PVCROV : an experimental platform for multi-robot control systems

As the field of multi-robot control systems grows, the demand for flexible, robust and precise multi-robot testbeds increases. Up to this point, the testbeds that do exist for testing multi-robot controllers are often expensive, hard to deploy, and typically constrained to a single plane of motion. These constraints limit the capacity to conduct research which is why team Autonomously Controlled Electromechanical Systems (ACES) has created the PVCROV system. PVCROV is a low cost, underwater platform for testing multi-robot control systems. By utilizing an underwater environment, ACES created a testbed that is not constrained to a single plane of motion. Additionally, the advantage of an underwater testbed is the ability to simulate weightlessness, as if in a space environment. Both of these features make this testbed extremely valuable to multi-robot research as they open the door for conducting experiments that previously could not be performed. ACES final product consisted of four PVCROV\u27s tethered to a surface buoy with wireless command and control via an \u27onshore\u27 control computer. Each system was designed, simulated, manufactured and tested based on requirements developed from a customer needs survey performed with the targeted research team. Although complete functionality was not achieved, a new team of students has started a new iteration of the development process which will bring the system up to full functionality. With graduate student experimenters already involved, ACES has created a testbed that will provide great value to the robotics research program at SCU

Vertical structure and diabatic processes of the Madden-Julian oscillation

The “Vertical Structure of Diabatic Processes of the Madden-Julian Oscillation” global-model evaluation project developed a novel experimental framework, which produces a complete characterization of models’ abilities to simulate the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO). The three components of the project comprise 2-day and 20-day hindcasts and 20-year simulations; each obtained heating, moistening and momentum tendencies from the models’ sub-grid parameterizations. Thirty-five centers provided output for at least one component; nine centers provided data for all three. The models vary greatly in MJO fidelity in climate and hindcast experiments, yet fidelity in one was not correlated with fidelity in the other. In 20-year simulations, strong MJO models demonstrated heating, vertical-velocity and zonal-wind profiles that tilted westward with height, as in reanalysis data. The 20-day hindcasts showed no correspondence between the shape of the heating profile and hindcast skill. Low-to-mid-level moistening at moderate rain rates was a consistent feature of high-skill models and absent from low-skill models, suggesting a role for boundary-layer and congestus clouds in the MJO transition, which was confirmed by timestep data from the 2-day hindcasts. These hindcasts revealed a poor simulation of the MJO transition phase, even at short leads, with large mid-tropospheric dry biases and discrepancies in radiative-heating profiles

HEALTH Standards for Sewage Management Systems: Provide for the Continued Use and Installation of All On-Site Sewage Management System; Authorize the Department of Human Resources to Adopt State-Wide Regulations for On-Site Sewage Management Systems; Repeal the Definition of Prior Approved System ; Authorize the Department to Require Prior Examination and Approval of Such Systems Before Use in Georgia; Provide for a Reduction in Trench Length Under Certain Circumstances; and for Other Purposes

Standards for Sewage Management Systems: Provide for the Continued Use and Installation of All On-Site Sewage Management System; Authorize the Department of Human Resources to Adopt State-Wide Regulations for On-Site Sewage Management Systems; Repeal the Definition of Prior Approved System; Authorize the Department to Require Prior Examination and Approval of Such Systems Before Use in Georgia; Provide for a Reduction in Trench Length Under Certain Circumstances; and for Other Purpose

HEALTH Standards for Sewage Management Systems: Provide for the Continued Use and Installation of All On-Site Sewage Management System; Authorize the Department of Human Resources to Adopt State-Wide Regulations for On-Site Sewage Management Systems; Repeal the Definition of Prior Approved System ; Authorize the Department to Require Prior Examination and Approval of Such Systems Before Use in Georgia; Provide for a Reduction in Trench Length Under Certain Circumstances; and for Other Purposes

Standards for Sewage Management Systems: Provide for the Continued Use and Installation of All On-Site Sewage Management System; Authorize the Department of Human Resources to Adopt State-Wide Regulations for On-Site Sewage Management Systems; Repeal the Definition of Prior Approved System; Authorize the Department to Require Prior Examination and Approval of Such Systems Before Use in Georgia; Provide for a Reduction in Trench Length Under Certain Circumstances; and for Other Purpose

An Anti-Human ICAM-1 Antibody Inhibits Rhinovirus-Induced Exacerbations of Lung Inflammation

Human rhinoviruses (HRV) cause the majority of common colds and acute exacerbations of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Effective therapies are urgently needed, but no licensed treatments or vaccines currently exist. Of the 100 identified serotypes, ∼90% bind domain 1 of human intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) as their cellular receptor, making this an attractive target for development of therapies; however, ICAM-1 domain 1 is also required for host defence and regulation of cell trafficking, principally via its major ligand LFA-1. Using a mouse anti-human ICAM-1 antibody (14C11) that specifically binds domain 1 of human ICAM-1, we show that 14C11 administered topically or systemically prevented entry of two major groups of rhinoviruses, HRV16 and HRV14, and reduced cellular inflammation, pro-inflammatory cytokine induction and virus load in vivo. 14C11 also reduced cellular inflammation and Th2 cytokine/chemokine production in a model of major group HRV-induced asthma exacerbation. Interestingly, 14C11 did not prevent cell adhesion via human ICAM-1/LFA-1 interactions in vitro, suggesting the epitope targeted by 14C11 was specific for viral entry. Thus a human ICAM-1 domain-1-specific antibody can prevent major group HRV entry and induction of airway inflammation in vivo

Concussion Prevention and Technology

As more information emerges involving the long-term effects of concussions on athletes, so does the push to protect them, and in turn, continue to encourage participation. Concussions are extremely prevalent in the sport of football in particular, despite athletes wearing protective equipment such as helmets. Analysis of previous research shows that technological advancements in video analysis as well as impact tracking systems can positively influence player safety. When combining this with continued advancement in equipment development, testing, and proper usage, especially in the sport of football, athletes will be better protected. The purpose of this synthesis is to review the literature on the effects of technology on reducing the risk of concussions in sports. A second purpose of this synthesis is to review the importance of football equipment and its effects on concussion prevention.SUNY BrockportKinesiology, Sport Studies and Physical EducationMSEd in Physical EducationKinesiology, Sport Studies, and Physical Education Synthesis Project

The influence of competition and business strategy on organizations' use of high-performance work systems

Articles on high-performance work systems (HPWS) often imply that competition will influence organizations’ adoption of a HPWS, yet there are few studies that empirically test this relationship (for exception see Sanz-Valle, Sabater-Sanchez, & Aragon-Sanchez, 1999; Takeuchi, 2009). This dissertation seeks to develop a better understanding of the influence that competition has on organizations’ use of a HPWS. It does so by developing theory on competition and the expected effect that it has on organizations’ use of a HPWS. This dissertation empirically tests this relationship. The expectation was that organizations’ use of a HPWS would increase as competition increased. Statistical evidence was found to support this hypothesis. Next this dissertation takes a closer look at the effect of competition on organizations’ use of a HPWS by investigating the extent to which the constructs of market commonality and resource similarity moderate the effect of competition on HPWSs. Market commonality, the extent to which competitors markets overlap, and resource similarity, the extent to which competitors have the same resources as each other, have both been theorized to effect organizational action in a theory of competition known as the Red Queen effect. This dissertation theorizes that market commonality and resource similarity would amplify organizations’ use of a HPWS. There was no statistical support for these relationships. After investigating competition, an antecedent from the external environment, on organizations’ use of a HPWS, this dissertation shifts to investigate the influence of business strategy, an antecedent from the internal environment. There are a variety of business strategies that have been identified in the strategy literature. The business strategies used in this dissertation included the cost-reduction strategy, where organizations focus on reducing costs throughout their value chain, and two differentiation strategies, innovation and quality management. This dissertation tested the direct effect of each of these strategies and then the moderation effect of these strategies on the competition – HPWS relationship. The expected relationship was that the presence of a cost-reduction strategy would decrease the use of a HPWS. The innovation and quality management differentiation strategies were expected to increase organizations’ use of a HPWS. Similarly, the presence of a cost-reduction strategy was expected to diminish the effect of competition on organizations’ use of a HPWS. Alternately, the innovation and quality management strategies were expected to amplify the competition – HPWS relationship. When tested, these hypotheses were not supported. Of most interest was the quality management strategy. When quality management was high, organizations reduced their use of a HPWS. This was contrary to what was expected and should be studied further in future studies. Theses hypotheses were tested using a sample collected from alumni from two different Midwestern universities and an HR association

IPAC Image Processing and Data Archiving for the Palomar Transient Factory

The Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) is a multiepochal robotic survey of the northern sky that acquires data for the scientific study of transient and variable astrophysical phenomena. The camera and telescope provide for wide-field imaging in optical bands. In the five years of operation since first light on 2008 December 13, images taken with Mould-R and SDSS-g′ camera filters have been routinely acquired on a nightly basis (weather permitting), and two different Hα filters were installed in 2011 May (656 and 663 nm). The PTF image-processing and data-archival program at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) is tailored to receive and reduce the data, and, from it, generate and preserve astrometrically and photometrically calibrated images, extracted source catalogs, and co-added reference images. Relational databases have been deployed to track these products in operations and the data archive. The fully automated system has benefited by lessons learned from past IPAC projects and comprises advantageous features that are potentially incorporable into other ground-based observatories. Both off-the-shelf and in-house software have been utilized for economy and rapid development. The PTF data archive is curated by the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA). A state-of-the-art custom Web interface has been deployed for downloading the raw images, processed images, and source catalogs from IRSA. Access to PTF data products is currently limited to an initial public data release (M81, M44, M42, SDSS Stripe 82, and the Kepler Survey Field). It is the intent of the PTF collaboration to release the full PTF data archive when sufficient funding becomes available

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts