Traffic Flow: An Approach towards Modeling the Right Lane Rule

We attempted to model and analyze the effect of the right hand rule for the 2014 COMAP Math Modeling Competition. In order to analyze the right hand rule we started with Greenshield’s macroscopic approach and modified it to simulate the effects of the right hand rule. By analyzing the resulting changes in the flow and density of the system we determined the performance of the rule in varying traffic densities. Next we looked at the performance by modeling traffic flow when the rule is strictly adhered to, as compared to an intermediate, where the rule is followed until the critical density is reached. In the intermediate model we show how traffic flow can be maximized if people no longer follow the right hand rule after the critical density

An investigation of the impact of a portfolio based curriculum on children's ICT independence.

Very rarely, in education, do we see innovation that promises and delivers educational benefits without negative consequence. In the early stages of the introduction of ICT into education, promises were made of improved learning, 'state of the art' resourcing and even a decrease in teacher's workload. However, the reality was associated more with problems of integration into the curriculum. That is to say problems associated with the assessment of learning, the lack of time or money and effective management of the new ICT resources. It is within this ICT context that this research is grounded. The purpose of the research was to investigate the extent to which ICT can support the development of children's independence and individual responsibility for learning. The study used an action research approach to track the ICT development of 30 Y4 children over a period of 15 months. During four distinct action research cycles, a variety of surveys were developed and used to assess the changes in the children's approached to ICT. Changes, that were as a result of the implementation of a portfolio-based curriculum, through generally, a more child centred approach to ICT. As a result of the implementation of the above approach, it was found that the children showed an increase in their independence. They became, on the whole, more responsible and competent through their ICT work. They developed a more positive approach to their ICT tasks and showed that they could be more self-supporting at home and at school. This research illustrates the effect of a more focussed ICT curriculum. It highlights how use of an ICT portfolio can develop children's ICT thinking, ICT skills and ICT language. It illustrates the effectiveness of an integrated approach to ICT and highlights the current curricular constraints on such ICT development

Regulation of the U3 small subunit processome and associated RNA-binding proteins

PhD ThesisThe rate of ribosome biogenesis regulates the growth rate of the cell and is believed to be linked to the cell’s proliferative potential. Moreover, ribosome production is down-regulated in terminally differentiated cells and up-regulated in the majority of cancers. rRNA transcription is regulated in these processes although much remains unclear about the regulation of rRNA processing. In eukaryotes, 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) processing is mediated by the small subunit (SSU) processome. This is composed of the U3 small nucleolar (sno)RNP, many sub-complexes and a range of putative rRNA binding and modifying proteins. It is not clear however, which proteins bind or cleave the pre-rRNA, with the exception of NOB1. Moreover, the majority of research to date has been conducted in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae whereas the human SSU processome remains largely unstudied. Here we report that U3 snoRNP accumulation and function are regulated through the U3-specific hU3-55k protein. We demonstrate that U3 snoRNP levels are specifically down-regulated during human lung (CaLu-3) and colon (CaCo-2) epithelial cell differentiation and that this is likely mediated through regulating hU3- 55k levels. Moreover, CaCO-2 adenocarcinoma cells are believed to revert to their pre-cancerous phenotype during differentiation, suggesting that U3 snoRNP levels increase during tumourogenesis. We also show that phosphorylation of hU3-55k is likely to be essential for U3 snoRNP function; being required for the initial cleavage of the pre-rRNA. We therefore demonstrate two independent mechanisms that may regulate ribosome biogenesis through hU3-55k. We also demonstrate that the human and yeast SSU processomes contain many orthologous proteins. However, components responsible for 3’ pre-18S rRNA processing may function at temporally and spatially different points to their counterparts in yeast. Nonetheless, PNO1 and NOB1 are closely associated, with their nucleocytoplasmic shuttling affected by blocking pre-rRNA transcription, CRM1 mediated export and the mTOR pathway, likely preventing pre-40S export to the cytoplasm. This suggests yet another level of regulation to ribosome biogenesis through pre-rRNA processingBBSR

Land credit in the United States

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Kansas, Economics, 1917. ; Includes bibliographical references

Emergence Without Limits: the Case of Phonons

Recent discussions of emergence in physics have focussed on the use of limiting relations, and often particularly on singular or asymptotic limits. We discuss a putative example of emergence that does not fit into this narrative: the case of phonons. These quasi-particles have some claim to be emergent, not least because the way in which they relate to the underlying crystal is almost precisely analogous to the way in which quantum particles relate to the underlying quantum field theory. But there is no need to take a limit when moving from a crystal lattice based description to the phonon description. Not only does this demonstrate that we can have emergence without limits, but also provides a way of understanding cases that do involve limits

Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy Reveals Efficient Cytosolic Delivery of Protein Cargo by Cell-Permeant Miniature Proteins.

New methods for delivering proteins into the cytosol of mammalian cells are being reported at a rapid pace. Differentiating between these methods in a quantitative manner is difficult, however, as most assays for evaluating cytosolic protein delivery are qualitative and indirect and thus often misleading. Here we make use of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to determine with precision and accuracy the relative efficiencies with which seven different previously reported "cell-penetrating peptides" (CPPs) transport a model protein cargo-the self-labeling enzyme SNAP-tag-beyond endosomal membranes and into the cytosol. Using FCS, we discovered that the miniature protein ZF5.3 is an exceptional vehicle for delivering SNAP-tag to the cytosol. When delivered by ZF5.3, SNAP-tag can achieve a cytosolic concentration as high as 250 nM, generally at least 2-fold and as much as 6-fold higher than any other CPP evaluated. Additionally, we show that ZF5.3 can be fused to a second enzyme cargo-the engineered peroxidase APEX2-and reliably delivers the active enzyme to the cell interior. As FCS allows one to realistically assess the relative merits of protein transduction domains, we anticipate that it will greatly accelerate the identification, evaluation, and optimization of strategies to deliver large, intact proteins to intracellular locales

Evidence of space–time clustering of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in Sweden

We have examined 645 recorded cases of childhood acute lymphatic leukaemia (ALL) in Sweden during 1973–89 to identify space–time clustering by using the close-pair method of Knox. The records included date of birth and of diagnosis as well as addresses at birth and at diagnosis. There was a significant excess of case pairs close in date of birth and place of birth in the 5- to 15-year age group. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Long-term athletic training does not alter age-associated reductions of left-ventricular mid-diastolic lengthening or expansion at rest

Purpose: The interaction of ageing and exercise training status on left-ventricular (LV) peak strain is unclear. Additionally, strain analysis across the entire cardiac cycle facilitates a more detailed assessment of deformation, yet this has not been implemented to characterize the ageing LV and in association with training status. This study investigated healthy ageing and training status on LV systolic and diastolic strain utilizing novel echocardiographic applications. Methods: Forty healthy males were included and allocated into four groups; young recreationally active (YRA,n = 9; 28 ± 5 years), old recreationally active (ORA, n = 10; 68 ± 6), young trained (YT,n = 10; 27 ± 6 years), and old trained (OT, n = 11, 64 ± 4 years) groups. Two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography was performed to ascertain peak LV longitudinal and circumferential strain (base and apex) strain within each myocardial layer and at 5% increments across the cardiac cycle. Results: Older groups had lower diastolic longitudinal lengthening and circumferential expansion between 40–85% mid-diastole, regardless of training status (P 0.05). Longitudinal and circumferential (base and apex) peak and layer-specific strain did not differ between groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Novel applications of diastolic strain revealed lower age-associated LV longitudinal lengthening and circumferential expansion in older age. Yet, diastolic strain profiles did not differ based on chronic habits of exercise training and, thus, older trained men did not demonstrate an attenuation of age-associated differences in mid-diastolic LV strain. © 2020, The Author(s)

Low-Surface-Brightness Galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. I. Search Method and Test Sample

In this paper we present results of a pilot study to use imaging data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to search for low-surface-brightness (LSB) galaxies. For our pilot study we use a test sample of 92 galaxies from the catalog of Impey et al. (1996) distributed over 93 SDSS fields of the Early Data Release (EDR). Many galaxies from the test sample are either LSB or dwarf galaxies. To deal with the SDSS data most effectively a new photometry software was created, which is described in this paper. We present the results of the selection algorithms applied to these 93 EDR fields. Two galaxies from the Impey et al. test sample are very likely artifacts, as confirmed by follow-up imaging. With our algorithms, we were able to recover 87 of the 90 remaining test sample galaxies, implying a detection rate of $\sim$96.5%. The three missed galaxies fall too close to very bright stars or galaxies. In addition, 42 new galaxies with parameters similar to the test sample objects were found in these EDR fields (i.e., $\sim$47% additional galaxies). We present the main photometric parameters of all identified galaxies and carry out first statistical comparisons. We tested the quality of our photometry by comparing the magnitudes for our test sample galaxies and other bright galaxies with values from the literature. All these tests yielded consistent results. We briefly discuss a few unusual galaxies found in our pilot study, including an LSB galaxy with a two-component disk and ten new giant LSB galaxies.Comment: 36 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication by AJ, some figures were bitmapped to reduce the siz