An Analysis of Sprawl and its Alternatives

The suburbs have been an integral part of American history since the mid nineteenth century, a period in which cities began growing in an exponential manner. Over the last one hundred and fifty years, urban and suburban areas and what defines them have undergone an incredible metamorphosis. These changes can be identified in the political, social, and economic arenas; some examples include immigration, federal housing policies, single family houses, industrialization, racial discrimination and segregation, and the development of rural lands away from the city center. Since the end of World War II, much has been written about the topic of urban and suburban sprawl. Most of the writers and historians that I will introduce in this historiography have criticized sprawl as an inefficient development of land. There are a few writers that I studied, however, who are convinced that sprawl\u27s positives outweigh the negatives. Many writers of works on sprawl analyzed in this paper are not historians or history professors; I believe their credentials as economists, city planners, and geographers make them even more qualified to discuss the issue of sprawl than an average historian because they directly work in urban studies. One of the most successful alternatives to sprawl and a popular trend in recent years is mixed-use development, on which I conducted original research in my hometown of Henrietta, NY. Mixed-use development is using a plot of land for more than one purpose. In most cases, mixed-use land contains commercial, industrial, and residential aspects. In the last section of this thesis, I will connect research to teaching by assigning students a project to better understand the town they live in. Various research methods are offered for the students to use, with interviews being the primary method taught

Vehicle Based Laser Range Finding in Crops

Laser rangefinders and laser scanners are widely used for industrial purposes and for remote sensing. In agriculture information about crop parameters like volume, height, and density can support the optimisation of production processes. In scientific papers the measurement of these parameters by low cost laser rangefinders with one echo has been presented for short ranges. Because the cross section area of the beam increases with the measuring range, it can be expected that laser rangefinders will have a reduced measuring accuracy in small sized crops and when measuring far distances. These problems are caused by target areas smaller than the beam and by the beam striking the edges of crop objects. Lab tests under defined conditions and a real field test were performed to assess the measuring properties under such difficult conditions of a chosen low cost sensor. Based on lab tests it was shown that the accuracy was reduced, but the successful use of the sensor under field conditions demonstrated the potential to meet the demands for agricultural applications, Insights resulting from investigations made in the paper contribute to facilitating the choice or the development of laser rangefinder sensors for vehicle based measurement of crop parameters for optimisation of production processes

Randomized phase I trial of antigen-specific tolerizing immunotherapy with peptide/calcitriol liposomes in ACPA+ rheumatoid arthritis

BACKGROUND. Antigen-specific regulation of autoimmune disease is a major goal. In seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA), T cell help to autoreactive B cells matures the citrullinated (Cit) antigen-specific immune response, generating RA-specific V domain glycosylated anti-Cit protein antibodies (ACPA VDG) before arthritis onset. Low or escalating antigen administration under “sub-immunogenic” conditions favors tolerance. We explored safety, pharmacokinetics, and immunological and clinical effects of s.c. DEN-181, comprising liposomes encapsulating self-peptide collagen II259-273 (CII) and NF-κB inhibitor 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol. METHODS. A double-blind, placebo-controlled, exploratory, single-ascending-dose, phase I trial assessed the impact of low, medium, and high DEN-181 doses on peripheral blood CII-specific and bystander Cit64vimentin59-71–specific (Cit-Vim–specific) autoreactive T cell responses, cytokines, and ACPA in 17 HLA-DRB1*04:01+ or *01:01+ ACPA+ RA patients on methotrexate. RESULTS. DEN-181 was well tolerated. Relative to placebo and normalized to baseline values, Cit-Vim–specific T cells decreased in patients administered medium and high doses of DEN-181. Relative to placebo, percentage of CII-specific programmed cell death 1+ T cells increased within 28 days of DEN-181. Exploratory analysis in DEN-181–treated patients suggested improved RA disease activity was associated with expansion of CII-specific and Cit-Vim–specific T cells; reduction in ACPA VDG, memory B cells, and inflammatory myeloid populations; and enrichment in CCR7+ and naive T cells. Single-cell sequencing identified T cell transcripts associated with tolerogenic TCR signaling and exhaustion after low or medium doses of DEN-181. CONCLUSION. The safety and immunomodulatory activity of low/medium DEN-181 doses provide rationale to further assess antigen-specific immunomodulatory therapy in ACPA+ RA

Dictionary of modern written Arabic

Wiesbadenxvii, 1110 p.; 24 c

Verzeichnis der arabischen Handschriften in der Bibliothek der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft

von Hans Wehr. Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaf