The bldC developmental locus of Streptomyces coelicolor encodes a member of a family of small DNA-binding proteins related to the DNA-binding domains of the MerR family.

The bldC locus, required for formation of aerial hyphae in Streptomyces coelicolor, was localized by map-based cloning to the overlap between cosmids D17 and D25 of a minimal ordered library. Subcloning and sequencing showed that bldC encodes a member of a previously unrecognized family of small (58- to 78-residue) DNA-binding proteins, related to the DNA-binding domains of the MerR family of transcriptional activators. BldC family members are found in a wide range of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Constructed {Delta}bldC mutants were defective in differentiation and antibiotic production. They failed to form an aerial mycelium on minimal medium and showed severe delays in aerial mycelium formation on rich medium. In addition, they failed to produce the polyketide antibiotic actinorhodin, and bldC was shown to be required for normal and sustained transcription of the pathway-specific activator gene actII-orf4. Although {Delta}bldC mutants produced the tripyrrole antibiotic undecylprodigiosin, transcripts of the pathway-specific activator gene (redD) were reduced to almost undetectable levels after 48 h in the bldC mutant, in contrast to the bldC+ parent strain in which redD transcription continued during aerial mycelium formation and sporulation. This suggests that bldC may be required for maintenance of redD transcription during differentiation. bldC is expressed from a single promoter. S1 nuclease protection assays and immunoblotting showed that bldC is constitutively expressed and that transcription of bldC does not depend on any of the other known bld genes. The bldC18 mutation that originally defined the locus causes a Y49C substitution that results in instability of the protein

Using a Merit-Based Scholarship Program to Increase Rates of College Enrollment in an Urban School District: The Case of the Pittsburgh Promise

The Pittsburgh Promise is a scholarship program that provides $5,000 per year toward college tuition for public high school graduates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who earned a 2.5 GPA and a 90% attendance record. This study used a difference-in-difference design to assess whether the introduction of the Promise scholarship program directly influenced changes in rates of college enrollment among students graduating from Pittsburgh public high schools in years immediately following the launch of the program. Becker’s (1964) standard human capital investment model, which predicts that youth make cost-benefit calculations to guide their college enrollment decisions, provides the framework for the analysis. Our analysis of data on two graduating classes prior to the scholarship’s implementation (2005-06 and 2006-07) and three years following the scholarship’s implementation (2007-08, 2008-09, and 2009-10) yielded mixed results. Findings showed that the scholarship had no direct effect on the overall rate of college enrollment. However, scholarship-eligible graduates were more likely to attend four-year schools in the years in which the scholarship was available

What\u27s On Your Plate?

https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/gps-posters/1690/thumbnail.jp

Autonomous Planetary Rover Final Project Report

This report documents the 2022-2023 Autonomous Planetary Rover Team’s work. The main focus and goal of our team was to improve the locomotion of the rover through mechanical improvements to the suspension and steering systems. The final expectation for the rover given by our sponsor, Dr. Kevin Nickels, was for the rover to complete an obstacle course where it drives over obstacles the height of the radius of its wheel, traverses uneven terrain, and completes turns with a 12-inch turn radius. The main inspirations for our design of the suspension and steering systems come from previous planetary rovers that have completed missions on Mars and the Moon, specifically Curiosity and Sojourner. We have done substantial research on the mechanics of the rocker-bogie suspension system and have chosen this as our method of robust suspension. We also researched different methods of steering and settled on an independent steering system. In terms of primary subsystems, we have focused on suspension and steering, though we will also discuss design choices related to the chassis material and electronic components. This project has been evolving and changing for multiple iterations—four previous teams have worked on the rover, each team focusing on different aspects of improvement. Our team is focusing on improving the mechanical aspects of the rover while making use of previous teams’ additions to the project, but will not focus on any systems related to the autonomous navigation of the rover. This year, the design problem was to mechanically improve the rover so that it was capable of going around and over obstacles in a simple obstacle course. Requirements of the design also included the Rover’s ability to carry a 100-pound load (to simulate experimental equipment) and to traverse over obstacles as tall as 5.1 inches (the radius of the wheels). These design requirements fed into project-specific requirements from our sponsor, which included having a rocker-bogie suspension system and independent steering. Another requirement was the capability of the rover to pass through a standard door frame in Trinity University’s CSI Building. These requirements reflect constraints of real planetary rover design, and will force us to consider environmental factors on the design. In this document, we will discuss all conducted tests and to what extent these tests showed that our prototype fulfilled each requirement. Though individual design components of the rover proved to be successful, the overall prototype was unable to complete the required obstacle course due to issues with stability. The clearance, dimensions, and obstacle construction requirements were successful based on testing, and are important for the next steps of the rover. Some tests showed partial achievement of requirements, which demonstrate that the rover has been improved this year and is on the right track. The team concludes that the suspension system design is a partial success, as similar to the steering system design, because it functioned as expected though not integrated perfectly. The rover was able to be controlled by a joystick, and was capable of making wide turns - showing success for the desired independent steering design. The rover’s ability to overcome obstacles was also deemed a partial success, as though it could statically handle being on top of an obstacle without tipping excessively, it was difficult for it to dynamically climb the obstacle. The team believes that each subsystem of the rover prototype shows promise, and look forward to seeing future iterations

Improving School Leadership: The Promise of Cohesive Leadership Systems

Describes Wallace grantees' work to create a cohesive leadership system of coordinated policies between states and districts and across state agencies, states' and districts' efforts to forge cohesive policies, and the impact on instructional leadership

Modeling and debiasing resource saving judgments

Svenson (2011) showed that choices of one of two alternative productivity increases to save production resources (e.g., man-months) were biased. Judgments of resource savings following a speed increase from a low production speed line were underestimated and following an increase of a high production speed line overestimated. The objective formula for computing savings includes differences between inverse speeds and this is intuitively very problematic for most people. The purpose of the present studies was to explore ways of ameliorating or eliminating the bias. Study 1 was a control study asking participants to increase the production speed of one production line to save the same amount of production resources (man-months) as was saved by a speed increase in a reference line. The increases judged to match the reference alternatives showed the same bias as in the earlier research on choices. In Study 2 the same task and problems were used as in Study 1, but the participants were asked first to judge the resource saving of the reference alternative in a pair of alternatives before they proceeded to the matching task. This weakened the average bias only slightly. In Study 3, the participants were asked to judge the resources saved from each of two successive increases of the same single production line (other than those of the matching task) before they continued to the matching problems. In this way a participant could realize that a second production speed increase from a higher speed (e.g., from 40 to 60 items /man-month) gives less resource savings than the same speed increase from a first lower speed (e.g., from 20 to 40 items/man-month. Following this, the judgments of the same problems as in the other studies improved and the bias decreased significantly but it did not disappear. To be able to make optimal decisions about productivity increases, people need information about the bias and/or reformulations of the problems

Enabling Social Interaction Through Embodiment in ExCITE

No abstract availableThe emerging demographic trends toward an aging population involve an unflagging research of ways of assisting elderly people to stay independent for as long as possible. This means to be active at home and in the labour market, to prevent social isolation and promote societal inclusion. Both ICT and robotics technologies can contribute to help achieving these goals. This paper introduces the aims of the Ambient Assisted Living project ExCITE whose main objective is to enhance a robotic platform for telepresence with features enabling social interaction from a domestic environment to the outside world. The whole ExCITE project uses a user-centered approach hence it evolves around an intensive evaluation to be performed in situ, on a PanEuropean scale. An existing prototype, called Giraff, is to be deployed to targeted end-users, and refined taking into account outcome of the evaluation. This paper introduces the objectives of ExCITE and offers a description of its initial activities particularly focused on the user evaluation

Erosão dentária e refluxo gastroesofásico / Dental erosion and gastroesophageal reflux

A erosão dentária ocorre pela dissolução da apatita dentária quando exposta a ácidos não bacterianos. Um dos fatores que predispõem à erosão dentária é a doença do refluxo gastroesofágico devido à regurgitação crônica do conteúdo gástrico para a orofaringe. Por meio de uma revisão de literatura, o presente estudo visa orientar os cirurgiões-dentistas com informações sobre a história, etiologia, diagnóstico, prevenção e tratamento do desgaste dentário erosivo. O objetivo então é avaliar a associação e prevalência de desgaste erosivo em pacientes com doença do refluxo gastroesofágico. Em caráter específico descrever a erosão dentária, fatores etiológicos, classificação, características clínicas e opções terapêuticas; evidenciar a associação entre doença do refluxo gastroesofágico DRGE e erosão dentária ED; apontar sugestões a profissionais cirurgiões dentistas quanto a condutas preventivas e tratamento. A metodologia utilizada foi de caráter bibliográfico, tendo como bases de dados Pubmed, Scielo, Lilacs, utilizando os descritores 'doença do refluxo gastroesofágico'; 'erosão dentária', considerando estudos clínicos publicados recentemente de 2000 a 2022. Conclui-se que o conhecimento sobre os fatores etiológicos do desgaste dentário erosivo torna-se importante para prevenir a progressão desse problema, além de estabelecer medidas preventivas eficazes desde a infância. O cirurgião-dentista deve realizar um diagnóstico precoce e realizar o tratamento adequado desse problema, principalmente as orientações quanto à alimentação e higiene bucal além das terapias com flúor