Johansen describes his observations during his study abroad program at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador

Some Two Color, Four Variable Rado Numbers

There exists a minimum integer $N$ such that any 2-coloring of $\{1,2,...,N\}$ admits a monochromatic solution to $x+y+kz =\ell w$ for $k,\ell \in \mathbb{Z}^+$, where $N$ depends on $k$ and $\ell$. We determine $N$ when $\ell-k \in \{0,1,2,3,4,5\}$, for all $k,\ell$ for which ${1/2}((\ell-k)^2-2)(\ell-k+1)\leq k \leq \ell-4$, as well as for arbitrary $k$ when $\ell=2$.Comment: 13 page

Cytokine and Lipid Mediator Regulation of Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells (ILC2s) in Human Allergic Airway Disease.

The recent discovery of group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) has caused a paradigm shift in the understanding of allergic airway disease pathogenesis. Prior to the discovery of ILC2s, Th2 cells were largely thought to be the primary source of type 2 cytokines; however, activated ILC2s have since been shown to contribute significantly, and in some cases, dominantly to type 2 cytokine production. Since the discovery of ILC2s in 2010, many mediators have been shown to regulate their effector functions. Initial studies identified the epithelial derived cytokines IL-25, IL-33, and TSLP as activators of ILC2s, and recent studies have identified many additional cytokine and lipid mediators that are involved in ILC2 regulation. ILC2s and their mediators represent novel therapeutic targets for allergic airway diseases and intensive investigation is underway to better understand ILC2 biology and upstream and downstream pathways that lead to ILC2-driven airway pathology. In this review, we will focus on the cytokine and lipid mediators that regulate ILC2s in human allergic airway disease, as well as highlight newly discovered mediators of mouse ILC2s that may eventually translate to humans

Quantifying Variation in Gait Features from Wearable Inertial Sensors Using Mixed Effects Models

The emerging technology of wearable inertial sensors has shown its advantages in collecting continuous longitudinal gait data outside laboratories. This freedom also presents challenges in collecting high-fidelity gait data. In the free-living environment, without constant supervision from researchers, sensor-based gait features are susceptible to variation from confounding factors such as gait speed and mounting uncertainty, which are challenging to control or estimate. This paper is one of the first attempts in the field to tackle such challenges using statistical modeling. By accepting the uncertainties and variation associated with wearable sensor-based gait data, we shift our efforts from detecting and correcting those variations to modeling them statistically. From gait data collected on one healthy, non-elderly subject during 48 full-factorial trials, we identified four major sources of variation, and quantified their impact on one gait outcome—range per cycle—using a random effects model and a fixed effects model. The methodology developed in this paper lays the groundwork for a statistical framework to account for sources of variation in wearable gait data, thus facilitating informative statistical inference for free-living gait analysis

Factors of Emotion and Affect in Designing Interactive Virtual Characters

The Arts: 1st Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)This paper represents a review of literature concerning factors of affective interactive virtual character design. Affect and it's related concepts are defined followed by a detail of work being conducted in relevant areas such as design, animation, robotics. The intent of this review as to inform the author on overlapping concepts in fields related to affective design in order to apply these concepts interactive character development.A three-year embargo was granted for this item

Age dependent increase in UVA-induced bleaching of the brown components of the human lens [abstract]

Abstract only availableFaculty Mentor: Dr. Beryl Ortwerth, Biochemical EngineeringWith age, human lenses accumulate a yellow color. This yellow color is a risk-marker and possibly riskfactor to the formation of cataracts. The yellow color, that is accumulated, is at its highest concentration in the lens nucleus, which is also the major site of cataracts, which may be related to UVA light. Evidence suggested that the yellow color accumulates when lens proteins react with the oxidation products of ascorbic acid. In this process, the oxidation of ascorbic acid causes modification of lens proteins, which is called glycation. Glycation is the reaction of carbonyl compounds and lysine residues in proteins. Glycation results in yellow compounds, which can absorb UVA light. Those products are called Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs). Previous research has shown that in vitro UVA irradiation of lenses causes bleaching of their yellow color. This is due to reduction of the yellow AGEs in the absence of oxygen, along with a concomitant oxidation of ascorbic acid. Providing that UVA light makes up ninety-seven percent of our solar spectrum and that 1000 times more UVA light reaches the lens than UVB light, it is likely that UVA light is the major factor for photochemical transformations in human lens. The aim of present investigation is to study the effect of UVA-light irradiation on human lens proteins of different ages. Proteins from human lenses of four different age groups(0-20yrs, 20-40yrs, 40-60yrs, 60+yrs) were separated into Water Insoluble(WI) and Water Soluble(WS) fractions. Amount of protein, absorbance at 330 nm and fluorescence at excitation/emission = 350/450 nm were measured for all fractions. To measure the activity, or the effectiveness of these fractions to oxidize ascorbic acid in the absence of oxygen, samples containing 1 mg/ml of WI and WS proteins were irradiated by UVA light, at 17 Co, for one hour. Spectra in the range 200-400 nm were taken every 15 minutes. Ascorbic acid oxidation was measured by the absorbance at 265 nm. Irradiation of lens proteins also caused the yellow compounds to bleach, which was followed by the absorbance at 330 nm. Dark controls were prepared and treated in the same way except that they were kept in the dark instead of being irradiated. A decrease in absorbance at 265nm was observed of the irradiated samples. In contrast, there was no significant change in the dark controls at 265nm. The data argues that oxidation of ascorbic acid was caused by UVA light and that a photochemical reaction occurred due to the irradiation of the samples. Similarly, a decrease in absorbance at 330 nm was observed in the irradiated samples. The dark controls remained unchanged, which indicates that the bleaching of the yellow compounds was caused by the irradiation of the samples. In older lenses a larger percent loss of absorbance at 330 nm was observed compared to younger lenses. This result correlates with the higher absorbance per milligram in older lenses. There is also an increase in moles of ascorbic acid oxidized with age. WI and WS proteins were examined to find out where the yellow compounds are located. Data from the experiments will be further analyzed to determine how age and solubility affects the activity in lenses. Current data shows that proteins in older lenses are more susceptible to UVA light than younger lenses. The increased oxidation of ascorbic acid in older lenses will further accelerate formation of glycation products, which are potential protein cross-linkers, and cause of cataract formation.Flo Dickey Funk Fellowshi