Clemson University

About: Clemson University is a education organization based out in Clemson, South Carolina, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Control theory. The organization has 20556 authors who have published 42518 publications receiving 1170779 citations. The organization is also known as: Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina.

Framing identities: Gender, ethnic, and national parity in network announcing of the 2002 winter Olympics

Abstract: Analysis of 53 prime-time hours of host and reporter commentary in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics located the degree and types of gender, ethnic, and national biases hidden within the prime-time network telecasts. Not surprisingly, most of the clock time went to men, most of the top 20 most mentioned athletes were men, and most of the athlete mentions and descriptors were devoted to men. Ethnic findings showed that four fifths of all athletes mentioned and the top 20 most mentioned were White. Surprisingly, non-American athletes were mentioned more frequently than American athletes were, but American athletes were characterized as being more composed and courageous whereas non-American athletes were described as succeeding because of experience.

In vitro modulation of inflammatory cytokine and IgG levels by extracts of Perna canaliculus

Abstract: Inflammation is a predominant characteristic of autoimmune diseases which is characterized by the increased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Soon to be published work from our laboratory has shown that ingestion of Perna canaliculus prevents the development of autoimmune diseases such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis in laboratory animals. The current paper attempts to illustrate how Perna can alleviate inflammation by modulating inflammatory cytokines, cyclooxygenase enzymes and Immunoglobulin-G (IgG) levels. In the present study, hydrochloric acid [HCl] and Tween-20 were used to develop extracts of Perna. These extracts were assayed for protein content. Increasing concentrations of these extracts were then tested in cell culture for modulation of inflammatory cytokine, cyclooxygenase enzymes and IgG levels. Parallel tests were run using an available glycogen extract of Perna as a comparison to our in-house laboratory preparations. Tween-20 Perna extracts were found to be more stable and less toxic in cell culture than HCl digest of Perna. They also assayed higher in protein content that HCl extracts. Although both extracts inhibited IgG production in V2E9 hybridomas, Tween-20 extracts were more consistent in IgG suppression than HCl extracts. Overall Tween-20 extracts effectively decreased levels of TNF-α, IL-1, IL-2 and IL-6 as observed using cytokine bioassays. Twenty micrograms of Tween-20 Perna extracts induced such significant decreases in inflammatory cytokine production that when tested on sensitive cell lines, they very nearly abolished the decrease in viability induced by these cytokines. Tween-20 extracts effectively inhibited both COX-1 and COX-2 cyclooxygenase activity. As a comparison, the glycogen extract also demonstrated a similar though weaker effect on COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes. The active components of both extracts (Tween-20 and glycogen) were observed to possess molecular weights above 100 kDa. Although the anti-cytokine activity of the Tween-20 extract was destroyed by Proteinase-K treatment, the anti-COX-1 and anti-COX-2 activity of both the extracts were not sensitive to protease treatment. We have successfully demonstrated modulation in the levels of inflammatory cytokines, cyclooxygenase enzymes and immunoglobulins by our in-house laboratory preparations of Perna canaliculus, whereby suggesting an immunomodulatory role of Perna canaliculus in regulating inflammation.

Particle manipulations in non-Newtonian microfluidics: A review.

Abstract: Microfluidic devices have been widely used since 1990s for diverse manipulations of particles (a general term of beads, cells, vesicles, drops, etc.) in a variety of applications. Compared to the active manipulation via an externally imposed force field, the passive manipulation of particles exploits the flow-induced intrinsic lift and/or drag to control particle motion with several advantages. Along this direction, inertial microfluidics has received tremendous interest in the past decade due to its capability to handle a large volume of samples at a high throughput. This inertial lift-based approach in Newtonian fluids, however, becomes ineffective and even fails for small particles and/or at low flow rates. Recent studies have demonstrated the potential of elastic lift in non-Newtonian fluids for manipulating particles with a much smaller size and over a much wider range of flow rates. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the various passive manipulations, including focusing, separation, washing and stretching, of particles that have thus far been demonstrated in non-Newtonian microfluidics.

Role of Terrain Preview in Energy Management of Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Abstract: Energy-management strategy plays a critical role in high fuel economy that modern hybrid electric vehicles can achieve, yet a lack of information about future driving conditions is one of the limitations of fulfilling the maximum fuel economy potential of hybrid vehicles. Today, with wider deployment of vehicle telematic technologies, prediction of future driving conditions, e.g., road grade, is becoming more realistic. This paper evaluates the potential gain in fuel economy if road grade information is integrated into the energy management of hybrid vehicles. Real-world road geometry information is utilized in power-management decisions by using both dynamic programming (DP) and a standard equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS). At the same time, two baseline control strategies with no future information are developed and validated for comparison purposes. Simulation results show that road terrain preview enables fuel savings. The level of improvement depends on the cruising speed, control strategy, road profile, and the size of the battery.