Spreading Depressions as Secondary Insults After Traumatic Injury to the Human Brain

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

meeting of the COSBID consortium took place on 6-8 May 2010 in Barcelona , Spain. Drs. Hartings and Wilson attended and made presentations on the topics...questions. 11 VI. REFERENCES aHartings JA, Strong AJ, Fabricius M, Manning A, Bhatia R, Dreier JP, Mazzeo AT, Tortella FC , Bullock MR. Spreading

Minority Forest Landowners in Southeastern Alabama

Treesearch

Jianbang Gan; Stephen H. Kolison

1999-01-01

This study investigated the characteristics of minority forest landowners and their forest resources in Macon and Bullock counties in Alabama through a landowner survey. The size offorestland held by these landowners was relatively small, with a mean of 113 ac. Most of their forests were mixed pine and hardwood stands. The top ranked management objectives of these...

Nest predators of open and cavity nesting birds in oak woodlands

Treesearch

Kathryn L. Purcell; Jared Verner

1999-01-01

Camera setups revealed at least three species of rodents and seven species of birds as potential predators at artificial open nests. Surprisingly, among avian predators identified at open nests, one third were Bullock's Orioles (Icterus bullockii). Two rodent species and three bird species were potential predators at artificial cavity nests. This high predator...

Hintoniamine, a new calmodulin inhibitor from the endophytic fungal species 39140-2

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A new fungal endophytic species (39140-2) was isolated from the medicinal plant Hintonia latiflora (Sessé et Mociño ex DC.) Bullock, a Rubiaceae widely used in Mexico as antidiabetic agent. Sequencing of the 28S fraction of the rDNA of this fungal strain and comparing with similar sequences for all ...

Teaching Money Computation Skills to High School Students with Mild Intellectual Disabilities via the TouchMath[C] Program: A Multi-Sensory Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waters, Hugh E.; Boon, Richard T.

2011-01-01

This study investigated the effects of the TouchMath[C] program (Bullock, Pierce,&McClellan, 1989) to teach students with mild intellectual disabilities to subtract 3-digit money computational problems with regrouping. Three students with mild intellectual disabilities in high school received instruction in a special education mathematics…

Teacher Educator Identity Emerging as Teacher Educators Enact Their Roles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, M. Shaun; Pinnegar, Stefinee

2011-01-01

When the authors consider the articles by Bullock and Ritter, and Clift through the lens of role theory, both show how identity is, in part, constrained by the definitions of the roles individuals are assigned or take up and is developed from a response to the perception of individuals by themselves as well as by others as they act within these…

The sail wing windmill and its adaptation for use in rural India

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sherman, M. M.

1973-01-01

An 8 meter-diameter prototype sail wing windmill is reported that uses a one meter-diameter bullock cartwheel to which three bamboo poles are latched in a triangular pattern with overlapping ends, to form the airframe for cloth sails. This device lifts 300 pounds to a height of 20 feet in one minute in a 10 mph wind.

Effects of the "TOUCHMATH" Program Compared to a Number Line Strategy to Teach Addition Facts to Middle School Students with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fletcher, Dale; Boon, Richard T.; Cihak, David F.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to systematically replicate and extend previous studies of the TOUCHMATH program, a multi-sensory mathematics program (Bullock, Pierce, & McClellan, 1989). Three middle school students with moderate and multiple disabilities (e.g., autism and moderate intellectual disabilities) participated. Students were taught how…

Inter-Agency Approaches to the Development of a School-Based Student Health Service

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrison, Jane; Bullock, Jane

2005-01-01

Young people living in rural areas lack opportunities for accessing health advice and care without reference to a parent, carer, or other adult. In this article Jane Harrison and Jane Bullock provide the rationale for the development in 1997 of Bodyzone, a school-based health service to address this problem. Presented here as a case study,…

Understanding Field Experiences: The Zone of Maximal Contact and the Conundrums and Sacred Stories in Teacher Education. Commentary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pinnegar, Stefinee

2017-01-01

This article provides the author's comments on the studies by Tom Russell, David Dillon, Shawn Bullock, Lynn Thomas, and Andrea Martin which are reported in this issue of "Studying Teacher Education." Here Stefinee Pinnegar reflects on the intractable conundrums of teacher education and teachers educators that she felt was her…

The Clubbers' Guide: New Academic Year, New Science/STEM Club?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, Linda; Howarth, Sue

2011-01-01

In this article, the authors present some ideas to help one start (or continue) a successful science/STEM club. Some "tips" are given by Mike Bullock, a teacher from the West Midlands, who set up a STEM club after his NQT (newly qualified teacher) year and whose club members went on to do well in the STEM Challenges. Information is provided about…

A Review of the Safety Climate Literature as it Relates to Naval Aviation

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-01

mines, the opposite effect also appears to hold true. Brown , Willis and Prussia (2000) found that safety hazards directly caused accidents and...low performers (Braithwait, 1985; DeMichiei, Langton, Bullock, & Wiles , 1982). High levels of management control over work organization and task...thesis, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA. Brown , K.A., Willis, P.G., & Prussia, G.E. (2000). Predicting safe employee behaviour in the steel

Making the Year 2000 a Sure Winner. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Atlantic Coast Business and Marketing Education Conference (16th, Raleigh, North Carolina, February 19-20, 1999).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stallings, Patricia, Ed.

This document contains 21 presentations from a conference on business and marketing education. The following papers are included: "Business and Marketing Education: In Tune with the Times" (Clarice P. Brantley); "Portfolio Assessment--A Sure Winner" (Ann Bullock); "The Effect of the Year 2000 on Web Page Maintenance"…

Domestic Violence Prior to and During Pregnancy within a Selected Military Population and its Relationship to Depressive Symptomatology

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-01-01

weight infant, fetal injury, preeclampsia , preterm labor, preterm delivery, hemorrhage, impaired bonding, and delayed postpartum recovery (Bullock et...currently afforded to gestational diabetes and preeclampsia " (p. 156) . In a cohort study, Schei, Samuelsen, and Bakketeig (1991) compared the... preeclampsia , hemorrhage, premature labor, and hospital admission) were reported more frequently in the women exposed to an abusive relationship. In an

Platelet Activating Factor: A Growth Factor for Breast Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-01

synthase (ADS) increases ether lipid content, growth and PAF synthesis in MCF-7 cells. 4. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) inhibits the synthesis of PAF...Schmitt, J. D., Bullock, B. C. Wykle, R. L. Reacylation of platelet activating factor with eicosapentaenoic acid in fish-oil-enriched monkey...breast cancer. Recent studies have shown that the ratio of two families of essential fatty acids is important in regulating many cellular processes

Florida manatee now resident in the Bahamas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reid, James P.

2000-01-01

In January 2000, both the Bahamas National Trust and the Save the Manatee Club received reports of a manatee at Bullocks Harbor, Great Harbour Cay, Bahamas. Under permit with the Bahamas’ Department of Fisheries, I visited Great Harbour Cay from 25 to 27 February 2000 to make a field assessment of the manatee, interview local residents, and provide management recommendations. Detailed below are findings from this trip and a review of this individual’s interesting history.

Commentary: Causes and consequences of male adult sexual assault.

PubMed

Wall, Barry W

2011-01-01

Bullock and Beckson add to a growing body of literature on the negative consequences of adult sexual assault on male victims. There are similarities as well as important differences between male sexual assault victims and their female counterparts. Their analyses of societal contributions and myths about adult male sexual assault and of the difficulties that male victims experience in accessing and interacting with the medical and legal systems improve professional understanding of this complex subject.

Stimulus-Food Pairings Produce Stimulus-Directed Touch-Screen Responding in Cynomolgus Monkeys (MACACA Fascicularis) With or Without a Positive Response Contingency

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-07-01

REPORT NUMBER US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense ATTN: MCMR-CDT-N 3100 Ricketts Point Road Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD...Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010-5400 ATTN: MCMR-CDZ-I 11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT 3100 Ricketts...CONTINGENCY CHRISTOPHER E. BULLOCK AND TODD M. MYERS UNITED STATES ARMY MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL DEFENSE Acquisition and maintenance of

Experimental Investigation of Trailing Edge Crenulation Effects on Losses in a Compressor Cascade

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-12-01

useful in designing axial flow compressors . Two dimensional flow may not be attainable, and the lack of 2D flow does not invalidate cascade data...Seymour. "Experimental Flow in Two-dimensional Cascades," Aerodynamic Design of Axial Flow Compressors (Revised), edited by Irving A. Johnson and Robert...34Viscous Flow in Two-dimensional Cas- cades," Aerodynamic Design of Axial Flow Compressors (Revised) edited by Irving A. Johnson and Robert 0. Bullock

Modeling and Laboratory Investigations of Evaporites on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bullock, M. A.; Moore, J. M.

2009-12-01

Evaporitic processes have been responsible for at least some of the sulfates and carbonates seen on the Martian surface (e.g. [Clark et al., 2005; McLennan et al., 2005; Squyres & Knoll, 2005]). Subsurface water charged with ions due to the dissolution of basalt and interaction with atmospheric CO2 and sulfur gases would have had the necessary chemistry to produce large quantities of evaporitic salts (e.g.[Bullock & Moore, 2004; Bullock et al., 2004; Tosca et al., 2005]). In the present work, we numerically modeled the formation of evaporites on Mars, using relevant laboratory work to constrain the calculations. Previously, we produced Mars-analog evaporites in the laboratory by desiccating brines formed under simulated Mars surface conditions [Moore et al., 2009]. The evaporites were created under two different conditions: Evaporation of brines at 3°C and 10 mbar of CO2, and evaporation of brines at 3°C and 10 mbar of CO2 with added acidic gases (100 ppm SO2, 10 ppm NO2, and 10 ppm HCl) to simulate an atmosphere rich in volcanic volatiles. We analyzed these evaporite products using IR spectroscopy and SEM microprobe. In general, Ca-sulfates dominated the precipitate mineralogy from the present-day Mars simulations, and for more acidic conditions, Mg-sulfates dominated, although both phases were observed in the precipitated products. In order to illuminate the actual formation processes of evaporites on Mars, we modeled the evaporation and the freezing/sublimation of brines under a wider range of conditions appropriate to Mars. Thermodynamic calculations using standard packages such as PHREEQ and Geochemist’s Workbench usually produce a large number of spurious species that are kinetically inhibited in natural settings. Therefore, using laboratory-derived results to realistically constrain precipitation products is essential for understanding the formation of evaporites on Mars. Our modeling results are quantitatively compared with the sulfates characterized at the Meridiani outcrops by MER Opportunity [Clark et al., 2005], just beneath the surface in the Columbia Hills by MER Spirit [Haskin et al., 2005], in the interior layered deposits of Valles Marineris [Bibring et al., 2005] and in the north polar dune fields by MEX OMEGA [Langevin et al., 2005]. Starting with brines at higher pH (6-8), we also compare model results with the carbonates seen in Nili Fossae by MRO CRISM [Ehlmann et al., 2008] and the CaCO3 seen by the Phoenix Lander [Boynton et al., 2009]. This work was supported by NASA MFRP grant NNX07AR68G to MAB, and a NASA PG&G grant to JMM. Bibring, J.-P., et al., Science 307, 1576-1581, 2005. Boynton, W. V., et al., Science 325, 61-64, 2009. Bullock, M. A., & J. M. Moore, GRL, 31, 2004 Bullock, M. A., et al., Icarus, 170, 404-423, 2004. Clark, B. C., et al., EPSL, 240, 73-94, 2005. Ehlmann, B. L., et al., Science, 322, 1828-1832, 2008. Haskin, L. A., et al., Nature, 436, 66-69, 2005. Langevin, Y., et al., Science, 307, 1584-1586, 2005. McLennan, et al., EPSL, 240, 95-121, 2005. Moore, J. M., et al., submitted to JGR, 2009. Squyres, S. W., & A. H. Knoll, EPSL, 240, 1-10, 2005. Tosca, N. J., et al., EPSL, 240, 122-148, 2005.

Strategic Rationality is not Enough: Hitler and the Concept of Crazy States

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-08-08

physical fitness of the prisoners marked for such labor because of inadequate food, barbarous working conditions and totally 61 deficient housing and...such an outcome. "The time hasn’t come for a political decision," he concluded, adding that "...it is childish and naive to expect that at a moment...trans. Salvator Attanasio, New York: Bramhill House , 1986, p. 151. 52. Bullock, p. 550. See also D.C. Watt, "The Debate Over Hitler’s Foreign Policy

The Vite Model: A Neural Command Circuit for Generating Arm and Articulator Trajectories,

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-03-01

Principles of Learning, Perception, Development , Cognition , and Motor Control. Boston: Reidel Press, (1982). Grossberg, S . and Kuperstein, M., Neural...AD-RI92 705 THE YITE MODEL: A NEURAL COMMAND CIRCUIT FO R .# GENERATING ARM AND ARTUCULA..(U) BOSTON UNJY MA CENTER FOR ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS S GROSSUERO...and Articulator Trajectories 6 EFRIGOG EOTNME 7. AUTHOR( s ) 5. CONTRACT OR GRANT NUMBER( s ) Stephen Grossberg XM- F49620-86-C-0O37 Daniel Bullock 9. S

Theoretical Study of Hydrogen Adsorption on the GaN(0001) Surface

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-06-01

423 (1999) 70. [39] J.E. Northrup, J. Neugebauer, R.M. Feenstra, A.R. Smith, Phys. Rev. B 61 (2000) 9932. [40] K. Nakamura, T. Hayashi , A. Tachibana, K...Hasegawa, I.S.T. Tsong, T. Sakurai, T. Ohno , Phys. Rev. Lett. 82 (1999) 3074. [45] K. Raghavachari, Q. Fu, G. Chen, L. Li, C.H. Li, D.C. Law, R.F. Hicks, J...Xue, S. Kuwano, J.T. Sadowski, K.F. Kelly, T. Sakurai, T. Ohno , Phys. Rev. Lett. 84 (2000) 4015. [78] S. Vézian, F. Semond, J. Massies, D.W. Bullock, Z

Incredible India: the inconvenient truth.

PubMed

Mundkur, Bal

2011-01-01

The author's objective is to correct many of the misconceptions about India and to combat mistaken analysis. He highlights the hundreds of millions who live in poverty, the rampant corruption and the incompetence of the administration. He asserts that comparisons with China are always to the disadvantage of India, except in the field of democracy, and suggests that the Indian Space Programme is symptomatic of a wide-spread misallocation of resources. And to suggest that the traffic problems in Delhi and Mumbai are being caused by more motor vehicles is a misdiagnosis. The real cause is an increase in the number of bullock carts.

Pattern Recognition Applications in Chemistry and Pharmacology: A ’Pharmacophore Acetylcholinoreceptor’ Subunit Environment Model,

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-06-01

development and refinement of our model took place in three phases: 1. (a) The 3-dimensional structures of the rigid neuro- muscular blocking agents that...Table 1) is an anticholinesterase agent . Bullock (40) has reported that Soman can attack not only AChE irreversibly, but at high concentrations may... VIol AIiilioh’ 101 H At,% -. H~*\\U,,IN,%ttN *ILLIIILI.IIIA.LLIIAIL A I II LLL’L NlMII’LLL lt N AIIL 1AIIN .11I ’IRM INIIIN 911 ANAL I ILLIALIINIIN tMtINHNIN. 14%1AI4 A IAI11N 119

Maniac Talk

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-05-02

Jagadish Shukla Maniac Lecture, May 2, 2016 Dr. Jagadish Shukla, Distinguished University Professor, George Mason University, presented a Maniac Talk entitled, "From Ballia to Boston: A Village Boy Goes to MIT and Goddard." Shukla's story begins as a boy who was born in a small village in the Ballia District of India, walked barefoot while grazing cattle, learned Sanskrit and Math under a kerosene lamp, used bullock carts and elephants for transportation, and somehow ended up at MIT and Goddard. The lecture also included a personal retrospective of the origins of the idea of predictability in the midst of chaos, and the evolution from Numerical Weather Prediction to Numerical Climate Prediction.

Are interpretations of ancient marine temperatures constrained by the presence of ancient marine organisms?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Valentine, J. W.

1985-01-01

The relationship between marine temperature and marine organisms is investigated. The adaptation of organisms to extreme temperatures is studied; it is observed that chemautotrophic and chemoheterotrophic prokaryotes adapt to 100 C, photoautotrophic prokaryotes to 73 C, and fungi to 60 C. The physiological and molecular factors related to thermal limits in organisms such as enzymes, lipids, or plasma membranes, are examined. Two types of thermal adaptations, resistance and capacity, are detected in organisms. Reasons for species distributions according to temperature barriers are proposed by Read (1967) and Bullock (1955) and are related to enzyme limits. The effects of an organism's composition on thermal stability is analyzed.

Jwalk and MNXL Web Server: Model Validation using Restraints from Crosslinking Mass Spectrometry.

PubMed

Bullock, J M A; Thalassinos, K; Topf, M

2018-05-07

Crosslinking Mass Spectrometry generates restraints that can be used to model proteins and protein complexes. Previously, we have developed two methods, to help users achieve better modelling performance from their crosslinking restraints: Jwalk, to estimate solvent accessible distances between crosslinked residues and MNXL, to assess the quality of the models based on these distances. Here we present the Jwalk and MNXL webservers, which streamline the process of validating monomeric protein models using restraints from crosslinks. We demonstrate this by using the MNXL server to filter models made of varying quality, selecting the most native-like. The webserver and source code are freely available from jwalk.ismb.lon.ac.uk and mnxl.ismb.lon.ac.uk. m.topf@cryst.bbk.ac.uk, j.bullock@cryst.bbk.ac.uk.

The Meristogram: a neglected tool for acanthocephalan systematics

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Abstract Background The hooks of the acanthocephalan proboscis exhibit serial variation in size and shape. The Meristogram was developed by Huffman and Bullock (1975) to provide a graphical representation of this positional variation in hook morphology. Initial studies demonstrated the ability of the Meristogram to discriminate species within the genera Echinorhynchus and Pomphorhynchus (Huffman and Bullock 1975, Huffman and Nickol 1978, Gleason and Huffman 1981). However, the reliability of the method for taxonomic work was questioned by Shostak et al. (1986) after they found intra-specific variation in two Echinorhynchus species. Uncertainty about the usefulness of the Meristogram and the absence of a readily available software implementation of the algorithm, might explain why this abstract proboscis character has yet to be adopted by acanthocephalan systematists. New information The Meristogram algorithm was implemented in the R language and a simple graphical user interface created to facilitate ease of use (the software is freely available from https://github.com/WaylandM/meristogram). The accuracy of the algorithm's formula for calculating hook cross-sectional area was validated by data collected using a digitizing tablet. Meristograms were created from data in public respositories for eight Echinorhynchus taxa: E. bothniensis, E. 'bothniensis', E. gadi spp. A, B and I, E. brayi, E. salmonis and E. truttae. In this preliminary analysis, the meristogram differentiated E. bothniensis, E. brayi, E. gadi sp. B, E. salmonis and E. truttae from each other, and from the remaining taxa in this study, but independent data will be required for validation. Sample sizes for E. 'bothniensis' and E. gadi spp. A and I were too small to identify diagnostic features with any degree of confidence. Meristogram differences among the sibling species of the E. gadi and E. bothniensis groups suggest that the 'intra-specfic' variation in meristogram previously reported for some Echinorhynchus taxa, may have actually represented morphological divergence between unrecognized cryptic species. Hierarchical clustering of taxa based on Meristogram data yielded dendrograms that were largely concordant with phylogenetic relationships inferred from DNA sequence data, indicating the presence of a strong phylogenetic signal. PMID:26929718

Impact Induced Climate Change on Venus: The Role of Large Comets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grinspoon, D. H.; Bullock, M. A.

2000-10-01

The surface temperature of Venus is a sensitive function of the abundances of greenhouse gases and also of cloud structure. In previous work we have studied the climate impact of past and continued outgassing of greenhouse and cloud-forming gases (1) and tectonic signatures that may have resulted from volcanically induced climate change (2). These studies showed that in outgassing events where large amounts of both H2O and SO2 are released, the increased albedo that arises from thickening of the clouds can, to some extent, ameliorate the greenhouse warming expected from increased abundances of these IR absorbing gases. The largest warming typically arises several hundred million years after an outgassing event when most of the excess SO2 has been removed by reaction with surface minerals, but much of the atmospheric H2O remains (because it is removed by exospheric escape on longer time scales). This combination - enhanced H2O abundance with SO2 returned to 'normal' - leads to maximum warming because the cloud thickness, and thus the albedo, is limited by the availability of SO2, whereas IR absorption in CO2 windows by enhanced H2O can cause warming on the order of 100 K. It seems likely that large comet impacts should also produce such a situation. The atmosphere of Venus currently contains 7 x 1018 grams of water, about as much as in a 25 km diameter comet. Comets may have been an important contributor to the current water inventory on Venus. Much of this may have been supplied by a few large comet impacts in the last several hundred million years (3). We will report on new runs of our Venus Evolutionary Climate Model which simulate the volatile input from large comet impacts and investigate the climate effects of these events. Calculation will be done with cometary delivery alone, and in conjunction with various outgassing scenarios. This allows us to examine how the vulnerability of the Venusian climate system to impact induced climate change is affected by the relative timing of large magmatic and impact events. (1) Bullock, M.A., and D.H. Grinspoon, J. Geophys. Res. 101, 7521-7529, 1996. (2) Solomon, S.C., M. A. Bullock, and D. H. Grinspoon, Science, 286: 87-90, 1999. (3) Grinspoon, D.H. and J.S. Lewis, Icarus, 74, 21-35, 1988.

Auditory evoked potential measurements in elasmobranchs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casper, Brandon; Mann, David

2005-04-01

Auditory evoked potentials (AEP) were first used to examine hearing in elasmobranchs by Corwin and Bullock in the late 1970s and early 1980s, marking the first time AEPs had been measured in fishes. Results of these experiments identified the regions of the ear and brain in which sound is processed, though no actual hearing thresholds were measured. Those initial experiments provided the ground work for future AEP experiments to measure fish hearing abilities in a manner that is much faster and more convenient than classical conditioning. Data will be presented on recent experiments in which AEPs were used to measure the hearing thresholds of two species of elasmobranchs: the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum, and the yellow stingray, Urobatis jamaicencis. Audiograms were analyzed and compared to previously published audiograms obtained using classical conditioning with results indicating that hearing thresholds were similar for the two methods. These data suggest that AEP testing is a viable option when measuring hearing in elasmobranchs and can increase the speed in which future hearing measurements can be obtained.

Modeling of Multi-Kilovolt X-ray Driven Ablation and Closure of Pinholes during Point-Projection Backlit Imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bullock, A. B.; Landen, O. L.; Bradley, D. K.

2000-10-01

Pinhole-assisted point-projection backlighting of large samples with few µm pinholes can result in pinhole closure due to x-ray driven ablation of the high Z pinhole substrate, thereby potentially limiting the usefulness of this imaging method. The results of a previous study[1] using streaked 1-D backlit imaging of 25 mm W wires at the OMEGA laser are compared to simulations produced by HYADES, a 1-D Lagrangian hydrodynamics code. Interestingly, the observed image resolution stays fixed while the pinhole transmission drops within 1-2 ns, suggesting rapid filling by a long scale-length of low density substrate material. These results will be compared to time-dependent HYADES predictions of pinhole closure timescales and resolution. 1 A.B. bullock, D.K. Bradley, and O.L. Landen, to be published in RSI (2001). *This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by University of California/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract No. W-7405-Eng-48.

Heterosis for meat quality and fatty acid profiles in crosses among Bos indicus and Bos taurus finished on pasture or grain.

PubMed

Gama, L T; Bressan, M C; Rodrigues, E C; Rossato, L V; Moreira, O C; Alves, S P; Bessa, R J B

2013-01-01

Physicochemical properties and fatty acid profiles of meat from Bos indicus, Bos taurus and crossbred B. taurus×B. indicus bullocks (n=216), finished on pasture or grain, were used to estimate the effects of heterosis. Meat quality and fatty acid profiles generally benefited with crossbreeding, but the advantages from heterosis differed among finishing systems. The Warner-Bratzler shear-force in fresh and aged meat was reduced due to heterosis in pasture-finishing, but the effect was minor under grain-finishing. With pasture-finishing, heterosis caused an increase of 5% in CLA concentration, but few other changes in fatty acid profiles. In grain-finishing, heterosis caused a reduction in intramuscular fat and cholesterol, increased amounts of PUFA, n-6 fatty acids and PUFA/SFA ratio, and a decline in atherogenic index. The Δ(9) desaturase estimated activity in crossbreds showed a behavior close to B. indicus, suggesting the existence of few loci and a dominance genetic effect on enzymes involved in fatty acid synthesis and metabolism. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Climate change on Venus and future spacecraft mission priorities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bullock, M.; Grinspoon, D.

Weathering of surface minerals in the sulfur-rich lower atmosphere of Venus may well have played a significant role in the recent evolution of the planet's climate. SO 2 in the atmosphere is interesting because it is the primary precursor of Venus' bright H 2SO 4 /H 2O clouds, it is a greenhouse gas, it is most likely outgassed by volcanoes [Prinn, 1985], it probably reacts with the surface, and it is apparently much higher in abundance that would be expected from thermochemical equilibrium with the surface [Fegley and Treiman, 1992] (although interpretations of Vega 1 and 2 UV spectrometer data challenge the latter, see Bertaux et al., [1996]). Changes in the atmospheric abundance of SO 2 would be accompanied by alterations in the optical properties of the clouds and in the greenhouse effect, thereby affecting surface temperatures [Bullock and Grinspoon, 2001]. Fegley and Prinn , [1989] demonstrated e perimentally that the reaction CaCO3 +x SO 2 ==> CaSO 4 + CO proceeds rapidly under Venus-like conditions, and concluded that SO 2 and hence the H 2 SO 4 /H 2O clouds would disappear in 1.9 My unless SO 2 in the atmosphere were continually replenished by volcanic outgassing. Using a coupled chemical kinetic reaction-diffusion and climate model, [ Bullock and Grinspoon, 2001] calculated that volcanism must supply SO 2 to the atmosphere on approximately 30 My timescales in order to maintain clouds with their current optical properties. Clues to the nature of the recent Venus climate may be obtained by elucidating the sensitivity of cloud properties to changes in a mospheric SO 2 andt H 2O and by investigations into the styles and depths of chemical weathering at the surface. Future robotic spacecraft missions have the pot ential to provide significant insights into recent climate change on Venus and on the role that sulfur may have played. Among the most important and scientifically valuable investigations are: 1. High spectral, spatial, and temporal resolution near-IR i aging spectrometrym from Venus orbit in order to retrieve accurate SO 2, H 2O and CO abundances and variability beneath the clouds. Coupling gas abundance and variability to cloud morphology , cloud optical properties, and to atmospheric dynamics would enable a far better understanding of how clouds and climate respond to changing atmospheric chemistry. 2. Visible to near-IR high resolution images of the surface from 15-20 km in order to complement the global synthetic aperture radar imagery of the Magellan mission (e.g. [M o r o z, 2002]). Remaining scientific issues about Venus' geologic history, which is vigorously debated, may well be resolved by obtaining near-visual wavelength datasets of selected areas on Venus. These can be used to calibrate the global radar dataset in terms of surface properties and geomorphology. 3. Elemental and mineralogical analyses of the surface and subsurface, in order to establish both fundamental mineralogy and weathering products as a function of depth. Visual images of the surface by the Venera landers clearly show broken slabs a few cm in thickness [S u r k o v et al., 1984]. This provides hints as to the nature and extent of weathering of the surface. A detailed mineralogy of the top 10 cm of the surface would provide highly valuable information on the nature and rates of surface-atmosphere interactions and their possible role in alterations of atmospheric chemistry and climate. Although Venus is a difficult planet to study because of its shroud of sulfuric acid clouds and its otherwise harsh environment, it is the only planet that shares the similarity with Earth of having a climate that is actively modified by its geology . As the study of Earth's climate becomes of greater and greater significance to society, so too does the necessity of thinking of planetary climate 'outside the box'. The continued exploration of Venus is one of the most promising avenues to accomplish this. Bertaux, J.L., et al., J. Geophys. Res. , 101 , 12,709-12,745, 1996. Bullock, M.A., and D.H. Grinspoon, Icarus, 150 , 19-37, 2001. Fegley, B., and R.G. Prinn, Nature, 337 , 55-58, 1989. Fegley, B., and A.H. Treiman, in Venus and Mars, pp. 7-71, AGU, Washington, DC,1992. Moroz, V.I., Planet. Space Sci., 50 , 287-297, 2002. Prinn, R.G., in Recent Advances in Planetary Meteorology, Cambridge UniversityPress, Cambridge, 1985. Surkov, Y.A., et al., in Proc. 14th Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf., pp. B393-B402, J.Geophys. Res., 1984.

Induction of Mitochondria Mediated Apoptosis in Human Breast Cancer Cells (T-47D) by Annona reticulata L. Leaves Methanolic Extracts.

PubMed

Roham, Pratiksha H; Kharat, Kiran R; Mungde, Priyanka; Jadhav, Mahadev A; Makhija, Surinder J

2016-01-01

Annona reticulata Linn. (Common name: Bullock's-heart) (Annonaceae family) is a semi-evergreen and small deciduous tree. The extracts of various parts of Annona reticulata L. have been reported as cytotoxic to many cancer cells. Annona reticulata L. leaves' methanolic extract (ARME) was prepared and used against the breast cancer cells. The breast cancer cells (T-47D) viability and IC50 were evaluated by Vybrant® MTT Cell Proliferation Assay Kit. Detection of phosphatidylserine on membranes of apoptotic cells was done by Attune flow cytometer. RNA transcripts were quantified in ARME treated and untreated cells. Finally, the Vybrant® FAM Poly Caspases assay kit was used for analysis of polycaspases activity in T-47D cells. The IC50 (5 ± 0.5 µg/mL) of the ARME was found against breast cancer cells (T-47D). The Paclitaxel was used as a control standard drug for the study. The downregulation of Bcl-2 and upregulation of Bax and Bak, and caspases activation suggested induction of apoptosis in T-47D cells by ARME through mitochondrial pathway. The cell cycle halted at G2/M phase in the ARME treated cells. The ARME was found to be effective against Breast cancer cells (T-47D).

Pollen characters of Firmiana malayana Kostem. (Malvaceae: Sterculoideae) in Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amirul-Aiman, A. J.; Noraini, T.; Nurul-Aini, C. A. C.; Idris, S.; Suhaniza, R.

2018-04-01

Firmiana malayana also known as "Bullocks eye or Mata Lembu" in Malaysia and can be found along riverbanks and open forests in Peninsular Malaysia and seldom planted in populated areas. The flowers of the Firmiana malayana are vivid orange in colour, on tassels up to 12 cm long. Usually this species will shed its leaves after a dry period and remains bare for six to eight weeks. The objective of this study is to determine the pollen morphological characteristics of the Firmiana malayana in order to add more information on the species under the family of Sterculiaceae in Malaysia. Methods for this study includes acetolysis technique for the pollens and viewed under light microscope and scanning electron microscope. Results shown that the pollens of the species Firmiana malayana appeared to be monad and dyad with tricolporate class with both porate and colpus present. The shape of this species is prolate with P/E index of 1.49. This species was considered as medium-size pollens as the pollens ranges from 26 - 36 µm. The ornamentation of the pollen is reticulate where the ornamentation is network-like pattern formed by exine elements of lumen and murus. Based on the results obtained, pollen morphology is a great tool that can aid in plant identification and classification as well having taxonomic values.

Bioinspired Design and Computational Prediction of Iron Complexes with Pendant Amines for the Production of Methanol from CO2 and H2.

PubMed

Chen, Xiangyang; Yang, Xinzheng

2016-03-17

Inspired by the active site structure of [FeFe]-hydrogenase, we built a series of iron dicarbonyl diphosphine complexes with pendant amines and predicted their potentials to catalyze the hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol using density functional theory. Among the proposed iron complexes, [(P(tBu)2N(tBu)2H)FeH(CO)2(COOH)](+) (5COOH) is the most active one with a total free energy barrier of 23.7 kcal/mol. Such a low barrier indicates that 5COOH is a very promising low-cost catalyst for high-efficiency conversion of CO2 and H2 to methanol under mild conditions. For comparison, we also examined Bullock's Cp iron diphosphine complex with pendant amines, [(P(tBu)2N(tBu)2H)FeHCp(C5F4N)](+) (5Cp-C5F4N), as a catalyst for hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol and obtained a total free energy barrier of 27.6 kcal/mol, which indicates that 5Cp-C5F4N could also catalyze the conversion of CO2 and H2 to methanol but has a much lower efficiency than our newly designed iron complexes.

Saving the Sun for a Rainy Day (A "Life at the Frontiers of Energy Research" contest entry from the 2011 Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) Summit and Forum)

ScienceCinema

Bullock, R. Morris (Director, Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis); CME Staff

2017-12-09

'Saving the Sun for a Rainy Day' was submitted by the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis (CME) to the 'Life at the Frontiers of Energy Research' video contest at the 2011 Science for Our Nation's Energy Future: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) Summit and Forum. Twenty-six EFRCs created short videos to highlight their mission and their work. CME, an EFRC directed by R. Morris Bullock at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a partnership of scientists from four institutions: PNNL (lead), Pensylvania State University, University of Washington, and the University of Wyoming. The Office of Basic Energy Sciences in the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science established the 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) in 2009. These collaboratively-organized centers conduct fundamental research focused on 'grand challenges' and use-inspired 'basic research needs' recently identified in major strategic planning efforts by the scientific community. The overall purpose is to accelerate scientific progress toward meeting the nation's critical energy challenges. The mission of the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis is 'to understand, design and develop molecular electrocatalysts for solar fuel production and use.' Research topics are: catalysis (water), electrocatalysis, bio-inspired, electrical energy storage, fuel cells, hydrogen (fuel), matter by design, novel materials synthesis, and charge transport.

Saving the Sun for a Rainy Day (A "Life at the Frontiers of Energy Research" contest entry from the 2011 Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) Summit and Forum)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bullock, R. Morris

"Saving the Sun for a Rainy Day" was submitted by the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis (CME) to the "Life at the Frontiers of Energy Research" video contest at the 2011 Science for Our Nation's Energy Future: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) Summit and Forum. Twenty-six EFRCs created short videos to highlight their mission and their work. CME, an EFRC directed by R. Morris Bullock at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a partnership of scientists from four institutions: PNNL (lead), Pennsylvania State University, University of Washington, and the University of Wyoming. The Office of Basic Energy Sciences in the U.S. Departmentmore » of Energy's Office of Science established the 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) in 2009. These collaboratively-organized centers conduct fundamental research focused on 'grand challenges' and use-inspired 'basic research needs' recently identified in major strategic planning efforts by the scientific community. The overall purpose is to accelerate scientific progress toward meeting the nation's critical energy challenges. The mission of the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis is 'to understand, design and develop molecular electrocatalysts for solar fuel production and use.' Research topics are: catalysis (water), electrocatalysis, bio-inspired, electrical energy storage, fuel cells, hydrogen (fuel), matter by design, novel materials synthesis, and charge transport.« less

Progress on Implementing Additional Physics Schemes into ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has a team of scientists developing a next generation air quality modeling system employing the Model for Prediction Across Scales – Atmosphere (MPAS-A) as its meteorological foundation. Several preferred physics schemes and options available in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model are regularly used by the USEPA with the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model to conduct retrospective air quality simulations. These include the Pleim surface layer, the Pleim-Xiu (PX) land surface model with fractional land use for a 40-class National Land Cover Database (NLCD40), the Asymmetric Convective Model 2 (ACM2) planetary boundary layer scheme, the Kain-Fritsch (KF) convective parameterization with subgrid-scale cloud feedback to the radiation schemes and a scale-aware convective time scale, and analysis nudging four-dimensional data assimilation (FDDA). All of these physics modules and options have already been implemented by the USEPA into MPAS-A v4.0, tested, and evaluated (please see the presentations of R. Gilliam and R. Bullock at this workshop). Since the release of MPAS v5.1 in May 2017, work has been under way to implement these preferred physics options into the MPAS-A v5.1 code. Test simulations of a summer month are being conducted on a global variable resolution mesh with the higher resolution cells centered over the contiguous United States. Driving fields for the FDDA and soil nudging are

Towards the Next Generation Air Quality Modeling System ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The community multiscale air quality (CMAQ) model of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is one of the most widely used air quality model worldwide; it is employed for both research and regulatory applications at major universities and government agencies for improving understanding of the formation and transport of air pollutants. It is noted, however, that air quality issues and climate change assessments need to be addressed globally recognizing the linkages and interactions between meteorology and atmospheric chemistry across a wide range of scales. Therefore, an effort is currently underway to develop the next generation air quality modeling system (NGAQM) that will be based on a global integrated meteorology and chemistry system. The model for prediction across scales-atmosphere (MPAS-A), a global fully compressible non-hydrostatic model with seamlessly refined centroidal Voronoi grids, has been chosen as the meteorological driver of this modeling system. The initial step of adapting MPAS-A for the NGAQM was to implement and test the physics parameterizations and options that are preferred for retrospective air quality simulations (see the work presented by R. Gilliam, R. Bullock, and J. Herwehe at this workshop). The next step, presented herein, would be to link the chemistry from CMAQ to MPAS-A to build a prototype for the NGAQM. Furthermore, the techniques to harmonize transport processes between CMAQ and MPAS-A, methodologies to connect the chemis

Design approaches to experimental mediation☆

PubMed Central

Pirlott, Angela G.; MacKinnon, David P.

2016-01-01

Identifying causal mechanisms has become a cornerstone of experimental social psychology, and editors in top social psychology journals champion the use of mediation methods, particularly innovative ones when possible (e.g. Halberstadt, 2010, Smith, 2012). Commonly, studies in experimental social psychology randomly assign participants to levels of the independent variable and measure the mediating and dependent variables, and the mediator is assumed to causally affect the dependent variable. However, participants are not randomly assigned to levels of the mediating variable(s), i.e., the relationship between the mediating and dependent variables is correlational. Although researchers likely know that correlational studies pose a risk of confounding, this problem seems forgotten when thinking about experimental designs randomly assigning participants to levels of the independent variable and measuring the mediator (i.e., “measurement-of-mediation” designs). Experimentally manipulating the mediator provides an approach to solving these problems, yet these methods contain their own set of challenges (e.g., Bullock, Green, & Ha, 2010). We describe types of experimental manipulations targeting the mediator (manipulations demonstrating a causal effect of the mediator on the dependent variable and manipulations targeting the strength of the causal effect of the mediator) and types of experimental designs (double randomization, concurrent double randomization, and parallel), provide published examples of the designs, and discuss the strengths and challenges of each design. Therefore, the goals of this paper include providing a practical guide to manipulation-of-mediator designs in light of their challenges and encouraging researchers to use more rigorous approaches to mediation because manipulation-of-mediator designs strengthen the ability to infer causality of the mediating variable on the dependent variable. PMID:27570259

Design approaches to experimental mediation.

PubMed

Pirlott, Angela G; MacKinnon, David P

2016-09-01

Identifying causal mechanisms has become a cornerstone of experimental social psychology, and editors in top social psychology journals champion the use of mediation methods, particularly innovative ones when possible (e.g. Halberstadt, 2010, Smith, 2012). Commonly, studies in experimental social psychology randomly assign participants to levels of the independent variable and measure the mediating and dependent variables, and the mediator is assumed to causally affect the dependent variable. However, participants are not randomly assigned to levels of the mediating variable(s), i.e., the relationship between the mediating and dependent variables is correlational. Although researchers likely know that correlational studies pose a risk of confounding, this problem seems forgotten when thinking about experimental designs randomly assigning participants to levels of the independent variable and measuring the mediator (i.e., "measurement-of-mediation" designs). Experimentally manipulating the mediator provides an approach to solving these problems, yet these methods contain their own set of challenges (e.g., Bullock, Green, & Ha, 2010). We describe types of experimental manipulations targeting the mediator (manipulations demonstrating a causal effect of the mediator on the dependent variable and manipulations targeting the strength of the causal effect of the mediator) and types of experimental designs (double randomization, concurrent double randomization, and parallel), provide published examples of the designs, and discuss the strengths and challenges of each design. Therefore, the goals of this paper include providing a practical guide to manipulation-of-mediator designs in light of their challenges and encouraging researchers to use more rigorous approaches to mediation because manipulation-of-mediator designs strengthen the ability to infer causality of the mediating variable on the dependent variable.

Characterizing Volcanic Eruptions on Venus: Some Realistic (?) Scenarios

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stofan, E. R.; Glaze, L. S.; Grinspoon, D. H.

2011-01-01

When Pioneer Venus arrived at Venus in 1978, it detected anomalously high concentrations of SO2 at the top of the troposphere, which subsequently declined over the next five years. This decline in SO2 was linked to some sort of dynamic process, possibly a volcanic eruption. Observations of SO2 variability have persisted since Pioneer Venus. More recently, scientists from the Venus Express mission announced that the SPICAV (Spectroscopy for Investigation of Characteristics of the Atmosphere of Venus) instrument had measured varying amounts of SO2 in the upper atmosphere; VIRTIS (Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer) measured no similar variations in the lower atmosphere (ESA, 4 April, 2008). In addition, Fegley and Prinn stated that venusian volcanoes must replenish SO2 to the atmosphere, or it would react with calcite and disappear within 1.9 my. Fegley and Tremain suggested an eruption rate on the order of approx 1 cubic km/year to maintain atmospheric SO2; Bullock and Grinspoon posit that volcanism must have occurred within the last 20-50 my to maintain the sulfuric acid/water clouds on Venus. The abundance of volcanic deposits on Venus and the likely thermal history of the planet suggest that it is still geologically active, although at rates lower than Earth. Current estimates of resurfacing rates range from approx 0.01 cubic km/yr to approx 2 cubic km/yr. Demonstrating definitively that Venus is still volcanically active, and at what rate, would help to constrain models of evolution of the surface and interior, and help to focus future exploration of Venus.

Complex Engineered Systems: A New Paradigm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mina, Ali A.; Braha, Dan; Bar-Yam, Yaneer

Human history is often seen as an inexorable march towards greater complexity — in ideas, artifacts, social, political and economic systems, technology, and in the structure of life itself. While we do not have detailed knowledge of ancient times, it is reasonable to conclude that the average resident of New York City today faces a world of much greater complexity than the average denizen of Carthage or Tikal. A careful consideration of this change, however, suggests that most of it has occurred recently, and has been driven primarily by the emergence of technology as a force in human life. In the 4000 years separating the Indus Valley Civilization from 18th century Europe, human transportation evolved from the bullock cart to the hansom, and the methods of communication used by George Washington did not differ significantly from those used by Alexander or Rameses. The world has moved radically towards greater complexity in the last two centuries. We have moved from buggies and letter couriers to airplanes and the Internet — an increase in capacity, and through its diversity also in complexity, orders of magnitude greater than that accumulated through the rest of human history. In addition to creating iconic artifacts — the airplane, the car, the computer, the television, etc. — this change has had a profound effect on the scope of experience by creating massive, connected and multiultra- level systems — traffic networks, power grids, markets, multinational corporations — that defy analytical understanding and seem to have a life of their own. This is where complexity truly enters our lives.

Management practices followed for draught cattle in the southern part of India.

PubMed

Akila, Natarajan; Chander, Mahesh

2010-02-01

A study was conducted to determine the management practices followed by the farmers for draught cattle in Tamil Nadu state, India. Methods of procurement of animals, use of female animals, breeds preferred, housing, health, disposal of animals, feeding, shoeing, purchase of animal-drawn implements and their maintenance were all assessed with 210 farmers from seven districts across different agro-climatic zones in Tamil Nadu. The results revealed that 86 % of the respondents purchased the draught cattle from the livestock markets, most were bullocks but 20 small farmers and 5 medium farmers used female animals for ploughing. Among the indigenous breeds, Kangeyam (33 %) and Hallikar (30 %) breeds were the most popular for work. Most farmers (69 %) provided a mixed type of housing (provision of housing only during the night time and the rainy season) for their draught cattle. The major health problem reported by 63 % of respondents was pyrexia. Almost all farmers sold their animals at the age of 8-10 years. The feeding practices for draught cattle were poor especially with the small farmers. The cattle were fed with mainly paddy straw and rice bran. Oilcakes and cotton seeds were given to the animals which work throughout the year mainly for ploughing and carting. The draught cattle were first shod at around 2.5 years of age. The majority of the farmers (71 %) used the traditional animal-drawn implements made by local artisans, and the farmers were not aware of the new implements to reduce the drudgery of work cattle, designed by the Agricultural Machinery Research Centre and Agricultural Engineering Departments located in India.

Jeans that fit: weighing the mass of the Milky Way analogues in the ΛCDM universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kafle, Prajwal R.; Sharma, Sanjib; Robotham, Aaron S. G.; Elahi, Pascal J.; Driver, Simon P.

2018-04-01

The spherical Jeans equation is a widely used tool for dynamical study of gravitating systems in astronomy. Here, we test its efficacy in robustly weighing the mass of Milky Way analogues, given they need not be in equilibrium or even spherical. Utilizing Milky Way stellar haloes simulated in accordance with Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmology by Bullock and Johnston and analysing them under the Jeans formalism, we recover the underlying mass distribution of the parent galaxy, within distance r/kpc ∈ [10, 100], with a bias of ˜ 12 per cent and a dispersion of ˜ 14 per cent. Additionally, the mass profiles of triaxial dark matter haloes taken from the SURFS simulation, within scaled radius 0.2 < r/rmax < 3, are measured with a bias of ˜ - 2.4 per cent and a dispersion of ˜ 10 per cent. The obtained dispersion is not because of Poisson noise due to small particle numbers as it is twice the later. We interpret the dispersion to be due to the inherent nature of the ΛCDM haloes, for example being aspherical and out-of-equilibrium. Hence, the dispersion obtained for stellar haloes sets a limit of about 12 per cent (after adjusting for random uncertainty) on the accuracy with which the mass profiles of the Milky Way-like galaxies can be reconstructed using the spherical Jeans equation. This limit is independent of the quantity and quality of the observational data. The reason for a non-zero bias is not clear, hence its interpretation is not obvious at this stage.

Using Text Messaging in Long-Term Arthroplasty Follow-Up: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Blocker, Oliver; Bullock, Alison; Morgan-Jones, Rhidian; Ghandour, Adel; Richardson, James

2017-05-16

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and mobile technology have the potential to change the way patients are monitored following joint replacement surgery. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of text messaging to record PROMs in long-term follow-up of hip and knee arthroplasty. Our participants were 17 patients 2-years-plus post hip or knee arthroplasty attending clinic with a mobile telephone number on record. A simple PROM (Oswestry Very Short Form) was texted to the patient. Responses were compared to clinical, radiographic, and existing PROM findings. Patients were interviewed to discover their opinions on this use of texting. A total of 11 patients engaged with the text messaging. Reasons for not engaging included wrong numbers, physical barriers, and lack of understanding. A total of 8 patients attending clinic allowed comparison of text messaging with clinical findings. The average age was 70 years. A total of 4 patient text messaging responses matched clinical and radiographic findings; 3 also matched PROM scores collected in clinic. The 3 patients with mixed responses had abnormal clinical, radiographic, or PROM findings. One patient's text responses conflicted with clinical outcome. Analysis of patients' views showed a generally positive opinion: patients were happy to communicate with surgeons by text. Practical problems, PROM limitations, and trustworthiness of texting were highlighted. Engaging with changing technology creates challenges for patients and health care professionals. Despite this, our results suggest text messaging is a promising way to communicate with arthroplasty patients. Earlier integration of text communication in the patient pathway may be important and needs further research. ©Oliver Blocker, Alison Bullock, Rhidian Morgan-Jones, Adel Ghandour, James Richardson. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 16.05.2017.

A naturalistic study of children and their parents in family learning courses in science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ostlund, Karen; Gennaro, Eugene; Dobbert, Marion

During the 1960s and 1970s a number of family learning projects evolved, most of which focused on pre-schoolers and their parents. The goal of some of these programs was to provide enjoyable, structured experiences in which parents and their children learned together. Recently, a number of institutions have been sponsoring enrichment science classes or learning experiences for parents and older children. The study described here is based on a project funded by the National Science Foundation (DISE No. 07872) which was attempting to show that it was possible to increase scientific literacy of two different age groups by simultaneously exposing parents and their middle school children to short courses in science. The project is an outgrowth of a study previously reported (Gennaro, Bullock, & Alden, 1980) carried out at the Minnesota Zoological Gardens. The study is based on data obtained during the first two years of the project and used various data gathering procedures such as the use of questionnaires, interviews, observations, and cognitive testing. It was found that children register for the courses primarily because of interest in the subject matter of the courses and that parents register because of their desire to nurture the child and the child's interest in the subject matter of the course. Both parents and children made significant gains in learning as measured by subject matter tests. Participants reported that the experience was both enjoyable and valuable. Children's attitudes toward their parents and the course were significantly higher if the children perceived a highly cooperative learning environment with their parents. Parents who scored in the medium or high range on the pretest had significantly more interactions with their children concerning information about course tasks than those who scored low on the pretest.

Schizophrenia-like GABAergic gene expression deficits in cerebellar Golgi cells from rats chronically exposed to low-dose phencyclidine

PubMed Central

Bullock, W. Michael; Bolognani, Federico; Botta, Paolo; Valenzuela, C. Fernando; Perrone-Bizzozero, Nora I.

2009-01-01

One of the most consistent findings in schizophrenia is the decreased expression of the GABA synthesizing enzymes GAD67 and GAD65 in specific interneuron populations. This dysfunction is observed in distributed brain regions including the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum. In an effort to understand the mechanisms for this GABA deficit, we investigated the effect of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist phencyclidine (PCP), which elicits schizophrenia-like symptoms in both humans and animal models, in a chronic, low-dose exposure paradigm. Adult rats were given PCP at a dose of 2.58 mg/kg/day i.p. for a month, after which levels of various GABAergic cell mRNAs and other neuromodulators were examined in the cerebellum by RT-qPCR. Administration of PCP decreased the expression of GAD67, GAD65, and the presynaptic GABA transporter GAT-1, and increased GABAA receptor subunits similar to those seen in patients with schizophrenia. Additionally, we found that the mRNA levels of two Golgi cell selective NMDAR subunits, NR2B and NR2D, were decreased in PCP treated rats. Furthermore, we localized the deficits in GAD67 expression solely to these interneurons. Slice electrophysiological studies showed that spontaneous firing of Golgi cells was reduced by acute exposure to low dose PCP, suggesting that these neurons are particularly vulnerable to NMDA receptor antagonism. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that chronic exposure to low levels of PCP in rats mimics the GABAergic alterations reported in the cerebellum of patients with schizophrenia (Bullock et al., Am J Psychiatry 165: 1594-1603, 2008), further supporting the validity of this animal model. PMID:19651169

Anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities of Bursera copallifera

PubMed Central

Columba-Palomares, M. F. María C.; Villareal, Dra. María L.; Acevedo Quiroz, M. C. Macdiel E.; Marquina Bahena, M. C. Silvia; Álvarez Berber, Dra. Laura P.; Rodríguez-López, Dra. Verónica

2015-01-01

Background: The plant species Bursera copallifera (DC) bullock is used in traditional medicine to treat inflammation. The leaves of this plant can be prepared as an infusion to treat migraines, bronchitis, and dental pain Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities of organic extracts from the stems, stem bark, and leaves of B. copallifera, which was selected based on the knowledge of its traditional use. Materials and Methods: We evaluated the ability of extracts to inhibit mouse ear inflammation in response to topical application of 12-O tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. The extracts with anti-inflammatory activity were evaluated for their inhibition of pro-inflammatory enzymes. In addition, the in vitro cytotoxic activities of the organic extracts were evaluated using the sulforhodamine B assay. Results: The hydroalcoholic extract of the stems (HAS) exhibited an anti-inflammatory activity of 54.3% (0.5 mg/ear), whereas the anti-inflammatory activity of the dichloromethane-methanol extract from the leaves (DMeL) was 55.4% at a dose of 0.1 mg/ear. Methanol extract from the leaves (MeL) showed the highest anti-inflammatory activity (IC50 = 4.4 μg/mL), hydroalcoholic extract of leaves, and DMeL also reduce the enzyme activity, (IC50 = 6.5 μg/mL, IC50 = 5.7 μg/mL), respectively, from stems HAS exhibit activity at the evaluated concentrations (IC50 =6.4 μg/mL). The hydroalcoholic extract of the stems exhibited the highest cytotoxic activity against a breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF7, IC50 = 0.90 μg/mL), whereas DMeL exhibited an IC50 value of 19.9 μg/mL. Conclusion: In conclusion, extracts from leaves and stems inhibited cyclooxygenase-1, which is the target enzyme for nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs, and some of these extracts demonstrated substantial antiproliferative effects against the MCF7 cell line. These results validate the traditional use of B. copallifera. PMID:26664022

Anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities of Bursera copallifera.

PubMed

Columba-Palomares, M F María C; Villareal, Dra María L; Acevedo Quiroz, M C Macdiel E; Marquina Bahena, M C Silvia; Álvarez Berber, Dra Laura P; Rodríguez-López, Dra Verónica

2015-10-01

The plant species Bursera copallifera (DC) bullock is used in traditional medicine to treat inflammation. The leaves of this plant can be prepared as an infusion to treat migraines, bronchitis, and dental pain. The purpose of this study was to determine the anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities of organic extracts from the stems, stem bark, and leaves of B. copallifera, which was selected based on the knowledge of its traditional use. We evaluated the ability of extracts to inhibit mouse ear inflammation in response to topical application of 12-O tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. The extracts with anti-inflammatory activity were evaluated for their inhibition of pro-inflammatory enzymes. In addition, the in vitro cytotoxic activities of the organic extracts were evaluated using the sulforhodamine B assay. The hydroalcoholic extract of the stems (HAS) exhibited an anti-inflammatory activity of 54.3% (0.5 mg/ear), whereas the anti-inflammatory activity of the dichloromethane-methanol extract from the leaves (DMeL) was 55.4% at a dose of 0.1 mg/ear. Methanol extract from the leaves (MeL) showed the highest anti-inflammatory activity (IC50 = 4.4 μg/mL), hydroalcoholic extract of leaves, and DMeL also reduce the enzyme activity, (IC50 = 6.5 μg/mL, IC50 = 5.7 μg/mL), respectively, from stems HAS exhibit activity at the evaluated concentrations (IC50 =6.4 μg/mL). The hydroalcoholic extract of the stems exhibited the highest cytotoxic activity against a breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF7, IC50 = 0.90 μg/mL), whereas DMeL exhibited an IC50 value of 19.9 μg/mL. In conclusion, extracts from leaves and stems inhibited cyclooxygenase-1, which is the target enzyme for nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs, and some of these extracts demonstrated substantial antiproliferative effects against the MCF7 cell line. These results validate the traditional use of B. copallifera.

Pleistocene plants from North Carolina

USGS Publications Warehouse

Berry, Edward Wilber

1926-01-01

The field work upon which this report is based was done in 1906 and 1907 as a part of the cooperative study of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, under the direction of the late William Bullock Clark. Associated with the writer in this work were L. W. Stephenson, B. L. Miller, Jr., and J. E. Pogue. Preliminary accounts of the plants collected were published in 1907 and 1909. As has been frequently emphasized, the study of the Pleistocene floras in this country is in an exceedingly backward state as measured by the volume and precision of our knowledge of Pleistocene floras in Europe. Researches in Pleistocene geology in North America have been confined almost entirely to glaciology, and the problem of the correlation of the glacial deposits with those outside the glaciated area has not been solved, nor is there any general agreement regarding the genesis of the Pleistocene deposits south of the terminal moraines. The present account of what is known of the Pleistocene flora of North Carolina and the conclusions that may be legitimately derived from it is offered in the hope that it may stimulate an interest in a neglected field of research and form a small part of the evidence upon which to base future more comprehensive conclusions and generalizations. A word of explanation regarding the illustrations is required. Nearly all of them have been made from leaves preserved as carbonaceous films in the peaty clays. These specimens were carefully washed out, and blue prints were made directly from them. Outlines and as much of the venation as could be seen were inked on the blue prints, which were then bleached. This procedure made it possible to handle a much larger amount of material and prevented any possible damage to the exceedingly fragile specimens, which were mounted on cards or between glass. The accompanying drawings were made from tracings of the original nature prints.

Diversity and genetic structure of the Mexican endemic epiphyte Tillandsia achyrostachys E. Morr. ex Baker var. achyrostachys (Bromeliaceae).

PubMed

González-Astorga, Jorge; Cruz-Angón, Andrea; Flores-Palacios, Alejandro; Vovides, Andrew P

2004-10-01

The monoecious, bird-pollinated epiphytic Tillandsia achyrostachys E. Morr. ex Baker var. achyrostachys is an endemic bromeliad of the tropical dry forests of Mexico with clonal growth. In the Sierra de Huautla Natural Reserve this species shows a host preference for Bursera copallifera (Sessé & Moc ex. DC) Bullock. As a result of deforestation in the study area, B. copallifera has become a rare tree species in the remaining forest patches. This human-induced disturbance has directly affected the population densities of T. achyrostachys. In this study the genetic consequences of habitat fragmentation were assessed by comparing the genetic diversity, gene flow and genetic differentiation in six populations of T. achyrostachys in the Sierra de Huautla Natural Reserve, Mexico. Allozyme electrophoresis of sixteen loci (eleven polymorphic and five monomorphic) were used. The data were analysed with standard statistical approximations for obtaining diversity, genetic structure and gene flow. Genetic diversity and allelic richness were: HE = 0.21 +/- 0.02, A = 1.86 +/- 0.08, respectively. F-statistics revealed a deficiency of heterozygous plants in all populations (Fit = 0.65 +/- 0.02 and Fis = 0.43 +/- 0.06). Significant genetic differentiation between populations was detected (Fst = 0.39 +/- 0.07). Average gene flow between pairs of populations was relatively low and had high variation (Nm = 0.46 +/- 0.21), which denotes a pattern of isolation by distance. The genetic structure of populations of T. achyrostachys suggests that habitat fragmentation has reduced allelic richness and genetic diversity, and increased significant genetic differentiation (by approx. 40 %) between populations. The F-statistic values (>0) and the level of gene flow found suggest that habitat fragmentation has broken up the former population structure. In this context, it is proposed that the host trees of T. achyrostachys should be considered as a conservation priority, since they represent the limiting factor to bromeliad population growth and connectivity.

Study of dung, urine, and milk of selected grazing animals as bioindicators in environmental geoscience--a case study from Mangampeta barite mining area, Kadapa District, Andhra Pradesh, India.

PubMed

Raghu, V

2015-01-01

The ancient scientific Sanskrit texts of Ayurveda (science of longevity) deal with waters, plants, and animals in relation to human health. Based on the studies mentioned in Ayurveda and modern literature, biological responses of grazing animals in Mangampeta barite mining area in Kadapa District, Andhra Pradesh, were studied. A non-mineralized Tirupati area in Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, was selected for the purpose of comparison. In these areas, certain animal products of selected grazing animals were studied if they could be used as tools in mineral exploration. Samples of dung, urine, and milk from cow, bullock, she-buffalo, he-buffalo, sheep, and goat were collected from these two areas during winter and summer seasons. Goat dung was found to have lowest moisture content and highest organic matter while goat urine contained highest amounts of organic matter and ash content. All these animal products were analyzed for 11 trace elements. The concentration of trace elements released through dung, urine, and milk widely varied in different animal species with seasonal variations. The elemental concentration was higher in dung and lower in urine, when compared to that of milk. The concentration of all elements in dung, urine, and milk of all animals, in both the areas, was higher in winter than that in summer. Dung represents the metabolic process of the whole animal and reflects the dietary conditions whether fed on natural or inorganic supplement. It can be inferred that dung, urine, and milk of any animal can be used as tools in mineral exploration during winter, while during summer, only dung can be useful. The dung of goat when compared to that of the other cattle serves as a better tool in environmental studies as goat depends almost entirely on natural vegetation without human interference.

bicep2/ KECK ARRAY . IV. OPTICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND PERFORMANCE OF THE bicep2 AND KECK ARRAY EXPERIMENTS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ade, P. A. R.; Aikin, R. W.; Barkats, D.

2015-06-18

bicep2/KECK ARRAY. IV. OPTICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND PERFORMANCE OF THE bicep2 AND KECK ARRAY EXPERIMENTS P. A. R. Ade1, R. W. Aikin2, D. Barkats3, S. J. Benton4, C. A. Bischoff5, J. J. Bock2,6, K. J. Bradford5, J. A. Brevik2, I. Buder5, E. Bullock7Show full author list Published 2015 June 18 • © 2015. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 806, Number 2 Article PDF Figures Tables References Citations 273 Total downloads Cited by 6 articles Turn on MathJax Share this article Get permission to re-use this article Article information Abstract bicep2 and the Keck Array aremore » polarization-sensitive microwave telescopes that observe the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from the South Pole at degree angular scales in search of a signature of inflation imprinted as B-mode polarization in the CMB. bicep2 was deployed in late 2009, observed for three years until the end of 2012 at 150 GHz with 512 antenna-coupled transition edge sensor bolometers, and has reported a detection of B-mode polarization on degree angular scales. The Keck Array was first deployed in late 2010 and will observe through 2016 with five receivers at several frequencies (95, 150, and 220 GHz). bicep2 and the Keck Array share a common optical design and employ the field-proven bicep1 strategy of using small-aperture, cold, on-axis refractive optics, providing excellent control of systematics while maintaining a large field of view. This design allows for full characterization of far-field optical performance using microwave sources on the ground. Here we describe the optical design of both instruments and report a full characterization of the optical performance and beams of bicep2 and the Keck Array at 150 GHz.« less

Short-term losses and long-term gains: The non-native species Austrominius modestus in Lough Hyne Marine Nature Reserve

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallagher, M. C.; Culloty, S. C.; Davenport, J.; Harman, L.; Jessopp, M. J.; Kerrigan, C.; Murray, C.; O'Riordan, R. M.; McAllen, R.

2017-05-01

The non-native barnacle species Austrominius modestus was first recorded in Ireland, close to Lough Hyne marine nature reserve in 1957. This species was not recorded inside the Lough until 1980, but by 2001 was the dominant intertidal barnacle within the reserve. It has been suggested that increases in the abundance of this species at other locations in Europe may be linked to increasing sea surface temperatures, and that A. modestus is an "ecological sleeper". Despite an overall trend for increasing sea surface temperatures, this long term warming is punctuated by extreme events such as severely cold winters. A. modestus is warm water adapted, and has been recorded to decrease in abundance following cold winters. The winters of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 were amongst the coldest recorded in Ireland in past decades. In the present study, higher levels of mortality were recorded for A. modestus than native barnacle species in Lough Hyne following these cold winters. Additionally, this species was recorded at lower abundances at the majority of sites surveyed in Lough Hyne in 2011 compared with 2009. Despite this, A. modestus remains the dominant barnacle species in the Lough and monitoring the recruitment of intertidal barnacles within Lough Hyne during 2014-2015 revealed that A. modestus was the most abundant recruit at study sites, both in removal plots and in the pre-existing community. The year-round breeding of A. modestus in addition to the closed nature of the Lough promotes A. modestus within the reserve. Despite this, native barnacle species continue to persist in Lough Hyne, though generally at low abundances, with the exception of exposed locations such as the Rapids and Bullock Island where natives outnumber A. modestus. The future intertidal barnacle community within the Lough is likely to be dominated by A. modestus with Chthamalus montagui and C. stellatus being abundant at sites which are not suitable for A. modestus. While the consequences of this are unknown, it is possible that the presence of A. modestus may alter trophic interactions and energy flow within the reserve.

Suitability and Economic Viability of Light Weight Mechanical Power Sources for Mechanizing Hill Farming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vatsa, Dinesh Kumar; Singh, Sukhbir

2017-06-01

Farm power and equipment role was established in agriculture beyond doubt for sustainable development but hill farming is still facing shortage of farm power and matching equipment for timely and precisely operations. A study was carried out on performance evaluation of different light weight power tillers/weeders designated as P1, P2, P3 and P4 under dry and wet land conditions to meet out the demand of farm power for mechanizing hill agriculture, particularly under small and irregular shaped terraces having high vertical intervals where it is difficult to operate commercially available power tillers. Four power tillers in the horse power range of 3.0-7.0 hp manufactured and marketed by Indian firms were tested in silty-clay-loam soil at the HPKV farm, Palampur, India. The results showed that the depth of operation was less than 80 mm with P1, P2 as well as P3 power tiller after two passes of rotary at soil moisture content of 16.4% whereas, it was 102 mm with P4. The average effective field capacity was 0.055, 0.051, 0.042 and 0.060 ha/h under dry land conditions with P1, P2, P3 and P4, respectively whereas in wetland condition the capacity was 0.042, 0.038 and 0.05 with P1, P2, and P4, respectively. P3 power tiller could not be possible to test under wet land conditions due to less ground clearance of the engine. The cost of repair and maintenance was observed to be very high in case of P1, P2 and P3 power tillers due to the occurrence of frequent breakdowns. It was construed from the study that the power tillers up to 5 hp are not suitable for seed-bed preparation but it could be used as weeder for interculture operations in wide row spaced crops. However, P4 power tiller performed better than other models under different conditions. There was saving of 50-66% in time and 66-75% cost of operation observed with different makes of power tillers as compared to bullock ploughing.

Diversity and Genetic Structure of the Mexican Endemic Epiphyte Tillandsia achyrostachys E. Morr. ex Baker var. achyrostachys (Bromeliaceae)

PubMed Central

GONZÁLEZ-ASTORGA, JORGE; CRUZ-ANGÓN, ANDREA; FLORES-PALACIOS, ALEJANDRO; VOVIDES, ANDREW P.

2004-01-01

• Background and Aims The monoecious, bird-pollinated epiphytic Tillandsia achyrostachys E. Morr. ex Baker var. achyrostachys is an endemic bromeliad of the tropical dry forests of Mexico with clonal growth. In the Sierra de Huautla Natural Reserve this species shows a host preference for Bursera copallifera (Sessé & Moc ex. DC) Bullock. As a result of deforestation in the study area, B. copallifera has become a rare tree species in the remaining forest patches. This human-induced disturbance has directly affected the population densities of T. achyrostachys. In this study the genetic consequences of habitat fragmentation were assessed by comparing the genetic diversity, gene flow and genetic differentiation in six populations of T. achyrostachys in the Sierra de Huautla Natural Reserve, Mexico. • Methods Allozyme electrophoresis of sixteen loci (eleven polymorphic and five monomorphic) were used. The data were analysed with standard statistical approximations for obtaining diversity, genetic structure and gene flow. • Key Results Genetic diversity and allelic richness were: HE = 0·21 ± 0·02, A = 1·86 ± 0·08, respectively. F-statistics revealed a deficiency of heterozygous plants in all populations (Fit = 0·65 ± 0·02 and Fis = 0·43 ± 0·06). Significant genetic differentiation between populations was detected (Fst = 0·39 ± 0·07). Average gene flow between pairs of populations was relatively low and had high variation (Nm = 0·46 ± 0·21), which denotes a pattern of isolation by distance. The genetic structure of populations of T. achyrostachys suggests that habitat fragmentation has reduced allelic richness and genetic diversity, and increased significant genetic differentiation (by approx. 40 %) between populations. • Conclusions The F-statistic values (>0) and the level of gene flow found suggest that habitat fragmentation has broken up the former population structure. In this context, it is proposed that the host trees of T. achyrostachys should be considered as a conservation priority, since they represent the limiting factor to bromeliad population growth and connectivity. PMID:15319228

Exploring the Therapeutic Affordances of Self-Harm Online Support Communities: An Online Survey of Members.

PubMed

Coulson, Neil S; Bullock, Emma; Rodham, Karen

2017-10-13

A growing number of online communities have been established to support those who self-harm. However, little is known about the therapeutic affordances arising from engagement with these communities and resulting outcomes. The aim of this study was to explore the presence of therapeutic affordances as reported by members of self-harm online support communities. In total, 94 respondents (aged 13-63 years, mean=23.5 years; 94% female) completed an online survey exploring their experiences of engaging with a self-harm online support community. Respondents varied in terms of how long they had been accessing an online community, with 22% (21/94) accessing less than 1 year, 39% (37/94) 1 to 2 years, 14% (13/94) 2 to 3 years, and 24.5% (23/94) more than 3 years. Responses were analyzed using deductive thematic analysis. The results of our analysis describe each of the five therapeutic affordances that were present in the data, namely (1) connection, the ability to make contact with others who self-harm for the purposes of mutual support and in so doing reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation; (2) adaptation, that is, how use of online support varies in relation to the personal circumstances of the individual user; (3) exploration, that is, the ability to learn about self-harm and learn about strategies to reduce or stop self-harming behavior; (4) narration, that is, the ability to share experiences, as well as read about the experiences of others; and (5) self-presentation, that is, how and what users present about themselves to others in the online community. Our findings suggest that engagement with self-harm online support communities may confer a range of therapeutic benefits for some users, which may serve to minimize the psychosocial burden of self-harm and promote positive coping strategies. In addition, the online nature of the support available may be helpful to those who are unable to access face-to-face support. ©Neil S Coulson, Emma Bullock, Karen Rodham. Originally published in JMIR Mental Health (http://mental.jmir.org), 13.10.2017.

Water EducaTion for Alabama's Black Belt (WET Alabama): Facilitating Scientific Understanding of the Hydrologic Cycle in Low-Resource Schools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolf, L. W.; Lee, M.; Stone, K.

2008-12-01

Youth, as future citizens, play an important role in obtaining and maintaining water resources. Water EducaTion for Alabama's Black Belt (WET Alabama) provides off-campus environmental and water-education activities designed to increase the appreciation, knowledge, conservation, and protection of water resources by middle-school teachers and children from predominantly African-American families in some of Alabama's poorest counties. The project is structured around a variety of indoor and outdoor activities held at two field sites, Auburn University's E. V. Smith Center in Macon County and the Robert G. Wehle Nature Center in Bullock County located in Alabama's "Black Belt" region, a region in which the prosperity of local communities is low. The educational activities provide an engaging laboratory and field experience for children from rural schools that lack scientific facilities and equipment. Both hosting centers have easy access to surface water (ponds, wetlands, streams) and offer facilities for basic hydrologic experiments (e.g., aquifer models, permeameter, water quality). The E.V. Smith site has access to groundwater through pairs of nested wells. Educational activities are designed to help students and teachers visualize groundwater flow and its interaction with surface water in an aquifer tank model; compare the hydrologic properties (porosity and permeability) of different aquifer materials (sands, gravels, and clays); learn about groundwater purging and sampling; and assess water quality and flow direction in the field. Simple exercises demonstrate (1) the balance of recharge and discharge, (2) the effects of flooding, drought and pumping, and (3) movement of contaminants through aquifers. A set of ready-to-teach laboratory exercises and tutorials address goals specified by the State of Alabama science curriculum for grades 6 to 8. The ultimate goal of Project WET Alabama is to help students and teachers from resource-poor schools become knowledgeable about surface water and groundwater so they can identify and sustain "safe" aquifer zones, where clean water resources are available for long-term use and economic development.

Influence of tillage in soil penetration resistance variability in an olive orchard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

López de Herrera, Juan; Herrero Tejedor, Tomas; Saa-Requejo, Antonio; Tarquis, Ana M.

2015-04-01

Soil attributes usually present a high degree of spatial variation due to a combination of physical, chemical, biological or climatic processes operating at different scales. The quantification and interpretation of such variability is a key issue for site-specific soil management (Brouder et al., 2001). The usual geostatistical approach studies soil variability by means of the semi-variograms. However, recently a multiscaling approach has been applied on the determination of the scaling data properties (Kravechenko et al., 1999; Caniego et al., 2005; Tarquis et al., 2008). This work focus in the multifractal analysis as a way to characterize the variability of field data in a case study of soil penetrometer resistance (SPR) in two olive orchards, one applying tillage for 20 years and the other one non. The field measurements and soil data were obtained at the village of Puebla de Almenara (Cuenca, Spain) (39o 47'42.37'N, 2o 49'29.23'W) with 869 m of elevation approximately. The characteristic of the soil at the surface is classified as clay loam texture according to Guidelines for soil description of FAO. The soil consists of clays and red silts with some clusters of limestone's and sands. Two transect data were collected from 128 points between the squared of the olive tree, tillage and no tillage area, for SPR readings with a sampling interval of 50 cm. In each sampling, readings were obtained from 0 cm till 20 cm of depth, with an interval of 5 cm. The multifractal spectrum for each area and depth was estimated showing a characteristic pattern and differentiating both treatments. References Brouder, S., Hofmann, B., Reetz, H.F., 2001. Evaluating spatial variability of soil parameters for input management. Better Crops 85, 8-11. Kravchenko, A.N., Boast, C.W., Bullock, D.G., 1999. Multifractal analysis of soil spatial variability. Agron. J. 91, 1033-1041. Caniego, F.J., R. Espejo, M.A. Martín, F. San José, 2005. Multifractal scaling of soil spatial variability. Ecological Modelling, 182, 291-303. Tarquis, A.M., N. Bird, M.C. Cartagena, A. Whitmore and Y. Pachepsky, 2008. Multiscale entropy-based analyses of soil transect data. Vadose Zone Journal, 7(2), 563-569.

Comment on 'The Global Resurfacing of Venus' by R. G. Strom, G.G. Schaber, and D.D. Dawson

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herrick, Robert R.; Izenberg, Noam; Phillips, Roger J.

1995-01-01

The distribution of impact craters on Venus has been the subject of a great deal of analysis since the return of Magellan data. Phillips el al. (1992) performed Monte Carlo two-dimensional (2-D) modeling of the areal distribution of craters, and the results of that exercise allowed a restricted, but still quite large, range of possible planetary resurfacing histories, including the possibility that the crater, were emplaced on a geologically inactive planet. However, the nonrandom distribution of embayed and deformed craters (Phillips el al., 1992), the hypsometric distribution of craters (Herrick and Phillips, 1994), the varied degradation states of craters (Izenberg et al., 1994), their nonrandom distribution with different geologic terrain types (Namiki and Solomon, 1994; Price et al, 1994), and three-dimensional resurfacing modeling (Bullock el al., 1993) all seem to argue against that particular possibility. In contrast, Strom el al. (1994) have collected a refined and more comprehensive data set of impact features, and they input these data into more sophisticated 2-D Monte Carlo modeling and statistical analyses of the areal distribution of craters, the hypsometric distribution of craters, and the number of embayed craters. They concluded that 'Venus experienced a global resurfacing event about 300 m.y. ago followed by a dramatic reduction of volcanism and tectonism. This global resurfacing event ended abruptly (less than 10 m.y.). The present crater population has accumulated since then and remains largely intact . . . only about 4%-6% of the planet has been volcanically resurfaced since the global event . . .' If these conclusions are well-founded, this work certainly represents a significant advancement in restricting tile number of plausible resurfacing histories for the planet. If Strom et al. (1994) are correct, it would also mean that all of the other aforementioned works are in error to various degrees, or at least represent overzealous interpretation of the data. However, we have identified apparent flaws in the observations, modeling, and interpretations presented by Strom el al. (1994) that lead us to question whether their conclusions are warranted. We limit our comments to three areas of their analysis: (1) observations pertaining to the number and area of disrupted and pristine craters and crater-related features, (2) modeling of the areal and elevation distribution of craters, and (3) interpretations of resurfacing models.

Joint Multifractal Analysis of penetration resistance variability in an olive orchard.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopez-Herrera, Juan; Herrero-Tejedor, Tomas; Saa-Requejo, Antonio; Villeta, Maria; Tarquis, Ana M.

2016-04-01

Spatial variability of soil properties is relevant for identifying those zones with physical degradation. We used descriptive statistics and multifractal analysis for characterizing the spatial patterns of soil penetrometer resistance (PR) distributions and compare them at different soil depths and soil water content to investigate the tillage effect in soil compactation. The study was conducted on an Inceptisol dedicated to olive orchard for the last 70 years. Two parallel transects of 64 m were selected as different soil management plots, conventional tillage (CT) and no tillage (NT). Penetrometer resistance readings were carried out at 50 cm intervals within the first 20 cm of soil depth (López de Herrera et al., 2015a). Two way ANOVA highlighted that tillage system, soil depth and their interaction are statistically significant to explain the variance of PR data. The comparison of CT and NT results at different depths showed that there are significant differences deeper than 10 cm but not in the first two soil layers. The scaling properties of each PR profile was characterized by τ(q) function, calculated in the range of moment orders (q) between -5 and +5 taken at 0.5 lag increments. Several parameters were calculated from this to establish different comparisons (López de Herrera et al., 2015b). While the multifractal analysis characterizes the distribution of a single variable along its spatial support, the joint multifractal analysis can be used to characterize the joint distribution of two or more variables along a common spatial support (Kravchenko et al., 2000; Zeleke and Si, 2004). This type of analysis was performed to study the scaling properties of the joint distribution of PR at different depths. The results showed that this type of analysis added valuable information to describe the spatial arrangement of depth-dependent penetrometer data sets in all the soil layers. References Kravchenko AN, Bullock DG, Boast CW (2000) Joint multifractal analysis of crop yield and terrain slope. Agro. j. 92: 1279-1290. López de Herrera, J., Tomas Herrero Tejedor, Antonio Saa-Requejo and Ana M. Tarquis (2015a) Influence of tillage in soil penetration resistance variability in an olive orchard. Geophysical Research Abstracts, 17, EGU2015-15425. López de Herrera, J., Tomás Herrero Tejedor, Antonio Saa-Requejo, A.M. Tarquis. Influence of tillage in soil penetration resistance variability in an olive orchard. Soil Research, accepted, 2015b. doi: SR15046 Zeleke TB, Si BC (2004) Scaling properties of topographic indices and crop yield: Multifractal and joint multifractal approaches. Agro. j. 96: 1082-1090.

National Beef Quality Audit-2011: In-plant survey of targeted carcass characteristics related to quality, quantity, value, and marketing of fed steers and heifers.

PubMed

Moore, M C; Gray, G D; Hale, D S; Kerth, C R; Griffin, D B; Savell, J W; Raines, C R; Belk, K E; Woerner, D R; Tatum, J D; Igo, J L; VanOverbeke, D L; Mafi, G G; Lawrence, T E; Delmore, R J; Christensen, L M; Shackelford, S D; King, D A; Wheeler, T L; Meadows, L R; O'Connor, M E

2012-12-01

The 2011 National Beef Quality Audit (NBQA-2011) assessed the current status of quality and consistency of fed steers and heifers. Beef carcasses (n = 9,802), representing approximately 10% of each production lot in 28 beef processing facilities, were selected randomly for the survey. Carcass evaluation for the cooler assessment of this study revealed the following traits and frequencies: sex classes of steer (63.5%), heifer (36.4%), cow (0.1%), and bullock (0.03%); dark cutters (3.2%); blood splash (0.3%); yellow fat (0.1%); calloused rib eye (0.05%); overall maturities of A (92.8%), B (6.0%), and C or greater (1.2%); estimated breed types of native (88.3%), dairy type (9.9%), and Bos indicus (1.8%); and country of origin of United States (97.7%), Mexico (1.8%), and Canada (0.5%). Certified or marketing program frequencies were age and source verified (10.7%), ≤A(40) (10.0%), Certified Angus Beef (9.3%), Top Choice (4.1%), natural (0.6%), and Non-Hormone-Treated Cattle (0.5%); no organic programs were observed. Mean USDA yield grade (YG) traits were USDA YG (2.9), HCW (374.0 kg), adjusted fat thickness (1.3 cm), LM area (88.8 cm2), and KPH (2.3%). Frequencies of USDA YG distributions were YG 1, 12.4%; YG 2, 41.0%; YG 3, 36.3%; YG 4, 8.6%; and YG 5, 1.6%. Mean USDA quality grade (QG) traits were USDA quality grade (Select(93)), marbling score (Small(40)), overall maturity (A(59)), lean maturity (A(54)), and skeletal maturity (A(62)). Frequencies of USDA QG distributions were Prime, 2.1%; Choice, 58.9%; Select, 32.6%; and Standard or less, 6.3%. Marbling score distribution was Slightly Abundant or greater, 2.3%; Moderate, 5.0%; Modest, 17.3%; Small, 39.7%; Slight, 34.6%; and Traces or less, 1.1%. Carcasses with QG of Select or greater and YG 3 or less represented 85.1% of the sample. This is the fifth benchmark study measuring targeted carcass characteristics, and information from this survey will continue to help drive progress in the beef industry. Results will be used in extension and educational programs as teaching tools to inform beef producers and industry professionals of the current state of the U.S. beef industry.

Observing Weather in Venus's Lower Atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, E. F.; Bullock, M. A.; Chanover, N. J.; Lemmon, M. T.

2003-05-01

The rotation rate of Venus's sulfuric acid clouds is roughly 60 times greater than that of the solid surface, a phenomenon which is only partially understood. To help learn more about the details of the cloud motions, we observed Venus on three occasions near the past two inferior conjunctions at 2.3 microns, a window which transmits thermal radiation emanating from the lower scale heights of the atmosphere. Clouds block the thermal radiation in this wavelength band and show up as silhouettes on Venus's night side. We tracked atmospheric features to estimate their rates and directions. Several previous investigators have used 2.3 micron imaging to track Venus's clouds (e.g., Carlson et al. 1991, Crisp et al. 1991, Chanover et al. 1998). We compare our results to these previous investigations and to a solid-body rotator. We find no clear trend relating rotation rate to latitude. Instead, we often see local features with different rotation rates and different meridional directions from their neighbors within a latitudinal zone. These motions suggest that we are seeing snapshots of eddies in the mid-latitudes. Thick cloud cover is nearly always present at the equatorial latitudes and at both poles. The intermediate latitudes show thin cloud cover which is often broken into several narrow latitudinal ``zones,'' although these zones are certainly unlike belts and zones seen on Jupiter and Saturn, if only because (a) they are ephemeral on timescales of days and (b) they often have orientations that are up to 15 degrees away from the horizontal. As Crisp et al. (1991) suggest, these clearer regions could be the result of downwelling, possibly a manifestation of Hadley cells in the lower cloud deck. In approximately ten percent of our images we see turbulent-looking edges of the cloudy equatorial region, suggesting significant shear between adjacent latitudinal zones. Mark Bullock acknowledges support from NASA's Planetary Atmospheres and NSF's Planetary Astronomy programs References Carlson, R.W., K.H. Baines, T. Encrenaz, F.W. Tay-lor, P. Drossart, L.W. Kamp, J.B. Pollack, E. Lellouch, A.D. Collard, S.B. Calcutt, D.H. Grinspoon, P.R. Weissman, W.D. Smythe, A.C. Ocampo, G.E. Danielson, F.P. Fanale, T.V. Johnson, H.H. Kieffer, D.L. Matson, T.B. McCord, and L.A. Soderblom, Galileo infrared imaging spectrometer measurements at Venus, Science, 253, 1541-1548, 1991. Chanover, N.J., D.A. Glenar, and J.J. Hillman, Multispectral near-IR imaging of Venus nightside cloud features, Journal of Geophysical Research, 103, 31,335-31,348, 1998. Crisp, D., S. McMuldroch, S.K. Stephens, W.M. Sinton, B. Ragent, K.W. Hodapp, R.G. Probst, L.R. Doyle, D.A. Allen, and J. Elias, Ground-based near-infrared imaging observations of Venus during the Galileo encounter, Science, 253, 1538-1541, 1991b.

Reactive Gaseous Mercury Formation Over The North Pacific Ocean: Influence Of Environmental Parameters On Elemental Mercury Oxidation In The Marine Boundary Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laurier, F. J.

2002-12-01

Global mercury models have identified wet and dry particle deposition and evasion of dissolved gaseous mercury from the ocean and from land as key controls over global mercury cycling (1,2). Recent ocean studies (3,4) however, have indicated that estimated mercury evasion rates from the ocean substantially exceed estimated deposition. Oxidized reactive gaseous mercury species (RGHg) are now known to play a major role in the global mercury cycle (2,5). RGHg species are water-soluble, exhibit a much shorter atmospheric lifetime than elemental mercury, and contribute to a large extent to atmospheric mercury deposition (2,3,6). Although recent global mercury models have accounted for the dry deposition of RGHg derived from point source emissions (6,7), the formation and deposition of RGHg in remote areas have not been incorporated. We suggest that the oxidation of elemental mercury over the ocean, by gas phase or heterogeneous reactions, is an important part the global mercury cycle. In agreement with previous studies (3,8,9) our recent data from atmospheric collections over the North Pacific Ocean support the notion of enhanced oxidation in the marine boundary layer. Our results show an inverse correlation between RGHg production and ozone, and a diurnal cycle with highest concentrations during periods of highest UV irradiation. In addition, the relationship between RGHg and other parameters measured during the cruise will be discussed. Our results clearly show that RGHg deposition to the ocean must be an important Hg source, and a crucial part of the global Hg cycle. (1) Mason R.P., Fitzgerald W.F., and Morel F.M.M. (1994), The biogeochemical cycling of elemental mercury: Anthropogenic influences, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 58: 3191-3198 (2) Shia R.L., Seigneur C., Pai P., Ko M., and Sze N.-D. (1999), Global simulation of atmospheric mercury concentrations and deposition fluxes, J. Geophy. Res., 104(D19), 23, 747-23, 760 (3) Mason, R.P., Lawson N.M., and Sheu G.-R. (2001), Mercury in the Atlantic Ocean: factors controlling air-sea exchange of mercury and its distribution in the upper water, Deep-Sea Res. II, 2829-2853 (4) Lamborg, C.H., Rolfus K.R., and Fitzgerald W.F. (1999), The atmospheric cycling and air-sea exchange of mercury species in the south and equatorial Atlantic Ocean, Deep-Sea Res. II, 957-977 (5) Lindberg S.E., Brooks S., Lin C.-J., Scott K. J., Landis M. S., Stevens R.K., Goodsite M., and Richter A. (2002), Dynamic oxidation of gaseous mercury in the arctic troposphere at polar sunrise, Environ. Sci. Technol., 1245-1256 (6) Bullock O.R. (2000), Modeling assessment of transport and deposition patterns of anthropogenic mercury air emissions in the United States and Canada, Sci Total Environ., 259(1-3), 145-157 (7) Xu X., Yang X., Miller d.R., Helble J.J., and Carley R.J. (2000), a regional scale modelling study of atmospheric transport and formation of mercury. II. Simulation results for the northeast United states, Atmos. Environ., 34: 4945-4955 (8) Sheu G.-R. (2001), Speciation and distribution of atmospheric mercury: Significance of reactive gaseous mercury in the global mercury cycle. PhD. thesis, University of Maryland, College park, pp. 170 (9) Guentzel J.L., Landing W.M., Gill G.A., and Pollman C.D. (2001), Processes influencing rainfall deposition of mercury in Florida, Environ. Sci. Technol., 35: 863-873

A Numerical Fit of Analytical to Simulated Density Profiles in Dark Matter Haloes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caimmi, R.; Marmo, C.; Valentinuzzi, T.

2005-06-01

Analytical and geometrical properties of generalized power-law (GPL) density profiles are investigated in detail. In particular, a one-to-one correspondence is found between mathematical parameters (a scaling radius, r_0, a scaling density, rho_0, and three exponents, alpha, beta, gamma), and geometrical parameters (the coordinates of the intersection of the asymptotes, x_C, y_C, and three vertical intercepts, b, b_beta, b_gamma, related to the curve and the asymptotes, respectively): (r_0,rho_0,alpha,beta,gamma) <--> (x_C,y_C,b,b_beta,b_gamma). Then GPL density profiles are compared with simulated dark haloes (SDH) density profiles, and nonlinear least-absolute values and least-squares fits involving the above mentioned five parameters (RFSM5 method) are prescribed. More specifically, the sum of absolute values or squares of absolute logarithmic residuals, R_i= log rhoSDH(r_i)-log rhoGPL(r_i), is evaluated on 10^5 points making a 5- dimension hypergrid, through a few iterations. The size is progressively reduced around a fiducial minimum, and superpositions on nodes of earlier hypergrids are avoided. An application is made to a sample of 17 SDHs on the scale of cluster of galaxies, within a flat LambdaCDM cosmological model (Rasia et al. 2004). In dealing with the mean SDH density profile, a virial radius, rvir, averaged over the whole sample, is assigned, which allows the calculation of the remaining parameters. Using a RFSM5 method provides a better fit with respect to other methods. The geometrical parameters, averaged over the whole sample of best fitting GPL density profiles, yield (alpha,beta,gamma) approx(0.6,3.1,1.0), to be compared with (alpha,beta,gamma)=(1,3,1), i.e. the NFW density profile (Navarro et al. 1995, 1996, 1997), (alpha,beta,gamma)=(1.5,3,1.5) (Moore et al. 1998, 1999), (alpha,beta,gamma)=(1,2.5,1) (Rasia et al. 2004); and, in addition, gamma approx 1.5 (Hiotelis 2003), deduced from the application of a RFSM5 method, but using a different definition of scaled radius, or concentration; and gamma approx 1.2-1.3 deduced from more recent high-resolution simulations (Diemand et al. 2004, Reed et al. 2005). No evident correlation is found between SDH dynamical state (relaxed or merging) and asymptotic inner slope of the fitting logarithmic density profile or (for SDH comparable virial masses) scaled radius. Mean values and standard deviations of some parameters are calculated, and in particular the decimal logarithm of the scaled radius, xivir, reads < log xivir >=0.74 and sigma_s log xivir=0.15-0.17, consistent with previous results related to NFW density profiles. It provides additional support to the idea, that NFW density profiles may be considered as a convenient way to parametrize SDH density profiles, without implying that it necessarily produces the best possible fit (Bullock et al. 2001). A certain degree of degeneracy is found in fitting GPL to SDH density profiles. If it is intrinsic to the RFSM5 method or it could be reduced by the next generation of high-resolution simulations, still remains an open question.

Ground water in folded Cretaceous sandstone of the Bhachau area, Kutch, India, with reference to the Kandla Port water supply

USGS Publications Warehouse

Taylor, George C.; Osa, H.M.; Mitra, A.; Sen, B.N.

1964-01-01

This report is based on an investigation of the availability of ground-water supplies in the Bhachau area for the nearby Kandla Port and township development undertaken by the Government of India. This seaport lies on an estuary of the Gulf of Kutch in western India and in the eastern part of the State of Kutch. The fieldwork on the investigation was carried on from November 1952 through April 1953 with continuing hydrologic observations through 1954-55. The fieldwork included: geologic mapping and delimitation of the principal aquifers of the region; preparation of water-table maps; a detailed inventory of existing wells and springs; observations of significant water table fluctuations; preparation of isobicarb, isochlor and isosulf maps to show the areal distribution of ground-water salinity. The Bhachau area includes about 116 square miles in eastern Kutch and lies in a belt of semiarid low-latitude steppes. The mean annual rainfall is about 15 inches, most of which falls from late June to late September during the southwest monsoon. The area includes a central sandy upland ranging from about 100 to 250 feet above sea level ; a northern lowland of between about 50 to 125 feet altitude that slopes north to the Great Rann of Kutch; a belt of low buttes and discontinuous ridges ranging from about 200 to 275 feet above sea level; and southern lowland which slopes in a southerly to southeasterly direction from an altitude of about 125 feet to 25 feet or less near the Gulf of Kutch. The principal streams are Kageshwar Vokra and Kara Vokra which drain north to the Great Rann and Kotwala Vokra and Dalwala Vokra which drain south toward the Gulf of Kutch. The rocks of the Bhachau area include nonmarine and marine sediments of Mesozoic, Tertiary, and Quaternary age and volcanic rocks of late Mesozoic to early Tertiary age. The oldest rocks in the area are medium- to coarse-grained white to buff current-bedded friable sandstone with occasional partings of white silty shale of the Upper Bhuj series that has been assigned to the Early Cretaceous. The soft friable sandstone of the Upper Bhuj series constitutes the most productive ground-water reservoir in the Bhachau area. At present (1955) there are nine irrigated tracts for which water is obtained from dug wells less than 90 feet deep in the Upper Bhuj. These wells are worked by bullocks and 'motes' (leather bags) at withdrawal rates ranging from about 6,000 to 24,000imperial gallons per day; however, many existing individual wells if equipped with mechanical pumps are capable of yielding 100,000 gallons per day. The Deccan trap of Late Cretaceous to Eocene age occurs in a sequence of basaltic lava flows in the Bhachau area, but trap dikes, sills and plugs that are common in other parts of Kutch have not been observed in the area. Laterite of probable Eocene age is extensive at the top of the Deccan trap, and in places where the lava flows are thin the parent rock has been almost completely lateritized. The Deccan lava flows or the laterite, where the trap is absent, rest disconformably on the Upper Bhuj. No wells have been observed in the Deccan trap of the Bhachau area, but it is possible that locally small supplies of good water may be obtained from these rocks. The Tertiary sediments, which are assigned to the Manchhar series of Pliocene age, generally rest on the laterite or the Deccan trap ; but where both are absent, the Manchhar rests directly on the Upper Bhuj. The Manchhar series includes massive reddish-brown gypseous clay shales, laminated gray siltstones, some limestone, mottled sandstone, and laterite trap gravel. Only meager supplies of brackish water are obtained from wells in these sediments. Along the channels of Kotwala, Dalwala, Kageshwar, and Kara Vokras are narrow bands of unconsolidated coarse sand with fine gravel of Quaternary age. No wells were observed in these deposits, but it is possible that locally they may contain small supplies of bracki

Mustiscaling Analysis applied to field Water Content through Distributed Fiber Optic Temperature sensing measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benitez Buelga, Javier; Rodriguez-Sinobas, Leonor; Sanchez, Raul; Gil, Maria; Tarquis, Ana M.

2014-05-01

Soils can be seen as the result of spatial variation operating over several scales. This observation points to 'variability' as a key soil attribute that should be studied. Soil variability has often been considered to be composed of 'functional' (explained) variations plus random fluctuations or noise. However, the distinction between these two components is scale dependent because increasing the scale of observation almost always reveals structure in the noise. Geostatistical methods and, more recently, multifractal/wavelet techniques have been used to characterize scaling and heterogeneity of soil properties among others coming from complexity science. Multifractal formalism, first proposed by Mandelbrot (1982), is suitable for variables with self-similar distribution on a spatial domain (Kravchenko et al., 2002). Multifractal analysis can provide insight into spatial variability of crop or soil parameters (Vereecken et al., 2007). This technique has been used to characterize the scaling property of a variable measured along a transect as a mass distribution of a statistical measure on a spatial domain of the studied field (Zeleke and Si, 2004). To do this, it divides the transect into a number of self-similar segments. It identifies the differences among the subsets by using a wide range of statistical moments. Wavelets were developed in the 1980s for signal processing, and later introduced to soil science by Lark and Webster (1999). The wavelet transform decomposes a series; whether this be a time series (Whitcher, 1998; Percival and Walden, 2000), or as in our case a series of measurements made along a transect; into components (wavelet coefficients) which describe local variation in the series at different scale (or frequency) intervals, giving up only some resolution in space (Lark et al., 2003, 2004). Wavelet coefficients can be used to estimate scale specific components of variation and correlation. This allows us to see which scales contribute most to signal variation, or to see at which scales signals are most correlated. This can give us an insight into the dominant processes An alternative to both of the above methods has been described recently. Relative entropy and increments in relative entropy has been applied in soil images (Bird et al., 2006) and in soil transect data (Tarquis et al., 2008) to study scale effects localized in scale and provide the information that is complementary to the information about scale dependencies found across a range of scales. We will use them in this work to describe the spatial scaling properties of a set of field water content data measured in an extension of a corn field, in a plot of 500 m2 and an spatial resolution of 25 cm. These measurements are based on an optics cable (BruggSteal) buried on a ziz-zag deployment at 30cm depth. References Bird, N., M.C. Díaz, A. Saa, and A.M. Tarquis. 2006. A review of fractal and multifractal analysis of soil pore-scale images. J. Hydrol. 322:211-219. Kravchenko, A.N., R. Omonode, G.A. Bollero, and D.G. Bullock. 2002. Quantitative mapping of soil drainage classes using topographical data and soil electrical conductivity. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 66:235-243. Lark, R.M., A.E. Milne, T.M. Addiscott, K.W.T. Goulding, C.P. Webster, and S. O'Flaherty. 2004. Scale- and location-dependent correlation of nitrous oxide emissions with soil properties: An analysis using wavelets. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 55:611-627. Lark, R.M., S.R. Kaffka, and D.L. Corwin. 2003. Multiresolution analysis of data on electrical conductivity of soil using wavelets. J. Hydrol. 272:276-290. Lark, R. M. and Webster, R. 1999. Analysis and elucidation of soil variation using wavelets. European J. of Soil Science, 50(2): 185-206. Mandelbrot, B.B. 1982. The fractal geometry of nature. W.H. Freeman, New York. Percival, D.B., and A.T. Walden. 2000. Wavelet methods for time series analysis. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK. Tarquis, A.M., N.R. Bird, A.P. Whitmore, M.C. Cartagena, and Y. Pachepsky. 2008. Multiscale analysis of soil transect data. Vadose Zone J. 7: 563-569. Vereecken, H., R. Kasteel, J. Vanderborght, and T. Harter. 2007. Upscaling hydraulic properties and soil water flow processes in heterogeneous soils: A review. Vadose Zone J. 6:1-28. Whitcher, B.J. 1998. Assessing nonstationary time series using wavelets. Ph.D. diss. Univ. of Washington, Seattle (Diss. Abstr. 9907961). Zeleke, T.B., and B.C. Si. 2004. Scaling properties of topographic indices and crop yield: Multifractal and joint multifractal approaches. Agron J., 96:1082-1090.

EDITORIAL: Environmental justice: a critical issue for all environmental scientists everywhere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stephens, Carolyn

2007-10-01

It is now commonly understood that much of the worldwide burden of environmental ill health falls disproportionately on poorer peoples [1,2]. There is also substantial evidence that much environmental damage internationally is the result of the actions of richer nations or richer groups within nations—with impacts on poorer nations and poorer groups within nations [1,3,4]. It is becoming clear also that poorer peoples internationally experience multiple environmental harms, and that these may have a cumulative effect. The world is becoming more urbanized, and cities are becoming the locus for many of the local issues of environmental damage and environmental harm [4,5]. But cities are also responsible for substantial international environmental damage: for example, it is increasingly evident that cities are one of the main generators of climate change, and that the actions of people in cities in the rich world are deeply linked to the well-being of the overall ecosystem and of people worldwide. Environmental justice is a concept that links the environmental health science documenting these harms, to debates around rights, justice and equity. It fundamentally deals with the distribution of environmental goods and harms—and looks at who bears those harms and who is responsible for creating those harms, in both a practical sense but also in terms of policy decisions. It is a radical environmental health movement that has evolved from civil society groups, angered at what they perceive as the `unjust' distribution of environmental resources for health and, conversely the `unjust' distribution of environmental harms. The movement now includes a collaboration of non-governmental organizations with environmental scientists, public health professionals, and lawyers, all working on the issue of the distributions of environmental harms and the rights of everyone to a healthy environment. This special issue is both timely and important. Environmental justice is moving conceptually and empirically. It started in the US as a movement of local civil society groups against local environmental injustice and distribution of environmental harms [6]. It is becoming a movement that encompasses international environmental injustices and issues of access to environmental goods—and it discusses environmental justice issues both across countries and also across generations. One such definition was pulled together by academics and NGOs in the UK in 2001: 'that everyone should have the right and be able to live in a healthy environment, with access to enough environmental resources for a healthy life' 'that responsibilities are on this current generation to ensure a healthy environment exists for future generations, and on countries, organisations and individuals in this generation to ensure that development does not create environmental problems or distribute environmental resources in ways which damage other peoples health' [7]. This kind of broad definition of environmental justice has been gaining currency internationally, and language around justice is moving into many topic areas of environmental science—shifting discourse on 'climate change' to 'climate justice', 'water pollution' to 'rights to clean water', 'air pollution' to 'rights to healthy air'. Policy is changing too. In Europe the public is gaining more access to information on environmental harms through policy mechanisms such as the Aarhus Convention [8,9] and internationally, civil society groups are becoming aware that there are mechanisms to support them if they challenge environmental pollution. As the public becomes more aware of the issues of environmental justice, and as policy shifts in this direction, environmental scientists have a challenge. We have some of the methodology necessary to measure the distribution of environmental harms and environmental responsibilities. But we also need to develop new methods to deal with the new challenges: for example, how do we measure when an issue of water contamination becomes an issue of environmental injustice? How do we measure the impacts of environmental harm today on future generations? How do we measure the distribution of multiple or cumulative impacts on poorer groups? How do we quantify the responsibility of richer citizens in the world for the environmental harms distributed unequally to the poorer citizens? The papers in this focus issue do not answer all these questions, but we hope that this theme will recur in Environmental Research Letters and that more environmental scientists will begin to frame their analyses around the critical issues of distributions of environmental harms and benefits. References [1] United Nations Environment Programme 2007 Global Environmental Outlook 2007 (Nairobi: United Nations Environment Programme) [2] UNICEF 2005 The State of the World's Children 2005 (Oxford: Oxford University Press) [3] World Resources Institute 2002 Wastes Produced from Industrialised Countries available from www.wri.org [4] Stephens C and Stair P 2007 Charting a new course for urban public health State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future ed L Stark (New York: W W Norton) pp 134 48 [5] Lee K N 2007 An urbanizing world State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future ed L Stark (New York: W W Norton) pp 3 22 [6] United States Environmental Protection Agency 2003 Environmental Justice available from www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljustice/ [7] Stephens C, Bullock S and Scott A 2001 Environmental justice: rights and mean to a healthy environment for all Special Briefing Paper Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Global Environmental Change Programme (Brighton: ESRC Global Environmental Change Programme, University of Sussex) p 3 available from www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/environmental_justice.pdf [8] United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Access to Information 1999 Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Geneva: UNECE) [9] United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) 2007 Aarhus Clearinghouse for Environmental Democracy available from aarhusclearinghouse.unece.org/ Focus on Environmental Justice And Health Internationally Contents The articles below represent the first accepted contributions and further additions will appear in the near future. Environmental justice in Scotland: policy, pedagogy and praxis Eurig Scandrett Exploring the joint effect of atmospheric pollution and socioeconomic status on selected health outcomes: the PAISARC Project Denis Bard, O Laurent, L Filleul, S Havard, S Deguen, C Segala, G Pedrono, E Riviere, C Schillinger, L Rouil, D Arveiler and D Eilstein Environmental justice and the distributional deficit in policy appraisal in the UK G P Walker

Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mackwell, Stephen J.; Simon-Miller, Amy A.; Harder, Jerald W.; Bullock, Mark A.

Public awareness of climate change on Earth is currently very high, promoting significant interest in atmospheric processes. We are fortunate to live in an era where it is possible to study the climates of many planets, including our own, using spacecraft and groundbased observations as well as advanced computational power that allows detailed modeling. Planetary atmospheric dynamics and structure are all governed by the same basic physics. Thus differences in the input variables (such as composition, internal structure, and solar radiation) among the known planets provide a broad suite of natural laboratory settings for gaining new understanding of these physical processes and their outcomes. Diverse planetary settings provide insightful comparisons to atmospheric processes and feedbacks on Earth, allowing a greater understanding of the driving forces and external influences on our own planetary climate. They also inform us in our search for habitable environments on planets orbiting distant stars, a topic that was a focus of Exoplanets, the preceding book in the University of Arizona Press Space Sciences Series. Quite naturally, and perhaps inevitably, our fascination with climate is largely driven toward investigating the interplay between the early development of life and the presence of a suitable planetary climate. Our understanding of how habitable planets come to be begins with the worlds closest to home. Venus, Earth, and Mars differ only modestly in their mass and distance from the Sun, yet their current climates could scarcely be more divergent. Our purpose for this book is to set forth the foundations for this emerging science and to bring to the forefront our current understanding of atmospheric formation and climate evolution. Although there is significant comparison to be made to atmospheric processes on nonterrestrial planets in our solar system — the gas and ice giants — here we focus on the terrestrial planets, leaving even broader comparisons to a future volume. Our authors have taken on the task to look at climate on the terrestrial planets in the broadest sense possible — by comparing the atmospheric processes at work on the four terrestrial bodies, Earth, Venus, Mars, and Titan (Titan is included because it hosts many of the common processes), and on terrestrial planets around other stars. These processes include the interactions of shortwave and thermal radiation with the atmosphere, condensation and vaporization of volatiles, atmospheric dynamics, chemistry and aerosol formation, and the role of the surface and interior in the long-term evolution of climate. Chapters herein compare the scientific questions, analysis methods, numerical models, and spacecraft remote sensing experiments of Earth and the other terrestrial planets, emphasizing the underlying commonality of physical processes. We look to the future by identifying objectives for ongoing research and new missions. Through these pages we challenge practicing planetary scientists, and most importantly new students of any age, to find pathways and synergies for advancing the field. In Part I, Foundations, we introduce the fundamental physics of climate on terrestrial planets. Starting with the best studied planet by far, Earth, the first chapters discuss what is known and what is not known about the atmospheres and climates of the terrestrial planets of the solar system and beyond. In Part II, Greenhouse Effect and Atmospheric Dynamics, we focus on the processes that govern atmospheric motion and the role that general circulation models play in our current understanding. In Part III, Clouds and Hazes, we provide an in-depth look at the many effects of clouds and aerosols on planetary climate. Although this is a vigorous area of research in the Earth sciences, and very strongly influences climate modeling, the important role that aerosols and clouds play in the climate of all planets is not yet well constrained. This section is intended to stimulate further research on this critical subject. The study of climate involves much more than understanding atmospheric processes. This subtlety is particularly appreciated for Earth, where chemical cycles, geology, ocean influences, and biology are considered in most climate models. In Part IV, Surface and Interior, we look at the role that geochemical cycles, volcanism, and interior mantle processes play in the stability and evolution of terrestrial planetary climates. There is one vital commonality between the climates of all the planets of the solar system: Regardless of the different processes that dominate each of the climates of Earth, Mars, Venus, and Titan, they are all ultimately forced by radiation from the same star, albeit at variable distances. In Part V, Solar Influences, we discuss how the Sun's early evolution affected the climates of the terrestrial planets, and how it continues to control the temperatures and compositions of planetary atmospheres. This will be of particular interest as models of exoplanets, and the influences of much different stellar types and distances, are advanced by further observations. Comparisons of atmospheric and climate processes between the planets in our solar system has been a focus of numerous conferences over the past decade, including the Exoclimes conference series. In particular, this book project was closely tied to a conference on Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets that was held in Boulder, Colorado, on June 25-28, 2012. This book benefited from the opportunity for the author teams to interact and obtain feedback from the broader community, but the chapters do not in general tie directly to presentations at the conference. The conference, which was organized by a diverse group of atmospheric and climate scientists led by Mark Bullock and Lori Glaze, sought to build connections between the various communities, focusing on synergies and complementary capabilities. Discussion panels at the end of most sessions served to build connections between planetary, solar, astrophysics, and Earth climate scientists. These presentations and discussions allowed broadening of the author teams and tuning of the material in each chapter. Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets is the 38th book in the University of Arizona Press Space Sciences Series. The support and guidance from General Editor Richard Binzel has been critical in timely production of a quality volume. Renée Dotson of the Lunar and Planetary Institute, with support from Elizabeth Cunningham and Katy Buckaloo, provided outstanding help in the management of the book project and especially in the preparation of the chapters for publication. Her quiet reminders and attention to detail are critical in making the Space Science Series such an asset for the planetary science community. As for so many other books in this series, William Hartmann used his artistic skills to masterfully capture the book's theme. Much gratitude is owed to Adriana Ocampo of NASA Headquarters for her support of both the conference and book projects and her shepherding of the NASA contributions from the diverse groups within the Science Mission Directorate. Equally, James Green and Jonathan Rall of NASA Headquarters provided the financial resources and corporate oversight that helped make this book project such a success.

Organic Carbon Exists in Mars Meteorites: where is it on the Martian Surface?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKay, David; Clemett, Simon; Gibson, Everett; Thomas-Keprta, Kathie; Wentworth, Susan

The search for organic carbon on Mars has been a major challenge. The first attempt was the Viking GC-MS in situ experiment which gave inconclusive results at two sites on Mars [1]. After the discovery that the SNC meteorites were from Mars [2], [3-5] reported C isotopic compositional information which suggested a reduced C component present in the Martian meteorites. [6 7] reported the presence of reduced C components (i.e., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) associated with the carbonate globules in ALH84001. Jull et al. [8] noted in Nakhla there was an acid insoluble C component present with more than 75% of its C lacking any 14 C, which is modern-day terrestrial carbon. This C fraction was believed to be either indigenous martian or ancient meteoritic carbon. Fisk et al. [9, 10] have shown textural evidence along with C-enriched areas within fractures in Nakhla and ALH84001. Westall et al. [11] have shown the presence of a large irregular fragment of organic material completely embedded within a chip of ALH84001. Interior samples from the Nakhla SNC made available by the British Museum of Natural His-tory, were analyzed. Petrographic examination [12] of Nakhla showed evidence of fractures ( 0.5 m wide) filled with dark brown to black dendritic material with characteristics similar to those observed by [10]. Iddingsite is also present along fractures in olivine. Fracture filling and dendritic material was examined by SEM-EDX, TEM-EDX, Focused Electron Beam mi-croscopy, Laser Raman Spectroscopy, Nano-SIMS Ion Micro-probe, and Stepped-Combustion Static Mass Spectrometry. Observations from the first three techniques are discussed in [12 and 13]. Nano-SIMS Ion Microprobe studies of the C-bearing fractures, containing the optically dark dendritic material, show direct correlation between C- and CN- abundances. Ion abun-dances for epoxy are distinct from those of the dendritic material[12] . Laser Raman Spectrometry was utilized to examine the optically dark dendritic material prior to stepped-combustion [13]. Samples of the epoxy were examined along with the 100 -150 m diameter cores. Individual 3 -5 m size regions within the cores were analyzed in the 1000 -2000 wavenumber (cm-1 ) region. Bands observed include: 1868, 1705, 1500, 1450, 1435, 1385, 1350, 1267, 1147, 1076 and 1045 wavenumber (cm-1 ). This was the first report of an apparent complex mixture of carbonaceous components associated with Nakhla dendritic material and iddingsite. Stepped Combustion Static Mass Spectrometry analysis is capable of distinguishing different C-and N-bearing components present along with their C and N isotopic composi-tions. Analysis of epoxy blanks along with cored samples bearing the opaque carbonaceous-rich materials were analyzed. Three distinct components were detected in Nakhla [13]. A low-temperature C component released below 300° C was predominately terrestrial contamination with an isotopic composition of -22 to -24o /oo . A reduced C-bearing component with isotopic compositions of -16.1o /oo to -18.4o /oo to -20.2o /oo to -19.4o /oo was measured for the 400° , 450° , 500° and 550° C temperature intervals, resp. Possible presence of a pre-terrestrial secondary carbonate with an isotopic composition of >+5o /oo was released at T > 550° C, but this phase is also similar to operational blanks. The isotopic composition of the reduced C-component was identical to values -18 to -20o /oo reported by [8] and [14]. However, our C analysis is the first isotopic measurement of directly imaged high molecular weight carbonaceous components in Nakhla. Previous measurements were from bulk Nahkla samples with no direct observation of the C-bearing phases. N isotopic composition associated with the reduced C-component was +5o /oo . [12, 13] were the first reports correlating fracture-fill material in Nakhla, iddingsite and op-tically dark dendritic material, with reduced carbonaceous components. The source of these components can be interpreted as produced by different possible processes: (a) C introduced during a carbonaceous-rich impactor on Mars 600,000 to 700,000 years ago [15] -this impact may have produced the fractures in Nakhla where iddingsite resides; or, (b) these C-bearing components may be products of biogenic activity and introduced by ground-water into the fracture features in Nakhla [16]. We have also recently identified carbon-rich grains and crack filling material in the Nakhlite Yamato000593 recovered from Antarctica by the Japanese Polar Program. The lack of identified carbon in the Viking data is commonly attributed to a superoxident that may be present in the uppermost martian regolith [eg.16]. Strong UV exposure also has been shown to decompose and destroy organic carbon relatively rapidly [17]. In the case of ALH84001 and the Nakhlites, the organic carbon may be protected from both the proposed super-oxidizing agent and UV light exposure by a modest (a few meters) pre-ejection burial depth. All of these meteorites show some sign of aqueous alteration, perhaps by ground water or from short-lived lakes. However, the lack of major aqueous alteration and the presence of mainly ferrous iron show that most of their residence time on Mars was not spent in an environment which was significantly oxidizing. The presence of organic carbon in these meteorites also shows that the regions containing the carbon were never significantly exposed to surface UV light. Our interpretation is that organic carbon may not be uncommon in rocks and regolith near the surface of Mars samples. The best place to look may be in crack fillings in rocks and other places where water flowed but which are protected from direct sunlight. The origin of the carbon remain enigmatic, but the meteorite data give encouragement to further robotic exploration for organics on Mars. References: [1] Biemann K. et al., (1977) J.G.R. 82, 4641-4658. [2] Bo-gard D.D. and P. Johnson (1983) Science 221, 651-654. [3] Carr R.H. et al. (1985). Nature 314, 248-250. [4] Wright I.P. et al. (1989) Nature 340, 220-222. [5] Grady M.M. et al. (1994) Meteor.Planet. Sci. 24, 469. [6] McKay D.S. et al. (1996) Science 273, 924-930. [7] Clemett S.J. et al., Faraday Discuss. 109, 417-436. [8] Jull A.T.J. et al. (2000) GCA 64, 3763-3772. [9] Fisk M.R. et al., (2005) LPSC XXXVI, Abst. 2275. [10] Fisk M.R. et al., (2006) Astrobiology,, [11]Westall, F. et. al, ( 2000) Proc. SPIE., [12] McKay D.S. et al. (2006) LPSC XXXVII, [13] E.K. Gibson, Jr. et. al (2006) LPSC XXXVII, [14] Sephton M.A. (2002) Planet. Space Sci. 50, 711-716. ,[15] Swindle T.D. and E.K. Olson (2004) Meteor. Planet. Sci. 39, 755-766. [16] Romanek C.R. et al., (1998) Meteor. Planet. Sci. 33, 775-784. [17] Zent, A. P. 92001) Proc. SPIE, 108-119, V4495. [18] Stoker, C. R. and Bullock, M. A. (1997) JGR, V102, E5, P. 10881-10888.