A PROBIT MODEL ANALYSIS OF FACTORS AFFECTING CONSUMPTION OF FRESH SWEET CORN IN MAJOR U.S. MARKETS

In an effort to more effectively utilize its resources to promote fresh sweet corn, the Fresh Supersweet Corn Council contracted with the Florida Agricultural Market Research Center (FAMRC) of the University of Florida to conduct a comprehensive consumer survey. The consumer survey was designed to investigate consumer preferences, attitudes, and behavior regarding the purchase and consumption of fresh sweet corn. A total of 1,031 consumer telephone interviews were conducted in Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia between September 7 and November 3, 2001. Respondents' revealed very limited consumption in the winter, spring, and fall seasons and consumers' perceptions that sweet corn is not available in these seasons. Probit models are estimated to determine effects of seasonalityConsumer/Household Economics,

The goal dependent automaticity of drinking habits

In recent treatments of habitual social behaviour, habits are conceptualised as a form of goal-directed automatic behaviour that are mentally represented as goal-action links. Three experiments tested this conceptualisation in the context of students’ drinking (alcohol consumption) habits. Participants were randomly assigned to conditions where either a goal related to drinking behaviour (socialising) was activated, or an unrelated goal was activated. In addition, participants’ drinking habits were measured. The dependent variable in Experiments 1 and 2 was readiness to drink, operationalised by speed of responding to the action concept “drinking” in a verb verification task. Experiment 3 used uptake of a voucher to measure drinking behaviour. Findings supported the view that when habits are established, simply activating a goal related to the focal behaviour automatically elicits that behaviour. These findings are consistent with a goal-dependent conception of habit. Possibilities for interventions designed to attenuate undesirable habitual behaviours are considered

Evaluating the Effect of CCTV on Crime Occurrence and Case Clearances in Fayetteville, North Carolina: A Microsynthetic Control Quasi-Experiment

Closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance cameras have become widely accepted as a traditional crime prevention measure used by law enforcement agencies across the globe. The proliferation of CCTV technology as a crime reduction mechanism has led to a corresponding growth in the evidence base of its effect on crime. While CCTV is generally associated with a moderate reduction in crime, these evaluations have suffered from certain limitations. First, rigorous quasi-experimental designs using advanced matching techniques have not been used enough in CCTV research and second, these evaluations remain largely one-dimensional, as additional outcome measures and other camera-specific features have gone largely underexplored. In light of these limitations, this dissertation sought to address these gaps by conducting a highly sophisticated assessment of the CCTV scheme in Fayetteville, North Carolina. To accomplish this, this dissertation applied the newly developed microsynthetic control (MSC) approach to conduct a longitudinal, matched quasi-experiment. The main research questions examined were: (1) how does CCTV effect crime occurrence, (2) are some CCTV cameras more effective at deterring crime than others, (3) to what degree does CCTV effect case clearances/closures, and (4) are some CCTV cameras more effective in closing cases than others? To examine both outcome measures, this dissertation utilized two separate units of analysis. Thus, the crime prevention effects were explored by using individual camera viewsheds as the unit of analysis (see Caplan, Kennedy, & Petrossian, 2011), whereas the investigative function was examined by using individual criminal incidents as the unit of analysis (see Jung & Wheeler, 2021). In the end, this dissertation generated several notable findings. First, this research found that CCTV in Fayetteville was associated with a significant decrease in felony crimes, which varied by phase of camera deployment. Importantly, these effects faded in both strength and significance over time, with the most robust effects observed a year after installation. Additionally, this CCTV scheme was associated with a diffusion of benefits, which varied in magnitude by phase. Secondly, this system not only consisted of both highly effective and less successful cameras, but it also revealed that several variables were related to the changes in crime experienced in the camera viewsheds. For example, areas experiencing more police activity also encountered smaller decreases in crime. Third, case closures increased after CCTV was installed, but these results were largely influenced by disorder crimes. Fourth, like the earlier crime prevention question, several cameras were associated with more case clearances than others. Moreover, for the case clearance analyses, the longer the camera was in place, the more likely it was to be classified as an effective camera. Finally, this dissertation discussed several strategic aspects of camera deployment that may increase the operational capabilities of the Fayetteville system and highlighted a handful of findings that the FPD may want to further explore to increase the effectiveness of this initiative

Ubiquitin plays an atypical role in GPCR-induced p38 MAP kinase activation on endosomes.

Protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR1) is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) for thrombin and promotes inflammatory responses through multiple pathways including p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling. The mechanisms that govern PAR1-induced p38 activation remain unclear. Here, we define an atypical ubiquitin-dependent pathway for p38 activation used by PAR1 that regulates endothelial barrier permeability. Activated PAR1 K63-linked ubiquitination is mediated by the NEDD4-2 E3 ubiquitin ligase and initiated recruitment of transforming growth factor-β-activated protein kinase-1 binding protein-2 (TAB2). The ubiquitin-binding domain of TAB2 was essential for recruitment to PAR1-containing endosomes. TAB2 associated with TAB1, which induced p38 activation independent of MKK3 and MKK6. The P2Y1 purinergic GPCR also stimulated p38 activation via NEDD4-2-mediated ubiquitination and TAB1-TAB2. TAB1-TAB2-dependent p38 activation was critical for PAR1-promoted endothelial barrier permeability in vitro, and p38 signaling was required for PAR1-induced vascular leakage in vivo. These studies define an atypical ubiquitin-mediated signaling pathway used by a subset of GPCRs that regulates endosomal p38 signaling and endothelial barrier disruption

SECOND-ORDER DERIVATIVE UV SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC AND RP-HPLC METHODS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF VILDAGLIPTIN AND APPLICATION FOR DISSOLUTION STUDY

This study describes two analytical methods, by second-order derivative UV spectrophotometric by HPLC, for determination of vildagliptin, a drug used for treatment of type 2 Diabetes Mellitus that belongs to a therapeutic class called inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase 4. The methods were validated in accordance with ICH and USP requirements. Analyses by UV derivative method were performed at 220 nm, which was the zero crossing point of excipient solutions. HPLC was optimized and the analysis was carried out using a Zorbax Eclipse Plus RP-C8 column (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm), detection at 207 nm, and potassium phosphate buffer solution pH 7.0 : acetonitrile (85:15, v/v) as mobile phase. In dissolution test, the conditions used were 0.01 mol L-1 hydrochloric acid in 900 mL of dissolution medium, USP apparatus 2 (paddle) and 50 rpm stirring speed. Both methods were successfully applied for analysis of dissolution samples from marketed vildagliptin tablets

Aerodynamically-Actuated Radical Shape-Change Concept

Aerodynamically-actuated radical shape change (AARSC) is a novel concept that enables flight vehicles to conduct a mission profile containing radically different flight regimes while possibly mitigating the typical penalties incurred by radical geometric change. Weight penalties are mitigated by utilizing a primary flight control to generate aerodynamic loads that then drive a shape-change actuation. The flight mission profile used to analyze the AARSC concept is that of a transport aircraft that cruises at a lower altitude than typical transports. Based upon a preliminary analysis, substantial fuel savings are realized for mission ranges below 2000 NM by comparison to a state-of-the-art baseline, with an increasing impact as mission range is reduced. The predicted savings are so significant at short-haul ranges that the shape-change concept rivals the fuel-burn performance of turboprop aircraft while completing missions in less time than typical jet aircraft. Lower-altitude cruise has also been sought after in recent years for environmental benefits, however, the performance penalty to conventional aircraft was prohibitive. AARSC may enable the opportunity to realize the environmental benefits of lower-altitude emissions coupled with mission fuel savings. The findings of this study also reveal that the AARSC concept appears to be controllable, turbulence susceptibility is likely not an issue, and the shape change concept appears to be mechanically and aerodynamically feasible

A screen for modifiers of teflon identifies novel components of the meiotic segregation pathway in male Drosophila melanogaster

The teflon (tef) gene is required specifically for ensuring adhesion between autosomes in male meiosis. In tef mutants, autosomal homologs pair correctly, but separate prior to metaphase, resulting in random segregation of homologs at meiosis I. To identify genes that interact with tef, we have performed a screen for dominant second site modifiers of a hypomorphic allele, tefP1150. We have tested the third chromosome deficiency kit, which spans ~90% of the third chromosome, as well as a collection of previously identified male meiotic mutants (Wakimoto et al. 2004). We identified 11 regions containing Enhancers, and 6 regions containing Suppressors of tef. One of the enhancing deletions removes mod(mdg4), which has been previously proposed to interact with tef to ensure autosomal conjugation (Thomas et al. 2005). A second enhancer was mapped to autophagy specific gene 2 (atg2), which is a novel component of the meiotic homolog segregation pathway in Drosophila males."--Abstract from author supplied metadata

Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential (VEMP) Test-Retest Reliability in Children

Objective—Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) are short-latency muscle potentials measured from the neck (cervical VEMP; cVEMP) or under the eyes (ocular VEMP; oVEMP), which provide information regarding function of the saccule and utricle, respectively. VEMPs are reliable when performed in adults; however, reliability of VEMPs in children is unknown. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to determine the test-retest reliability of c- and oVEMP testing in normal control children. Study Design—Prospective. Setting—Hospital. Patients—Ten adults, 14 adolescent children and 13 young children with normal hearing. Interventions—c- and oVEMP testing were completed across two test sessions in response to air-conduction 500 Hz tone-burst and impulse hammer stimuli. Additionally, oVEMP was completed using eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions. Main Outcome Measures—Intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated to determine the reliability of c- and oVEMP outcomes. Results—When using air-conduction stimuli, c- and oVEMP amplitudes are reliable across test sessions in normal control children and adults. With impulse hammer stimuli, cVEMP amplitudes showed high reliability; however, oVEMP amplitudes showed low reliability in both eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions. Comparison between eyes-open and eyes-closed oVEMP conditions revealed shorter latencies and higher peak-to-peak amplitudes in the eyes-open condition. Conclusions—In this small cohort of normal control children, cVEMPs are reliable using air-conduction and impulse hammer stimuli and oVEMPs are reliable using air-conduction stimuli in the eyes-open condition. oVEMP in eyes-closed conditions were less reliable compared to eyes-open conditions and resulted in a large number of absent responses

Synthesis and Characterization of Ruthenium and Rhenium Nucleosides

We report the synthesis and characterization of new ruthenium and rhenium nucleosides [Ru(tolyl-acac)_2(IMPy)-T] (tolyl-acac = di(p-methylbenzonatemethane), IMPy = 2‘-iminomethylpyridine, T = thymidine) (5) and [Re(CO)_3(IMPy)-T]Cl (9), respectively. Structural analysis of 9 shows that the incorporation of this metal complex causes minimal perturbation to the sugar backbone and the nucleobase. Eletrochemical (5, E_(1/2) = 0.265 V vs NHE; 9, E_(1/2) = 1.67 V vs NHE), absorption (5, λ_(max) = 600, 486 nm; 9, λ_(max) = 388 nm), and emission (9, λ_(max) = 770 nm, π = 17 ns) data indicate that 5 and 9 are suitable probes for DNA-mediated ground-state electron-transfer studies. The separation and characterization of diastereoisomers of 5 and bipyridyl-based ruthenium nucleoside [Ru(bpy)_2(IMPy)-T]^(2+) (7) are reported