Effects of platform fashion shoes on brake response time

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the effects of 'platform' fashion shoes on response time in vehicle braking. Seventeen subjects participated in two test sessions: in one they wore platform shoes and in the other normal footwear. Although all subjects were accustomed to wearing either type of footwear, platform shoes significantly slowed their braking responses, compared with normal shoes (0.91 vs 0.81 s, respectively). This differential response time represents an increased stopping distance of 1.42 ft (433 mm) for each 10 mile/h (16 km/h) of vehicle speed.     

The Neonatal Fc Receptor Is Elevated in Monocyte-Derived Immune Cells in Pancreatic Cancer

The neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) is responsible for recycling of IgG antibodies and albumin throughout the body. This mechanism has been exploited for pharmaceutic delivery across an array of diseases to either enhance or diminish this function. Monoclonal antibodies and albumin-bound nanoparticles are examples of FcRn-dependent anti-cancer therapeutics. Despite its importance in drug delivery, little is known about FcRn expression in circulating immune cells. Through time-of-flight mass cytometry (CyTOF) we were able to characterize FcRn expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) populations of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients and non-cancer donors. Furthermore, we were able to replicate these findings in an orthotopic murine model of PDAC. Altogether, we found that in both patients and mice with PDAC, FcRn was elevated in migratory and resident classical dendritic cell type 2 (cDC2) as well as monocytic and granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) populations compared to tumor-free controls. Furthermore, PBMCs from PDAC patients had elevated monocyte, dendritic cells and MDSCs relative to non-cancer donor PBMCs. Future investigations into FcRn activity may further elucidate possible mechanisms of poor efficacy of antibody immunotherapies in patients with PDAC.     

System identification and controller design for individual pitch and trailing edge flap control on upscaled wind turbines

Active load reduction strategies such as individual pitch control (IPC) and trailing edge flap (TEF) actuation present ways of reducing the fatigue loads on the blades of wind turbines. This may enable development of lighter blades, improving the performance, cost effectiveness and viability of future multi‐megawatt turbine designs. Previous investigations into the use of IPC and TEFs have been limited to turbines with ratings up to 5 MW and typically investigate the use of these load reduction strategies on a single turbine only. This paper extends the design, implementation and analysis of individual pitch and TEFs to a range of classically scaled turbines between 5 and 20 MW. In order to avoid designing controllers which favour a particular scale, identical scale‐invariant system identification and controller design processes are applied to each of the turbines studied. Gain‐scheduled optimal output feedback controllers are designed using identified models to target blade root load fluctuations at the first and second multiples of the rotational frequency using IPC and TEFs respectively. The use of IPC and TEFs is shown in simulations to provide significant reductions in fatigue loads at the blade root. Fatigue loads on non‐rotating components such as the yaw bearing and tower root (yaw moment) are also reduced with the use of TEFs. Individual pitch performance is seen to be slightly lower on larger turbines, potentially due to a combination of reduced actuator bandwidth and movement of the rotational frequency of larger turbines into a more energetic part of the turbulent spectrum. However, TEF performance is consistent irrespective of scale. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Directly perceiving Gibson: A further reply to Gyr.

In his 1972 critique of direct theories of perception, J. W. Gyr argued from the view that Gibson believes (a) that stimulus structure can determine perception and (b) that perceiving as a consequence of voluntary activity is virtually the same as perception that is not a consequence of voluntary activity. Since neither of these assumptions is found in Gibson's approach, Gyr's criticisms do not seem to apply. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

FPGA Implementation(s) of a Scalable Encryption Algorithm

SEA is a scalable encryption algorithm targeted for small embedded applications. It was initially designed for software implementations in controllers, smart cards, or processors. In this letter, we investigate its performances in field-programmable gate array (FPGA) devices. For this purpose, a loop architecture of the block cipher is presented. Beyond its low cost performances, a significant advantage of the proposed architecture is its full flexibility for any parameter of the scalable encryption algorithm, taking advantage of generic VHDL coding. The letter also carefully describes the implementation details allowing us to keep small area requirements. Finally, a comparative performance discussion of SEA with the advanced encryption standard Rijndael and (a cipher purposed for efficient FPGA implementations) is proposed. It illustrates the interest of platform/context-oriented block cipher design and, as far as SEA is concerned, its low area requirements and reasonable efficiency.     

Low-swing current mode logic (LSCML): A new logic style for secure and robust smart cards against power analysis attacks

A new logic style called low-swing current mode logic (LSCML) is presented. It features a dynamic and differential structure and a low-swing current mode operation. The LSCML logic style may be used for hardware implementation of secure smart cards against differential power analysis (DPA) attacks but also for implementation of self-timed circuits thanks to its self-timed operation. Electrical simulations of the Khazad S-box have been carried out in 0.13 μm PD (partially depleted) SOI CMOS technology. For comparison purpose, the Khazad S-box was implemented with the LSCML logic and two other dynamic differential logic styles previously reported. Simulation results have shown an improved reduction of the data-dependent power signature when using LSCML circuits. Indeed the LSCML based Khazad S-box has shown a power consumption standard deviation more than two times smaller than the one in DyCML and almost two times smaller than the one in DDCVSL.     

Development of species sensitivity distributions for wildlife using interspecies toxicity correlation models

Species sensitivity distributions (SSD) are probability distributions of chemical toxicity of multiple species and have had limited application in wildlife risk assessment because of relatively small data sets of wildlife toxicity values. Interspecies correlation estimation (ICE) models predict the acute toxicity to untested taxa from known toxicity of a single surrogate species. ICE models were used to predict toxicity values to wildlife species and generate SSDs for 23 chemicals using four avian surrogates. The hazard levels associated with the fifth percentile of the distribution (HD5) were compared for ICE SSDs and independent SSDs created with measured data. SSDs were composed of either avian only or avian and mammalian taxa. ICE HD5s were within 5-fold of 90% of measured HD5s and were generally higher than measured HD5s. The first percentile of the distribution (HD1) and the fifth percentile of the lower confidence limit (HDL) of ICE SSDs produced values that were not significantly different from measured HD5s. Using a bird surrogate to predicttoxicity to birds and the Norway rat to predict toxicity to mammals improved some estimates of ICE HD5s compared with those generated using only bird surrogates. These results indicate that ICE models can be used to generate SSDs comparable to those derived from measured wildlife toxicity data and provide robust estimates of the HD5.     

Illicit drug use in the army: A social-organizational analysis.

Attempted to identify relationships between certain facets of the social environment of military units and the reported level of illicit drug use in the units. Two instruments were developed for the study, an anonymous self-report drug use questionnaire and a drug abuse prevalence index. From a total of 398 units ( N = 17,143) surveyed on drug use, 3,284 enlisted men in 31 high- and low-use units located in Korea, the US, and Germany were surveyed on the quality of the social environment. Several dimensions of the social and organizational environment were significantly related to illicit drug use, including opinion of officers, job satisfaction, opinion of the army, and morale. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)