Microwave Enhanced Combustion on a Constant Volume Combustion Chamber for Lean Combustion and EGR Dilution

The effect of microwave enhancement on combustion was investigated using a spherical, constant-volume combustion chamber. Microwave energy at 2.45 GHz was coupled into the spherical chamber using a quarter-wavelength dipole antenna. Standing waves of high-strength electrical fields were created to enhance the flames ignited by a spark plug. Pressure traces of combustion with and without microwaves were recorded to compare the combustion improvements. Microwave power levels and discharge durations were also varied to understand their impact on the level of improvement. Results indicated that the microwave system can effectively accelerate combustion and improve cycle stability for dilute combustion, including lean burn at about 0.8 equivalence ratio and stoichiometric operation with 20% exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) dilution

Legal and Policy Best Practices in Response to the Substance Abuse Crisis: A Preliminary Report

In 2017, Indiana University, in cooperation with Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb and community partners, launched the Grand Challenge: Responding to the Addictions Crisis initiative, a university-wide effort to advance interdisciplinary research and interventions in response to the substance abuse crisis affecting Indiana and the nation. The “Legal and Policy Best Practices in Response to the Substance Abuse Crisis” project is one of sixteen funded under Phase 1 of the Grand Challenge. This preliminary report outlines the initial findings of the project

Hunting and mountain sheep: Do current harvest practices affect horn growth?

The influence of human harvest on evolution of secondary sexual characteristics has implications for sustainable management of wildlife populations. The phenotypic consequences of selectively removing males with large horns or antlers from ungulate populations have been a topic of heightened concern in recent years. Harvest can affect size of horn-like structures in two ways: (a) shifting age structure toward younger age classes, which can reduce the mean size of horn-like structures, or (b) selecting against genes that produce large, fast-growing males. We evaluated effects of age, climatic and forage conditions, and metrics of harvest on horn size and growth of mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis ssp.) in 72 hunt areas across North America from 1981 to 2016. In 50% of hunt areas, changes in mean horn size during the study period were related to changes in age structure of harvested sheep. Environmental conditions explained directional changes in horn growth in 28% of hunt areas, 7% of which did not exhibit change before accounting for effects of the environment. After accounting for age and environment, horn size of mountain sheep was stable or increasing in the majority (similar to 78%) of hunt areas. Age-specific horn size declined in 44% of hunt areas where harvest was regulated solely by morphological criteria, which supports the notion that harvest practices that are simultaneously selective and intensive might lead to changes in horn growth. Nevertheless, phenotypic consequences are not a foregone conclusion in the face of selective harvest; over half of the hunt areas with highly selective and intensive harvest did not exhibit age-specific declines in horn size. Our results demonstrate that while harvest regimes are an important consideration, horn growth of harvested male mountain sheep has remained largely stable, indicating that changes in horn growth patterns are an unlikely consequence of harvest across most of North America.Utah Division of Wildlife Resources; National Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF); Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation; Alberta Wild Sheep Foundation; California Wild Sheep Foundation; Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society; Wyoming Governor's Big Game License Coalition; Iowa Foundation for North American Wild Sheep; Utah Foundation for North American Wild Sheep; Pope and Young ClubOpen access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Hunting and mountain sheep: do current harvest practices affect horn growth?

The influence of human harvest on evolution of secondary sexual characteristics has implications for sustainable management of wildlife populations. The phenotypic consequences of selectively removing males with large horns or antlers from ungulate populations has been a topic of heightened concern in recent years. Harvest can affect size of horn‐like structures in two ways: 1) shifting age structure toward younger age classes, which can reduce the mean size of horn‐like structures; or 2) selecting against genes that produce large, fast‐growing males. We evaluated effects of age, climatic and forage conditions, and metrics of harvest on horn size and growth of mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis ssp.) in 72 hunt areas across North America from 1981 to 2016. In 50% of hunt areas, changes in mean horn size during the study period were related to changes in age structure of harvested sheep. Environmental conditions explained directional changes in horn growth in 28% of hunt areas, 7% of which did not exhibit change before accounting for effects of the environment. After accounting for age and environment, horn size of mountain sheep was stable or increasing in the majority (~78%) of hunt areas. Age‐specific horn size declined in 44% of hunt areas where harvest was regulated solely by morphological criteria, which supports the notion that harvest practices that are simultaneously selective and intensive might lead to changes in horn growth. Nevertheless, phenotypic consequences are not a foregone conclusion in the face of selective harvest; over half of the hunt areas with highly selective and intensive harvest did not exhibit age‐specific declines in horn size. Our results demonstrate that while harvest regimes are an important consideration, horn growth of harvested male mountain sheep has remained largely stable, indicating that changes in horn growth patterns are an unlikely consequence of harvest across most of North America

Honneth, Butler and the Ambivalent Effects of Recognition

This paper examines the ambivalent effects of recognition by critically examining Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition. I argue that his underlying perfectionist account and his focus on the psychic effects of recognition cause him to misrepresent or overlook significant connections between recognition and power. These claims are substantiated by (1) drawing from Butler’s theory of gender performativity, power and recognition; and (2) exploring issues arising from the socio-institutional recognition of trans identities. I conclude by suggesting that certain problems with Butler’s own position can corrected by drawing more from the Foucauldian aspects of her work. I claim that this is the most promising way to conceptualise recognition and its complex, ambivalent effects

Discriminative ability of reflex receptive fields to distinguish patients with acute and chronic low back pain.

Low back pain has a life time prevalence of 70% to 85%. Approximately 10% to 20% of all patients experience recurrent episodes or develop chronic low back pain. Sociodemographic, clinical, and psychological characteristics explain the transition from acute to chronic low back pain only to a limited extent. Altered central pain processing may be a contributing mechanism. The measurement of reflex receptive fields (RRF) is a novel method to assess altered central pain processing. The RRF area denotes the area of the foot sole from which spinal nociceptive reflexes can be elicited. It was shown to be enlarged in patients with acute and chronic low back pain compared with pain-free individuals. The aim of the study was to explore the discriminative ability of the RRF to distinguish patients with acute and chronic low back pain with the hypothesis that enlarged RRF are associated with chronic low back pain. We included 214 patients with either acute or chronic low back pain and compared RRF between groups in both univariable and multivariable analyses adjusted for different sociodemographic and clinical characteristics possibly associated with the transition to chronic pain. We found a mean difference between patients with acute and chronic low back pain of -0.01 (95% confidence interval [CI], -0.06 to 0.04) in the crude, -0.02 (95% CI, -0.08 to 0.04) in the age and sex adjusted, and -0.02 (95% CI, -0.09 to 0.05) in the fully adjusted model. Our results suggest that the enlargement of RRF area may not be associated with the transition from acute to chronic low back pain

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead