AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF PARTIAL LOW RISK DEPLOYMENT IN A FIXED VEHICLE ENVIRONMENT

This study will look at the passenger air bag (PAB) performance in a fix vehicle environment using Partial Low Risk Deployment (PLRD) as a strategy. This development will follow test methods against actual baseline vehicle data and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards 208 (FMVSS 208). FMVSS 208 states that PAB compliance in vehicle crash testing can be met using one of three deployment methods. The primary method suppresses PAB deployment, with the use of a seat weight sensor or occupant classification sensor (OCS), for three-year old and six-year old occupants including the presence of a child seat. A second method, PLRD allows deployment on all size occupants suppressing only for the presents of a child seat. A third method is Low Risk Deployment (LRD) which allows PAB deployment in all conditions, all statures including any/all child seats. This study outlines a PLRD development solution for achieving FMVSS 208 performance. The results of this study should provide an option for system implementation including opportunities for system efficiency and other considerations. The objective is to achieve performance levels similar too or incrementally better than the baseline vehicles National Crash Assessment Program (NCAP) Star rating. In addition, to define systemic flexibility where restraint features can be added or removed while improving occupant performance consistency to the baseline. A certified vehicles’ air bag system will typically remain in production until the vehicle platform is redesigned. The strategy to enable the PLRD hypothesis will be to first match the baseline out of position occupant performance (OOP) for the three and six-year old requirements. Second, improve the 35mph belted 5th percentile female NCAP star rating over the baseline vehicle. Third establish an equivalent FMVSS 208 certification for the 25mph unbelted 50th percentile male. FMVSS 208 high-speed requirement defines the federal minimum crash performance required for meeting frontal vehicle crash-test compliance. The intent of NCAP 5-Star rating is to provide the consumer with information about crash protection, beyond what is required by federal law. In this study, two vehicles segments were used for testing to compare and contrast to their baseline vehicles performance. Case Study 1 (CS1) used a cross over vehicle platform and Case Study 2 (CS2) used a small vehicle segment platform as their baselines. In each case study, the restraints systems were from different restraint supplier manufactures and each case contained that suppliers approach to PLRD. CS1 incorporated a downsized twins shaped bag, a carryover inflator, standard vents, and a strategic positioned bag diffuser to help disperse the flow of gas to improve OOP. The twin shaped bag with two segregated sections (lobes) to enabled high-speed baseline performance correlation on the HYGE Sled. CS2 used an A-Symmetric (square shape) PAB with standard size vents, including a passive vent, to obtain OOP similar to the baseline. The A-Symmetric shape bag also helped to enabled high-speed baseline performance improvements in HYGE Sled testing in CS2. The anticipated CS1 baseline vehicle-pulse-index (VPI) target was in the range of 65-67. However, actual dynamic vehicle (barrier) testing was overshadowed with the highest crash pulse from the previous tested vehicles with a VPI of 71. The result from the 35mph NCAP Barrier test was a solid 4-Star (4.7 Star) respectfully. In CS2, the vehicle HYGE Sled development VPI range, from the baseline was 61-62 respectively. Actual NCAP test produced a chest deflection result of 26mm versus the anticipated baseline target of 12mm. The initial assessment of this condition was thought to be due to the vehicles significant VPI increase to 67. A subsequent root cause investigation confirmed a data integrity issue due to the instrumentation. In an effort to establish a true vehicle test data point a second NCAP test was performed but faced similar instrumentation issues. As a result, the chest deflect hit the target of 12.1mm; however a femur load spike, similar to the baseline, now skewed the results. With noted level of performance improvement in chest deflection, the NCAP star was assessed as directional for 5-Star capable performance. With an actual rating of 3-Star due to instrumentation, using data extrapolation raised the ratings to 5-Star. In both cases, no structural changes were made to the surrogate vehicle and the results in each case matched their perspective baseline vehicle platforms. These results proved the PLRD is viable for further development and production implementation.

Some Leaching Characteristics of the Butte Rhodochrosite

With the increasing importance of manganese in the metallurgical fields of today and tomorrow, ex­tensive work along the lines of its successful ex­ploitation has been accomplished by many investiga­tors. Since tie current world situation has shut off most of our supply of high-grade manganese ores from foreign sources, the low-grade domestic deposits have entered the fields of investigation very rapidly.

The Electrodeposition of Iron-Manganese Alloys

An electrodeposition of an iron-manganese alloy was made from the same conditions determined by previous re­search. Various addition agents were experimented with in an attempt to produce better conditions for electro-deposition. It was found advantageous to add small a­mounts of sodium lauryl sulfate and ammonium sulfite to the electrolyte.

Pollinator responses to variation in floral display and flower size in dioecious Sagittaria latifolia (Alismataceae)

In animal-pollinated plants with unisexual flowers, sexual dimorphism in floral traits may be the consequence of pollinator-mediated selection. Experimental investigations of the effects of variation in flower size and floral display on pollinator visitation can provide insights into the evolution of floral dimorphism in dioecious plants. Here, we investigated pollinator responses to experimental arrays of dioecious Sagittaria latifolia in which we manipulated floral display and flower size. We also examined whether there were changes in pollinator visitation with increasing dimorphism in flower size. In S. latifolia, males have larger flowers and smaller floral displays than females. Visitation by pollinators, mainly flies and bees, was more frequent for male than for female inflorescences and increased with increasing flower size, regardless of sex. The number of insect visits per flower decreased with increasing floral display in males but remained constant in females. Greater sexual dimorphism in flower size increased visits to male inflorescences but had no influence on the number of visits to female inflorescences. These results suggest that larger flower sizes would be advantageous to both females and males, and no evidence was found that females suffer from increased flower-size dimorphism. Small daily floral displays may benefit males by allowing extended flowering periods and greater opportunities for effective pollen dispersal.

A cognitive analysis of English cognate objects

In this paper, from the perspective of Cognitive Grammar, we consider the question of what kind of verbs can take cognate objects (COs) and what kind of verbs cannot. We investigate the syntactic properties of COs, such as the ability to take modifiers, the passivizability of cognate object constructions (COCs), and the it-pronominalization of COs. It is our contention that a detailed classification of verbs that occur in COCs is required in order to capture the relation between the syntactic properties and the modification of COs. While classifying verbs, we focus on three conceptual factors: the force of energy of the subject, a change of state of the subject, and the objectivity of the cognate noun. The study reveals that these three parameters enable us to capture the difference in the interpretation of COs in relation to modification and syntactic tests.

Orbital changes, variation in solar activity and increased anthropogenic activities: controls on the Holocene flood frequency in the Lake Ledro area, Northern Italy

Adding to the on-going debate regarding vegetation recolonisation (more particularly the timing) in Europe and climate change since the Lateglacial, this study investigates a long sediment core (LL081) from Lake Ledro (652ma.s.l., southern Alps, Italy). Environmental changes were reconstructed using multiproxy analysis (pollen-based vegetation and climate reconstruction, lake levels, magnetic susceptibility and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) measurements) recorded climate and land-use changes during the Lateglacial and early-middle Holocene. The well-dated and high-resolution pollen record of Lake Ledro is compared with vegetation records from the southern and northern Alps to trace the history of tree species distribution. An altitudedependent progressive time delay of the first continuous occurrence of Abies (fir) and of the Larix (larch) development has been observed since the Lateglacial in the southern Alps. This pattern suggests that the mid-altitude Lake Ledro area was not a refuge and that trees originated from lowlands or hilly areas (e.g. Euganean Hills) in northern Italy. Preboreal oscillations (ca. 11 000 cal BP), Boreal oscillations (ca. 10 200, 9300 cal BP) and the 8.2 kyr cold event suggest a centennial-scale climate forcing in the studied area. Picea (spruce) expansion occurred preferentially around 10 200 and 8200 cal BP in the south-eastern Alps, and therefore reflects the long-lasting cumulative effects of successive boreal and the 8.2 kyr cold event. The extension of Abies is contemporaneous with the 8.2 kyr event, but its development in the southern Alps benefits from the wettest interval 8200-7300 cal BP evidenced in high lake levels, flood activity and pollen-based climate reconstructions. Since ca. 7500 cal BP, a weak signal of pollen-based anthropogenic activities suggest weak human impact. The period between ca. 5700 and ca. 4100 cal BP is considered as a transition period to colder and wetter conditions (particularly during summers) that favoured a dense beech (Fagus) forest development which in return caused a distinctive yew (Taxus) decline.We conclude that climate was the dominant factor controlling vegetation changes and erosion processes during the early and middle Holocene (up to ca. 4100 cal BP).

BAYESIAN PHASE I DOSE FINDING IN CANCER TRIALS

This dissertation explores phase I dose-finding designs in cancer trials from three perspectives: the alternative Bayesian dose-escalation rules, a design based on a time-to-dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) model, and a design based on a discrete-time multi-state (DTMS) model. We list alternative Bayesian dose-escalation rules and perform a simulation study for the intra-rule and inter-rule comparisons based on two statistical models to identify the most appropriate rule under certain scenarios. We provide evidence that all the Bayesian rules outperform the traditional ``3+3'' design in the allocation of patients and selection of the maximum tolerated dose. The design based on a time-to-DLT model uses patients' DLT information over multiple treatment cycles in estimating the probability of DLT at the end of treatment cycle 1. Dose-escalation decisions are made whenever a cycle-1 DLT occurs, or two months after the previous check point. Compared to the design based on a logistic regression model, the new design shows more safety benefits for trials in which more late-onset toxicities are expected. As a trade-off, the new design requires more patients on average. The design based on a discrete-time multi-state (DTMS) model has three important attributes: (1) Toxicities are categorized over a distribution of severity levels, (2) Early toxicity may inform dose escalation, and (3) No suspension is required between accrual cohorts. The proposed model accounts for the difference in the importance of the toxicity severity levels and for transitions between toxicity levels. We compare the operating characteristics of the proposed design with those from a similar design based on a fully-evaluated model that directly models the maximum observed toxicity level within the patients' entire assessment window. We describe settings in which, under comparable power, the proposed design shortens the trial. The proposed design offers more benefit compared to the alternative design as patient accrual becomes slower.

BRAIN ACTIVATION AND CONNECTIVITY IN NON-DISABLED MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS PATIENTS

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common demyelinating disease affecting the central nervous system. There is no cure for MS and current therapies have limited efficacy. While the majority of individuals with MS develop significant clinical disability, a subset experiences a disease course with minimal impairment even in the presence of significant apparent tissue damage on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The current studies combined functional MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to elucidate brain mechanisms associated with lack of clinical disability in patients with MS. Recent evidence has implicated cortical reorganization as a mechanism to limit the clinical manifestation of the disease. Functional MRI was used to test the hypothesis that non-disabled MS patients (Expanded Disability Status Scale ≤ 1.5) show increased recruitment of cognitive control regions (dorsolateral prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex) while performing sensory, motor and cognitive tasks. Compared to matched healthy controls, patients increased activation of cognitive control brain regions when performing non-dominant hand movements and the 2-back working memory task. Using dynamic causal modeling, we tested whether increased cognitive control recruitment is associated with alterations in connectivity in the working memory functional network. Patients exhibited similar network connectivity to that of control subjects when performing working memory tasks. We subsequently investigated the integrity of major white matter tracts to assess structural connectivity and its relation to activation and functional integration of the cognitive control system. Patients showed substantial alterations in callosal, inferior and posterior white matter tracts and less pronounced involvement of the corticospinal tracts and superior longitudinal fasciculi (SLF). Decreased structural integrity within the right SLF in patients was associated with decreased performance, and decreased activation and connectivity of the cognitive control system when performing working memory tasks. These studies suggest that patient with MS without clinical disability increase cognitive control system recruitment across functional domains and rely on preserved functional and structural connectivity of brain regions associated with this network. Moreover, the current studies show the usefulness of combining brain activation data from functional MRI and structural connectivity data from DTI to improve our understanding of brain adaptation mechanisms to neurological disease.

Phylogenetic positions of Clostridium chauvoei and Clostridium septicum based on 16S rRNA gene sequences

The sequences of the 16S rRNA genes (rrs genes) of Clostridium chauvoei, the causative agent of blackleg in cattle, and the phenotypically related organism Clostridium septicum were determined. After amplification of 1,507-bp PCR fragments from the corresponding rrs genes, the sequences were determined in a single round of sequencing by using conserved region primers. A sequence similarity analysis of the sequences revealed the close phylogenetic relationship of C. chauvoei and C. septicum in Clostridium cluster I (M. D. Collins, P. A. Lawson, A. Willems, J. J. Cordoba, J. Fernandez-Garayzabal, P. Garcia, J. Cai, H. Hippe, and J. A. E. Farrow, Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 44:812-826, 1994), which includes Clostridium carnis, Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium botulinum, and Clostridium tetani. We found that 99.3% of the nucleotides in the genes of C. chauvoei and C. septicum are identical.