318 research outputs found

    John Carroll University Theatre presents The Little Theatre Society Story, 1949-1963

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    A short history of the theatre program at John Carroll University, describing the purpose and processes of the program, and directed toward the student body

    Compatibility of the large quasar groups with the concordance cosmological model

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    We study the compatibility of large quasar groups with the concordance cosmological model. Large quasar groups are very large spatial associations of quasars in the cosmic web, with sizes of 50–250 h−1 Mpc. In particular, the largest large quasar group known, named Huge-LQG, has a longest axis of ∼860 h−1 Mpc, larger than the scale of homogeneity (∼260 Mpc), which has been noted as a possible violation of the cosmological principle. Using mock catalogues constructed from the Horizon Run 2 cosmological simulation, we found that large quasar groups size, quasar member number and mean overdensity distributions in the mocks agree with observations. The Huge-LQG is found to be a rare group with a probability of 0.3 per cent of finding a group as large or larger than the observed, but an extreme value analysis shows that it is an expected maximum in the sample volume with a probability of 19 per cent of observing a largest quasar group as large or larger than Huge-LQG. The Huge-LQG is expected to be the largest structure in a volume at least 5.3 ± 1 times larger than the one currently studied

    New Perspectives on the Sanctuary of Aesculapius in Nora (Sardinia): From Photogrammetry to Visualizing and Querying Tools

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    The ritual space of the Sanctuary of Aesculapius in Nora (Sardinia) is the main focus of a recent archaeological campaign led by the Cultural Heritage Department of the University of Padova. A partnership with 3DOM research group (Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento) has offered new opportunities for a digital investigation of the site. The aim of the project is to map and visualize the sanctuary with methodologies enabling different users to engage with the site in new ways. They offer different web tools for exploring, understanding and interacting with the site, by focusing on 3D modelling, semantic enrichment and the contextualization of digital records. The entire site of Nora has been surveyed by a drone, which produced a digital model of the peninsula. A number of outputs have been used for different scales of visualization and a range of purposes: an open source multi-resolution web renderer is used to navigate the point cloud, labelled using a system of bounding boxes. At the same time it provides access to a 2.5D model of each building. Plugins in QGIS are used to produce extrusions of any mapped feature, gaining height values from the point cloud, and attributes from the shapefile. Photogrammetric models of single ritual artifacts can be located in their own context and be displayed using 3D web renderers

    Energy Simulation And Optimized Retrofit Practices Applied To A Real Dwelling

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    Energy simulation and optimized retrofit practices applied to a real dwelling Giulia Marinello(a), Stephen L. Caskey(a), Eric J. Bowler(b), and Eckhard A. Groll(a) (a) Purdue University, School of Mechanical Engineering, ?Ray W. Herrick Laboratories, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA (b)Whirlpool Corporation, Benton Harbor, MI 49022, USA Abstract According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, residential housing units account for 20.9% of the total energy usage in the U.S., causing 20.8% of the nation’s total carbon dioxide emissions. The average age of a single family home in the US is 34 years. These aging dwellings were built in a time when energy was cheap and carbon dioxide emission was not considered pollution. Therefore, these houses typically do not contain many energy efficiency measures. The practice of house retrofitting represents a huge source of energy saving. Although there are some general fundamental rules on how to retrofit a house, many different improvements can be applied and the optimum solution is normally based on the previous conditions of the house and on the climate zone where the house is located. In the past few years, many, increasingly sophisticated, software solutions able to provide energy modeling of a residential building have been developed. In this paper, a typical 1950s vintage residential house located in West Lafayette, Indiana, is taken as a case study. The aim is to combine the results obtained from two different energy simulation engines and compare them with real time energy usage data before and after the retrofit. The software tools used are BEOpt and Ecotect. BEOpt was developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and is able to run optimization analyses and provide an indication on the most cost-effective improvements that can be done. Ecotect is based on Autodesk and is able to provide a more accurate energy analysis based on a 3D model of the house developed in Revit. The aim is to run an optimization analysis with BEOpt to identify the best retrofit practices for the case study and use the results to run a more accurate energy analysis in Ecotect. The results of the energy simulation can then be compared with real data thanks to the instrumentation system installed in the aforementioned house. The parameters monitored are the electricity consumption of every circuit, gas consumption, water consumption, and water temperature after the usage. Data from the house will be stored for a year to create a baseline scenario. The suggestions given by the energy simulation will be used to inform actual retrofit actions, which will be put in place during the summer of 2014. This study is part of a larger research project called the NEWW House, a collaboration between Whirlpool Corporation and Purdue University. The overall goal is to retrofit the residential building in order to create a net-zero energy and water house

    DNA Topoisomerase I differentially modulates R-loops across the human genome

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    Background: Co-transcriptional R-loops are abundant non-B DNA structures in mammalian genomes. DNA Topoisomerase I (Top1) is often thought to regulate R-loop formation owing to its ability to resolve both positive and negative supercoils. How Top1 regulates R-loop structures at a global level is unknown. Results: Here, we perform high-resolution strand-specific R-loop mapping in human cells depleted for Top1 and find that Top1 depletion results in both R-loop gains and losses at thousands of transcribed loci, delineating two distinct gene classes. R-loop gains are characteristic for long, highly transcribed, genes located in gene-poor regions anchored to Lamin B1 domains and in proximity to H3K9me3-marked heterochromatic patches. R-loop losses, by contrast, occur in gene-rich regions overlapping H3K27me3-marked active replication initiation regions. Interestingly, Top1 depletion coincides with a block of the cell cycle in G0/G1 phase and a trend towards replication delay. Conclusions: Our findings reveal new properties of Top1 in regulating R-loop homeostasis in a context-dependent manner and suggest a potential role for Top1 in modulating the replication process via R-loop formation

    Dietary fibres differentially impact on the production of phenolic acids from rutin in an in vitro fermentation model of the human gut microbiota

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    Polyphenols are often ingested alongside dietary fibres. They are both catabolised by, and may influence, the intestinal microbiota; yet, interactions between them and the impact on their resultant microbial products are poorly understood. Dietary fibres (inulin, pectin, psyllium, pyrodextrin, wheat bran, cellulose—three doses) were fermented in vitro with human faeces (n = 10) with and without rutin (20 µg/mL), a common dietary flavonol glycoside. Twenty-eight phenolic metabolites and short chain fatty acids (SCFA) were measured over 24 h. Several phenolic metabolites were produced during fibre fermentation, without rutin. With rutin, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (3,4diOHPAA), 3-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (3OHPAA), 3-(3 hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid (3OHPPA) and 3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)propionic acid (3,4diOHPPA; DOPAC) were produced, with 3,4diOHPAA the most abundant, confirmed by fermentation of 13C labelled quercetin. The addition of inulin, wheat bran or pyrodextrin increased 3,4diOHPAA 2 2.5-fold over 24 h (p < 0.05). Rutin affected SCFA production, but this depended on fibre, fibre concentration and timepoint. With inulin, rutin increased pH at 6 h from 4.9 to 5.6 (p = 0.01) but increased propionic, butyric and isovaleric acid (1.9, 1.6 and 5-fold, p < 0.05 at 24 h). Interactions between fibre and phenolics modify production of phenolic acids and SCFA and may be key in enhancing health benefits

    Balancing Affinity, Selectivity, and Cytotoxicity of Hydrazone-Based G-Quadruplex Ligands for Activation of Interferon β Genes in Cancer Cells

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    G-quadruplex (G4) ligands are investigated to discover new anticancer drugs with increased cell-killing potency. These ligands can induce genome instability and activate innate immune genes at non-cytotoxic doses, opening the discovery of cytostatic immune-stimulating ligands. However, the interplay of G4 affinity/selectivity with cytotoxicity and immune gene activation is not well-understood. We investigated a series of closely related hydrazone derivatives to define the molecular bases of immune-stimulation activity. Although they are closely related to each other, such derivatives differ in G4 affinity, cytotoxicity, genome instability, and immune gene activation. Our findings show that G4 affinity of ligands is a critical feature for immune gene activation, whereas a high cytotoxic potency interferes with it. The balance of G4 stabilization versus cytotoxicity can determine the level of immune gene activation in cancer cells. Thus, we propose a new rationale based on low cell-killing potency and high immune stimulation to discover effective anticancer G4 ligands
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