RC Baja Competition - Suspension and Steering

The objective of this project is to design and construct a vehicle that will compete in the RC Baja Competition. As this project will be split between two students, this paper will be focusing on suspension and steering while the partner will focus on chassis and drivetrain. The vehicle will be tested in three different categories: the sprint, the slalom, and the Baja. These categories will test its speed, turning capabilities, and its overall capability in rough terrain. As this paper focuses on the suspension and steering. Several analyses and decision matrix were used to find the best dimension along with material needed for the structural components. The Baja will test the vehicle’s capability in handling stress along with finding the necessary suspension and turning radius. To ensure success in the sprint portion, the vehicle deviates less than 5 inches when driving for 50 feet. To give a competitive edge in the slalom the vehicle has a turn radius of 10 inches. Finally, the wishbones have been tested in deflection and buckling capabilities. The wishbones will not buckle under a 75 lb. axial load, nor deflect more than 0.2 inches (5mm) under a 25 lb. perpendicular load. Furthermore, the vehicle can be dropped at 3 feet with the springs only compressing 1 inch. All of this ensures the vehicle will have the capability to survive the rough terrain in the Baja competition

An Assessment of Potential False Positive E.coli Pyroprints in the CPLOP Database

The genetic information found in each species of organism is unique, and can be used as a tool to differentiate at the molecular level. This has caused rapid genotyping methods to become the cornerstone of a new area of research dependent on reading the genome as a form of identification. One of these specific identification methods, known as pyroprinting, relies on the small variation of DNA sequences within the same species to develop a unique, reproducible fingerprint. By simultaneously pyrosequencing multiple polymorphic loci within the ribosomal operons known as the intergenic transcribed spacers, a reproducible output is obtained, known as a pyroprint, which can be used like a fingerprint to identify that organism. This section of the genome not only differs between species but also between isolated bacteria within that species, allowing for the differentiation of species subtypes, referred to as strains. While this is a viable method for generating reproducible fingerprints from individual strains it may be possible to obtain identical fingerprints from non-identical organisms. The following report uses direct sequence comparison and in silico pyrosequencing of E. coli isolates housed in the Center for Applications in Biotechnology at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo that have matching pyroprints to show that it is possible to receive near identical pyroprints from non-identical sequences of intergenic transcribed spacers. Although the exact likelihood and cause of this false positive result remains undetermined due to limitations in the sequencing method, its existence questions the accuracy of using pyroprints of the ITS regions as a method of strain classification

C-peptide and metabolic outcomes in trials of disease modifying therapy in new-onset type 1 diabetes: an individual participant meta-analysis

Background Metabolic outcomes in type 1 diabetes remain suboptimal. Disease modifying therapy to prevent β-cell loss presents an alternative treatment framework but the effect on metabolic outcomes is unclear. We, therefore, aimed to define the relationship between insulin C-peptide as a marker of β-cell function and metabolic outcomes in new-onset type 1 diabetes. Methods 21 trials of disease-modifying interventions within 100 days of type 1 diabetes diagnosis comprising 1315 adults (ie, those 18 years and older) and 1396 children (ie, those younger than 18 years) were combined. Endpoints assessed were stimulated area under the curve C-peptide, HbA1c, insulin use, hypoglycaemic events, and composite scores (such as insulin dose adjusted A1c, total daily insulin, U/kg per day, and BETA-2 score). Positive studies were defined as those meeting their primary endpoint. Differences in outcomes between active and control groups were assessed using the Wilcoxon rank test. Findings 6 months after treatment, a 24·8% greater C-peptide preservation in positive studies was associated with a 0·55% lower HbA1c (p<0·0001), with differences being detectable as early as 3 months. Cross-sectional analysis, combining positive and negative studies, was consistent with this proportionality: a 55% improvement in C-peptide preservation was associated with 0·64% lower HbA1c (p<0·0001). Higher initial C-peptide levels and greater preservation were associated with greater improvement in HbA1c. For HbA1c, IDAAC, and BETA-2 score, sample size predictions indicated that 2–3 times as many participants per group would be required to show a difference at 6 months as compared with C-peptide. Detecting a reduction in hypoglycaemia was affected by reporting methods. Interpretation Interventions that preserve β-cell function are effective at improving metabolic outcomes in new-onset type 1 diabetes, confirming their potential as adjuncts to insulin. We have shown that improvements in HbA1c are directly proportional to the degree of C-peptide preservation, quantifying this relationship, and supporting the use of C-peptides as a surrogate endpoint in clinical trials

Toxin-Based Therapeutic Approaches

Protein toxins confer a defense against predation/grazing or a superior pathogenic competence upon the producing organism. Such toxins have been perfected through evolution in poisonous animals/plants and pathogenic bacteria. Over the past five decades, a lot of effort has been invested in studying their mechanism of action, the way they contribute to pathogenicity and in the development of antidotes that neutralize their action. In parallel, many research groups turned to explore the pharmaceutical potential of such toxins when they are used to efficiently impair essential cellular processes and/or damage the integrity of their target cells. The following review summarizes major advances in the field of toxin based therapeutics and offers a comprehensive description of the mode of action of each applied toxin

2012 ACCF/AHA/ACP/AATS/PCNA/SCAI/STS guideline for the diagnosis and management of patients with stable ischemic heart disease

The recommendations listed in this document are, whenever possible, evidence based. An extensive evidence review was conducted as the document was compiled through December 2008. Repeated literature searches were performed by the guideline development staff and writing committee members as new issues were considered. New clinical trials published in peer-reviewed journals and articles through December 2011 were also reviewed and incorporated when relevant. Furthermore, because of the extended development time period for this guideline, peer review comments indicated that the sections focused on imaging technologies required additional updating, which occurred during 2011. Therefore, the evidence review for the imaging sections includes published literature through December 2011

Militarizing Civil Rights: The Institutionalization of Equal Opportunity in the U.S. Armed Forces, 1966-1976

Militarizing Civil Rights: The Institutionalization of Equal Opportunity in the U.S. Armed Forces, 1966-1976 traces the development of “equal opportunity” as a concept borne of the civil rights movement and shaped within the hierarchical structure of the U.S military to meet the demands of the U.S. war in Vietnam and later postwar demobilization. In response to accusations of racial discrimination and growing tensions between black and white servicemen across the States and abroad, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and armed services developed equal opportunity between 1966 and 1976 as the military’s equivalent of equal employment opportunity and other federal civil rights legislation reserved for civilian federal employees. Like equal employment opportunity, equal opportunity guaranteed participation in the military free from discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, or national origin; however, given the military’s authoritarian command structure, itself antithetical to the democratic foundations of civil rights, the DoD and services both defined and defended themselves against civil rights, using the language of “equal opportunity” to jibe equality with military hierarchy. This tension between equality in the form of equal opportunity programs, race relations education, and human relations personnel, and hierarchy expressed through the “chain of command,” led DoD and service officials, officers and enlistees, congressmembers, and civil rights advocates to make several attempts at reconciliation. They debated the purpose of equal opportunity policies, who should create and control them, and how democratic they should be. Militarizing Civil Rights places the civil rights movement and the role of the federal government in advancing civil rights squarely in the context of wartime labor management, which demanded a militarized civil rights agenda in the interests of military effectiveness and national security. As such, this project understands servicemembers as federal employees and the development of equal opportunity as a militarized form of equal employment opportunity outlined in federal civil rights legislation. Ultimately, Militarizing Civil Rights challenges the conventional historiography of civil rights and the civil rights movement as inherently democratic and progressive. What is progress, when a tool of democracy is reshaped for an antidemocratic, hierarchical, and inherently unequal institution that perpetuates violence