Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems for Disaster Relief: Tornado Alley

Unmanned aerial vehicle systems are currently in limited use for public service missions worldwide. Development of civil unmanned technology in the United States currently lags behind military unmanned technology development in part because of unresolved regulatory and technological issues. Civil unmanned aerial vehicle systems have potential to augment disaster relief and emergency response efforts. Optimal design of aerial systems for such applications will lead to unmanned vehicles which provide maximum potentiality for relief and emergency response while accounting for public safety concerns and regulatory requirements. A case study is presented that demonstrates application of a civil unmanned system to a disaster relief mission with the intent on saving lives. The concept utilizes unmanned aircraft to obtain advanced warning and damage assessments for tornados and severe thunderstorms. Overview of a tornado watch mission architecture as well as commentary on risk, cost, need for, and design tradeoffs for unmanned aerial systems are provided

Watershed Retrofit and Management Evaluation for Urban Stormwater Management Systems in North Carolina

In response to water quality concerns in the Jordan Lake Reservoir and state and federal mandates, several cities in North Carolina are being required for the first time to reduce nutrient loads in stormwater from previously developed lands; that is, install retrofits. It is anticipated that similar requirements will become necessary for other urban areas as North Carolina. The goal of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of alternative approaches to stormwater management for existing developments within North Carolina cities. Evaluated alternatives include retrofitting onsite best management practices, off-stream treatment along mainstems of the urban drainage network, stream restoration, and alteration of stream corridors as urban greenways, among others. Geographic coverage of the study includes seven cities of the WRRI Urban Water Consortium Stormwater Group. Stormwater drainage networks at the citywide/watershed scale will be related to existing land use, land use plans, and zoning classes. Feasibility of alternatives will be measured by the cost-effectiveness of alternative practices in reducing peak flows and pollutant loads (nutrients and sediment) and the potential for ecological restoration. Two spatial scales will be used for feasibility analysis: One will focus on tributary watersheds at a scale of 260-520 hectares (1-2mi2), and one watershed from each of the cities will be selected with priority given to watersheds draining to impaired water bodies. The feasibility of retrofitting onsite BMPs within these watersheds will be evaluated. The second scale will focus on mainstems of drainage networks in one selected watershed to determine the feasibility of using larger off-stream management practices and improving stream corridor management

Understanding Racial Inequity in School Discipline Across the Richmond Region

This report comes from the MERC Achieving Racial Equity in School Disciplinary Policies and Practices study. Launched in the spring of 2015, the purpose of this mixed- method study was to understand the factors related to disproportionate school discipline outcomes in MERC division schools. The study had two phases. Phase one (quantitative) used primary and secondary data to explore racial disparities in school discipline in the MERC region as well as discipline programs schools use to address them. Phase two (qualitative) explored the implementation of discipline programs in three MERC region schools, as well as educator and student perceptions of school discipline and racial disproportionality. This report shares findings from both phases of our study and offers numerous implications and recommendations for research, policy, and practice

A phenylalanine permease system in Neurospora crassa

A phenylalanine permease system in Neurospora crass

The free amino acid pool of Neurospora

Free amino acid poo

Response to fluorophenylalanine by sensitive and resistant strains of Neurospora crassa

Response to fluorophenylalanine by sensitive and resistant strains of Neurospora crass

A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Phase II Trial of Gemcitabine and Nab-Paclitaxel Plus Apatorsen or Placebo in Patients with Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer: The RAINIER Trial.

Lessons learnedThe addition of the heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27)-targeting antisense oligonucleotide, apatorsen, to a standard first-line chemotherapy regimen did not result in improved survival in unselected patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.Findings from this trial hint at the possible prognostic and predictive value of serum Hsp27 that may warrant further investigation.BackgroundThis randomized, double-blinded, phase II trial evaluated the efficacy of gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel plus either apatorsen, an antisense oligonucleotide targeting heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27) mRNA, or placebo in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.MethodsPatients were randomized 1:1 to Arm A (gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel plus apatorsen) or Arm B (gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel plus placebo). Treatment was administered in 28-day cycles, with restaging every 2 cycles, until progression or intolerable toxicity. Serum Hsp27 levels were analyzed at baseline and on treatment. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS).ResultsOne hundred thirty-two patients were enrolled, 66 per arm. Cytopenias and fatigue were the most frequent grade 3/4 treatment-related adverse events for both arms. Median progression-free survival (PFS) and OS were 2.7 and 5.3 months, respectively, for arm A, and 3.8 and 6.9 months, respectively, for arm B. Objective response rate was 18% for both arms. Patients with high serum level of Hsp27 represented a poor-prognosis subgroup who may have derived modest benefit from addition of apatorsen.ConclusionAddition of apatorsen to chemotherapy does not improve outcomes in unselected patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer in the first-line setting, although a trend toward prolonged PFS and OS in patients with high baseline serum Hsp27 suggests this therapy may warrant further evaluation in this subgroup

Radiation inactivation analysis of amino acid transport systems in Neurospora crassa

Radiation inactivation analysis of amino acid transport systems in Neurospora crass

Selected electrical system characteristics of Grade A dairy farms in Tennessee

Expansion in the size of electrical service equipment and distribution facilities on farms has increased at a phenomenal rate in the past decade. This expansion has been brought on by the need for improved mechanical production efficiency as a substitute for human labor and the general influences of the revolution of automation and mechanization that have occurred. The basic information on which to base procedures for adequate and efficient design of these farmstead wiring and distribution facilities is obviously lacking. There is a need for more accurate and up-to-date analyses of actual conditions that exist in the electric wiring systems of farms. The major factors in planning farmstead wiring components are safety, adequacy, and efficiency. Existing state and national wiring codes set forth the standards for safety for such electrical installations (4,8). Adequacy and efficiency concern the use of equipment and facilities that provide satisfactory service in a manner consistent with economic feasibility. This study concerned itself with the basic factors that showed actual conditions of voltage, current, and power that existed on farms. These recorded conditions were analyzed in various relationships to actual wiring and distribution equipment in use on these same farms