Myocardial dysfunction is a major consequence of septic shock and contributes to the high mortality of sepsis. High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) serves as a late mediator of lethality in sepsis. We have reported that glucan phosphate (GP) attenuates cardiac dysfunction and increases survival in cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced septic mice. In the present study, we examined the effect of GP on HMGB1 translocation from the nucleus to the cytoplasm in the myocardium of septic mice. GP was administered to mice 1 h before induction of CLP. Sham-operated mice served as control. The levels of HMGB1, Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), and NF-κB binding activity were examined. In an in vitro study, H9C2 cardiomyoblasts were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the presence or absence of GP. H9C2 cells were also transfected with Ad5-IκBα mutant, a super repressor of NF-κB activity, before LPS stimulation. CLP significantly increased the levels of HMGB1, TLR4, and NF-κB binding activity in the myocardium. In contrast, GP administration attenuated CLP-induced HMGB1 translocation from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and reduced CLP-induced increases in TLR4 and NF-κB activity in the myocardium. In vitro studies showed that GP prevented LPS-induced HMGB1 translocation and NF-κB binding activity. Blocking NF-κB binding activity by Ad5-IκBα attenuated LPSinduced HMGB1 translocation. GP administration also reduced the LPS-stimulated interaction of HMGB1 with TLR4. These data suggest that attenuation of HMGB1 translocation by GP is mediated through inhibition of NF-κB activation in CLP-induced sepsis and that activation of NF-κB is required for HMGB1 translocation.

Post-tensioned segmental concrete box girders have been in use in the United States since the early 1970s. This unique bridge system uses post-tensioning to connect many smaller concrete bridge segments into very efficient long span bridges. However, because of the slender components, localized transverse bending becomes more critical when compared to more conventional bridge types. Bridge owners are finding that ratings for standard loads and permit trucks are often controlled by the transverse behavior of the girders near concentrated wheel loads. The popular analysis methods used today range from two dimensional frame models to three dimensional finite element models of the entire bridge. Currently, engineers must make sound engineering judgments on limited available information, while balancing safety and economy. To quantify and understand longitudinal and transverse behavior, the results from three live load tests of single cell segmental concrete box girder bridges are presented. Each bridge was instrumented with longitudinal and transverse strain sensors on at least two cross sections as well as rotation and deflection sensors, when possible. Two dimensional transverse frame models and three dimensional shell models were compared to the test results for each subject bridge. The two dimensional frame analyses using the common bottom web pin and roller boundary conditions provide mean absolute percent error in excess of 250%. Conversely, the newly introduced boundary conditions using pin supports at the top and bottom of each web was shown to reduce mean absolute percent error to 82%, which is on the same order of magnitude as longitudinal beamline analysis. The three dimensional shell models were insensitive to several changes including mesh fineness, number of spans modeled, and support conditions. Using uniform surface loading, the transverse modeling procedure was shown to provide significantly more accurate results than the common two dimensional frame models. A faster and more convenient analysis method using a program generated, structure specific, influence surface was also outlined. This method produced similar results when compared to the uniform surface loading method, while allowing additional automation for easier load application. / Ph. D.

No Abstract. / Dissertation (Magister Educationis)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Netflix and other streaming services have grown immensely since they started offering online streaming. In this paper I present a correlation matrix using ticket sales at the domestic box office and the number of Netflix subscribers. They are shown to be negatively correlated with one another, supporting many previous researchers’ thoughts on the topic. I also show using two OLS regressions with data from movies released in 2006-2007 and 2017-2018 that being a part of a franchise has a stronger correlation with increased revenue in the latter model compared to the previous one. In the models one can also see that the general quality of a movie, as measured by IMDb rating, is associated with a higher increase in revenue in the latter model. I argue that this is due to consumers being inclined to watch what they perceive to be high-quality movies in the theaters in the latter model as they can conveniently watch movies of a poorer quality on their streaming service, an option that was not available to the same extent previously. I also argue that consumers are more willing to commit to going to the cinema for a franchise movie, especially in the Marvel cinematic universe, as they are often effects driven movies which are better experienced on a large screen. The budget variable is significant in both models, but the coefficient is much smaller in the second model. I argue that this is due to the fact that a higher budget is required for movies released in 2017-2018 to maintain the same level of revenue as in 2006 and 2007 due to the competition that have come from streaming services. However, I conclude that more research is necessary before drawing definite conclusions as the market for cinema is highly uncertain and difficult to estimate accurately.

Student. understanding and use of tobacco was studied under the following specific areas: specific knowledge as it relates to smoking and health; student opinions and attitudes toward smoking; smoking experience; and the influence of certain factors on smoking status. About 1155 students were sampled with the use of a questionnaire. It was found that there was no significant difference in the scores of boys and girls. The senior high students were better informed than the ninth grade or junior high students. The majority (81 percent) of all students surveyed were of the opinion that the pleasure derived from smoking was not worth the price a person has to pay in terms of health and expense. Five percent of the students indicated that their mothers smoked, and 69 percent indicated that their parents did not approve of their smoking. There were 6 percent of the students who smoked regularly (at least once a week) with another 34 percent smoking occasionally. The ninth grade percentage wise, smoke heavier (one-half pack or more daily) than any of the other groups.

A follow-up study, involving students, parents, and teachers that participated in two types of summer home economics programs in Box Elder County during the summer of 1979, was conducted during August, 1979 to collect data relative to the following objectives: (1) to obtain demographic data as to age, sex, and participation in the program; (2) to obtain the subjects feelings about the program; and (3) to gather opinions and suggestions from the respondents about the programs. Analysis of the data revealed (1) there were more students enrolled in the In-School program than the Home-Visit program. There were more females than males enrolled in the In-School program; more mothers than fathers responded and all teachers returned their questionnaires; (2) there was a high level of interest shown in both programs and (3) suggestions were given to improve the program for another year.

This project discusses the ways in which Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 functions as an indictment of media culture. While many analyses of the novel focus on the text’s sweeping themes of literary censorship, this study instead centers on Bradbury’s depiction of media—particularly television—culture and the ways in which Bradbury feared it could be harmful. Although Bradbury wrote about a future society a century beyond his own, his novel serves as a remarkable reflection of his contemporaneous culture’s media consumption and gendered divisions; this thesis discusses Bradbury’s novel alongside such forces, considering the effects such influences may have had on his work.

Meat is important in the American diet. Money spent for meat ranks as the largest single item in the family food dollar. Various studies indicate that the proportion of the food dollar spent for meat ranges from 25 to 30 percent. Such foods as dairy products and fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables calculated as separate groups account for a smaller single percentage than meat. Dairy products, the one of next importance to meat, account for approximately 18 percent of the consumer's food dollar.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Thin walled tubular structures are widely used in the automotive industry because of its weight to energy absorption advantage. A lot of research has been done in different cross sectional shapes and different tapered designs, with design for manufacturability in mind, to achieve high specific energy absorption. In this study a novel type of tubular structure is proposed, in which predesigned origami initiators are introduced into conventional square tubes. The crease pattern is designed to achieve extensional collapse mode which results in decreasing the initial buckling forces and at the same time acts as a fold initiator, helping to achieve a extensional collapse mode. The influence of various design parameters of the origami pattern on the mechanical properties (crushing force and deceleration) are extensively investigated using finite element modelling. Thus, showing a predictable and stable collapse behavior. This pattern can be stamped out of a thin sheet of material. The results showed that a properly designed origami pattern can consistently trigger a extensional collapse mode which can significantly lower the peak values of crushing forces and deceleration without compromising on the mean values. Also, a comparison has been made with the behavior of proposed origami pattern for extensional mode verses origami pattern with diamond fold.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / An Autonomous vehicle depends on the combination of latest technology or the ADAS safety features such as Adaptive cruise control (ACC), Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Automatic Parking, Blind Spot Monitor, Forward Collision Warning or Avoidance (FCW or FCA), Lane Departure Warning. The current trend follows incorporation of these technologies using the Artificial neural network or Deep neural network, as an imitation of the traditionally used algorithms. Recent research in the field of deep learning and development of competent processors for autonomous or self-driving car have shown amplitude of prospect, but there are many complexities for hardware deployment because of limited resources such as memory, computational power, and energy. Deployment of several mentioned ADAS safety feature using multiple sensors and individual processors, increases the integration complexity and also results in the distribution of the system, which is very pivotal for autonomous vehicles. This thesis attempts to tackle two important adas safety feature: Forward collision Warning, and Object Detection using the machine learning and Deep Neural Networks and there deployment in the autonomous embedded platform. 1. A machine learning based approach for the forward collision warning system in an autonomous vehicle. 2. 3-D object detection using Lidar and Camera which is primarily based on Lidar Point Clouds. The proposed forward collision warning model is based on the forward facing automotive radar providing the sensed input values such as acceleration, velocity and separation distance to a classifier algorithm which on the basis of supervised learning model, alerts the driver of possible collision. Decision Tress, Linear Regression, Support Vector Machine, Stochastic Gradient Descent, and a Fully Connected Neural Network is used for the prediction purpose. The second proposed methods uses object detection architecture, which combines the 2D object detectors and a contemporary 3D deep learning techniques. For this approach, the 2D object detectors is used first, which proposes a 2D bounding box on the images or video frames. Additionally a 3D object detection technique is used where the point clouds are instance segmented and based on raw point clouds density a 3D bounding box is predicted across the previously segmented objects.