363 research outputs found

    A History of Liquor-by-the-Drink Legislation in North Carolina

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    At 8:04 a.m. on Tuesday, November 21, 1978, Hank Stoppelbein stepped up to the bar at Benedictine\u27s Restaurant in Charlotte and ordered a Bloody Mary, ending a seventy-year ban on the sale of mixed drinks in North Carolina and leaving Oklahoma as the only state in the Union without some form of legal mixed-drink sales. This article will trace the route by which North Carolina law came to accept Mr. Stoppelbein\u27s early-morning consumption and will review the law and regulations which govern his drinking

    Youth Visitor Dynamics in Pacific Coast National Parks

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    Recent media reports have suggested that members of the Millennial Generation (born 1981- 1997) and Generation Z (born after 1997) are less inclined to visit national parks, compared to older generations. We used three methods to examine the validity of these media statements: Qualtrics-based social media surveys (on Facebook and Instagram), face to face semi-structured interviews with park rangers at four Pacific coast national parks—Redwood, Crater Lake, Mount Rainier, and Olympic—and on-site visitor counts at park visitor centers and on trails. We compared these observations with the limited historical data on visitor ages available from the National Park Service. Our results suggest that media reports are overstated, and that the number of both Millennial Generation and Generation Z members visiting national parks is at least stable and perhaps even increasing. A possible explanation for divergent results is that younger people may be accessing park information through online and social media sources, and therefore bypassing visitor centers and direct contact with park rangers.https://ir.una.edu/geography_studentpresentations/1002/thumbnail.jp

    Flight investigation of the effect of tail boom strakes on helicopter directional control

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    A joint U.S. Army/NASA flight investigation was conducted utilizing a single-rotor helicopter to determine the effectiveness of horizontally mounted tail boom strakes on directional controllability and tail rotor power during low-speed, crosswind operating conditions. Three configurations were investigated: (1) baseline (strakes off), (2) single strake (strake at upper shoulder on port side of boom), and (3) double strake (upper strake plus a lower strake on same side of boom). The strakes were employed as a means to separate airflow over the tail boom and change fuselage yawing moments in a direction to improve the yaw control margin and reduce tail rotor power. Crosswind data were obtained in 5-knot increments of airspeed from 0 to 35 knots and in 30 deg increments of wind azimuth from 0 deg to 330 deg. At the most critical wind azimuth and airspeed in terms of tail rotor power, the strakes improved the pedal margin by 6 percent of total travel and reduced tail rotor power required by 17 percent. The increase in yaw control and reduction in tail rotor power offered by the strakes can expand the helicopter operating envelope in terms of gross weight and altitude capability. The strakes did not affect the flying qualities of the vehicle at airspeeds between 35 and 100 knots

    Prospecting for an HIV Vaccine

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    Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) sets several challenges for the development of a preventative HIV vaccine. Predictable, protective natural immunity against HIV does not occur and so unlike most other diseases for which vaccines exist, there are few guideposts from natural infection. Nonetheless, six vaccine efficacy trials have occurred. One in particular, the Thai trial called RV144, showed partial protective efficacy and potential ways ahead to a better vaccine approach. This coupled with other lessons from studies of acute infections as well as an increasingly complex knowledge of HIV-related vaccine immunology bring hope that a vaccine solution might be reached for this pervasive and deadly pandemic

    MEASURING THE MORAL IMPACT OF OPERATING DRONES ON PILOTS IN COMBAT, DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND SURVEILLANCE

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    Remotely piloted aircrafts (RPAs or drones ) have become important tools in military surveillance and combat, border protection, police and disaster management. In particular, the use of weaponized RPAs has led to a discussion on the ethical, strategic and legal implications of using such systems in warfare. In this context, studies suggest that RPA pilots experience similar exposure to post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety disorders compared to fighter pilots, although the flight and combat experiences are completely different. In order to investigate this phenomenon, we created an experiment that intends to measure the moral stress RPA pilots may experience when the operation of such systems leads to human casualties. Moral stress refers to the possibility that deciding upon moral dilemmas may not only cause physiological stress, but may also lead to (unconscious) changes in the evaluation of valus and reasons that are relevant to problem solving. The experiment includes an RPA simulation based on a game engine and novel measurement tools to assess moral reasoning. In this contribution, we outline the design of the experiment and the results of pretests that demonstrate the sensitivity of our measures. We close by arguing for the need of such studies to better understand novel forms of human-computer interaction

    Road-kill of Mammals in Nova Scotia

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    We examined road mortality of wild mammals in Nova Scotia using data from (a) five years of province-wide data on wildlife collisions involving larger mammals, and (b) 20 months of observations of smaller mammals along a 160-km route near Halifax. An average of 2079 White-tailed Deer was reported killed annually on highways during 1999 through 2003, along with 14 Moose and 33 Black Bear. Female White-tailed Deer were more likely to be road-killed than males (by a factor of 1.8), yearlings more so than older animals, and there were peaks of mortality in the late spring and late autumn. The road-kill of smaller mammals was highest in the summer and least in the winter, and the most frequent mortalities were of Raccoon (28% of observations), Porcupine (27%), Skunk (17%), Snowshoe Hare (6%), Coyote (4%), and Groundhog (3%). The standardized kill-rate (number/100 km) was highest on a 100-series highway compared to trunk highways or urban streets, but the rate standardized to vehicle density was highest on trunk highways

    Soylent: A Word Processor with a Crowd Inside

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    This paper introduces architectural and interaction patterns for integrating crowdsourced human contributions directly into user interfaces. We focus on writing and editing, com-plex endeavors that span many levels of conceptual and pragmatic activity. Authoring tools offer help with prag-matics, but for higher-level help, writers commonly turn to other people. We thus present Soylent, a word processing interface that enables writers to call on Mechanical Turk workers to shorten, proofread, and otherwise edit parts of their documents on demand. To improve worker quality, we introduce the Find-Fix-Verify crowd programming pat-tern, which splits tasks into a series of generation and re-view stages. Evaluation studies demonstrate the feasibility of crowdsourced editing and investigate questions of relia-bility, cost, wait time, and work time for edits.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant No. IIS-0712793

    Half-sandwich ruthenium–arene complexes with thiosemicarbazones: Synthesis and biological evaluation of [(η6-p-cymene)Ru(piperonal thiosemicarbazones)Cl]Cl complexes

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    The synthesis and characterization of a number of organometallic ruthenium(II) complexes containing a series of bidentate thiosemicarbazone ligands derived from piperonal is reported. The structure of compounds have been confirmed by spectroscopic analysis (IR and NMR) as well as X-ray crystallographic analysis of [(η6-p-cymene)Ru(pPhTSC)Cl]Cl (4) (pPhTSC is piperonal-N(4)-phenylthiosemicarbazone). The interaction of the complexes ([(η6-p-cymene)Ru(pEtTSC)Cl]Cl) (3) (pEtTSC is piperonal-N(4)-ethylthiosemicarbazone) and 4 with calf thymus DNA, human serum albumin (HSA) and pBR322 plasmid DNA were studied by spectroscopic, gel electrophoresis and hydrodynamic methods. The apparent binding constant for the interaction with DNA was determined to be 3.97 × 103 M− 1 and 4.07 × 103 M− 1 at 293 K for 3 and 4 respectively. The complexes bind strongly to HSA with binding constants of 2.94 × 104 M− 1 and 12.2 × 104 M− 1 at 296 K for 3 and 4 respectively. The in vitro anticancer activity of 3 and 4 has been evaluated against two human colon cancer cell line (HCT-116 and Caco-2) with IC50 values in the range of 26–150 μM. Both 3 and 4 show good activity as a catalytic inhibitor of human topoisomerase II at concentrations as low as 20 μM. The proficiency of 3 and 4 to act as antibacterial agents was also evaluated against six pathogenic bacterial strains with the best activity seen against Gram-positive strains. [Refer to PDF for graphical abstract

    Adipose saturation reduces lipotoxic systemic inflammation and explains the obesity paradox

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    Obesity sometimes seems protective in disease. This obesity paradox is predominantly described in reports from the Western Hemisphere during acute illnesses. Since adipose triglyceride composition corresponds to long-term dietary patterns, we performed a meta-analysis modeling the effect of obesity on severity of acute pancreatitis, in the context of dietary patterns of the countries from which the studies originated. Increased severity was noted in leaner populations with a higher proportion of unsaturated fat intake. In mice, greater hydrolysis of unsaturated visceral triglyceride caused worse organ failure during pancreatitis, even when the mice were leaner than those having saturated triglyceride. Saturation interfered with triglyceride\u27s interaction and lipolysis by pancreatic triglyceride lipase, which mediates organ failure. Unsaturation increased fatty acid monomers in vivo and aqueous media, resulting in greater lipotoxic cellular responses and organ failure. Therefore, visceral triglyceride saturation reduces the ensuing lipotoxicity despite higher adiposity, thus explaining the obesity paradox

    Diagnostic Imaging for Distal Extremity Injuries in Direct Access Physical Therapy: An Observational Study

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    # Background Military physical therapists practicing direct-access routinely utilize diagnostic imaging and numerous published case reports demonstrate the ability of physical therapists to diagnose and appropriately disposition patients with foot/ankle and wrist/hand fractures. However, no larger cohort studies have explored the utilization of diagnostic imaging by physical therapists to detect fractures. # Hypothesis/Purpose To describe the utilization of diagnostic imaging in foot/ankle and wrist/hand injuries by physical therapists in a direct-access sports physical therapy clinic. # Study Design Retrospective cohort study. # Methods The Agfa Impax Client 6 image viewing software (IMPAX) was searched from 2014 to 2018 for patients with diagnostic imaging ordered for foot/ankle and wrist/hand injuries. The Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) electronic medical record was independently reviewed by the principal and co-investigator physical therapists. Data extracted were demographics and elements from the patient history and physical examination. # Results In foot/ankle injuries, physical therapists diagnosed a fracture in 16% of the 177 cases and waited for an average of 3.9 days and 1.3 visits before ordering imaging. In wrist/hand injuries, physical therapists diagnosed a fracture in 24% of the 178 cases and waited for an average of 3.7 days and 1.2 visits before ordering imaging. The time to definitive care from the initial physical therapy evaluation was significantly different (p = 0.04) for foot/ankle fractures (0.6 days) compared to wrist/hand fractures (5.0 days). The Ottawa Ankle Rules demonstrated a negative likelihood ratio (-LR) of 0.11 (0.02, 0.72) and a positive likelihood ratio (+LR) of 1.99 (1.62, 2.44) for the diagnosis of foot/ankle fracture. # Conclusions Physical therapists utilizing diagnostic imaging in a direct-access sports physical therapy clinic diagnosed fractures in similar proportions for foot/ankle and wrist/hand injuries and quickly dispositioned patients to definitive care for those fractures. The diagnostic accuracy of the Ottawa Ankle Rules was similar to previously reported values. # Level of Evidence Level 3
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