Dear Yuri: A Thank You and Tribute to Yuri Kochiyama

This article is featured in the journal Tapestries: Interwoven voices of local and global identities, volume 4

The Pricing of Water in Louisiana.

In L o u i s i a n a , t h e p r i m a r y w a t e r p r o b l e m i s o n e o f p r o p e r a l l o c a t i o n o f w a t e r among r e s i d e n t i a l , i n d u s t r i a l and a g r i c u l t u r a l u s e r s . In t h i s c o n t e x t , t h i s s t u d y e v a l u a t e s c u r r e n t p r i c e s t r u c t u r e s and p r i c i n g p o l i c i e s i n o r d e r t o e x p l o r e t h e u s e o f e c o n o m i c c r i t e r i a f o r an e f f i c i e n t a l l o c a t i o n o f t h e r e s o u r c e . D a ta c o l l e c t e d p e r t a i n e d t o t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n o f w a t e r s u p p l y i n g u n i t s , t h e i r p r o d u c t i o n and d i s t r i b u t i o n s y s t e m s , p r i c e s c h e d u l e s , b a s e s o f p r i c e d e t e r m i n a t i o n , and t h e f i n a n c i a l s t a t u s o f e a c h u n i t . To p u t t h i s s t u d y i n t o p e r s p e c t i v e , t h e r o l e o f p r i c e t h e o r y i n a l l o c a t i o n o f w a t e r r e s o u r c e s was e x a m in e d and a r e v i e w o f w a t e r p r i c i n g p o l i c i e s i n a r i d and humid r e g i o n s o f t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s was a c c o m p l i s h e d . R e s i d e n t i a l w a t e r s u p p l i e s i n L o u i s i a n a a r e p r o v i d e d by r e g u l a t e d w a t e r u t i l i t i e s owned by p r i v a t e i n v e s t o r s , m u n i c i p a l g o v e r n m e n t s , o r by g r o u p s o f i n d i v i d u a l s o r g a n i z e d t o form n o n p r o f i t c o r p o r a t i o n s w h o s e i n v e s t m e n t f u n d s a r e p r o v i d e d b y t h e Fa rmers Home A d m i n i s t r a t i o n . A c o m p a r a t i v e a n a l y s i s i n d i c a t e d t h a t FHA s p o n s o r e d w a t e r u t i l i t i e s c h a r g e d $1 0 . 0 8 f o r 1 0 , 0 0 0 g a l l o n s o f w a t e r w h i l e p r i v a t e and m u n i c i p a l u t i l i t i e s c h a r g e d$ 7 . 9 0 an d $6 . 7 4 , r e s p e c t i v e l y . A v e r a g e a n n u a l o p e r a t i n g c o s t s p e r c a p i t a was$ 1 3 . 3 7 f o r m u n i c i p a l w a t e r u t i l i t i e s , $1 6 . 6 3 f o r FHA w a t e r u t i l i t i e s , and$ 1 7 . 7 4 f o r p r i v a t e w a t e r u t i l i t i e s . x i i i Of t h e 231 w a t e r u t i l i t i e s s u r v e y e d , 71 p e r c e n t had a m e t e r e d r a t e s y s t e m b a s e d on d e c l i n i n g b l o c k r a t e s , and t h e g r e a t e r d i s c o u n t s i n p r i c e w e r e g i v e n by m u n i c i p a l w a t e r u t i l i t i e s . Most w a t e r u t i l i t i e s c o n s i d e r e d t h e f i r s t b l o c k a s c o n s t i t u t i n g t h e minimum m o n t h l y c h a r g e . R e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s i s b e t w e e n p o p u l a t i o n s e r v e d and t o t a l a n n u a l o p e r a t i n g c o s t r e v e a l e d a p o s i t i v e l i n e a r r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e s e two v a r i a b l e s , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t h e n a t u r e o f o w n e r s h i p o f w a t e r u t i l i t i e s . The l e v e l o f t h e s e c o s t s i n r e l a t i o n t o inc om e r e s u l t e d i n one o u t o f t h r e e w a t e r u t i l i t i e s i n c u r r i n g a n e t l o s s i n 1 9 7 1 . L o s s e s w e r e more f r e q u e n t among p r i v a t e w a t e r u t i l i t i e s w h e r e t h e u s e o f f l a t r a t e s was m o s t common. S p e c i a l c h a r g e s i n c l u d e d r a t e s f o r f i r e p r o t e c t i o n , o u t s i d e - l i m i t s c u s t o m e r s , t a p p i n g f e e , c u s t o m e r d e p o s i t s , m e t e r i n s t a l l a t i o n , r e c o n n e c t i o n f e e s , a i r - c o n d i t i o n i n g and l a w n - s p r i n k l i n g . T h e s e s p e c i a l c h a r g e s an d w a t e r r a t e s w e r e a l l b a s e d on t h e a v e r a g e c o s t o f t h e s e r v i c e . Wa te r u s e d i n a g r i c u l t u r e i n L o u i s i a n a i s p r i m a r i l y f o r t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f r i c e and i s e i t h e r s e l f - s u p p l i e d o r p r o v i d e d by c a n a l c o m p a n i e s . The c o s t f o r w a t e r from a c a n a l company i s g e n e r a l l y b a s e d on a p r o p o r t i o n o f t h e r i c e c r o p . A c o m p a r a t i v e a n a l y s i s b e t w e e n a s u b s u r f a c e p i p e l i n e and a s u r f a c e c a n a l t o i r r i g a t e a 1 3 6 . 5 a c r e r i c e farm was made. The p r i c e o f w a t e r by c a n a l c o m p a n i e s ra n g ed from $4 . 8 0 t o$ 1 3 . 4 5 p e r a c r e - f o o t w h i l e t h e r a n g e was $3 . 6 1 t o$ 8 . 9 0 f o r a s e l f - s u p p l i e d s y s t e m . The s u p p l y o f w a t e r f o r i n d u s t r y i s p r e d o m i n a n t l y s e l f - s u p p l i e d and o n c e t h e w a t e r s y s t e m i s e s t a b l i s h e d , c o s t s r e l a t e o n l y t o pumping and t r a n s m i s s i o n . A l o c a l c h e m i c a l p l a n t e s t i m a t e d c o s t s a t $0 . 0 8 p e r x i v 1 . 0 0 0 g a l l o n s and a m e t a l p r o d u c t s f i r m b e t w e e n$ 0 . 1 0 t o $ 0 . 1 7 p e r 1 . 0 0 0 g a l l o n s o f w a t e r . I n v i e w o f t h e d i v e r s i t y o f p r i c i n g p o l i c i e s and t h e t e n d e n c y t o a v e r a g e - c o s t p r i c i n g by w a t e r u t i l i t i e s , i t i s recommended t h a t a m a r g i n a l - c c s t p r i c i n g p o l i c y be a p p l i e d f o r more e f f i c i e n t a l l o c a t i o n o f w a t e r . A s e r v i c e c h a r g e e q u a l t o t h e s e m i - f i x e d m a r g i n a l c o s t s and a p e r u n i t c h a r g e e q u i v a l e n t t o t h e s e a s o n a l v a r i a b l e m a r g i n a l c o s t s c o n s t i t u t e s t h e b a s i c r a t e p r o p o s a l . A p r o p e r t y t a x o r an i n c r e a s e i n t h e s e r v i c e c h a r g e c o u l d be u s e d t o f i n a n c e t h e inc om e d e f i c i t i n s y s t e m s w i t h d e c r e a s i n g a v e r a g e c o s t s o f p r o d u c t i o n . For i n d u s t r y and s e l f - s u p p l i e d a g r i c u l t u r a l u s e r s , t h e a s s i g n m e n t o f w a t e r r i g h t s o r q u o t a s , o r t h e i m p o s i t i o n o f a u s e - t a x c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e d i v e r g e n c e b e t w e e n m a r g i n a l s o c i a l and p r i v a t e c o s t s was r e c o m n e n d e d

Comfort Level Refinement of Military Tracked Vehicle Crew through Optimal Control Study

Military tracked vehicle and crew are modelled together in this paper as integrated man-machine lumped parameter model, by integrating the simplified 5 degrees of freedom (DoF) tracked vehicle model, including seat and 4 DoF human bio-dynamic model, thus resulting in a 9 DoF simplified vehicle-occupant model. Then the natural frequency of major mass segment namely the chassis mass is obtained through simulation study, for a known road input. The value obtained is compared with that of an earlier research work, for validation of said man-machine model. Then focusing our study locally at crew seat location, parameters of crew seat suspension for ride comfort are optimised using the optimal digital state space controller designed for this purpose by implementing it in a 2 DoF occupant - seat suspension model and its Simulink model constructed. Simulation results illustrate the attainment of the goal by meeting the controller design requirements

Ergonomic Level Improving of Armoured Fighting Vehicle Crew

The armoured fighting vehicle (AFV)-occupant composite system is modelled as a lumped parameter system, in this paper, wherein the 4 degrees of freedom (dof) biodynamic occupant model is integrated with 10 dof in-plane AFV model including the crew seat, thus leading to the 14 dof vehicle-occupant composite model and the governing equations of motion are obtained. The composite model is subjected to idealised road input simulating the ground reaction forces. Natural frequencies and the frequency domain vibration responses of various masses of model are obtained. The natural frequency of chassis thus obtained is compared with the result established by an earlier research work, to validate the model. The study is focused on crew seat location. A 2 dof occupant-seat suspension model is formulated and validated through case study. The optimised values of seat suspension parameters for ride comfort are obtained using the said model, through two methods of Invariant points theory and genetic algorithm toolbox of Matlab 2014a software. Acceleration responses of body for the current and optimised parameter values obtained illustrate that comfort of crew is improved with optimised values through minimization in the acceleration responses

Estrogen Deficiency and Diet Differentially Regulate Goblet Cell Count and Inflammation in Gut

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fat - 1 overexpression mitigates the weight gain and intestinal inflammation in ovariectomized mice on high - fat diets

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Role of the small intestine, colon and microbiota in determining the metabolic fate of polyphenols

(Poly)phenols are a large group of compounds, found in food, beverages, dietary supplements and herbal medicines. Owing to their biological activities, absorption and metabolism of the most abundant compounds in humans are well understood. Both the chemical structure of the phenolic moiety and any attached chemical groups define whether the polyphenol is absorbed in the small intestine, or reaches the colon and is subject to extensive catabolism by colonic microbiota. Untransformed substrates may be absorbed, appearing in plasma primarily as methylated, sulfated and glucuronidated derivatives, with in some cases the unchanged substrate. Many of the catabolites are well absorbed from the colon and appear in the plasma either similarly conjugated, or as glycine conjugates, or in some cases unchanged. Although many (poly)phenol catabolites have been identified in human plasma and / or urine, the pathways from substrate to final catabolite, and the species of bacteria and enzymes involved, are still scarcely reported. While it is clear that the composition of the human gut microbiota can be modulated in vivo by supplementation with some (poly)phenol-rich commodities, such modulation is definitely not an inevitable consequence of supplementation, it depends on the treatment, length of time and on the individual metabotype, and it is not clear whether the modulation is sustained when supplementation ceases. Some catabolites have been recorded in plasma of volunteers at concentrations similar to those shown to be effective in in vitro studies suggesting that some benefit may be achieved in vivo by diets yielding such catabolites

The adenovirus E4orf4 protein targets PP2A to the ACF chromatin-remodeling factor and induces cell death through regulation of SNF2h-containing complexes

The adenovirus E4 open-reading-frame 4 (E4orf4) protein regulates the progression of viral infection and when expressed individually it induces non-classical apoptosis in transformed cells. Here we show that E4orf4 associates with the ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling factor ACF that consists of a sucrose non fermenting-2h (SNF2h) ATPase and an Acf1 regulatory subunit. Furthermore, E4orf4 targets protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) to this complex and to chromatin. Obstruction of SNF2h activity inhibits E4orf4-induced cell death, whereas knockdown of Acf1 results in enhanced E4orf4-induced toxicity in both mammalian and yeast cells, and Acf1 overexpression inhibits E4orf4′s ability to downregulate early adenovirus gene expression in the context of viral infection. Knockdown of the Acf1 homolog, WSTF, inhibits E4orf4-induced cell death. Based on these results we suggest that the E4orf4–PP2A complex inhibits ACF and facilitates enhanced chromatin-remodeling activities of other SNF2h-containing complexes, such as WSTF–SNF2h. The resulting switch in chromatin remodeling determines life versus death decisions and contributes to E4orf4 functions during adenovirus infection

Overground walking speed changes when subjected to body weight support conditions for nonimpaired and post stroke individuals

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous research has shown that body weight support (BWS) has the potential to improve gait speed for individuals post-stroke. However, body weight support also reduces the optimal walking speed at which energy use is minimized over the gait cycle indicating that BWS should reduce walking speed capability.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Nonimpaired subjects and subjects post-stroke walked at a self-selected speed over a 15 m walkway. Body weight support (BWS) was provided to subjects at 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% of the subject's weight while they walked overground using a robotic body weight support system. Gait speed, cadence, and average step length were calculated for each subject using recorded data on their time to walk 10 m and the number of steps taken.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>When subjected to greater levels of BWS, self-selected walking speed decreased for the nonimpaired subjects. However, subjects post-stroke showed an average increase of 17% in self-selected walking speed when subjected to some level of BWS compared to the 0% BWS condition. Most subjects showed this increase at the 10% BWS level. Gait speed increases corresponded to an increase in step length, but not cadence.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The BWS training environment results in decreased self-selected walking speed in nonimpaired individuals, however self-selected overground walking speed is facilitated when provided with a small percentage of body weight support for people post-stroke.</p