Taking the Temperature of a Lava Planet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kreidberg, Laura; Lopez, Eric; Cowan, Nick; Lupu, Roxana; Stevenson, Kevin; Louden, Tom; Malavolta, Luca

2018-05-01

Ultra-short period rocky planets (USPs) are an exotic class of planet found around less than 1% of stars. With orbital periods shorter than 24 hours, these worlds are blasted with stellar radiation that is expected to obliterate any traces of a primordial atmosphere and melt the dayside surface into a magma ocean. Observations of USPs have yielded several surprising results, including the measurement of an offset hotspot in the thermal phase curve of 55 Cancri e (which may indicate a thick atmosphere has survived), and a high Bond albedo for Kepler-10b, which suggests the presence of unusually reflective lava on its surface. To further explore the properties of USPs and put these results in context, we propose to observe a thermal phase curve of the newly discovered USP K2- 141b. This planet is a rocky world in a 6.7 hour orbit around a bright, nearby star. When combined with optical phase curve measured by K2, our observations will uniquely determine the planet's Bond albedo, precisely measure the offset of the thermal curve, and determine the temperature of the dayside surface. These results will cement Spitzer's role as a pioneer in the study of terrestrial planets beyond the Solar System, and provide a critical foundation for pursuing the optimal follow-up strategy for K2-141b with JWST.

Molding Students into Better Decisionmakers and Managers: An Experiential Learning Exercise.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Babbar, Sunil

1994-01-01

Examples of real-world customer service situations were observed by business students, who then submitted papers and discussed them in class. Their questionnaire responses indicated the value of developing understanding through such an experiential class activity. (SK)

Experiential Learning: High School Student Response to Learning Oceanography at Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiedler, J. W.; Tamsitt, V. M.; Crosby, S. C.; Ludka, B. C.

2016-12-01

The GOTO-SEE (Graduate students Onboard Teaching Oceanography - Scripps Educational Experience) cruises were conducted with two days of ship time off of Point Loma, CA, on the R/V Robert Gordon Sproul in July 2016. The cruises, funded through UC Ship Funds program, provided a unique training opportunity for graduate students to design, coordinate and conduct ship-based field experiments as well as teaching and mentoring students. The cruises allowed for instruction at sea for high school students in the UCSD Academic Connections program in two small classes: a two-week long Global Environmental Leadership and Sustainability Program and a 3-week long class entitled Wind, Waves and Currents: Physics of the Ocean World. Students in both classes assisted with the collection of data, including two repeat cross-shore vertical CTD sections with nutrient sampling, and the deployment and recovery of a 10-day moored vertical thermistor array. Additional activities included plankton net tows, sediment sampling, depth soundings, and simple experiments regarding light absorption in the ocean. The students later plotted the data collected as a class assignment and presented a scientific poster to their peers. Here, we present the lessons learned from the cruises as well as student responses to the unique in-the-field experience, and how those responses differed by curriculum.

The World Soil Museum: education and advocacy on soils of the world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mantel, Stephan; Land, Hiske

2013-04-01

The World Soil Museum (WSM) in Wageningen, is part of ISRIC World Soil Information and was founded in 1966 on request of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Soil Science Society. The World Soil Museum has a collection of over 1100 soil profiles from more than 70 countries. This soil profiles are vertical sections and show the composition, layering and structure of the soil. The collection is unique in the world and includes a significant number of soil profiles from the Netherlands. The Dutch soil collection is important for serving broader visitor groups, as some visitors, such as secondary school classes, are specifically interested in the Dutch landscape and soils. Broadly speaking, the World Soil Museum has five functions: (i) education and courses, (ii) research, (iii) information and edutainment, (iv) social function, and (v) a real museum function (Art). The World Soil Museum (World Soil Museum) is well known in national and international circles soil and the English name has almost 1,000 references on the Internet. The World Soil Museum is visited by about 1000 people a year, mainly university and college students from Western Europe. Other visitor groups that have found their way to the museum are students from disciplines broader then soil science, such as geography and rural development. Secondary school classes visit the museum for geography classes. The uniqueness and the value of the collection of soil profiles (soil monoliths) and associated collections, such as soil samples, hand pieces, thin sections, slides, is emphasized by the fact ISRIC is the only World Data Centre for Soils (WDC-Soils) within the World Data System of the International Council of Science (ICSU). The collection provides an insight in and overview of the diversity of soils in the world, their properties and their limitations and possibilities for use. A new building is under construction for the WSM, which is expected to be ready mid-2013. The location is appropriately placed on the Wageningen University Campus, close to the students and research centres of the University. The new exposition space will provide new opportunities for serving different visitor groups. The selection of about 80 soil monoliths representing the world's soils will be maintained in the new exposition. In addition, interactive displays will support education. A circular, interactive map of the world will be placed centrally in the exposition and will serve as a portal to the soil information. The map data refer to the monoliths on the walls and vice versa. Around the central map six theme stations communicate current topics that show the relevance of soil in different fields. For the general public it will explain the principles of soil formation and it will show the relevance to actual issues like food production and climate change. High school students in their final years can come here for work assignments and orientation days. Academic students and scientists, from both the Netherlands and other (mainly) northern European countries can continue to come to the WSM for education, study and research.

The Wasp-Waist Nebula: VLA Ammonia Observations of the Molecular Core Envelope In a Unique Class 0 Protostellar System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiseman, Jennifer

2010-01-01

The Wasp-Waist Nebula was discovered in the IRAC c2d survey of the Ophiuchus starforming clouds. It is powered by a well-isolated, low-luminosity, low-mass Class 0 object. Its weak outflow has been mapped in the CO (3-2) transition with the JCMT, in 2.12 micron H2 emission with WIRC (the Wide-Field Infrared Camera) on the Hale 5-meter, and, most recently, in six H2 mid-infrared lines with the IRS (InfraRed Spectrograph) on-board the Spitzer Space Telescope; possible jet twisting structure may be evidence of unique core dynamics. Here, we report results of recent VLA ammonia mapping observations of the dense gas envelope feeding the central core protostellar system. We describe the morphology, kinematics, and angular momentum characteristics of this unique system. The results are compared with the envelope structure deduced from IRAC 8-micron absorption of the PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) background emission from the cloud.

System Definition of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lundquist, Ray; Aymergen, Cagatay; VanCampen, Julie; Abell, James; Smith, Miles; Driggers, Phillip

2008-01-01

The Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) provides the critical functions and the environment for the four science instruments on JWST. This complex system development across many international organizations presents unique challenges and unique solutions. Here we describe how the requirement flow has been coordinated through the documentation system, how the tools and processes are used to minimize impact to the development of the affected interfaces, how the system design has matured, how the design review process operates, and how the system implementation is managed through reporting to ensure a truly world class scientific instrument compliment is created as the final product.

QMHC interview: Peter R. Scholtes [by Marie E. Sinioris].

PubMed

Scholtes, P R

1993-01-01

Peter R. Scholtes has a unique perspective on what it takes to build a world-class quality organization: A transformation of the relationships, environment, and dynamics within and between individuals and groups throughout an organization. He brings an organizational development perspective to quality management and, in particular, to the approach and practices advocated by W. Edwards Deming. This interview explores Mr. Scholtes' in-depth understanding and sometimes controversial views on quality improvement teams, team training, and performance appraisal.

Archaeology: formulation of a Roman cosmetic.

PubMed

Evershed, R P; Berstan, R; Grew, F; Copley, M S; Charmant, A J H; Barham, E; Mottram, H R; Brown, G

2004-11-04

The discovery of a small tin canister in London during archaeological excavations of a Roman temple precinct, dated to the middle of the second century AD, is a landmark in the study of this class of artefact. Such discoveries from the Roman world are rare and this is the only one to be found so far with its lid and contents--a whitish medicinal or cosmetic cream--providing a unique opportunity for us to study the ancient formulation.

Thalamo-Sensorimotor Functional Connectivity Correlates with World Ranking of Olympic, Elite, and High Performance Athletes.

PubMed

Huang, Zirui; Davis, Henry Hap; Wolff, Annemarie; Northoff, Georg

2017-01-01

Brain plasticity studies have shown functional reorganization in participants with outstanding motor expertise. Little is known about neural plasticity associated with exceptionally long motor training or of its predictive value for motor performance excellence. The present study utilised resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) in a unique sample of world-class athletes: Olympic, elite, and internationally ranked swimmers ( n = 30). Their world ranking ranged from 1st to 250th: each had prepared for participation in the Olympic Games. Combining rs-fMRI graph-theoretical and seed-based functional connectivity analyses, it was discovered that the thalamus has its strongest connections with the sensorimotor network in elite swimmers with the highest world rankings (career best rank: 1-35). Strikingly, thalamo-sensorimotor functional connections were highly correlated with the swimmers' motor performance excellence, that is, accounting for 41% of the individual variance in best world ranking. Our findings shed light on neural correlates of long-term athletic performance involving thalamo-sensorimotor functional circuits.

Dance Specialists around the World--A Living History

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Musmon, Margaret; Welsh, Kariamu; Heath, Freddie-Lee; Minton, Sandra; Laverty, Mary Ann; Maeshiba, Naoko; Weeks, Sandy; Cardinal, Marita K.; Howton, Amy; Tavacioglu, Leyla

2008-01-01

Dance embraces the entire globe. Universities offer world dance classes to expose students to various styles and educators travel to different countries to experience how dance is viewed, performed, and taught in different cultures. In this article nine dance educators share their experiences of teaching and observing dance abroad. These accounts…

Gamma rays from hidden millisecond pulsars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tavani, Marco

1992-01-01

The properties were studied of a new class of gamma ray sources consisting of millisecond pulsars totally or partially surrounded by evaporating material from irradiated companion stars. Hidden millisecond pulsars offer a unique possibility to study gamma ray, optical and radio emission from vaporizing binaries. The relevance of this class of binaries for GRO observations and interpretation of COS-B data is emphasized.

Herpes B Virus, Macacine Herpesvirus 1, Breaks Simplex Virus Tradition via Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I Expression in Cells from Human and Macaque Hosts

PubMed Central

Vasireddi, Mugdha

2012-01-01

B virus of the family Herpesviridae is endemic to rhesus macaques but results in 80% fatality in untreated humans who are zoonotically infected. Downregulation of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I in order to evade CD8+ T-cell activation is characteristic of most herpesviruses. Here we examined the cell surface presence and total protein expression of MHC class I molecules in B virus-infected human foreskin fibroblast cells and macaque kidney epithelial cells in culture, which are representative of foreign and natural host initial target cells of B virus. Our results show <20% downregulation of surface MHC class I molecules in either type of host cells infected with B virus, which is statistically insignificantly different from that observed in uninfected cells. We also examined the surface expression of MHC class Ib molecules, HLA-E and HLA-G, involved in NK cell inhibition. Our results showed significant upregulation of HLA-E and HLA-G in host cells infected with B virus relative to the amounts observed in other herpesvirus-infected cells. These results suggest that B virus-infected cell surfaces maintain normal levels of MHC class Ia molecules, a finding unique among simplex viruses. This is a unique divergence in immune evasion for B virus, which, unlike human simplex viruses, does not inhibit the transport of peptides for loading onto MHC class Ia molecules because B virus ICP47 lacks a transporter-associated protein binding domain. The fact that MHC class Ib molecules were significantly upregulated has additional implications for host-pathogen interactions. PMID:22973043

Middle School Choreography Class: Two Parallel but Different Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minton, Sandra

2007-01-01

This research explored how middle school students construct meaning from their dance-making experiences in comparison to the meaning attached to these experiences by an outside observer, the researcher. An interpretive methodology was used to study two nine-week-long dance classes taught at a private K-12 school. Eleven students enrolled in the…

The NRAO Observing for University Classes Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cannon, John M.; Van Moorsel, Gustaaf A.

2017-01-01

The NRAO "Observing for University Classes" program is a tremendous resource for instructors of courses in observational astronomy. As a service to the astronomical and educational communities, the NRAO offers small amounts of observing time on the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Very Long Baseline Array to such instructors. The data can be used by students and faculty to demonstrate radio astronomy theory with modern data products. Further, the results may lead to publication; this is a unique opportunity for faculty members to integrate research into the classroom. Previous experience with NRAO facilities is required for instructors; individuals without radio astronomy experience can take advantage of other NRAO educational opportunities (e.g., the Synthesis Imaging Workshop) prior to using the program. No previous experience with radio astronomy data is required for students; this is the primary target audience of the program. To demonstrate concept, this poster describes three different VLA observing programs that have been completed using the "Observing for University Classes" resource at Macalester College; undergraduate students have published the results of all three of these programs. Other recent "Observing for University Classes" programs are also described.

Solar research with ALMA: Czech node of European ARC as your user-support infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bárta, M.; Skokić, I.; Brajša, R.; Czech ARC Node Team

2017-08-01

ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array) is by far the largest project of current ground-based observational facilities in astronomy and astrophysics. It is built and operated in the world-wide cooperation (ESO, NRAO, NAOJ) at altitude of 5000m in the desert of Atacama, Chile. Because of its unprecedented capabilities, ALMA is considered as a cutting-edge research device in astrophysics with potential for many breakthrough discoveries in the next decade and beyond. In spite it is not exclusively solar-research dedicated instrument, science observations of the Sun are now possible and has recently started in the observing Cycle 4 (2016-2017). In order to facilitate user access to this top-class, but at the same moment very complicated device to researchers lacking technical expertise, a network of three ALMA Regional Centers (ARCs) has been formed in Europe, North America, and East Asia as a user-support infrastructure and interface between the observatory and users community. After short introduction to ALMA the roles of ARCs and hint how to utilize their services will be presented, with emphasis to the specific (and in Europe unique) mission of the Czech ARC node in solar research with ALMA. Finally, peculiarities of solar observations that demanded the development of the specific Solar ALMA Observing Modes will be discuss

The ANDES Deep Underground Laboratory in South America: status and prospects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bertou, Xavier

2017-01-01

The construction of the Agua Negra tunnel through the Andes between Argentina and Chile is a unique opportunity to build a world class deep underground laboratory in the southern hemisphere, with 1750 m of rock overburden. At 30 degrees latitude south, far from nuclear power plants, it provides a unique site for Dark Matter searches and Neutrino experiments, and can host multidisciplinary experiments with a specific focus on Earth sciences given its location in a peculiar geoactive region. Its operation is foreseen to be coordinated by an international consortium and to start in 2026. In this presentation the current status of the Agua Negra tunnel and the ANDES initiative will be reviewed, and the scientific programme of the planned laboratory will be discussed.

The association between adolescents' beliefs in a just world and their attitudes to victims of bullying.

PubMed

Fox, Claire L; Elder, Tracey; Gater, Josephine; Johnson, Elizabeth

2010-06-01

Research which has investigated children's attitudes to bullying has found that the majority of children display anti-bullying attitudes. However, a small minority of children do appear to admire the bully and lack sympathy for victims of bullying. The just world belief theory has received a great deal of attention in recent years with evidence emerging in support of a two-dimensional model distinguishing between beliefs in a just world (BJW) for self and BJW for others. BJW-self (and not BJW-others) has been found to uniquely predict psychological well-being, whereas BJW-others (and not BJW-self) uniquely predicts harsh social attitudes and derogation of victims. The aim of the present study was to measure BJW-self and others in a sample of UK secondary schoolchildren and to see whether BJW-others can account for adolescents' negative attitudes towards victims of bullying. In total, 346 pupils aged 11-16 years of age (270 males, 76 females) from two schools took part in the study. The participants completed measures of BJW-self and others, attitudes to victims of bullying, empathy, and self-esteem on a whole class basis. It was found that BJW-others uniquely predicted adolescents' attitudes to victims but in the opposite direction to that which was predicted - high BJW were associated with stronger anti-bullying attitudes. As predicted, BJW-self (but not BJW-others) was positively and uniquely correlated with self-esteem. The findings are discussed in the context of research which has found that the direction of the relationship between BJW-others and derogation of victims appears to depend on the nature of the injustice, with people with strong BJW less tolerant of severe injustices.

Shirakatsi Astronomical and Natural Philosophical Views

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mkrtchyan, Lilit

2016-12-01

Our work is aimed at presenting Shirakatsi astronomical and natural philosophical views. Karl Anania Shirakatsi is classified as one of the world-class intellectual geniuses. He was endowed with exceptional talent and analyzing scientific understanding of natural phenomena. He refers his philosophical works to almost all fields of science, cosmography, mathematics, calendarology, historiography, etc. Shirakatsy's earnings of natural science and natural philosophy in medieval is too big He was the first prominent scholar and thinker of his time, creating a unique, comprehensive gitapilisopayakan system that still feeds the human mind. The scientific value of Shirakatsi has great importance not only for Armenians but also for the whole world of science, history, culture and philosophy. Shirakatsi can be considered not only national but also universal greatness.

Validating an Environmental Education Field Day Observation Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Stephan P.; Heimlich, Joe E.; Storksdieck, Martin

2011-01-01

Environmental Field Days (EFD) are held throughout the country and provide a unique opportunity to involve students in real world science. A study to assess the validity of an observation tool for EFD programs was conducted at the Metro Water Festival with fifth grade students. Items from the observation tool were mapped to students' evaluation…

The Quest for World Class Universities in China: Critical Reflections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ngok, Kinglun; Guo, Weiqing

2008-01-01

Building world-class universities has become a national policy priority in China since then-President Jiang Zemin announced in May 1998 that China must have several world-class universities of international advanced level. This article aims to offer critical reflections on the policy in relation to building world-class universities in China. It…

Student Enrollment in World Languages: "L'égalité Des Chances?"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baggett, Hannah Carson

2016-01-01

Students enrolled in world language classes experience many positive academic and developmental outcomes, and world language classes are often gateways to institutions of higher education in the United States. However, not all learners have access to world language classes. Differences in language class availability exist not only between school…

A neuro-fuzzy architecture for real-time applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramamoorthy, P. A.; Huang, Song

1992-01-01

Neural networks and fuzzy expert systems perform the same task of functional mapping using entirely different approaches. Each approach has certain unique features. The ability to learn specific input-output mappings from large input/output data possibly corrupted by noise and the ability to adapt or continue learning are some important features of neural networks. Fuzzy expert systems are known for their ability to deal with fuzzy information and incomplete/imprecise data in a structured, logical way. Since both of these techniques implement the same task (that of functional mapping--we regard 'inferencing' as one specific category under this class), a fusion of the two concepts that retains their unique features while overcoming their individual drawbacks will have excellent applications in the real world. In this paper, we arrive at a new architecture by fusing the two concepts. The architecture has the trainability/adaptibility (based on input/output observations) property of the neural networks and the architectural features that are unique to fuzzy expert systems. It also does not require specific information such as fuzzy rules, defuzzification procedure used, etc., though any such information can be integrated into the architecture. We show that this architecture can provide better performance than is possible from a single two or three layer feedforward neural network. Further, we show that this new architecture can be used as an efficient vehicle for hardware implementation of complex fuzzy expert systems for real-time applications. A numerical example is provided to show the potential of this approach.

Archival of Amateur Observations in Support to ESA/Rosetta Mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shirinian, R.; Yanamandra-Fisher, P. A.; Buratti, B. J.

2016-12-01

The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (CG) has included a global ground-based observing campaign consisting of both professional and amateur observers. While professional observers have access to world class observatories with multi-spectral instruments, amateur observers use smaller aperture telescopes that mainly cover the optical spectrum. Amateur observers however, have the advantage of being able to observe as needed since their time is not competed by other observers as it is in professional facilities. This allows amateurs to create a temporal baseline of observations throughout a mission to complement professional observations with context. The Rosetta mission has had an active amateur observer campaign for over 2 years, from January 2014 to August 2016 and has nearly 150 active observers from around the globe. As the Rosetta mission and its observer campaign come to an end in September 2016, an important goal of the project is the collection and archival of the amateur observational data. The ESA's Planetary Science Archive (PSA) has created a unique system that provides firewalled user-specific directories for amateur observers to upload and archive their data, allowing professionals and amateurs to crowdsource data for future science analyses. Possible future science products could include analysis of luminosity, dust cover, position angle, and tail length, all of which can be analyzed over time due to the consistent amateur data taken for over two years. A challenge for the project is that amateur observers have varying amounts of data, ranging from a few megabytes to several gigabytes. Our project addresses the retrieval of amateur observations, renaming, reformatting, and upload to the PSA. The final steps of the archival of amateur observations are the quality check of the data, some of the possible analyses, and identification of data that can be integrated with professional data analysis. The unique integration of amateur observations and professional observations will be crowdsourced for future scientific analysis. This research project was conducted at NASA/JPL/Caltech with funding from NASA and the NSF REU site Consortium for Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) ran through LACC.

Solar research with ALMA: Czech node of European ARC as your user-support infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bárta, M.; Skokić, I.; Brajša, R.; Czech ARC Node Team

2017-08-01

ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array) is by far the largest project of current ground-based observational facilities in astronomy and astrophysics. It is built and operated in the world-wide cooperation (ESO, NRAO, NAOJ) at altitude of 5000m in the desert of Atacama, Chile. Because of its unprecedented capabilities, ALMA is considered as a cutting-edge research device in astrophysics with potential for many breakthrough discoveries in the next decade and beyond. In spite it is not exclusively solar-research dedicated instrument, science observations of the Sun are now possible and has recently started in the observing Cycle 4 (2016-2017). In order to facilitate user access to this top-class, but at the same moment very complicated device to researchers lacking technical expertise, a network of three ALMA Regional Centers (ARCs) has been formed in Europe, North America, and East Asia as a user-support infrastructure and interface between the observatory and users community. After short introduction to ALMA the roles of ARCs and hint how to utilize their services will be presented, with emphasis to the specific (and in Europe unique) mission of the Czech ARC node in solar research with ALMA. Finally, peculiarities of solar observations that demanded the development of the specific Solar ALMA Observing Modes will be discussed and the results of Commissioning and Science Verification observing campaigns (solar ALMA maps) will be shown.

The unique world of the Everett version of quantum theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Squires, Euan J.

1988-03-01

We ask whether the basic Everett assumption, that there are no changes of the wavefunction other than those given by the Schrödinger equation, is compatible with experience. We conclude that it is, provided we allow the world of observation to be partially a creation of consciousness. The model suggests the possible existence of quantum paranormal effects.

Soft Biological and Composite Nanomaterials

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

Firestone, Millicent

2016-04-01

The goal of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) is to plays a leadership role in integration of nanostructured materials to enable novel capabilities and applications through its function as a Department of Energy/Office of Science Nanoscale Science Research Center (NSRC) national user facility. By coupling open access to unique and world-class capabilities and scientific expertise to an active user community, CINT supports high-impact research that no other single institution could achieve – the whole of CINT including its user community is greater than the sum of its parts.

Nanophotonics and Optical Nanomaterials

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

Doorn, Stephen

The goal of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) is to plays a leadership role in integration of nanostructured materials to enable novel capabilities and applications through its function as a Department of Energy/Office of Science Nanoscale Science Research Center (NSRC) national user facility. By coupling open access to unique and world-class capabilities and scientific expertise to an active user community, CINT supports high-impact research that no other single institution could achieve – the whole of CINT including its user community is greater than the sum of its parts.

4MOST systems engineering: from conceptual design to preliminary design review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellido-Tirado, Olga; Frey, Steffen; Barden, Samuel C.; Brynnel, Joar; Giannone, Domenico; Haynes, Roger; de Jong, Roelof S.; Phillips, Daniel; Schnurr, Olivier; Walcher, Jakob; Winkler, Roland

2016-08-01

The 4MOST Facility is a high-multiplex, wide-field, brief-fed spectrograph system for the ESO VISTA telescope. It aims to create a world-class spectroscopic survey facility unique in its combination of wide-field multiplex, spectral resolution, spectral coverage, and sensitivity. At the end of 2014, after a successful concept optimization design phase, 4MOST entered into its Preliminary Design Phase. Here we present the process and tools adopted during the Preliminary Design Phase to define the subsystems specifications, coordinate the interface control documents and draft the system verification procedures.

The genomic proliferation of transposable elements in colonizing populations: Schistosoma mansoni in the new world.

PubMed

Wijayawardena, Bhagya K; DeWoody, J Andrew; Minchella, Dennis J

2015-06-01

Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile genes with an inherent ability to move within and among genomes. Theory predicts that TEs proliferate extensively during physiological stress due to the breakdown of TE repression systems. We tested this hypothesis in Schistosoma mansoni, a widespread trematode parasite that causes the human disease schistosomiasis. According to phylogenetic analysis, S. mansoni invaded the new world during the last 500 years. We hypothesized that new world strains of S. mansoni would have more copies of TEs than old world strains due to the physiological stress associated with invasion of the new world. We quantified the copy number of six TEs (Saci-1, Saci-2 and Saci-3, Perere-1, Merlin-sm1, and SmTRC1) in the genome and the transcriptome of old world and new world strains of S. mansoni, using qPCR relative quantification. As predicted, the genomes of new world parasites contain significantly more copies of class I and class II TEs in both laboratory and field strains. However, such differences are not observed in the transcriptome suggesting that either TE silencing mechanisms have reactivated to control the expression of these elements or the presence of inactive truncated copies of TEs.

Using Naturalistic Data to Develop Simulator Scenarios

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-11-01

The establishment of large naturalistic driver data sets, most recently the Strategic : Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2), provides unique opportunities to observe driver : behavior under real-world conditions. In order to better understand the rela...

A Case Study of the In-Class Use of a Video Game for Teaching High School History

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watson, William R.; Mong, Christopher J.; Harris, Constance A.

2011-01-01

This study examines the case of a sophomore high school history class where "Making History", a video game designed with educational purposes in mind, is used in the classroom to teach about World War II. Data was gathered using observation, focus group and individual interviews, and document analysis. The high school was a rural school…

Marquee Fossils

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clary, Renee; Wandersee, James

2008-01-01

Professors of an online graduate-level paleontology class developed the concept of marquee fossils--fossils that have one or more unique characteristics that capture the attention and direct observation of students. In the classroom, Marquee fossils integrate the geology, biology, and environmental science involved in the study of fossilized…

Identifiability Results for Several Classes of Linear Compartment Models.

PubMed

Meshkat, Nicolette; Sullivant, Seth; Eisenberg, Marisa

2015-08-01

Identifiability concerns finding which unknown parameters of a model can be estimated, uniquely or otherwise, from given input-output data. If some subset of the parameters of a model cannot be determined given input-output data, then we say the model is unidentifiable. In this work, we study linear compartment models, which are a class of biological models commonly used in pharmacokinetics, physiology, and ecology. In past work, we used commutative algebra and graph theory to identify a class of linear compartment models that we call identifiable cycle models, which are unidentifiable but have the simplest possible identifiable functions (so-called monomial cycles). Here we show how to modify identifiable cycle models by adding inputs, adding outputs, or removing leaks, in such a way that we obtain an identifiable model. We also prove a constructive result on how to combine identifiable models, each corresponding to strongly connected graphs, into a larger identifiable model. We apply these theoretical results to several real-world biological models from physiology, cell biology, and ecology.

Studying Student Motivations in an Astronomy Massive Open Online Class

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wenger, Matthew; Impey, Chris David; Buxner, Sanlyn; Formanek, Martin

2017-01-01

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are large-scale, free classes open to anyone around the world and are are part of an educational industry that includes a growing number of universities. Although they resemble formal classes, MOOCs are of interest to instructors and educational researchers because they are unique learning environments where various people--particularly adult learners--learn science. This research project examined learners in an astronomy MOOC in order to better understand the motivations of MOOC learners. Using a well-tested instrument that examines student motivations for learning, we wanted to compare the motivations of MOOC learners to previous results in undergraduate classrooms. Our results show that our MOOC learners scored high in intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, and self-determination. They differed from learners in traditional formal educational environments by having lower grade and career-related motivations. These results suggest that MOOC learners have characteristics of learners in so called “free-choice” learning environments, similar to other life-long learners.

Phytoplankton class-specific primary production in the world's oceans: Seasonal and interannual variability from satellite observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uitz, Julia; Claustre, Hervé; Gentili, Bernard; Stramski, Dariusz

2010-09-01

We apply an innovative approach to time series data of surface chlorophyll from satellite observations with SeaWiFS (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor) to estimate the primary production associated with three major phytoplankton classes (micro-, nano-, and picophytoplankton) within the world's oceans. Statistical relationships, determined from an extensive in situ database of phytoplankton pigments, are used to infer class-specific vertical profiles of chlorophyll a concentration from satellite-derived surface chlorophyll a. This information is combined with a primary production model and class-specific photophysiological parameters to compute global seasonal fields of class-specific primary production over a 10-year period from January 1998 through December 2007. Microphytoplankton (mostly diatoms) appear as a major contributor to total primary production in coastal upwelling systems (70%) and temperate and subpolar regions (50%) during the spring-summer season. The contribution of picophytoplankton (e.g., prokaryotes) reaches maximum values (45%) in subtropical oligotrophic gyres. Nanophytoplankton (e.g., prymnesiophytes) provide a ubiquitous, substantial contribution (30-60%). Annual global estimates of class-specific primary production amount to 15 Gt C yr-1 (32% of total), 20 Gt C yr-1 (44%) and 11 Gt C yr-1 (24%) for micro-, nano-, and picophytoplankton, respectively. The analysis of interannual variations revealed large anomalies in class-specific primary production as compared to the 10-year mean cycle in both the productive North Atlantic basin and the more stable equatorial Pacific upwelling. Microphytoplankton show the largest range of variability of the three phytoplankton classes on seasonal and interannual time scales. Our results contribute to an understanding and quantification of carbon cycle in the ocean.

On convergence of differential evolution over a class of continuous functions with unique global optimum.

PubMed

Ghosh, Sayan; Das, Swagatam; Vasilakos, Athanasios V; Suresh, Kaushik

2012-02-01

Differential evolution (DE) is arguably one of the most powerful stochastic real-parameter optimization algorithms of current interest. Since its inception in the mid 1990s, DE has been finding many successful applications in real-world optimization problems from diverse domains of science and engineering. This paper takes a first significant step toward the convergence analysis of a canonical DE (DE/rand/1/bin) algorithm. It first deduces a time-recursive relationship for the probability density function (PDF) of the trial solutions, taking into consideration the DE-type mutation, crossover, and selection mechanisms. Then, by applying the concepts of Lyapunov stability theorems, it shows that as time approaches infinity, the PDF of the trial solutions concentrates narrowly around the global optimum of the objective function, assuming the shape of a Dirac delta distribution. Asymptotic convergence behavior of the population PDF is established by constructing a Lyapunov functional based on the PDF and showing that it monotonically decreases with time. The analysis is applicable to a class of continuous and real-valued objective functions that possesses a unique global optimum (but may have multiple local optima). Theoretical results have been substantiated with relevant computer simulations.

Brazil's Exception to the World-Class University Movement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alperin, Juan Pablo

2013-01-01

The continued importance of university rankings has only served to fuel the growth of the "world-class" university movement. There is a growing impression that, in a globalised and interconnected world, no country can do without a world-class university. No country, that is, except Brazil. While Brazil has the resources necessary to…

The group dynamics of women's self-defense training.

PubMed

Brecklin, Leanne R; Middendorf, Rena K

2014-03-01

The current study examines the role of group interaction in a women's self-defense class. Study methods included individual interviews with women who had completed a college-based women-only self-defense course as well as supplemental observation of group behavior during a mock "attack" simulation class. The unique relationship that develops among women's self-defense classmates seems to improve overall learning and performance due to the group collaboration and vicarious experiences. Results demonstrated that women's self-defense courses offer participants a beneficial and supportive group atmosphere.

Preferential attachment and growth dynamics in complex systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamasaki, Kazuko; Matia, Kaushik; Buldyrev, Sergey V.; Fu, Dongfeng; Pammolli, Fabio; Riccaboni, Massimo; Stanley, H. Eugene

2006-09-01

Complex systems can be characterized by classes of equivalency of their elements defined according to system specific rules. We propose a generalized preferential attachment model to describe the class size distribution. The model postulates preferential growth of the existing classes and the steady influx of new classes. According to the model, the distribution changes from a pure exponential form for zero influx of new classes to a power law with an exponential cut-off form when the influx of new classes is substantial. Predictions of the model are tested through the analysis of a unique industrial database, which covers both elementary units (products) and classes (markets, firms) in a given industry (pharmaceuticals), covering the entire size distribution. The model’s predictions are in good agreement with the data. The paper sheds light on the emergence of the exponent τ≈2 observed as a universal feature of many biological, social and economic problems.

No Need to Wait for Superman: A Case Study of One Unique High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ratcliff, N. J.; Jones, C. R.; Costner, R. H.; Knight, C.; Disney, G.; Savage-Davis, E.; Sheehan, H.; Hunt, G. H.

2012-01-01

Based on a theoretical model developed by Schlechty, this case study focuses on a small high school, located on a college campus and designed to address the educational needs of gifted 9th- through 12th-grade students. Eight teachers who taught 9th- and 12th-grade classes and their 60 students were observed. Each teacher was observed during six…

Aspirin and Nonsteroidal Antiinflammatory Drugs Hypersensitivity and Management.

PubMed

Modena, Brian; White, Andrew A; Woessner, Katharine M

2017-11-01

Aspirin and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are widely used in the United States and throughout the world for a variety of indications. Several unique hypersensitivity syndromes exist to this class of medications, making them one of the common reasons for consultation to the allergist. The lack of any laboratory-based diagnostic studies to assist in identifying the culprits in these reactions make evaluation of aspirin and NSAID hypersensitivity challenging. Identifying patients appropriate for oral challenge and/or desensitization protocols is the standard pragmatic approach to this issue when it arises. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Big Five personality traits and performance anxiety in relation to marching arts satisfaction.

PubMed

Levy, Jacob J; Lounsbury, John W

2011-01-01

To examine the Big Five personality traits and performance anxiety in relation to marching arts satisfaction. Data were collected from 278 instrumentalists (i.e., brass players and percussionists) and color guard performers (e.g., dancers) representing six world class drum and bugle corps. PARTICIPANTS completed three measures: the Adolescent Personal Style Inventory was used to measure the Big Five personality factors: Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Extraversion, and Openness; the Performance Anxiety Questionnaire - used to assess somatic and cognitive symptoms of performance anxiety; and the Marching Arts Satisfaction - used to assess for the physical, social, and contextual environments of drum and bugle corps. Correlation and multiple regression analyses revealed concurrent relationships between the Big Five and performance anxiety with satisfaction. A linear combination of the Big Five traits and Performance Anxiety accounted for 36% of the total variance in satisfaction, with Extraversion, Emotional Stability, and Performance Anxiety contributing significant unique variance. The findings of the present study suggest that performers who are extraverted, conscientious, and effective at managing general stress - and performance stress in particular - find a greater sense of satisfaction with their participation in world class drum and bugle corps.

Strategic Approach for Developing World-Class Universities in Egypt

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmed, Hanaa Ouda Khadri

2015-01-01

In the past decade, the term "world-class university" "WCU"--also called "globally competitive universities", "world-class", "elite", or "flagship" universities--has become a catch phrase, not simply for improving the quality of learning and research in higher education but also, more…

Creating world-class supply chains.

PubMed

Katzorke, M; Lee, W B

2000-08-01

This article will share knowledge in two areas: The elements of world-class supply chains and the linking processes from customers' customers to suppliers' suppliers and the management approaches needed to engage the people and the organization in an effective implementation process to achieve world-class status.

World Class Schools: An Evolving Concept.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jenkins, John M., Ed.; And Others

The concept of "world class," often used in reference to education, lacks a precise, universal definition. This book presents case studies of exemplary schools. The foreword by Fenwick W. English presents a developmental concept of world-class education, in which fair and comparable standards, with sufficient room for sociocultural…

NASA's S'COOL Project: Bridging the Divide Between the 'Real' World and the Classroom

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sepulveda, Roberto; Chambers, Lin H.

2004-01-01

In an effort to bridge the gap between scientific research, teacher instruction and student learning, the CERES Students Cloud Observations On-Line (S'COOL) Project offers a unique perspective on how to narrow the divide between the real world and the classroom. Reality-based learning has become a staple in the education of our youth and the S'COOL Project has taken this concept one step further.

Citizen Science participation in the NASA CERES Students' Cloud Observations Online Project (S'COOL)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, P. M.; Moore, S.; Crecelius, S.; Rogerson, T.; Chambers, L. H.

2012-12-01

Many science programs designed for the classroom see little participation when school is not in session. Many factors, such as materials, cost, needing a teacher to lead discussion, and reporting/assessment criteria are classroom-centric. The S'COOL project has the ability to serve not only as a classroom-teaching tool, but as a citizen science project in which anyone can help NASA collect cloud data. Since its inception in 1997, the S'COOL project has invited help from the citizen science community from age 6 to 99. The S'COOL project has the ability to reach everyone in the world through satellite overpasses. This provides the citizen scientist with a temporal "match", i.e., the opportunity to make cloud observations "looking up" as various NASA Earth observing satellites make cloud observations "looking down" at the same location. After an observation is made, the observing scientist completes an online report form and sends this directly to NASA Langley Research Center's Atmospheric Science Data Center. After the satellite data are processed, generally within a week, an auto-generated email informs the observer of what the satellite observed, compared side-by-side with what they observed. All of the observations are stored in a database for later viewing and analysis. The ability to view satellite matches and past observations allows the citizen scientist to develop good scientific practices, particularly skills in cloud observation and data analysis techniques. Much of the success of the S'COOL project can be associated with its aim as a classroom-based program that transcends to the citizen science community. This allows both parties to have access to the same materials and data, creating an authentic science experience. Another avenue of success can be found in the project's translation of materials into French and Spanish. Translation provides a multicultural perspective and enables broader participation. Since the aim of the S'COOL project is to collect ground truth data for CERES the 3 satellites currently carrying those instruments provide several options for scheduling. Should the citizen scientist be of school age, the student will be able to take the skills learned with the S'COOL project from the backyard to the classroom - or vice versa. S'COOL has attracted some unique citizen scientists over the years, providing ground truth observations from several unique locations. These include a group that circumnavigated the American continents, a woman who has rowed solo across all the world's oceans, and planned participation this fall from several Pacific research cruises. Classroom students turn ROVER observers, or citizen scientists that observe from varying locations, help over summer breaks and vacations. This is the case with a dedicated Connecticut elementary classroom that observes clouds as a class and is assigned summer work as roving observers to continue the data collection over their break. Outcomes: This paper will summarize the S'COOL project's experience with a variety of citizen scientists over the course of activities to date.

When Worlds Collide: Witnessing Planetary-Scale Impacts in the Coming Decades

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masiero, J. R.; Bauer, J. M.; Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.

2017-02-01

Asteroid impacts offer a unique opportunity to study the collisional processes that shape planetary systems. In the coming decades, expanded surveys may give us the chance to predict an impact with enough advance warning to observe it in situ.

Phage-inducible chromosomal islands are ubiquitous within the bacterial universe.

PubMed

Fillol-Salom, Alfred; Martínez-Rubio, Roser; Abdulrahman, Rezheen F; Chen, John; Davies, Robert; Penadés, José R

2018-06-06

Phage-inducible chromosomal islands (PICIs) are a recently discovered family of pathogenicity islands that contribute substantively to horizontal gene transfer, host adaptation and virulence in Gram-positive cocci. Here we report that similar elements also occur widely in Gram-negative bacteria. As with the PICIs from Gram-positive cocci, their uniqueness is defined by a constellation of features: unique and specific attachment sites, exclusive PICI genes, a phage-dependent mechanism of induction, conserved replication origin organization, convergent mechanisms of phage interference, and specific packaging of PICI DNA into phage-like infectious particles, resulting in very high transfer frequencies. We suggest that the PICIs represent two or more distinct lineages, have spread widely throughout the bacterial world, and have diverged much more slowly than their host organisms or their prophage cousins. Overall, these findings represent the discovery of a universal class of mobile genetic elements.

Thoughts on the Role of Government in the Development of World-Class Universities in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guangcai, Yan

2011-01-01

Looking at the rise of world-class universities through history, creating an institutional environment in which universities are relatively autonomous, while also ensuring effective material support from the government is essential for the formation of world-class universities. It is worth examining the deteriorating academic environment in China…

Astronomy from the Moon: A New Frontier for 21st Century Astrophysics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durst, Steve

2018-06-01

The International Lunar Observatory Association of Hawai'i USA continues into its second decade with research and development of South Pole instruments for astronomy, observation and communication from the Moon. Since the pioneering first astronomy observations from the Moon by Apollo 16 Commander John Young (an ILOA founding-emeritus director until his recent passing), with China Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope LUT operations and current American and European considerations for far-side radio telescopes, today's climate is most promising for a diversity of lunar-based astronomy locations, instruments and technologies. ILOA is aiming to advance this frontier through its Galaxy First Light Imaging program, being developed through contracts with Moon Express and Canadensys Aerospace Corp.A wide variety of extreme and unique lunar conditions enable many astronomy activities and installations, on the Moon's near-side, far-side, north pole, and south pole: The extremely thin lunar exosphere favors observations in millimeter / submillimeter to optical, UV, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths; the highly stable platform that is the Moon provides for long-duration observations; ultra cold, shaded areas for cryogenic infrared instruments; far-side radio-quiet environment for radio telescopes and VLF astronomy; 1/6-Earth gravity for production and utilization of new, very lightweight materials and instruments, including large refractors, 100-m class liquid mirror telescopes, and possibly 1,000-m class radio telescopes and interferometer antenna arrays vastly larger than Atacama LMA; North and especially South Pole sites, with high peaks and long solar power windows, offer perhaps the widest variety of lunar conditions and opportunities for astronomical innovation on the Moon: a veritable "condominium of observatories".21st century astrophysics seems likely to find Luna a very busy and productive new frontier, as American Astronomical Society and IAU members will validate, with astronomers providing rationale and direction for lunar outpost build-out, while offering Galaxy / Cosmos perspective on the human advance towards a multi world civilization.

Isotropic band gaps and freeform waveguides observed in hyperuniform disordered photonic solids

PubMed Central

Man, Weining; Florescu, Marian; Williamson, Eric Paul; He, Yingquan; Hashemizad, Seyed Reza; Leung, Brian Y. C.; Liner, Devin Robert; Torquato, Salvatore; Chaikin, Paul M.; Steinhardt, Paul J.

2013-01-01

Recently, disordered photonic media and random textured surfaces have attracted increasing attention as strong light diffusers with broadband and wide-angle properties. We report the experimental realization of an isotropic complete photonic band gap (PBG) in a 2D disordered dielectric structure. This structure is designed by a constrained optimization method, which combines advantages of both isotropy due to disorder and controlled scattering properties due to low-density fluctuations (hyperuniformity) and uniform local topology. Our experiments use a modular design composed of Al2O3 walls and cylinders arranged in a hyperuniform disordered network. We observe a complete PBG in the microwave region, in good agreement with theoretical simulations, and show that the intrinsic isotropy of this unique class of PBG materials enables remarkable design freedom, including the realization of waveguides with arbitrary bending angles impossible in photonic crystals. This experimental verification of a complete PBG and realization of functional defects in this unique class of materials demonstrate their potential as building blocks for precise manipulation of photons in planar optical microcircuits and has implications for disordered acoustic and electronic band gap materials. PMID:24043795

Sodium glucose CoTransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors: Current status and future perspective.

PubMed

Madaan, Tushar; Akhtar, Mohd; Najmi, Abul Kalam

2016-10-10

Diabetes mellitus is a disease that affects millions of people worldwide and its prevalence is estimated to rise in the future. Billions of dollars are spent each year around the world in health expenditure related to diabetes. There are several anti-diabetic drugs in the market for the treatment of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. In this article, we will be talking about a relatively new class of anti-diabetic drugs called sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. This class of drugs has a unique mechanism of action focusing on inhibition of glucose reabsorption that separates it from other classes. This article covers the mechanism of glucose reabsorption in the kidneys, the mechanism of action of SGLT2 inhibitors, several SGLT2 inhibitors currently available in the market as well as those in various phases of development, their individual pharmacokinetics as well as the discussion about the future role of SGLT2 inhibitors, not only for the treatment of diabetes, but also for various other diseases like obesity, hepatic steatosis, and cardiovascular disorders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

MONET: a MOnitoring NEtwork of Telescopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hessman, F. V.; Beuermann, K.

2002-01-01

MONET is a planned network of two 1m-class robotic telescopes which will be used for various photometric monitoring projects -- variable stars, planet searches, AGN's, GRB's -- as well as by school children in Germany and over the world. The two host partners, the Univ. of Texas' McDonald Observatory and the South African Astronomical Observatory, will operate the telescopes in exchange for observing time on the network. MONET will be one of the first robotic telescope networks offering 1-m class telescopes, complete coverage of the sky, good longitude coverage for long observing sequences on objects near the celestial equator, and a heavy educational emphasis.

University Satellite Consortium and Space Education in Japan Centered on Micro-Nano Satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakasuka, S.; Kawashima, R.

2002-01-01

in Japan especially centered on micro or nano class satellites. Hands-on training using micro-nano satellites provide unique opportunity of space education to university level students, by giving them a chance to experience the whole space project cycle from mission creation, satellite design, fabrication, test, launch, operation through analysis of the results. Project management and team working are other important skills that can be trained in these projects. include 1) low cost, which allows one laboratory in university to carry out a project, 2) short development period such as one or two year, which enables students to obtain the results of their projects before they graduate, and 3) small size and weight, which enables fabrication and test within usually very narrow university laboratory areas. In Japan, several projects such as CanSat, CubeSat or Whale Observation Satellite have been carried out, proving that micro-nano satellites provide very unique and valuable educational opportunity. with the objective to make a university student and staff community of these micro-nano satellite related activities in Japan. This consortium aims for many activities including facilitating information and skills exchange and collaborations between member universities, helping students to use ground test facilities of national laboratories, consulting them on political or law related matters, coordinating joint development of equipments or projects, and bridging between these university activities and the needs or interests of the people in general. This kind of outreach activity is essential because how to create missions of micro-nano satellites should be pursued in order for this field to grow larger than a merely educational enterprise. The final objectives of the consortium is to make a huge community of the users, mission creators, investors and manufactures(i.e., university students) of micro-nano satellites, and provide a unique contribution to the activation of the space development. activities, including how to acquire frequency permission, how to obtain launch opportunity and financial support, how to operate the launched satellites using cheap ground stations, etc. Especially, the frequency problem should be solved as soon as possible because so many universities in the world are planning similar projects and the frequency in the amateur band are already very congested. One idea is that universities should make a world wide "university satellite community" and collaboratively ask for a kind of "Educational frequency" to ITU, and share the obtained frequency within the community under the community's own management. This kind of community will also be useful for collaborative satellite operation, because the universities which have a ground station spread over the world. I hope the IAC meeting will provide a good opportunity for discussing these problems and facilitating the construction of world wide university community to tackle with these problems.

World-Class Higher Education (for Whom?)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robertson, Susan L.

2012-01-01

The slogan "world-class education" is ubiquitous in education circles. This essay looks closely at who is advancing this idea, why, and where, and the kind of work it is asked to do. Though instruments for determining the world-class status of education institutions were first launched in the 1980s, they have grown exponentially in the past…

The Hurdles to Being World Class: Narrative Analysis of the World-Class University Project in Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jang, Deok-Ho; Ryu, Kiung; Yi, Pilnam; Craig, Daniel A.

2016-01-01

This study examines the Korean Government's policy scheme of setting up the World-Class University (WCU) Project by investigating the perceptions of major actors, including WCU scholars and government officials. In-depth interviews were held with 18 WCU scholars and three government officials. Our findings suggest that the limits of the…

A System for Web-based Access to the HSOS Database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, G.

Huairou Solar Observing Station's (HSOS) magnetogram and dopplergram are world-class instruments. Access to their data has opened to the world. Web-based access to the data will provide a powerful, convenient tool for data searching and solar physics. It is necessary that our data be provided to users via the Web when it is opened to the world. In this presentation, the author describes general design and programming construction of the system. The system will be generated by PHP and MySQL. The author also introduces basic feature of PHP and MySQL.

Understanding How Teacher and Student Talk with Each Other: An Exploration of How "Repair" Displays the Co-Management of Talk-in-Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nakamura, Ian

2008-01-01

The essence of my argument is that Practitioner Research can be pursued not only by observing whole classes, but also by observing what happens when a teacher talks to a student outside of the classroom setting. What this setting offers to practitioner-researchers is a unique opportunity to understand what both the teacher and the student do to…

40 CFR 86.085-37 - Production vehicles and engines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... transmission class. (2) Base level means a unique combination of basic engine, inertia weight, and transmission class. (3) Vehicle configuration means a unique combination of basic engine, engine code, inertia weight...

Protoplanetary Worlds at the Astronomical Unit Scale. First Step towards Aperture Synthesis Images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berger, J.; Monnier, J.; Millan-Gabet, R.; Malbet, F.; Benisty, M.; Pedretti, E.; Traub, W.

Optical interferometry has started to play a crucial role in the field of star formation. In particular, it offers a unique opportunity to observe protoplanetary disks at a spatial scale where planets may be forming. We present here some of the most recent discoveries in this field putting the emphasis on the progress towards direct imaging of proto-planetary worlds at the astronomical unit scale. In particular we develop our use of the IOTA/IONIC3 interferometer to measure closure phase quantities, a powerful observable to quantify the degree of skewness of the infrared emission at spatial scales corresponding to the internal part of the disk.

Jean Baudrillard's Radical Thinking, and Its Potential Contribution to the Sociology of Higher Education Illustrated by Debates about "World-Class" Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blanco Ramírez, Gerardo

2016-01-01

This article presents an argument for re-reading Jean Baudrillard's ideas considering their potential contribution to the sociology of higher education, particularly in relation to contemporary debates about "world-class" universities. In order to apply Baudrillard's ideas, China's commitment to the development of "world-class"…

Are osseous artefacts a window to perishable material culture? Implications of an unusually complex bone tool from the Late Pleistocene of East Timor.

PubMed

O'Connor, S; Robertson, G; Aplin, K P

2014-02-01

We report the discovery of an unusually complex and regionally unique bone artefact in a Late Pleistocene archaeological assemblage (c. 35 ka [thousands of years ago]) from the site of Matja Kuru 2 on the island of Timor, in Wallacea. The artefact is interpreted as the broken butt of a formerly hafted projectile point, and it preserves evidence of a complex hafting mechanism including insertion into a shaped or split shaft, a complex pattern of binding including lateral stabilization of the cordage within a bilateral series of notches, and the application of mastic at several stages in the hafting process. The artefact provides the earliest direct evidence for the use of this combination of hafting technologies in the wider region of Southeast Asia, Wallacea, Melanesia and Australasia, and is morphologically unparallelled in deposits of any age. By contrast, it bears a close morphological resemblance to certain bone artefacts from the Middle Stone Age of Africa and South Asia. Examination of ethnographic projectile technology from the region of Melanesia and Australasia shows that all of the technological elements observed in the Matja Kuru 2 artefact were in use historically in the region, including the unusual feature of bilateral notching to stabilize a hafted point. This artefact challenges the notion that complex bone-working and hafting technologies were a relatively late innovation in this part of the world. Moreover, its regional uniqueness encourages us to abandon the perception of bone artefacts as a discrete class of material culture, and to adopt a new interpretative framework in which they are treated as manifestations of a more general class of artefacts that more typically were produced on perishable raw materials including wood. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Higher-level classification of the Archaea: evolution of methanogenesis and methanogens

PubMed Central

Bapteste, Éric; Brochier, Céline; Boucher, Yan

2005-01-01

We used a phylogenetic approach to analyze the evolution of methanogenesis and methanogens. We show that 23 vertically transmitted ribosomal proteins do not support the monophyly of methanogens, and propose instead that there are two distantly related groups of extant archaea that produce methane, which we have named Class I and Class II. Based on this finding, we subsequently investigated the uniqueness of the origin of methanogenesis by studying both the enzymes of methanogenesis and the proteins that synthesize its specific coenzymes. We conclude that hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis appeared only once during evolution. Genes involved in the seven central steps of the methanogenic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) are ubiquitous in methanogens and share a common history. This suggests that, although extant methanogens produce methane from various substrates (CO2, formate, acetate, methylated C-1 compounds), these archaea have a core of conserved enzymes that have undergone little evolutionary change. Furthermore, this core of methanogenesis enzymes seems to originate (as a whole) from the last ancestor of all methanogens and does not appear to have been horizontally transmitted to other organisms or between members of Class I and Class II. The observation of a unique and ancestral form of methanogenesis suggests that it was preserved in two independent lineages, with some instances of specialization or added metabolic flexibility. It was likely lost in the Halobacteriales, Thermoplasmatales and Archaeoglobales. Given that fossil evidence for methanogenesis dates back 2.8 billion years, a unique origin of this process makes the methanogenic archaea a very ancient taxon. PMID:15876569

N,N'-diamidoketenimines via coupling of isocyanides to an N-heterocyclic carbene.

PubMed

Hudnall, Todd W; Moorhead, Eric J; Gusev, Dmitry G; Bielawski, Christopher W

2010-04-16

Treatment of an N-heterocyclic carbene that features two amide groups N-bound to the carbene nucleus with various organic isocyanides afforded a new class of ketenimines in yields of up to 96% (isolated). DFT analyses revealed that the carbene exhibits a unique, low-lying LUMO, which may explain the atypical reactivity observed.

The Role of Mothers' and Fathers' Parental Control and Coparenting in Toddlers' Compliance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kwon, Kyong-Ah; Elicker, James G.

2012-01-01

Research Findings: This study examined the unique and relative contributions of mothers' and fathers' parental control and coparenting to toddlers' committed compliance with parents in both dyadic parent-child and triadic family play contexts. Sixty-eight mostly middle-class, 2-parent families with toddlers (16-37 months) were observed in a…

Swedish Religious Education at the End of the 1960s: Classroom Observations, Early Video Ethnography and the National Curriculum of 1962

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flensner, K. Kittelmann; Larsson, G.

2014-01-01

The aim of this article is to present a unique corpus of film-recorded classroom observations of sixth-grade classes (age 12-13) in the Swedish cities of Gothenburg, Partille and Trollhättan in the late 1960s. The material documents how RE could be taught in Swedish schools in line with the curriculum of Lgr 62 which internationally was an early…

The potential of space exploration for education

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shair, Fredrick H.

1993-01-01

Space exploration and observations from space offer unique opportunities with respect to education. Recent technical advances have significantly increased the width and sensitivity of the electromagnetic spectrum window through which we are able to 'see' the universe. Observations from space have forced a realization that the earth is a beautiful, complex, and interconnected system. Space astronomy and the remote sensing of objects throughout our solar system have the potential of providing unique educational opportunities. Modern technologies have significantly reduced the cost of collecting, transmitting and processing data. Consequently, we are entering an age where it is possible to open up the process of discovery to almost everyone - and especially to young people throughout the world.

Graduates | Argonne National Laboratory

Science.gov Websites

Staff Directory Argonne National Laboratory Educational Programs Connecting today's world-class research , Argonne is the place to be if you are a graduate student. With access to world-class facilities and world -reknowned researchers, graduate students at Argonne can taste the best of the research and development world

Observer perceptions of moral obligations in groups with a history of victimization.

PubMed

Warner, Ruth H; Branscombe, Nyla R

2012-07-01

The authors investigated when observers assign contemporary group members moral obligations based on their group's victimization history. In Experiment 1, Americans perceived Israelis as obligated to help Sudanese genocide victims and as guiltworthy for not helping if reminded of the Holocaust and its descendants were linked to this history. In Experiment 2, participants perceived Israelis as more obligated to help and guiltworthy for not helping when the Holocaust was presented as a unique victimization event compared with when genocide was presented as pervasive. Experiments 3 and 4 replicated the effects of Experiment 1 with Cambodians as the victimized group. Experiment 5 demonstrated that participants perceived Cambodians as having more obligations under high just world threat compared with low just world threat. Perceiving victimized groups as incurring obligations is one just world restoration method of providing meaning to collective injustice.

Generalised Sandpile Dynamics on Artificial and Real-World Directed Networks

PubMed Central

Zachariou, Nicky; Expert, Paul; Takayasu, Misako; Christensen, Kim

2015-01-01

The main finding of this paper is a novel avalanche-size exponent τ ≈ 1.87 when the generalised sandpile dynamics evolves on the real-world Japanese inter-firm network. The topology of this network is non-layered and directed, displaying the typical bow tie structure found in real-world directed networks, with cycles and triangles. We show that one can move from a strictly layered regular lattice to a more fluid structure of the inter-firm network in a few simple steps. Relaxing the regular lattice structure by introducing an interlayer distribution for the interactions, forces the scaling exponent of the avalanche-size probability density function τ out of the two-dimensional directed sandpile universality class τ = 4/3, into the mean field universality class τ = 3/2. Numerical investigation shows that these two classes are the only that exist on the directed sandpile, regardless of the underlying topology, as long as it is strictly layered. Randomly adding a small proportion of links connecting non adjacent layers in an otherwise layered network takes the system out of the mean field regime to produce non-trivial avalanche-size probability density function. Although these do not display proper scaling, they closely reproduce the behaviour observed on the Japanese inter-firm network. PMID:26606143

Generalised Sandpile Dynamics on Artificial and Real-World Directed Networks.

PubMed

Zachariou, Nicky; Expert, Paul; Takayasu, Misako; Christensen, Kim

2015-01-01

The main finding of this paper is a novel avalanche-size exponent τ ≈ 1.87 when the generalised sandpile dynamics evolves on the real-world Japanese inter-firm network. The topology of this network is non-layered and directed, displaying the typical bow tie structure found in real-world directed networks, with cycles and triangles. We show that one can move from a strictly layered regular lattice to a more fluid structure of the inter-firm network in a few simple steps. Relaxing the regular lattice structure by introducing an interlayer distribution for the interactions, forces the scaling exponent of the avalanche-size probability density function τ out of the two-dimensional directed sandpile universality class τ = 4/3, into the mean field universality class τ = 3/2. Numerical investigation shows that these two classes are the only that exist on the directed sandpile, regardless of the underlying topology, as long as it is strictly layered. Randomly adding a small proportion of links connecting non adjacent layers in an otherwise layered network takes the system out of the mean field regime to produce non-trivial avalanche-size probability density function. Although these do not display proper scaling, they closely reproduce the behaviour observed on the Japanese inter-firm network.

Comparative study on growth performance of two shade trees in tea agroforestry system.

PubMed

Kalita, Rinku Moni; Das, Ashesh Kumar; Nath, Arun Jyoti

2014-07-01

An attempt was made to study the stem growth of two native dominant shade tree species in terms of annual girth increment in three dominant girth size categories for two years in tea agroforestry system of Barak Valley, Assam. Fifty two sampling plots of 0.1 ha size were established and all trees exceeding 10 cm girth over bark at breast height (1.37 m) were uniquely identified, tagged, and annually measured for girth increment, using metal tape during December 2010-12. Albizia lebbeck and A. odoratissima were dominant shade tree species registering 82% of appearance of the individuals studied. The girth class was categorized into six different categories where 30-50 cm, 50-70 cm and 70-90 cm were dominating girth classes and selected for increment study. Mean annual girth increment ranged from 1.41 cm in Albizia odoratissima (50-70 cm girth class) to 2.97 cm in Albizia lebbeck (70-90 cm girth class) for the first year and 1.70 cm in Albizia odoratissima (50-70 cm girth class) to 3.09 cm in Albizia lebbeck (70-90 cm girth class) for the second year. Albizia lebbeck exhibited better growth in all prominent girth classes as compared to Albizia odoratissima during the observation period. The two shade tree species showed similar trend of growth in both the years of observation and significant difference in girth increment.

The ground truth about metadata and community detection in networks.

PubMed

Peel, Leto; Larremore, Daniel B; Clauset, Aaron

2017-05-01

Across many scientific domains, there is a common need to automatically extract a simplified view or coarse-graining of how a complex system's components interact. This general task is called community detection in networks and is analogous to searching for clusters in independent vector data. It is common to evaluate the performance of community detection algorithms by their ability to find so-called ground truth communities. This works well in synthetic networks with planted communities because these networks' links are formed explicitly based on those known communities. However, there are no planted communities in real-world networks. Instead, it is standard practice to treat some observed discrete-valued node attributes, or metadata, as ground truth. We show that metadata are not the same as ground truth and that treating them as such induces severe theoretical and practical problems. We prove that no algorithm can uniquely solve community detection, and we prove a general No Free Lunch theorem for community detection, which implies that there can be no algorithm that is optimal for all possible community detection tasks. However, community detection remains a powerful tool and node metadata still have value, so a careful exploration of their relationship with network structure can yield insights of genuine worth. We illustrate this point by introducing two statistical techniques that can quantify the relationship between metadata and community structure for a broad class of models. We demonstrate these techniques using both synthetic and real-world networks, and for multiple types of metadata and community structures.

A crypto-Dravidian origin for the nontribal communities of South India based on human leukocyte antigen class I diversity.

PubMed

Thomas, R; Nair, S B; Banerjee, M

2006-09-01

The Dravidian communities are considered to be the original inhabitants of India, now restricted to South India. The southern most state, Kerala, is socio-culturally stratified into Hindus, Muslims and Christians on the basis of religion. The origin of these religious communities in Kerala is considered to be unique in comparison with that in other parts of the country. These communities were later influenced by the hierarchical caste structure established by the Hindu Brahmins. In the present study, we compared six nontribal (Namboothiri, Nair, Ezhava, Pulaya, Malabar Muslim and Syrian Christian) communities belonging to the major religious groups in Kerala (Hindu, Muslim and Christian) based on the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A, -B and -C diversity. Our aim was to understand the genomic substructuring associated with the changing social scenario in various caste and religious groups and compare it with the Dravidian tribal and other world populations. The present study reveals that the HLA diversity of the Dravidian communities is very distinct from that in the other world populations. It is obvious that the nontribal communities of Kerala display a greater Dravidian influence, but traces of genetic admixture with the Mediterranean, western European, central Asian and East Asian populations can be observed. This characterizes the crypto-Dravidian features of the nontribal communities of Kerala. Demic diffusion of the local progressive communities with the migrant communities may have given rise to crypto-Dravidian features among the nontribal communities of Kerala.

Designing and Using Projects with Real World Application in a MBA Managerial Accounting Class: The Case of The Balanced Scorecard

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Houke, Charlotte

2017-01-01

This paper explores the purpose of designing and using projects with real world application in a M.B.A. managerial accounting class. Included is a discussion of how and why the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) Project has been used in classes to link theory with practice by providing real world application of the BSC framework. M.B.A. students represent a…

Adding local flavor to world class imaging.

PubMed

Kalbhen, Carl L

2007-01-01

Chicago, the host city for the annual meeting of the RSNA (Radiological Society of North America), is the quintessential place to obtain certain foods, among them deep dish pizza, the Italian beef sandwich, and the Chicago-style hot dog. Given some appropriate nutritional concerns about these items, it is important to realize that healthier alternatives are grown, produced, and sold regionally. Chicago has also for years been known as one of America's great restaurant towns. However, the French delicacy foie gras cannot be found on the menu of any of its five-star establishments, as the sale of this dish became illegal in 2006. Diagnostic imaging offers a unique perspective on the local Chicago cuisine. (c) RSNA, 2007.

Celiprolol

PubMed Central

Cheng-Lai, Angela; Frishman, William H.

2017-01-01

Celiprolol is a β-blocker with a unique pharmacologic profile: it is a β1-andrenoceptor antagonist with partial β2 agonist activity. Given this combination of effects, celiprolol may be better described as a selective adrenoreceptor modulator. It has antihypertensive and antianginal properties and is indicated for those uses in various countries around the world. In the United States, however, the proposed indication for this drug will be for the treatment of vascular type Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, a rare connective tissue disorder characterized by fragile arterial structure and an increased risk of life-threatening vascular complications. By reducing heart rate and pulsatile pressure, celiprolol may reduce the mechanical stress on collagen fibers within the arterial wall and be of benefit in patients with vascular type Ehlers–Danlos syndrome. The largest investigation of celiprolol in vascular Ehlers–Danlos syndrome was prematurely terminated due to significant benefit with celiprolol in reducing arterial events in patients with this condition. Celiprolol, therefore, represents a β-blocker that is unique from others in its class in both its pharmacology and clinical applications. PMID:28742547

Direct observation of melted Mott state evidenced from Raman scattering in 1T-TaS2 single crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Qing; Yin, Cong; Zhang, Leilei; Lei, Li; Wang, Zhengshang; Chen, Zhiyu; Tang, Jun; Ang, Ran

2018-01-01

Not Available Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51771126 and 11774247), the Youth Foundation of Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province, China (Grant No. 2016JQ0051), and the World First-Class University Construction Funding.

University Rankings, Global Models, and Emerging Hegemony: Critical Analysis from Japan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ishikawa, Mayumi

2009-01-01

The study analyzes how the emergence of dominant models in higher education and power they embody affect non-Western, non-English language universities such as those in Japan. Based on extended micro-level participant observation in a Japanese research university aspiring to become a "world-class" institution, their struggles and the…

Feature Acquisition with Imbalanced Training Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, David R.; Wagstaff, Kiri L.; Majid, Walid A.; Jones, Dayton L.

2011-01-01

This work considers cost-sensitive feature acquisition that attempts to classify a candidate datapoint from incomplete information. In this task, an agent acquires features of the datapoint using one or more costly diagnostic tests, and eventually ascribes a classification label. A cost function describes both the penalties for feature acquisition, as well as misclassification errors. A common solution is a Cost Sensitive Decision Tree (CSDT), a branching sequence of tests with features acquired at interior decision points and class assignment at the leaves. CSDT's can incorporate a wide range of diagnostic tests and can reflect arbitrary cost structures. They are particularly useful for online applications due to their low computational overhead. In this innovation, CSDT's are applied to cost-sensitive feature acquisition where the goal is to recognize very rare or unique phenomena in real time. Example applications from this domain include four areas. In stream processing, one seeks unique events in a real time data stream that is too large to store. In fault protection, a system must adapt quickly to react to anticipated errors by triggering repair activities or follow- up diagnostics. With real-time sensor networks, one seeks to classify unique, new events as they occur. With observational sciences, a new generation of instrumentation seeks unique events through online analysis of large observational datasets. This work presents a solution based on transfer learning principles that permits principled CSDT learning while exploiting any prior knowledge of the designer to correct both between-class and withinclass imbalance. Training examples are adaptively reweighted based on a decomposition of the data attributes. The result is a new, nonparametric representation that matches the anticipated attribute distribution for the target events.

How to establish a first-class international scientific journal in China?

PubMed

Li, Zhen-Xi

2006-11-21

Hundreds of scientific journals are published in China. However, only scores of them are included in Science Citation Index by the Institute for Scientific Information, with impact factors of only 1 or less. Thus, how to establish a first-class international scientific journal in China is an important but difficult topic that deserves extensive exploration. World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG) sets a good example although it has experienced setbacks on the road towards success. Concepts and pursuits that affirm the overall development direction, innovation and dreams that provide impetus and aspiration for higher objectives, team work and unique pattern that assure excellent quality and service, and culture and environment that also determine the speed and direction of the development, are believed to be the major factors contributing to the success of WJG. It is recommended that the effective resolution to the above issue is to learn from Chinese examples such as WJG rather than from "how foreign journals do".

How to establish a first-class international scientific journal in China?

PubMed Central

Li, Zhen-Xi

2006-01-01

Hundreds of scientific journals are published in China. However, only scores of them are included in Science Citation Index by the Institute for Scientific Information, with impact factors of only 1 or less. Thus, how to establish a first-class international scientific journal in China is an important but difficult topic that deserves extensive exploration. World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG) sets a good example although it has experienced setbacks on the road towards success. Concepts and pursuits that affirm the overall development direction, innovation and dreams that provide impetus and aspiration for higher objectives, team work and unique pattern that assure excellent quality and service, and culture and environment that also determine the speed and direction of the development, are believed to be the major factors contributing to the success of WJG. It is recommended that the effective resolution to the above issue is to learn from Chinese examples such as WJG rather than from “how foreign journals do”. PMID:17109509

Impact of nanoparticles on human and environment: review of toxicity factors, exposures, control strategies, and future prospects.

PubMed

Sajid, Muhammad; Ilyas, Muhammad; Basheer, Chanbasha; Tariq, Madiha; Daud, Muhammad; Baig, Nadeem; Shehzad, Farrukh

2015-03-01

Nanotechnology has revolutionized the world through introduction of a unique class of materials and consumer products in many arenas. It has led to production of innovative materials and devices. Despite of their unique advantages and applications in domestic and industrial sectors, use of materials with dimensions in nanometers has raised the issue of safety for workers, consumers, and human environment. Because of their small size and other unique characteristics, nanoparticles have ability to harm human and wildlife by interacting through various mechanisms. We have reviewed the characteristics of nanoparticles which form the basis of their toxicity. This paper also reviews possible routes of exposure of nanoparticles to human body. Dermal contact, inhalation, and ingestion have been discussed in detail. As very limited data is available for long-term human exposures, there is a pressing need to develop the methods which can determine short and long-term effects of nanoparticles on human and environment. We also discuss in brief the strategies which can help to control human exposures to toxic nanoparticles. We have outlined the current status of toxicological studies dealing with nanoparticles, accomplishments, weaknesses, and future challenges.

Maturation inhibitors: a new therapeutic class targets the virus structure.

PubMed

Salzwedel, Karl; Martin, David E; Sakalian, Michael

2007-01-01

The current standard of care for HIV/AIDS in the developed world is HAART therapy, usually a combination of two reverse transcriptase inhibitors and a protease inhibitor. Despite the success of this regimen, there is a continuing need for new drug options to overcome problems with tolerability and the emergence of viral resistance. In this review we discuss the discovery of a potential new class of antiretroviral therapeutics, known as maturation inhibitors, and the development of the first-in-class compound, bevirimat. Bevirimat is distinguished from the currently available antiretrovirals by its unique target and mode of action. While the specific interactions responsible for activity have yet to be fully characterized, it is clear that the target for bevirimat is the Gag polyprotein precursor, the main structural protein responsible for assembly and budding of virion particles. As basic research continues on the precise mechanism of action of bevirimat, clinical development is progressing, with demonstration of both safety and efficacy in early-stage trials. These encouraging results, coupled with the discovery and development of future generations of maturation inhibitors, suggest that maturation inhibitors may be added to the growing set of tools available to control HIV/AIDS.

Fedosov Deformation Quantization as a BRST Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grigoriev, M. A.; Lyakhovich, S. L.

The relationship is established between the Fedosov deformation quantization of a general symplectic manifold and the BFV-BRST quantization of constrained dynamical systems. The original symplectic manifold M is presented as a second class constrained surface in the fibre bundle ?*ρM which is a certain modification of a usual cotangent bundle equipped with a natural symplectic structure. The second class system is converted into the first class one by continuation of the constraints into the extended manifold, being a direct sum of ?*ρM and the tangent bundle TM. This extended manifold is equipped with a nontrivial Poisson bracket which naturally involves two basic ingredients of Fedosov geometry: the symplectic structure and the symplectic connection. The constructed first class constrained theory, being equivalent to the original symplectic manifold, is quantized through the BFV-BRST procedure. The existence theorem is proven for the quantum BRST charge and the quantum BRST invariant observables. The adjoint action of the quantum BRST charge is identified with the Abelian Fedosov connection while any observable, being proven to be a unique BRST invariant continuation for the values defined in the original symplectic manifold, is identified with the Fedosov flat section of the Weyl bundle. The Fedosov fibrewise star multiplication is thus recognized as a conventional product of the quantum BRST invariant observables.

Strategic Planning towards a World-Class University

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Usoh, E. J.; Ratu, D.; Manongko, A.; Taroreh, J.; Preston, G.

2018-02-01

Strategic planning with a focus on world-class university status is an option that cannot be avoided by universities today to survive and succeed in competition as a provider of higher education. The objective of this research is to obtain exploratory research results on the strategic plans of universities that are prepared to generate world-class university status. This research utilised exploratory qualitative research method and data was collected by in-depth interviews method. Interview transcripts were analyzed by using thematic content analysis through NVivo software analysis and manual systems. The main finding of interview shows that most interviewees agreed that UNIMA has been engaged in strategic planning. Contribution from faculties and schools are acknowledged and inform the planning process. However, a new model of strategic planning should be adopted by UNIMA due to the shift towards a “corporate university”. The finding results from documents, literature review and interview were the addition of world-class university characteristics and features to current strategic planning of UNIMA and how to upgrade by considering to use the characteristics and features towards world-class university.

Kharkiv Meteor Radar System (the XX Age)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolomiyets, S. V.

2012-09-01

Kharkiv meteor radar research are of historic value (Kolomiyets and Sidorov 2007). Kharkiv radar observations of meteors proved internationally as the best in the world, it was noted at the IAU General Assembly in 1958. In the 1970s Kharkiv meteor automated radar system (MARS) was recommended at the international level as a successful prototype for wide distribution. Until now, this radar system is one of the most sensitive instruments of meteor radars in the world for astronomical observations. In 2004 Kharkiv meteor radar system is included in the list of objects which compose the national property of Ukraine. Kharkiv meteor radar system has acquired the status of the important historical astronomical instrument in world history. Meteor Centre for researching meteors in Kharkiv is a analogue of the observatory and performs the same functions of a generator and a battery of special knowledge and skills (the world-famous studio). Kharkiv and the location of the instrument were brand points on the globe, as the place where the world-class meteor radar studies were carried out. They are inscribed in the history of meteor astronomy, in large letters and should be immortalized on a world-wide level.

Some contributions of the Department of Veterans Affairs to the epidemiology of multiple sclerosis.

PubMed

Kurtzke, J F

2008-09-01

The first class 1 treatment trial ever conducted in multiple sclerosis (MS) was a Veterans Administration Cooperative Study. This led us to explore MS in the military-veteran populations of the United States in three main series: Army men hospitalized with final diagnoses of MS in World War II, all veterans of World War II and the Korean Conflict, and veterans of later service up to 1994. In each series, all cases had been matched with pre-illness military peers. These series provide major information on its clinical features, course and prognosis, including survival, by sex and race (white men and women; black men), as well as risk factors for occurrence, course, and survival. They comprise the only available nationwide morbidity distributions of MS in the United States. Veterans who are service-connected for MS by the Department of Veterans Affairs and matched with their military peers remain a unique and currently available resource for further clinical and epidemiological study of this disease.

Unique equilibrium states for Bonatti–Viana diffeomorphisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Climenhaga, Vaughn; Fisher, Todd; Thompson, Daniel J.

2018-06-01

We show that the robustly transitive diffeomorphisms constructed by Bonatti and Viana have unique equilibrium states for natural classes of potentials. In particular, we characterize the SRB measure as the unique equilibrium state for a suitable geometric potential. The techniques developed are applicable to a wide class of DA diffeomorphisms, and persist under C 1 perturbations of the map. These results are an application of general machinery developed by the first and last named authors.

Suppression of Hydrogen Emission in an X-Class White-Light Solar Flare

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prochazka, Ondrej; Milligan, Ryan O.; Allred, Joel C.; Kowalski, Adam F.; Kotrc, Pavel; Mathioudakis, Mihalis

2017-01-01

We present unique NUV observations of a well-observed X-class flare from NOAA 12087 obtained at the Ondrejov Observatory. The flare shows a strong white-light continuum but no detectable emission in the higher Balmer and Lyman lines. Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager and Fermi observations indicate an extremely hard X-ray spectrum and gamma-ray emission. We use the RADYN radiative hydrodynamic code to perform two types of simulations: one where an energy of 3 x 10(exp 11) erg/sq cm/s is deposited by an electron beam with a spectral index of approx. = 3, and a second where the same energy is applied directly to the photosphere. The combination of observations and simulations allows us to conclude that the white-light emission and the suppression or complete lack of hydrogen emission lines is best explained by a model where the dominant energy deposition layer is located in the lower layers of the solar atmosphere, rather than the chromosphere.

The Effects of Student Involvement and College Environment on Students' Learning and Living Experience at World-Class Research Universities in China: A Comparative Case Study of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Roy Yew-Hung

2011-01-01

This comparative research examined the effects of student involvement and college environment on students' learning and living experience delivered by two aspiring world-class universities in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Few studies have shown how the levels of student involvement and college environment can benefit students at world-class institution.…

Metabolomics and Ionomics of Potato Tuber Reveals an Influence of Cultivar and Market Class on Human Nutrients and Bioactive Compounds

PubMed Central

Chaparro, Jacqueline M.; Holm, David G.; Broeckling, Corey D.; Prenni, Jessica E.; Heuberger, Adam L.

2018-01-01

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important global food crop that contains phytochemicals with demonstrated effects on human health. Understanding sources of chemical variation of potato tuber can inform breeding for improved health attributes of the cooked food. Here, a comprehensive metabolomics (UPLC- and GC-MS) and ionomics (ICP-MS) analysis of raw and cooked potato tuber was performed on 60 unique potato genotypes that span 5 market classes including russet, red, yellow, chip, and specialty potatoes. The analyses detected 2,656 compounds that included known bioactives (43 compounds), nutrients (42), lipids (76), and 23 metals. Most nutrients and bioactives were partially degraded during cooking (44 out of 85; 52%), however genotypes with high quantities of bioactives remained highest in the cooked tuber. Chemical variation was influenced by genotype and market class. Specifically, ~53% of all detected compounds from cooked potato varied among market class and 40% varied by genotype. The most notable metabolite profiles were observed in yellow-flesh potato which had higher levels of carotenoids and specialty potatoes which had the higher levels of chlorogenic acid as compared to the other market classes. Variation in several molecules with known association to health was observed among market classes and included vitamins (e.g., pyridoxal, ~2-fold variation), bioactives (e.g., chlorogenic acid, ~40-fold variation), medicinals (e.g., kukoamines, ~6-fold variation), and minerals (e.g., calcium, iron, molybdenum, ~2-fold variation). Furthermore, more metabolite variation was observed within market class than among market class (e.g., α-tocopherol, ~1-fold variation among market class vs. ~3-fold variation within market class). Taken together, the analysis characterized significant metabolite and mineral variation in raw and cooked potato tuber, and support the potential to breed new cultivars for improved health traits. PMID:29876353

An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Recruitment Patterns on RDS Estimates among a Socially Ordered Population of Female Sex Workers in China

PubMed Central

Yamanis, Thespina J.; Merli, M. Giovanna; Neely, William Whipple; Tian, Felicia Feng; Moody, James; Tu, Xiaowen; Gao, Ersheng

2013-01-01

Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a method for recruiting “hidden” populations through a network-based, chain and peer referral process. RDS recruits hidden populations more effectively than other sampling methods and promises to generate unbiased estimates of their characteristics. RDS’s faithful representation of hidden populations relies on the validity of core assumptions regarding the unobserved referral process. With empirical recruitment data from an RDS study of female sex workers (FSWs) in Shanghai, we assess the RDS assumption that participants recruit nonpreferentially from among their network alters. We also present a bootstrap method for constructing the confidence intervals around RDS estimates. This approach uniquely incorporates real-world features of the population under study (e.g., the sample’s observed branching structure). We then extend this approach to approximate the distribution of RDS estimates under various peer recruitment scenarios consistent with the data as a means to quantify the impact of recruitment bias and of rejection bias on the RDS estimates. We find that the hierarchical social organization of FSWs leads to recruitment biases by constraining RDS recruitment across social classes and introducing bias in the RDS estimates. PMID:24288418

Co-Prescription Trends in a Large Cohort of Subjects Predict Substantial Drug-Drug Interactions

PubMed Central

Sutherland, Jeffrey J.; Daly, Thomas M.; Liu, Xiong; Goldstein, Keith; Johnston, Joseph A.; Ryan, Timothy P.

2015-01-01

Pharmaceutical prescribing and drug-drug interaction data underlie recommendations on drug combinations that should be avoided or closely monitored by prescribers. Because the number of patients taking multiple medications is increasing, a comprehensive view of prescribing patterns in patients is important to better assess real world pharmaceutical response and evaluate the potential for multi-drug interactions. We obtained self-reported prescription data from NHANES surveys between 1999 and 2010, and confirm the previously reported finding of increasing drug use in the elderly. We studied co-prescription drug trends by focusing on the 2009-2010 survey, which contains prescription data on 690 drugs used by 10,537 subjects. We found that medication profiles were unique for individuals aged 65 years or more, with ≥98 unique drug regimens encountered per 100 subjects taking 3 or more medications. When drugs were viewed by therapeutic class, it was found that the most commonly prescribed drugs were not the most commonly co-prescribed drugs for any of the 16 drug classes investigated. We cross-referenced these medication lists with drug interaction data from Drugs.com to evaluate the potential for drug interactions. The number of drug alerts rose proportionally with the number of co-prescribed medications, rising from 3.3 alerts for individuals prescribed 5 medications to 11.7 alerts for individuals prescribed 10 medications. We found 22% of elderly subjects taking both a substrate and inhibitor of a given cytochrome P450 enzyme, and 4% taking multiple inhibitors of the same enzyme simultaneously. By examining drug pairs prescribed in 0.1% of the population or more, we found low agreement between co-prescription rate and co-discussion in the literature. These data show that prescribing trends in treatment could drive a large extent of individual variability in drug response, and that current pairwise approaches to assessing drug-drug interactions may be inadequate for predicting real world outcomes. PMID:25739022

Combining multiple decisions: applications to bioinformatics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yukinawa, N.; Takenouchi, T.; Oba, S.; Ishii, S.

2008-01-01

Multi-class classification is one of the fundamental tasks in bioinformatics and typically arises in cancer diagnosis studies by gene expression profiling. This article reviews two recent approaches to multi-class classification by combining multiple binary classifiers, which are formulated based on a unified framework of error-correcting output coding (ECOC). The first approach is to construct a multi-class classifier in which each binary classifier to be aggregated has a weight value to be optimally tuned based on the observed data. In the second approach, misclassification of each binary classifier is formulated as a bit inversion error with a probabilistic model by making an analogy to the context of information transmission theory. Experimental studies using various real-world datasets including cancer classification problems reveal that both of the new methods are superior or comparable to other multi-class classification methods.

World War II: A Technology Lesson Plan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hagar, Suzy

1990-01-01

Presents a class activity on the history, causes, and consequences of World War II. Focuses on the development and deployment of the atomic bomb. Utilizes a Video Encyclopedia Program for historical background. Divides the class into groups that are responsible for researching and preparing a videotape on a World War II topic. (RW)

Formation of Partially and Fully Elaborated Generalized Equivalence Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fields, Lanny; Moss, Patricia

2008-01-01

Most complex categories observed in real-world settings consist of perceptually disparate stimuli, such as a picture of a person's face, the person's name as written, and the same name as heard, as well as dimensional variants of some or all of these stimuli. The stimuli function as members of a single partially or fully elaborated generalized…

The Multiple Influences on Nonformal Instructional Practices in Rural Mozambique: Exploring the Limits of World Culture Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Straubhaar, Rolf

2014-01-01

This article presents findings from 12 months of ethnographic observations of nonformal adult education classes offered by an internationally funded nonprofit, referred to in this article as Comunidades de Poder (CDP). The primary objective of this article is to examine the various contextual factors that influenced CDP teachers' instruction and…

"Corsages on Their Parents' Jackets": Employment and Aspiration among Arabic-Speaking Youth in Western Sydney

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgan, George; Idriss, Sherene

2012-01-01

Many commentators have observed that late modernity has profoundly reshaped the nature of employment such that workers have become more reflexive, mobile, individualistic and entrepreneurial, free to re-invent themselves as they choose in a world of endless possibilities. Theorists of reflexive modernity suggest that the family unit and class have…

Campus Eco Tours: An Integrative & Interactive Field Project for Undergraduate Biology Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boes, Katie E.

2013-01-01

Outdoor areas within or near college campuses offer an opportunity for biology students to observe the natural world and apply concepts from class. Here, I describe an engaging and integrative project where undergraduate non-major biology students work in teams to develop and present professional "eco tours." This project takes place over multiple…

Brazil to Join the European Southern Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-12-01

The Federative Republic of Brazil has yesterday signed the formal accession agreement paving the way for it to become a Member State of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Following government ratification Brazil will become the fifteenth Member State and the first from outside Europe. On 29 December 2010, at a ceremony in Brasilia, the Brazilian Minister of Science and Technology, Sergio Machado Rezende and the ESO Director General, Tim de Zeeuw signed the formal accession agreement aiming to make Brazil a Member State of the European Southern Observatory. Brazil will become the fifteen Member State and the first from outside Europe. Since the agreement means accession to an international convention, the agreement must now be submitted to the Brazilian Parliament for ratification [1]. The signing of the agreement followed the unanimous approval by the ESO Council during an extraordinary meeting on 21 December 2010. "Joining ESO will give new impetus to the development of science, technology and innovation in Brazil as part of the considerable efforts our government is making to keep the country advancing in these strategic areas," says Rezende. The European Southern Observatory has a long history of successful involvement with South America, ever since Chile was selected as the best site for its observatories in 1963. Until now, however, no non-European country has joined ESO as a Member State. "The membership of Brazil will give the vibrant Brazilian astronomical community full access to the most productive observatory in the world and open up opportunities for Brazilian high-tech industry to contribute to the European Extremely Large Telescope project. It will also bring new resources and skills to the organisation at the right time for them to make a major contribution to this exciting project," adds ESO Director General, Tim de Zeeuw. The European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) telescope design phase was recently completed and a major review was conducted where every aspect of this large project was scrutinised by an international panel of independent experts. The panel found that the E-ELT project is technically ready to enter the construction phase. The go-ahead for E-ELT construction is planned for 2011 and when operations start early in the next decade, European, Brazilian and Chilean astronomers will have access to this giant telescope. The president of ESO's governing body, the Council, Laurent Vigroux, concludes: "Astronomers in Brazil will benefit from collaborating with European colleagues, and naturally from having observing time at ESO's world-class observatories at La Silla and Paranal, as well as on ALMA, which ESO is constructing with its international partners." Notes [1] After ratification of Brazil's membership, the ESO Member States will be Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Geodynamic and climate controls in the formation of Mio-Pliocene world-class oxidized cobalt and manganese ores in the Katanga province, DR Congo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Decrée, Sophie; Deloule, Étienne; Ruffet, Gilles; Dewaele, Stijn; Mees, Florias; Marignac, Christian; Yans, Johan; de Putter, Thierry

2010-10-01

The Katanga province, Democratic Republic of Congo, hosts world-class cobalt deposits accounting for ~50% of the world reserves. They originated from sediment-hosted stratiform copper and cobalt sulfide deposits within Neoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks. Heterogenite, the main oxidized cobalt mineral, is concentrated as “cobalt caps” along the top of silicified dolomite inselbergs. The supergene cobalt enrichment process is part of a regional process of residual ore formation that also forms world-class “manganese cap” deposits in western Katanga, i.e., the “black earths” that are exploited by both industrial and artisanal mining. Here, we provide constraints on the genesis and the timing of these deposits. Ar-Ar analyses of oxidized Mn ore and in situ U-Pb SIMS measurements of heterogenite yield Mio-Pliocene ages. The Ar-Ar ages suggest a multi-phase process, starting in the Late Miocene (10-5 Ma), when the metal-rich substratum was exposed to the action of meteoric fluids, due to major regional uplift. Further oxidation took place in the Pliocene (3.7-2.3 Ma) and formed most of the observed deposits under humid conditions: Co- and Mn-caps on metal-rich substrata, and coeval Fe laterites on barren areas. These deposits formed prior to the regional shift toward more arid conditions in Central Africa. Arid conditions still prevailed during the Quaternary and resulted in erosion and valley incision, which dismantled the metal-bearing caps and led to ore accumulation in valleys and along foot slopes.

Food-web structure and network theory: The role of connectance and size

PubMed Central

Dunne, Jennifer A.; Williams, Richard J.; Martinez, Neo D.

2002-01-01

Networks from a wide range of physical, biological, and social systems have been recently described as “small-world” and “scale-free.” However, studies disagree whether ecological networks called food webs possess the characteristic path lengths, clustering coefficients, and degree distributions required for membership in these classes of networks. Our analysis suggests that the disagreements are based on selective use of relatively few food webs, as well as analytical decisions that obscure important variability in the data. We analyze a broad range of 16 high-quality food webs, with 25–172 nodes, from a variety of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Food webs generally have much higher complexity, measured as connectance (the fraction of all possible links that are realized in a network), and much smaller size than other networks studied, which have important implications for network topology. Our results resolve prior conflicts by demonstrating that although some food webs have small-world and scale-free structure, most do not if they exceed a relatively low level of connectance. Although food-web degree distributions do not display a universal functional form, observed distributions are systematically related to network connectance and size. Also, although food webs often lack small-world structure because of low clustering, we identify a continuum of real-world networks including food webs whose ratios of observed to random clustering coefficients increase as a power–law function of network size over 7 orders of magnitude. Although food webs are generally not small-world, scale-free networks, food-web topology is consistent with patterns found within those classes of networks. PMID:12235364

Are posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex-PTSD distinguishable within a treatment-seeking sample of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon?

PubMed

Hyland, P; Ceannt, R; Daccache, F; Abou Daher, R; Sleiman, J; Gilmore, B; Byrne, S; Shevlin, M; Murphy, J; Vallières, F

2018-01-01

The World Health Organization will publish its 11 th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) in 2018. The ICD-11 will include a refined model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a new diagnosis of complex PTSD (CPTSD). Whereas emerging data supports the validity of these proposals, the discriminant validity of PTSD and CPTSD have yet to be tested amongst a sample of refugees. Treatment-seeking Syrian refugees ( N  = 110) living in Lebanon completed an Arabic version of the International Trauma Questionnaire ; a measure specifically designed to capture the symptom content of ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD. In total, 62.6% of the sample met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD or CPTSD. More refugees met the criteria for CPTSD (36.1%) than PTSD (25.2%) and no gender differences were observed. Latent class analysis results identified three distinct groups: (1) a PTSD class, (2) a CPTSD class and (3) a low symptom class. Class membership was significantly predicted by levels of functional impairment. Support for the discriminant validity of ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD was observed for the first time within a sample of refugees. In support of the cross-cultural validity of the ICD-11 proposals, the prevalence of PTSD and CPTSD were similar to those observed in culturally distinct contexts.

GEOG 342: Exploring the Virtual Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bailey, J. E.; Sfraga, M.

2007-12-01

First attributed to Eratosthenes around 200 BC, the word "geography" is derived from Greek words meaning "Earth" and "to describe". It describes the study of our planets, its features, inhabitants, and phenomena. The term "neogeography" put simply is new geography; where new refers to more than just practices that are new in usage. Methodologies of neogeography tend toward the intuitive, personal, artistic or even absurd, and general don't confirm to traditional protocols and boundaries. Mapping and spatial technologies such as Geobrowsers are typical of the tools used by neogeographers. Much of the success of Geobrowsers can be attributed to the fact that they use the methods and technologies of neogeography to provide a better understanding of traditional topics of Geography. The Geography program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is embracing these new methodologies by offering a new class that explores the world around us through the use of Geobrowsers and other Web 2.0 technologies. Students will learn to use Keyhole Markup Language (KML), Google Maps API, SketchUp and a range of Virtual Globes programs, primarily through geospatial datasets from the Earth Sciences. A special focus will be given to datasets that look at the environments and natural hazards that make Alaska such a unique landscape. The role of forums, wikis and blogs in the expansion of the Geoweb will be explored, and students will be encouraged to be active on these websites. Students will also explore Second Life, the concept of which will be introduced through the class text, Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash". The primary goal of the class is to encourage students to undertake their own explorations of virtual Earths, in order to better understand the physical and social structure of the real world.

What Do Mothers Say? Korean Mothers' Perceptions of Children's Participation in Extra-Curricular Musical Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Eun

2015-01-01

A recent study of Korean middle-class mothers' perceptions and parenting practices associated with children's participation in musical activities reported unique forms of musical parenting, which closely correspond with previous studies of concerted cultivation in Western middle-class families. Are these unique patterns exclusive to middle-class…

Validation and Demonstration of the NOAA Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System (NUCAPS) in Support of User Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nalli, N. R.; Gambacorta, A.; Tan, C.; Iturbide, F.; Barnet, C. D.; Reale, A.; Sun, B.; Liu, Q.

2017-12-01

This presentation overviews the performance of the operational SNPP NOAA Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System (NUCAPS) environmental data record (EDR) products. The SNPP Cross-track Infrared Sounder and Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (CrIS/ATMS) suite, the first of the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Program, is one of NOAA's major investments in our nation's future operational environmental observation capability. The NUCAPS algorithm is a world-class NOAA-operational IR/MW retrieval algorithm based upon the well-established AIRS science team algorithm for deriving temperature, moisture, ozone and carbon trace gas to provide users with state-of-the-art EDR products. Operational use of the products includes the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS), along with numerous science-user applications. NUCAPS EDR product assessments are made with reference to JPSS Level 1 global requirements, which provide the definitive metrics for assessing that the products have minimally met predefined global performance specifications. The NESDIS/STAR NUCAPS development and validation team recently delivered the Phase 4 algorithm which incorporated critical updates necessary for compatibility with full spectral-resolution (FSR) CrIS sensor data records (SDRs). Based on comprehensive analyses, the NUCAPS Phase 4 CrIS-FSR temperature, moisture and ozone profile EDRs, as well as the carbon trace gas EDRs (CO, CH4 and CO2), are shown o be meeting or close to meeting the JPSS program global requirements. Regional and temporal assessments of interest to EDR users (e.g., AWIPS) will also be presented.

The Visions of World-Class Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slyusarenko, Olena

2015-01-01

The visions of the top 26 world-class universities of the first 30 in the Shanghai ranking list have been evaluated and compared with the missions of the world's top 20 universities. Applying the content analysis, a group of 48 keywords, which describe the essence of these visions, has been revealed. The average amount of keywords in one vision is…

Update on SGLT2 Inhibitors-New Data Released at the American Diabetes Association.

PubMed

Lee, Sara

2017-09-01

Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are one of the newer classes of antiglycemic agents approved for the management of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Due to their unique mechanism of action, SGLT2 inhibitors have shown to be beneficial beyond glucose control. The improvement in cardiovascular (CV) outcomes was first observed in the landmark EMPA-REG OUTCOMES study. Following these results, numerous CV outcome trials were designed to identify whether the beneficial CV and renal effects observed with empagliflozin are unique or a drug class effect. The benefit of SGLT2 inhibition was confirmed by the CANagliflozin cardioVascular Assessment Study (CANVAS) Program, presented at the American Diabetes Association 77th Scientific Sessions. With over 10,000 patients, the CANVAS Program integrated data from two large CV outcome studies. Canagliflozin achieved a 14% reduction in the composite endpoint of CV mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), or nonfatal stroke, and a 33% reduction in the risk of hospitalization for heart failure (HF) compared with placebo. Potential renal protective effects were also observed with canagliflozin; however, an increased risk of amputation with canagliflozin was seen in both CANVAS studies. The class effect of SGLT2 inhibitors was also confirmed in new analyses of the The Comparative Effectiveness of Cardiovascular Outcomes (CVD-REAL) study, which aimed to evaluate SGLT2 inhibitors (dapagliflozin, canagliflozin, and empagliflozin) in broader patient populations with type 2 diabetes mellitus. In patients who were new to SGLT2 inhibitors, significant reductions in rates of CV death and hospitalization for HF were observed compared with any other glucose-lowering agents. SGLT2 inhibitors were also associated with lower rates in hospitalization for HF in patients with and without CV disease. In addition, substudies of the EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial further provided insight on the efficacy of empagliflozin across categories of adjusted control of blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) over time.

Circuit class therapy and 7-day-week therapy increase physiotherapy time, but not patient activity: early results from the CIRCIT trial.

PubMed

English, Coralie; Bernhardt, Julie; Hillier, Susan

2014-10-01

The optimum model of physiotherapy service delivery for maximizing active task practice during rehabilitation after stroke is unknown. The purpose of the study was to examine the relative effectiveness of 2 alternative models of physiotherapy service delivery against a usual care control with regard to increasing patient activity. Substudy within a large 3-armed randomized controlled trial, which compared 3 different models of physiotherapy service delivery, was provided for 4 weeks during subacute, inpatient rehabilitation (n=283). The duration of all physiotherapy sessions was recorded. In addition, 32 participants were observed at 10-minute intervals for 1 weekday and 1 weekend day between 8:00 am and 4:30 pm. At each observation, we recorded physical activity, location, and people present. Participants receiving 7-day-week and circuit class therapy received an additional 3 hours and 22 hours of physiotherapy time, respectively, when compared with usual care. Participants were standing or walking for a median of 8.2% of observations. On weekdays, circuit class therapy participants spent more time in therapy-related activity (10.2% of observations) when compared with usual care participants (6.1% of observations). On weekends, 7-day therapy participants spent more time in therapy-related activity (4.2% of observations) when compared with both usual care and circuit class therapy participants (0% of observations for both groups). Activity levels outside of therapy sessions did not differ between groups. A greater dosage of physiotherapy time did not translate into meaningful increases in physical activity across the day. http://www.anzctr.org.au/. Unique identifier: ACTRN12610000096055. © 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.

Pitfalls in alignment of observation models resolved using PROV as an upper ontology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cox, S. J. D.

2015-12-01

A number of models for observation metadata have been developed in the earth and environmental science communities, including OGC's Observations and Measurements (O&M), the ecosystems community's Extensible Observation Ontology (OBOE), the W3C's Semantic Sensor Network Ontology (SSNO), and the CUAHSI/NSF Observations Data Model v2 (ODM2). In order to combine data formalized in the various models, mappings between these must be developed. In some cases this is straightforward: since ODM2 took O&M as its starting point, their terminology is almost completely aligned. In the eco-informatics world observations are almost never made in isolation of other observations, so OBOE pays particular attention to groupings, with multiple atomic 'Measurements' in each oboe:Observation which does not have a result of its own and thus plays a different role to an om:Observation. And while SSN also adopted terminology from O&M, mapping is confounded by the fact that SSN uses DOLCE as its foundation and places ssn:Observations as 'Social Objects' which are explicitly disjoint from 'Events', while O&M is formalized as part of the ISO/TC 211 harmonised (UML) model and sees om:Observations as value assignment activities. Foundational ontologies (such as BFO, GFO, UFO or DOLCE) can provide a framework for alignment, but different upper ontologies can be based in profoundly different worldviews and use of incommensurate frameworks can confound rather than help. A potential resolution is provided by comparing recent studies that align SSN and O&M, respectively, with the PROV-O ontology. PROV-O provides just three base classes: Entity, Activity and Agent. om:Observation is sub-classed from prov:Activity, while ssn:Observation is sub-classed from prov:Entity. This confirms that, despite the same name, om:Observation and ssn:Observation denote different aspects of the observation process: the observation event, and the record of the observation event, respectively. Alignment with the simple PROV-O classes has clarified this issue in a way that had previously proved difficult to resolve. The simple 3-class base model from PROV appears to provide just enough logic to serve as a lightweight upper ontology, particularly for workflow or process-based information.

Existence and uniqueness of solution for a class of stochastic differential equations.

PubMed

Cao, Junfei; Huang, Zaitang; Zeng, Caibin

2013-01-01

A class of stochastic differential equations given by dx(t) = f(x(t))dt + g(x(t))dW(t),  x(t 0) = x 0,  t 0 ≤ t ≤ T < +∞, are investigated. Upon making some suitable assumptions, the existence and uniqueness of solution for the equations are obtained. Moreover, the existence and uniqueness of solution for stochastic Lorenz system, which is illustrated by example, are in good agreement with the theoretical analysis.

Social class and wise reasoning about interpersonal conflicts across regions, persons and situations

PubMed Central

Brienza, Justin P.

2017-01-01

We propose that class is inversely related to a propensity for using wise reasoning (recognizing limits of their knowledge, consider world in flux and change, acknowledges and integrate different perspectives) in interpersonal situations, contrary to established class advantage in abstract cognition. Two studies—an online survey from regions differing in economic affluence (n = 2 145) and a representative in-lab study with stratified sampling of adults from working and middle-class backgrounds (n = 299)—tested this proposition, indicating that higher social class consistently related to lower levels of wise reasoning across different levels of analysis, including regional and individual differences, and subjective construal of specific situations. The results held across personal and standardized hypothetical situations, across self-reported and observed wise reasoning, and when controlling for fluid and crystallized cognitive abilities. Consistent with an ecological framework, class differences in wise reasoning were specific to interpersonal (versus societal) conflicts. These findings suggest that higher social class weighs individuals down by providing the ecological constraints that undermine wise reasoning about interpersonal affairs. PMID:29263284

Social class and wise reasoning about interpersonal conflicts across regions, persons and situations.

PubMed

Brienza, Justin P; Grossmann, Igor

2017-12-20

We propose that class is inversely related to a propensity for using wise reasoning (recognizing limits of their knowledge, consider world in flux and change, acknowledges and integrate different perspectives) in interpersonal situations, contrary to established class advantage in abstract cognition. Two studies-an online survey from regions differing in economic affluence ( n = 2 145) and a representative in-lab study with stratified sampling of adults from working and middle-class backgrounds ( n = 299)-tested this proposition, indicating that higher social class consistently related to lower levels of wise reasoning across different levels of analysis, including regional and individual differences, and subjective construal of specific situations. The results held across personal and standardized hypothetical situations, across self-reported and observed wise reasoning, and when controlling for fluid and crystallized cognitive abilities. Consistent with an ecological framework, class differences in wise reasoning were specific to interpersonal (versus societal) conflicts. These findings suggest that higher social class weighs individuals down by providing the ecological constraints that undermine wise reasoning about interpersonal affairs. © 2017 The Authors.

Thesis: A Combined-light Mission For Exoplanet Molecular Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deroo, Pieter; Swain, M. R.; Tinetti, G.; Griffith, C.; Vasisht, G.; Deming, D.; Henning, T.; Beaulieu, J.

2010-01-01

THESIS, the Transiting Habitable-zone Exoplanet Spectroscopy Infrared Spacecraft, is a concept for a MIDEX/Discovery class exoplanet mission. Building on the recent Spitzer and Hubble successes in exoplanet characterization and molecular spectroscopy, THESIS would extend these types of measurements to a large population of planets including non-transiting planets and super-Earths. The ability to acquire high-stability, spectroscopic data from the near-visible to the mid-infrared is a unique aspect of THESIS. A strength of the THESIS concept is simplicity low technical risk, and modest cost. By enabling molecular spectroscopy of exoplanet atmospheres, THESIS mission has the potential to dramatically advance our understanding of conditions on extrasolar worlds while serving as a stepping stone to more ambitious future missions.

Fluid Physical and Transport Phenomena Studies aboard the International Space Station: Planned Experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Singh, Bhim S.

1999-01-01

This paper provides an overview of the microgravity fluid physics and transport phenomena experiments planned for the International Spare Station. NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Science and Applications has established a world-class research program in fluid physics and transport phenomena. This program combines the vast expertise of the world research community with NASA's unique microgravity facilities with the objectives of gaining new insight into fluid phenomena by removing the confounding effect of gravity. Due to its criticality to many terrestrial and space-based processes and phenomena, fluid physics and transport phenomena play a central role in the NASA's Microgravity Program. Through widely publicized research announcement and well established peer-reviews, the program has been able to attract a number of world-class researchers and acquired a critical mass of investigations that is now adding rapidly to this field. Currently there arc a total of 106 ground-based and 20 candidate flight principal investigators conducting research in four major thrust areas in the program: complex flows, multiphase flow and phase change, interfacial phenomena, and dynamics and instabilities. The International Space Station (ISS) to be launched in 1998, provides the microgravity research community with a unprecedented opportunity to conduct long-duration microgravity experiments which can be controlled and operated from the Principal Investigators' own laboratory. Frequent planned shuttle flights to the Station will provide opportunities to conduct many more experiments than were previously possible. NASA Lewis Research Center is in the process of designing a Fluids and Combustion Facility (FCF) to be located in the Laboratory Module of the ISS that will not only accommodate multiple users but, allow a broad range of fluid physics and transport phenomena experiments to be conducted in a cost effective manner.

A Comparison of Techniques for Scheduling Fleets of Earth-Observing Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Globus, Al; Crawford, James; Lohn, Jason; Pryor, Anna

2003-01-01

Earth observing satellite (EOS) scheduling is a complex real-world domain representative of a broad class of over-subscription scheduling problems. Over-subscription problems are those where requests for a facility exceed its capacity. These problems arise in a wide variety of NASA and terrestrial domains and are .XI important class of scheduling problems because such facilities often represent large capital investments. We have run experiments comparing multiple variants of the genetic algorithm, hill climbing, simulated annealing, squeaky wheel optimization and iterated sampling on two variants of a realistically-sized model of the EOS scheduling problem. These are implemented as permutation-based methods; methods that search in the space of priority orderings of observation requests and evaluate each permutation by using it to drive a greedy scheduler. Simulated annealing performs best and random mutation operators outperform our squeaky (more intelligent) operator. Furthermore, taking smaller steps towards the end of the search improves performance.

Weak localization of electromagnetic waves and opposition phenomena exhibited by high-albedo atmosphereless solar system objects.

PubMed

Mishchenko, Michael I; Rosenbush, Vera K; Kiselev, Nikolai N

2006-06-20

The totality of new and previous optical observations of a class of high-albedo solar system objects at small phase angles reveals a unique combination of extremely narrow brightness and polarization features centered at exactly the opposition. The specific morphological parameters of these features provide an almost unequivocal evidence that they are caused by the renowned effect of coherent backscattering.

It Happened in Antarctica. A Collection of Observations Requiring Scientific Explanations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yaxley, Murray

There are many reasons for studying Antarctica. It is the key element in the world's climate. Some of the secrets of the earth's past are locked beneath its icecap. It has a fascinating physical environment and a unique and fragile ecosystem. It is a frontier of scientific research and technological development. Its history is an important and…

Observational physics of mirror world

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Khlopov, M. YA.; Beskin, G. M.; Bochkarev, N. E.; Pustilnik, L. A.; Pustilnik, S. A.

1989-01-01

The existence of the whole world of shadow particles, interacting with each other and having no mutual interactions with ordinary particles except gravity is a specific feature of modern superstring models, being considered as models of the theory of everything. The presence of shadow particles is the necessary condition in the superstring models, providing compensation of the asymmetry of left and right chirality states of ordinary particles. If compactification of additional dimensions retains the symmetry of left and right states, shadow world turns to be the mirror one, with particles and fields having properties strictly symmetrical to the ones of corresponding ordinary particles and fields. Owing to the strict symmetry of physical laws for ordinary and mirror particles, the analysis of cosmological evolution of mirror matter provides rather definite conclusions on possible effects of mirror particles in the universe. A general qualitative discussion of possible astronomical impact of mirror matter is given, in order to make as wide as possible astronomical observational searches for the effects of mirror world, being the unique way to test the existence of mirror partners of ordinary particles in the Nature.

The MONET project and beyond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hessma, F. V.

2004-10-01

The ``MOnitoring NEtwork of Telescopes'' (MONET) consists of two 1.2-m imaging telescopes funded by the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation and the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen and will be operated by the McDonald Observatory in West Texas and the South African Astronomical Observatory at Sutherland. Scheduled to go into full operation in 2005, it will be used to perform a variety of monitoring and survey observations over the whole sky, to aid observations by satellites and 10m-class telescopes like the VLT, HET and SALT telescopes, and will be available to participating school classes all over the world. Through our development and use of Remote Telescope Markup Language (RTML), MONET should be one of the kernels of a growing international network of heterogeneous telescopes.

Associations among hydrologic classifications and fish traits to support environmental flow standards

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

McManamay, Ryan A; Bevelhimer, Mark S; Frimpong, Dr. Emmanuel A,

2014-01-01

Classification systems are valuable to ecological management in that they organize information into consolidated units thereby providing efficient means to achieve conservation objectives. Of the many ways classifications benefit management, hypothesis generation has been discussed as the most important. However, in order to provide templates for developing and testing ecologically relevant hypotheses, classifications created using environmental variables must be linked to ecological patterns. Herein, we develop associations between a recent US hydrologic classification and fish traits in order to form a template for generating flow ecology hypotheses and supporting environmental flow standard development. Tradeoffs in adaptive strategies for fish weremore » observed across a spectrum of stable, perennial flow to unstable intermittent flow. In accordance with theory, periodic strategists were associated with stable, predictable flow, whereas opportunistic strategists were more affiliated with intermittent, variable flows. We developed linkages between the uniqueness of hydrologic character and ecological distinction among classes, which may translate into predictions between losses in hydrologic uniqueness and ecological community response. Comparisons of classification strength between hydrologic classifications and other frameworks suggested that spatially contiguous classifications with higher regionalization will tend to explain more variation in ecological patterns. Despite explaining less ecological variation than other frameworks, we contend that hydrologic classifications are still useful because they provide a conceptual linkage between hydrologic variation and ecological communities to support flow ecology relationships. Mechanistic associations among fish traits and hydrologic classes support the presumption that environmental flow standards should be developed uniquely for stream classes and ecological communities, therein.« less

Connecting Children Internationally for Science Instruction: Using the Internet to Support Learning about Lunar Phases

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Walter S.; Cheon, Jongpil; Jabri, Faiza; Reynolds, Stephen; Zebedi, Amira

2012-01-01

This study investigated the effect on children's science understanding of Internet-based instruction in which children from around the world in grades 4 to 8 observed the Moon for several weeks and then shared their lunar data internationally to find global patterns in the Moon's behavior. Students in two American and one Australian class took the…

A Spoonful of C[subscript 12]H[subscript 22]O[subscript 11] Makes the Chemistry Go Down: Candy Motivations in the High School Chemistry Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ennever, Fanny K.

2007-01-01

A food motivation activity, using a candy bar for high school chemistry classes is described. The use of everyday items like candy makes lab sessions interesting for students and may also help connect chemical concepts to their observable world and encourage them to ask questions.

Pre-Service Teachers and Search Engines: Prior Knowledge and Instructional Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colaric, Susan M.; Fine, Bethann; Hofmann, William

2004-01-01

There is a wealth of information available on the World Wide Web that can assist pre-service teachers in their course studies. Yet observation of students in a technology integration class indicated that students were not able to find resources efficiently or reliably. The purpose of this study was to establish a baseline of what undergraduate,…

Childhood Diversity and the Fallacy of "The American Character": Class, Culture, and Child Rearing during the Second World War.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tuttle, William M., Jr.

A teacher's observations on the marked contrast between the development and behavior of elementary school children in Tennessee's Cumberland plateau and their counterparts in New York City's Greenwich Village vividly demonstrate the regional basis that still accounts for a variety of cultural variations. And yet, place of upbringing is just one of…

Electric Propulsion Platforms at DFRC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baraaclough, Jonathan

2009-01-01

NASA Dryden Flight Research Center is a world-class flight research facility located at Edwards AFB, CA. With access to a 44 sq. mile dry lakebed and 350 testable days per year, it is the ideal location for flight research. DFRC has been undertaking aircraft research for approximately six decades including the famous X-aircraft (X-1 through X-48) and many science and exploration platforms. As part of this impressive heritage, DFRC has garnered more hours of full-sized electric aircraft testing than any other facility in the US, and possibly the world. Throughout the 80 s and 90 s Dryden was the home of the Pathfinder, Pathfinder Plus, and Helios prototype solar-electric aircraft. As part of the ERAST program, these electric aircraft achieved a world record 97,000 feet altitude for propeller-driven aircraft. As a result of these programs, Dryden s staff has collected thousands of man-hours of electric aircraft research and testing. In order to better answer the needs of the US in providing aircraft technologies with lower fuel consumption, lower toxic emissions (NOx, CO, VOCs, etc.), lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and lower noise emissions, NASA has engaged in cross-discipline research under the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). As a part of this overall effort, Mark Moore of LaRC has initiated a cross-NASA-center electric propulsion working group (EPWG) to focus on electric propulsion technologies as applied to aircraft. Electric propulsion technologies are ideally suited to overcome all of the obstacles mentioned above, and are at a sufficiently advanced state of development component-wise to warrant serious R&D and testing (TRL 3+). The EPWG includes participation from NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), Glenn Research Center (GRC), Ames Research Center (ARC), and Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC). Each of the center participants provides their own unique expertise to support the overall goal of advancing the state-of-the-art in aircraft electric propulsion technologies. DFRC will leverage its vast experience in flight test to assist in the integration and flight test phases of any electric propulsion program. DFRC s core competencies, that have particular relevance to the goals of the EPWG, include flight research planning and execution and providing aircraft test beds for researching and testing electric propulsion concepts and equipment. There are three flight regimes that the EPWG is focusing on: subsonic small GA and UAV, subsonic transport class, and supersonic. DFRC proposes two classes of test bed aircraft, to answer the early- and mid-phase testing requirements of all flight regimes the EPWG is concerned with. First, a highly efficient PIK motor glider will be used to test concepts and equipment associated with the subsonic GA and UAV aircraft regime (N+1). Second, a small fleet of subscale remotely-piloted aircraft test beds, similar to the X48B Blended Wing Body aircraft tested at Dryden, will be developed to answer the unique testing requirements of the subsonic GA and UAV, subsonic transport and possibly the supersonic class of aircraft (N+2, N+3). These aircraft can be tested in either serial stages or concurrent stages, depending on the actual test requirements and program schedules. Both classes of test bed aircraft are described below.

The Coldest Discoveries of Backyard Worlds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faherty, Jacqueline; Kuchner, Marc; Logsdon, Sarah; Bardalez Gagliuffi, Daniella; Meisner, Aaron; Schneider, Adam; Gagne, Jonathan; Caselden, Dan

2018-05-01

Over the past five years, our view of the local solar neighborhood has changed drastically thanks to the Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Not only did WISE redefine the five closest systems to the Sun with the discovery of Luhman16AB and WISE0855, but it also revealed the Sun's closest fly by and it defined an entirely new class of extremely cold and close compact objects: the Y dwarfs. At present, all but two of the Y dwarfs were discovered through a WISE single epoch photometric identification. As a whole, these objects are of critical importance to identifying the efficiency of star formation at the lowest masses. As individuals, each of these objects represents a unique probe into the complex chemistry present in the coldest photospheres produced in the Universe. Every single Y dwarf discovered is an observational treasure. In February 2017, we launched a citizen science project called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 with the intention of scanning the entire sky using not just photometric information but positional as well to identify the coldest, closest, and fastest moving objects near the Sun. In this Spitzer Cycle 14 proposal, we have identified 65 tantalizingly fast moving objects that appear to be extremely cold hence potentially among the Sun's nearest neighbors. We ask for 26.8 hours with Spitzer to obtain critical ch1 and ch2 photometry as well as astrometric information (to confirm motion) which will allow us to characterize these new cold brown dwarf neighbors. The coldest objects discovered through this proposal will be important follow-up targets for JWST spectroscopy.

The ground truth about metadata and community detection in networks

PubMed Central

Peel, Leto; Larremore, Daniel B.; Clauset, Aaron

2017-01-01

Across many scientific domains, there is a common need to automatically extract a simplified view or coarse-graining of how a complex system’s components interact. This general task is called community detection in networks and is analogous to searching for clusters in independent vector data. It is common to evaluate the performance of community detection algorithms by their ability to find so-called ground truth communities. This works well in synthetic networks with planted communities because these networks’ links are formed explicitly based on those known communities. However, there are no planted communities in real-world networks. Instead, it is standard practice to treat some observed discrete-valued node attributes, or metadata, as ground truth. We show that metadata are not the same as ground truth and that treating them as such induces severe theoretical and practical problems. We prove that no algorithm can uniquely solve community detection, and we prove a general No Free Lunch theorem for community detection, which implies that there can be no algorithm that is optimal for all possible community detection tasks. However, community detection remains a powerful tool and node metadata still have value, so a careful exploration of their relationship with network structure can yield insights of genuine worth. We illustrate this point by introducing two statistical techniques that can quantify the relationship between metadata and community structure for a broad class of models. We demonstrate these techniques using both synthetic and real-world networks, and for multiple types of metadata and community structures. PMID:28508065

What is Next? Linking all Samples of Planet Earth.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wyborn, L. A.; Lehnert, K.; Klump, J. F.; Arko, R. A.; Cox, S. J. D.; Devaraju, A.; Elger, K.; Murphy, F.; Fleischer, D.

2016-12-01

The process of sampling, observing and analyzing physical samples is not unique to the geosciences. Physical sampling (taking specimens) is a fundamental strategy in many natural sciences, typically to support ex-situ observations in laboratories with the goal of characterizing real-world entities or populations. Observations and measurements are made on individual specimens and their derived samples in various ways, with results reported in research publications. Research on an individual sample is often published in numerous articles, based on multiple, potentially unrelated research programs conducted over many years. Even high-volume Earth observation datasets are proxies of real world phenomena and require calibration by measurements made on position located, well described physical samples. Unique, persistent web-compatible identifiers for physical objects and related sampling features are required to ensure their unambiguous citation and connection to related datasets through web identifiers. Identifier systems have been established within specific domains (e.g., bio, geo, hydro) or different sectors (e.g., museums, government agencies, universities), including the International Geo Sample Number (IGSN) in the geosciences, which has been used for rock, fossil, mineral, soil, regolith, fluid, plant and synthetic materials. IGSNs are issued through a governance system that ensures they are globally unique. Each IGSN directs to a digital representation of the physical object via the Handle.net global resolver system, the same system used for resolving DOI. To enable the unique identification of all samples on Planet Earth and of data derived from them, the next step is to ensure IGSNs can either be integrated with comparable identifier systems in other domains/sectors, or introduced into domains that do not have a viable system. A registry of persistent identifier systems for physical samples would allow users to choose which system best suits their needs. Such a registry may also facilitate unifying best practice in these multiple systems to enable consistent referencing of physical samples and of methods used to link digital data to its sources. IGSNs could be extended into other domains, but additional methodologies of sample collection, curation and processing may need to be considered.

American Mock World Health Organization: An Innovative Model for Student Engagement in Global Health Policy

PubMed Central

Lei, Mia; Acharya, Neha; Kwok Man Lee, Edith; Catherine Holcomb, Emma; Kapoor, Veronica

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT The American Mock World Health Organization (AMWHO) is a model for experiential-based learning and student engagement in global health diplomacy. AMWHO was established in 2014 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a mission to engage students in health policy by providing a simulation of the World Health Assembly (WHA), the policy-forming body of the World Health Organization that sets norms and transforms the global health agenda. AMWHO conferences are designed to allow students to take their knowledge of global health beyond the classroom and practice their skills in diplomacy by assuming the role of WHA delegates throughout a 3-day weekend. Through the process of developing resolutions like those formed in the WHA, students have the unique opportunity to understand the complexities behind the conflict and compromise that ensues through the lens of a stakeholder. This article describes the structure of the first 2 AMWHO international conferences, analyzes survey results from attendees, and discusses the expansion of the organization into a multi-campus national network. The AMWHO 2014 and 2015 post-conference survey results found that 98% and 90% of participants considered the conference "good" or "better," respectively, and survey responses showed that participants considered the conference "influential" in their careers and indicated that it "allowed a paradigm shift not possible in class." PMID:28351883

Fructans of the saline world.

PubMed

Kırtel, Onur; Versluys, Maxime; Van den Ende, Wim; Öner, Ebru Toksoy

2018-06-20

Saline and hypersaline environments make up the largest ecosystem on earth and the organisms living in such water-restricted environments have developed unique ways to cope with high salinity. As such these organisms not only carry significant industrial potential in a world where freshwater supplies are rapidly diminishing, but they also shed light upon the origins and extremes of life. One largely overlooked and potentially important feature of many salt-loving organisms is their ability to produce fructans, fructose polymers widely found in various mesophilic Eubacteria and plants, with potential functions as storage carbohydrates, aiding stress tolerance, and acting as virulence factors or signaling molecules. Intriguingly, within the whole archaeal domain of life, Archaea possessing putative fructan biosynthetic enzymes were found to belong to the extremely halophilic class of Halobacteria only, indicating a strong, yet unexplored link between the fructan syndrome and salinity. In fact, this link may indeed lead to novel strategies in fighting the global salinization problem. Hence this review explores the unknown world of fructanogenic salt-loving organisms, where water scarcity is the main stress factor for life. Within this scope, prokaryotes and plants of the saline world are discussed in detail, with special emphasis on their salt adaptation mechanisms, the potential roles of fructans and fructosyltransferase enzymes in adaptation and survival as well as future aspects for all fructanogenic salt-loving domains of life. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Personal Belief in a Just World, Experience of Teacher Justice, and School Distress in Different Class Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peter, Felix; Dalbert, Claudia; Kloeckner, Nils; Radant, Matthias

2013-01-01

The study examined the meaning of personal belief in a just world and students' experience of their teachers' behavior toward them personally for school distress in different class contexts. The study involved 827 secondary school students from 61 classes (grades 9 to 11). Analyses revealed that the more the students believed in a…

Experimental Physical Sciences Vistas: MaRIE (draft)

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

Shlachter, Jack

To achieve breakthrough scientific discoveries in the 21st century, a convergence and integration of world-leading experimental facilities and capabilities with theory, modeling, and simulation is necessary. In this issue of Experimental Physical Sciences Vistas, I am excited to present our plans for Los Alamos National Laboratory's future flagship experimental facility, MaRIE (Matter-Radiation Interactions in Extremes). MaRIE is a facility that will provide transformational understanding of matter in extreme conditions required to reduce or resolve key weapons performance uncertainties, develop the materials needed for advanced energy systems, and transform our ability to create materials by design. Our unique role in materialsmore » science starting with the Manhattan Project has positioned us well to develop a contemporary materials strategy pushing the frontiers of controlled functionality - the design and tailoring of a material for the unique demands of a specific application. Controlled functionality requires improvement in understanding of the structure and properties of materials in order to synthesize and process materials with unique characteristics. In the nuclear weapons program today, improving data and models to increase confidence in the stockpile can take years from concept to new knowledge. Our goal with MaRIE is to accelerate this process by enhancing predictive capability - the ability to compute a priori the observables of an experiment or test and pertinent confidence intervals using verified and validated simulation tools. It is a science-based approach that includes the use of advanced experimental tools, theoretical models, and multi-physics codes, simultaneously dealing with multiple aspects of physical operation of a system that are needed to develop an increasingly mature predictive capability. This same approach is needed to accelerate improvements to other systems such as nuclear reactors. MaRIE will be valuable to many national security science challenges. Our first issue of Vistas focused on our current national user facilities (the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center [LANSCE], the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory-Pulsed Field Facility, and the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies) and the vitality they bring to our Laboratory. These facilities are a magnet for students, postdoctoral researchers, and staff members from all over the world. This, in turn, allows us to continue to develop and maintain our strong staff across the relevant disciplines and conduct world-class discovery science. The second issue of Vistas was devoted entirely to the Laboratory's materials strategy - one of the three strategic science thrusts for the Laboratory. This strategy has helped focus our thinking for MaRIE. We believe there is a bright future in cutting-edge experimental materials research, and that a 21st-century facility with unique capability is necessary to fulfill this goal. The Laboratory has spent the last several years defining MaRIE, and this issue of Vistas presents our current vision of that facility. MaRIE will leverage LANSCE and our other user facilities, as well as our internal and external materials community for decades to come, giving Los Alamos a unique competitive advantage, advancing materials science for the Laboratory's missions and attracting and recruiting scientists of international stature. MaRIE will give the international materials research community a suite of tools capable of meeting a broad range of outstanding grand challenges.« less

JWST Planetary Observations Within the Solar System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lunine, Jonathan; Hammel, Heidi; Schaller, Emily; Sonneborn, George; Orton, Glenn; Rieke, George; Rieke, Marcia

2010-01-01

JWST provides capabilities unmatched by other telescopic facilities in the near to mid infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Its combination of broad wavelength range, high sensitivity and near diffraction-limited imaging around two microns wavelength make it a high value facility for a variety of Solar System targets. Beyond Neptune, a class of cold, large bodies that include Pluto, Triton and Eris exhibits surface deposits of nitrogen, methane, and other molecules that are poorly observed from the ground, but for which JWST might provide spectral mapping at high sensitivity and spatial resolution difficult to match with the current generation of ground-based observatories. The observatory will also provide unique sensitivity in a variety of near and mid infrared windows for observing relatively deep into the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune, searching there for minor species. It will examine the Jovian aurora in a wavelength regime where the background atmosphere is dark. Special provision of a subarray observing strategy may allow observation of Jupiter and Saturn over a larger wavelength range despite their large surface brightnesses, allowing for detailed observation of transient phenomena including large scale storms and impact-generation disturbances. JWST's observations of Saturn's moon Titan will overlap with and go beyond the 2017 end-of-mission for Cassini, providing an important extension to the time-series of meteorological studies for much of northern hemisphere summer. It will overlap with a number of other planetary missions to targets for which JWST can make unique types of observations. JWST provides a platform for linking solar system and extrasolar planet studies through its unique observational capabilities in both arenas.

Structure and function of three novel MHC class I antigens derived from a C3H ultraviolet-induced fibrosarcoma

PubMed Central

1986-01-01

The UV-induced, C3H fibrosarcoma, 1591, expresses at least three unique MHC class I antigens not found on normal C3H tissue. Here we report the complete DNA sequence of the three novel class I genes encoding these molecules, and describe in detail the recognition of the individual products by tumor-reactive and allospecific CTL. Remarkably, although C3H does not appear to express H-2L locus information, this C3H tumor expresses two distinct antigens, termed A149 and A166, which are extremely homologous to each other and to the H-2Ld antigen from BALB/c. The gene encoding the third novel class I antigen from 1591, A216, is quite homologous to H-2Kk) throughout its 3' end. Since all three of these genes account for polymorphic restriction fragments not found in C3H, it is likely that they were derived by recombination from the endogenous class I genes of C3H. The DNA sequence homology of A149, A166, and H-2Ld is especially significant given the functional conservation observed between the products of these genes. Limited sequence substitutions appear to correlate with some of the discrete serological differences observed between these molecules. In addition, both A149 and A166 crossreact, but to differing extents, with H-2Ld at the level of T cell recognition. Our results are consistent with the view that CTL recognize complex conformational determinants on class I molecules, but extend previous observations by comparing a set of antigens with discrete and overlapping structural and functional differences. PMID:3489061

An Analysis of Conceptual Flow Patterns and Structures in the Physics Classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eshach, Haim

2010-03-01

The aim of the current research is to characterize the conceptual flow processes occurring in whole-class dialogic discussions with a high level of interanimation; in the present case, of a high-school class learning about image creation on plane mirrors. Using detailed chains of interaction and conceptual flow discourse maps-both developed for the purpose of this research-the classroom discourse, audio-taped and transcribed verbatim, was analyzed and three discussion structures were revealed: accumulation around budding foci concepts, zigzag between foci concepts, and concept tower. These structures as well as two additional factors, suggest the Two-Space Model of the whole class discussion proposed in the present article. The two additional factors are: (1) the teacher intervention; and (2) the conceptual barriers observed among the students, namely, materialistic thinking, and the tendency to attribute "unique characteristics" to optical devices. This model might help teachers to prepare and conduct efficient whole-class discussions which accord with the social constructivist perspective of learning.

Deep Limits on the X-ray and Radio Emission From the Nearby Type Iax SN2014dt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stauffer, Candice; Margutti, Raffaella; Coppejans, Deannne

2018-01-01

Type Iax Supernovae (SN Iax) have been recently recognized as a new class of stellar explosions in 2012. SN Iax constitute the largest class of ``peculiar thermonuclear explosions'' from white dwarf (WD) stellar progenitors in binary systems. They are characterized by lower ejecta velocity, lower luminsity and non-standard late-time spectral evolution, when compared to the more common Type Ia SNe. Here I present deep radio and X-ray observations of the closest type Iax SN yet discovered, SN2014dt. The SN shock interaction with the medium is a very well known source of radio and X-ray emission. My observations of SN2014dt uniquely constrain the density in the SN sub-pc environment (which cannot be investigated otherwise), and allow me to put constraints on the mysterious nature of the stellar companion.

SU-F-T-312: Identifying Distinct Radiation Therapy Plan Classes Through Multi-Dimensional Analysis of Plan Complexity Metrics

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

Desai, V; Labby, Z; Culberson, W

Purpose: To determine whether body site-specific treatment plans form unique “plan class” clusters in a multi-dimensional analysis of plan complexity metrics such that a single beam quality correction determined for a representative plan could be universally applied within the “plan class”, thereby increasing the dosimetric accuracy of a detector’s response within a subset of similarly modulated nonstandard deliveries. Methods: We collected 95 clinical volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans from four body sites (brain, lung, prostate, and spine). The lung data was further subdivided into SBRT and non-SBRT data for a total of five plan classes. For each control pointmore » in each plan, a variety of aperture-based complexity metrics were calculated and stored as unique characteristics of each patient plan. A multiple comparison of means analysis was performed such that every plan class was compared to every other plan class for every complexity metric in order to determine which groups could be considered different from one another. Statistical significance was assessed after correcting for multiple hypothesis testing. Results: Six out of a possible 10 pairwise plan class comparisons were uniquely distinguished based on at least nine out of 14 of the proposed metrics (Brain/Lung, Brain/SBRT lung, Lung/Prostate, Lung/SBRT Lung, Lung/Spine, Prostate/SBRT Lung). Eight out of 14 of the complexity metrics could distinguish at least six out of the possible 10 pairwise plan class comparisons. Conclusion: Aperture-based complexity metrics could prove to be useful tools to quantitatively describe a distinct class of treatment plans. Certain plan-averaged complexity metrics could be considered unique characteristics of a particular plan. A new approach to generating plan-class specific reference (pcsr) fields could be established through a targeted preservation of select complexity metrics or a clustering algorithm that identifies plans exhibiting similar modulation characteristics. Measurements and simulations will better elucidate potential plan-class specific dosimetry correction factors.« less

The International Space Station Research Opportunities and Accomplishments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alleyne, Camille W.

2011-01-01

In 2010, the International Space Station (ISS) construction and assembly was completed to become a world-class scientific research laboratory. We are now in the era of utilization of this unique platform that facilitates ground-breaking research in the microgravity environment. There are opportunities for NASA-funded research; research funded under the auspice of the United States National Laboratory; and research funded by the International Partners - Japan, Europe, Russia and Canada. The ISS facilities offer an opportunity to conduct research in a multitude of disciplines such as biology and biotechnology, physical science, human research, technology demonstration and development; and earth and space science. The ISS is also a unique resource for educational activities that serve to motivate and inspire students to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Even though we have just commenced full utilization of the ISS as a science laboratory, early investigations are yielding major results that are leading to such things as vaccine development, improved cancer drug delivery methods and treatment for debilitating diseases, such as Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy. This paper

Macroscale and Microscale Structural Characterization of Cephalopod Chromatophores

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-01

ABSTRACT Cephalopods, the class of mollusks that include squid, cuttlefish, and octopus , possess skin with dynamic adaptable appearance. Their unique...Cephalopods, the class of mollusks that include squid, cuttlefish, and octopus , possess skin with dynamic adaptable appearance. Their unique ability to...Cephalopoda including cuttlefish, octopus , and squid (Hanlon, 2007; Hanlon and Messenger, 1996; Hanlon, 1982; Hanlon and Messenger, 1988). These

Identification and characterization of lipases from Malassezia restricta, a causative agent of dandruff.

PubMed

Sommer, Bettina; Overy, David P; Kerr, Russell G

2015-11-01

Dandruff, a skin disorder affecting 50% of the world population, is linked with proliferation of lipophilic yeasts of the genus Malassezia (particularly Malassezia globosa and M. restricta). Most Malassezia species show a unique lipid dependency and require external lipids for growth. Genome mining of the incomplete M. restricta genome led to the identification of eight lipase sequences. Sequences representing the class 3 and LIP lipase families were used to clone the lipases MrLip1, MrLip2 and MrLip3, recombinantly expressed in Pichia pastoris, and tested for their activity using mono-, di- and triacylglycerol substrates. Hydrolysis by the M. restricta lipase MrLip1 and MrLip2 (family class 3) was limited to the mono- and diacylglycerol, while MrLip3 (family LIP) hydrolyzed all three substrates. This result confirms that Malassezia family LIP lipases are responsible for the hydrolysis of triacylglycerols, the main component of human sebum. Furthermore, the information regarding lipases from M. restricta presented here might aid in the search for anti-dandruff agents. © FEMS 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

SOFIA FORCAST Far-IR Photometry of Comet ISON and Constraints on the Coma Grain Size Distribution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wooden, D. H.; DeBuizer, J. M.; Kelley, M. S.; Woodward, C. E.; Harker, D. E.; Reach, W. T.; Sitko, M. L.; Russell, R. W.; Gehrz, R. D.; dePater, Imke;

Being there: The continuing need for human presence in the deep ocean for scientific research and discovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fryer, P.; Fornari, D.; Perfit, M.; Von Damm, K.; Humphris, S.; Fox, P. J.; Lippsett, L.

We see with our mind's eye. This poetic phrase attempts to describe a complex set of human interactions by which we take in and process information about the physical world around us. For millennia, scientists and philosophers have relied on our ability to apply the uniquely human traits of perception, cognition, memory and motor action to scientific observations and experiments. "There is no authority higher than the human eye," observed Leonardo Da Vinci, and his statement still holds true; as most field scientists will attest, there is no substitute for direct observation.

On noncommutative Levi-Civita connections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peterka, Mira A.; Sheu, Albert Jeu-Liang

We make some observations about Rosenberg’s Levi-Civita connections on noncommutative tori, noting the non-uniqueness of general torsion-free metric-compatible connections without prescribed connection operator for the inner *-derivations, the nontrivial curvature form of the inner *-derivations, and the validity of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem for two classes of nonconformal deformations of the flat metric on the noncommutative two-tori, including the case of noncommuting scalings along the principal directions of a two-torus.

Suppression of Hydrogen Emission in an X-class White-light Solar Flare

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

Procházka, Ondrej; Milligan, Ryan O.; Mathioudakis, Mihalis

We present unique NUV observations of a well-observed X-class flare from NOAA 12087 obtained at the Ondřejov Observatory. The flare shows a strong white-light continuum but no detectable emission in the higher Balmer and Lyman lines. Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager and Fermi observations indicate an extremely hard X-ray spectrum and γ -ray emission. We use the RADYN radiative hydrodynamic code to perform two types of simulations: one where an energy of 3 × 10{sup 11} erg cm{sup −2} s{sup −1} is deposited by an electron beam with a spectral index of ≈3, and a second where the samemore » energy is applied directly to the photosphere. The combination of observations and simulations allows us to conclude that the white-light emission and the suppression or complete lack of hydrogen emission lines is best explained by a model where the dominant energy deposition layer is located in the lower layers of the solar atmosphere, rather than the chromosphere.« less

The Gamma-Ray Imager GRI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wunderer, Cornelia B.; GRI Collaboration

2008-03-01

Observations of the gamma-ray sky reveal the most powerful sources and the most violent events in the Universe. While at lower wavebands the observed emission is generally dominated by thermal processes, the gamma-ray sky provides us with a view on the non-thermal Universe. Here particles are accelerated to extreme relativistic energies by mechanisms which are still poorly understood, and nuclear reactions are synthesizing the basic constituents of our world. Cosmic accelerators and cosmic explosions are major science themes that are addressed in the gamma-ray regime. ESA's INTEGRAL observatory currently provides the astronomical community with a unique tool to investigate the sky up to MeV energies and hundreds of sources, new classes of objects, extraordinary views of antimatter annihilation in our Galaxy, and fingerprints of recent nucleosynthesis processes have been discovered. NASA's GLAST mission will similarly take the next step in surveying the high-energy ( GeV) sky, and NuSTAR will pioneer focusing observations at hard X-ray energies (to 80 keV). There will be clearly a growing need to perform deeper, more focused investigations of gamma-ray sources in the 100-keV to MeV regime. Recent technological advances in the domain of gamma-ray focusing using Laue diffraction and multilayer-coated mirror techniques have paved the way towards a gamma-ray mission, providing major improvements compared to past missions regarding sensitivity and angular resolution. Such a future Gamma-Ray Imager will allow the study of particle acceleration processes and explosion physics in unprecedented detail, providing essential clues on the innermost nature of the most violent and most energetic processes in the Universe.

Cheetah paradigm revisited: MHC diversity in the world's largest free-ranging population.

PubMed

Castro-Prieto, Aines; Wachter, Bettina; Sommer, Simone

2011-04-01

For more than two decades, the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) has been considered a paradigm of disease vulnerability associated with low genetic diversity, particularly at the immune genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Cheetahs have been used as a classic example in numerous conservation genetics textbooks as well as in many related scientific publications. However, earlier studies used methods with low resolution to quantify MHC diversity and/or small sample sizes. Furthermore, high disease susceptibility was reported only for captive cheetahs, whereas free-ranging cheetahs show no signs of infectious diseases and a good general health status. We examined whether the diversity at MHC class I and class II-DRB loci in 149 Namibian cheetahs was higher than previously reported using single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis, cloning, and sequencing. MHC genes were examined at the genomic and transcriptomic levels. We detected ten MHC class I and four class II-DRB alleles, of which nine MHC class I and all class II-DRB alleles were expressed. Phylogenetic analyses and individual genotypes suggested that the alleles belong to four MHC class I and three class II-DRB putative loci. Evidence of positive selection was detected in both MHC loci. Our study indicated that the low number of MHC class I alleles previously observed in cheetahs was due to a smaller sample size examined. On the other hand, the low number of MHC class II-DRB alleles previously observed in cheetahs was further confirmed. Compared with other mammalian species including felids, cheetahs showed low levels of MHC diversity, but this does not seem to influence the immunocompetence of free-ranging cheetahs in Namibia and contradicts the previous conclusion that the cheetah is a paradigm species of disease vulnerability.

Massive Open Online Course for Health Informatics Education

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Objectives This paper outlines a new method of teaching health informatics to large numbers of students from around the world through a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Methods The Health Informatics Forum is one of examples of MOOCs through a social networking site for educating health informatics students and professionals. It is running a MOOC for students from around the world that uses creative commons licenced content funded by the US government and developed by five US universities. The content is delivered through narrated lectures with slides that can be viewed online with discussion threads on the forum for class interactions. Students can maintain a professional profile, upload photos and files, write their own blog posts and post discussion threads on the forum. Results The Health Informatics Forum MOOC has been accessed by 11,316 unique users from 127 countries from August 2, 2012 to January 24, 2014. Most users accessed the MOOC via a desktop computer, followed by tablets and mobile devices and 55% of users were female. Over 400,000 unique users have now accessed the wider Health Informatics Forum since it was established in 2008. Conclusions Advances in health informatics and educational technology have both created a demand for online learning material in health informatics and a solution for providing it. By using a MOOC delivered through a social networking platform it is hoped that high quality health informatics education will be able to be delivered to a large global audience of future health informaticians without cost. PMID:24872906

Massive open online course for health informatics education.

PubMed

Paton, Chris

2014-04-01

This paper outlines a new method of teaching health informatics to large numbers of students from around the world through a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). The Health Informatics Forum is a social networking site for educating health informatics students and professionals [corrected]. It is running a MOOC for students from around the world that uses creative commons licenced content funded by the US government and developed by five US universities. The content is delivered through narrated lectures with slides that can be viewed online with discussion threads on the forum for class interactions. Students can maintain a professional profile, upload photos and files, write their own blog posts and post discussion threads on the forum. The Health Informatics Forum MOOC has been accessed by 11,316 unique users from 127 countries from August 2, 2012 to January 24, 2014. Most users accessed the MOOC via a desktop computer, followed by tablets and mobile devices and 55% of users were female. Over 400,000 unique users have now accessed the wider Health Informatics Forum since it was established in 2008. Advances in health informatics and educational technology have both created a demand for online learning material in health informatics and a solution for providing it. By using a MOOC delivered through a social networking platform it is hoped that high quality health informatics education will be able to be delivered to a large global audience of future health informaticians without cost.

Miras and Janet Mattei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Willson, L. A.

2005-08-01

Janet Mattei appears among the authors on over 70 papers concerning Mira variables or related classes of red variables. She contributed to the planning or execution of some of the research in this area, but more often appeared as representative for the thousands of AAVSO observers world wide. Janet also helped to start several observational programs concerning particular types of variables, and was involved with the planning and/or data analysis on space missions that observed these stars. In this review I put her contributions, and the AAVSO's contributions while she was Director, into a general context of work in this field.

Impact of the Choice of Normalization Method on Molecular Cancer Class Discovery Using Nonnegative Matrix Factorization.

PubMed

Yang, Haixuan; Seoighe, Cathal

2016-01-01

Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) has proved to be an effective method for unsupervised clustering analysis of gene expression data. By the nonnegativity constraint, NMF provides a decomposition of the data matrix into two matrices that have been used for clustering analysis. However, the decomposition is not unique. This allows different clustering results to be obtained, resulting in different interpretations of the decomposition. To alleviate this problem, some existing methods directly enforce uniqueness to some extent by adding regularization terms in the NMF objective function. Alternatively, various normalization methods have been applied to the factor matrices; however, the effects of the choice of normalization have not been carefully investigated. Here we investigate the performance of NMF for the task of cancer class discovery, under a wide range of normalization choices. After extensive evaluations, we observe that the maximum norm showed the best performance, although the maximum norm has not previously been used for NMF. Matlab codes are freely available from: http://maths.nuigalway.ie/~haixuanyang/pNMF/pNMF.htm.

FUNCTION Follows FORM: Building the Foundations for Student Achievement Employing "School as a Teaching Tool" Protocol a Place-Based Learning Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

da Silva, Joseph; Alvarado, Manuel Cordero

2011-01-01

The experience of observing students actively engaged in the learning process is precious. There is no better way to celebrate "Children's Health and Energy Awareness Month" than assembling in a world class high performance green school with gifted and talented students learning how to take an integrated approach to sustainable school…

Skills Verdict: Must Do Better

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spilsbury, Mark

2010-01-01

"Ambition 2020: World Class Skills and Jobs" is the UK Commission for Employment and Skills' annual assessment, to the four UK nations, of their progress towards becoming "world class" in productivity, employment and skills by 2020. "Ambition 2020" provides a robust independent account of economic and skills…

Integrated Safety Assessment of 2′-O-Methoxyethyl Chimeric Antisense Oligonucleotides in NonHuman Primates and Healthy Human Volunteers

PubMed Central

Crooke, Stanley T; Baker, Brenda F; Kwoh, T Jesse; Cheng, Wei; Schulz, Dan J; Xia, Shuting; Salgado, Nelson; Bui, Huynh-Hoa; Hart, Christopher E; Burel, Sebastien A; Younis, Husam S; Geary, Richard S; Henry, Scott P; Bhanot, Sanjay

2016-01-01

The common chemical and biological properties of antisense oligonucleotides provide the opportunity to identify and characterize chemical class effects across species. The chemical class that has proven to be the most versatile and best characterized is the 2′-O-methoxyethyl chimeric antisense oligonucleotides. In this report we present an integrated safety assessment of data obtained from controlled dose-ranging studies in nonhuman primates (macaques) and healthy human volunteers for 12 unique 2′-O-methoxyethyl chimeric antisense oligonucleotides. Safety was assessed by the incidence of safety signals in standardized laboratory tests for kidney and liver function, hematology, and complement activation; as well as by the mean test results as a function of dose level over time. At high doses a number of toxicities were observed in nonhuman primates. However, no class safety effects were identified in healthy human volunteers from this integrated data analysis. Effects on complement in nonhuman primates were not observed in humans. Nonhuman primates predicted safe doses in humans, but over predicted risk of complement activation and effects on platelets. Although limited to a single chemical class, comparisons from this analysis are considered valid and accurate based on the carefully controlled setting for the specified study populations and within the total exposures studied. PMID:27357629

A One-year Case Study: Understanding the Rich Potential of Project-based Learning in a Virtual Reality Class for High School Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morales, Teresa M.; Bang, EunJin; Andre, Thomas

2013-10-01

This paper presents a qualitative case analysis of a new and unique, high school, student-directed, project-based learning (PBL), virtual reality (VR) class. In order to create projects, students learned, on an independent basis, how to program an industrial-level VR machine. A constraint was that students were required to produce at least one educational application of VR. This study incorporated in-depth classroom observations, interviews with students, analyses of student projects, and surveys of parents and teachers to examine the social and learning processes in the class, and the nature of content learning represented in student projects. The results demonstrated that PBL can be effective even with minimal teacher guidance. The findings substantiate an educational approach rich with promise, for at least some students, that deserves considerable additional study to maximize its powerful potentials for independent and peer-mentored learning.

President of Czech Republic visits ESO's Paranal Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2011-04-01

On 6 April 2011, the ESO Paranal Observatory was honoured with a visit from the President of the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus, and his wife Livia Klausová, who also took the opportunity to admire Cerro Armazones, the future site of the planned E-ELT. The distinguished visitor was shown the technical installations at the observatory, and was present when the dome of one of the four 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes of ESO's Very Large Telescope opened for a night's observing at Cerro Paranal, the world's most advanced visible-light observatory. "I'm delighted to welcome President Klaus to the Paranal Observatory and to show him first-hand the world-leading astronomical facility that ESO has designed, has built, and operates for European astronomy," said ESO's Director General, Tim de Zeeuw. President Klaus replied, "I am very impressed by the remarkable technology that ESO has built here in the heart of the desert. Czech astronomers are already making good use of these facilities and we look forward to having Czech industry and its scientific community contribute to the future E-ELT." From the VLT platform, the President had the opportunity to admire Cerro Armazones as well as other spectacular views of Chile's Atacama Desert surrounding Paranal. Adjacent to Cerro Paranal, Armazones has been chosen as the site for the future E-ELT (see eso1018). ESO is seeking approval from its governing bodies by the end of 2011 for the go-ahead for the 1-billion euro E-ELT. Construction is expected to begin in 2012 and the start of operations is planned for early in the next decade. President Klaus was accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Karel Schwarzenberg, the Czech Ambassador in Chile, Zdenek Kubánek, dignitaries of the government, and a Czech industrial delegation. The group was hosted at Paranal by the ESO Director General, Tim de Zeeuw, the ESO Representative in Chile, Massimo Tarenghi, the Director of Operations, Andreas Kaufer, and Jan Palous, Czech representative at the ESO Council. After the opening of the telescopes, President Klaus had the opportunity to enjoy the spectacular sunset over the Pacific Ocean from the VLT platform. Then he visited the VLT control room, which operates the four Unit Telescopes and the VLT Interferometer (VLTI). Here, the President took part in the start of observations from the console of one of the VLT Unit telescopes. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Zipf’s Law Arises Naturally When There Are Underlying, Unobserved Variables

PubMed Central

Corradi, Nicola

2016-01-01

Zipf’s law, which states that the probability of an observation is inversely proportional to its rank, has been observed in many domains. While there are models that explain Zipf’s law in each of them, those explanations are typically domain specific. Recently, methods from statistical physics were used to show that a fairly broad class of models does provide a general explanation of Zipf’s law. This explanation rests on the observation that real world data is often generated from underlying causes, known as latent variables. Those latent variables mix together multiple models that do not obey Zipf’s law, giving a model that does. Here we extend that work both theoretically and empirically. Theoretically, we provide a far simpler and more intuitive explanation of Zipf’s law, which at the same time considerably extends the class of models to which this explanation can apply. Furthermore, we also give methods for verifying whether this explanation applies to a particular dataset. Empirically, these advances allowed us extend this explanation to important classes of data, including word frequencies (the first domain in which Zipf’s law was discovered), data with variable sequence length, and multi-neuron spiking activity. PMID:27997544

Body Mass Index Class Is Independently Associated With Health-Related Quality of Life After Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty: An Institutional Registry-Based Study.

PubMed

McLawhorn, Alexander S; Steinhaus, Michael E; Southren, Daniel L; Lee, Yuo-Yu; Dodwell, Emily R; Figgie, Mark P

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients across World Health Organization (WHO) body mass index (BMI) classes before and after total hip arthroplasty (THA). Patients with end-stage hip osteoarthritis who received elective primary unilateral THA were identified through an institutional registry and categorized based on the World Health Organization BMI classification. Age, sex, laterality, year of surgery, and Charlson-Deyo comorbidity index were recorded. The primary outcome was the EQ-5D-3L index and visual analog scale (EQ-VAS) scores at 2 years postoperatively. Inferential statistics and regression analyses were performed to determine associations between BMI classes and HRQoL. EQ-5D-3L scores at baseline and at 2 years were statistically different across BMI classes, with higher EQ-VAS and index scores in patients with lower BMI. There was no difference observed for the 2-year change in EQ-VAS scores, but there was a statistically greater increase in index scores for more obese patients. In the regression analyses, there were statistically significant negative effect estimates for EQ-VAS and index scores associated with increasing BMI class. BMI class is independently associated with lower HRQoL scores 2 years after primary THA. While absolute scores in obese patients were lower than in nonobese patients, obese patients enjoyed more positive changes in EQ-5D index scores after THA. These results may provide the most detailed information on how BMI influences HRQoL before and after THA, and they are relevant to future economic decision analyses on the topic. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Book Review: Book review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Christina Yan

2017-02-01

The world class Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide deposits associated with the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) are quite unique on earth in the sense that the energy source and origin were triggered by a large meteorite impact event. The ore deposits in the SIC make up one of the largest Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide deposit camps in the world and have now been mined for over 100 years. This is the first complete reference book that focuses entirely on the SIC and covers the fields of economic geology, petrology, geochemistry and geophysics. The purpose of this book is to explore the linkage between sulfide and silicate magmas generated by the 1.85 Ga Sudbury impact event and to unite an understanding of the process of crustal melt sheet evolution with the formation of the magmatic sulfide mineralization. The author, Peter Lightfoot, has been based in Sudbury for 25 years. As a top scientist on magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide deposits and a Chief Geologist with the Brownfield Exploration group at Vale Base Metals, Peter has been positioned to develop and assemble the ideas presented in this book, which are perfectly balanced between industry and academia.

World-systems analysis.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, Amanda M.

2007-12-01

Jamaica sloops were vernacular watercraft designed, built, and utilized by Caribbean colonists beginning in the late-17th century. Despite their popularity, no design or construction records or even a specific definition of their form survive, and many sources simply describe them as an early version of the Bermuda sloop. Vernacular Jamaica sloops were a unique adaptation by English colonists to combat the effects of piracy, and their design was specific to the economic, geographic, and political circumstances of colonial Jamaica. This article proposes a set of characteristics that can be used to define vernacular Jamaica sloops, firstly to distinguish them from the eighteenth-century naval Jamaica-class sloops but also to better understand them as a social response to external stimuli within the complex relationship between maritime economy, piracy and colonial control executed through the navy.

Robots and therapeutic play: evaluation of a wireless interface device for interaction with a robot playmate.

PubMed

Roberts, Luke; Park, Hae Won; Howard, Ayanna M

2012-01-01

Rehabilitation robots in home environments has the potential to dramatically improve quality of life for individuals who experience disabling circumstances due to injury or chronic health conditions. Unfortunately, although classes of robotic systems for rehabilitation exist, these devices are typically not designed for children. And since over 150 million children in the world live with a disability, this causes a unique challenge for deploying such robotics for this target demographic. To overcome this barrier, we discuss a system that uses a wireless arm glove input device to enable interaction with a robotic playmate during various play scenarios. Results from testing the system with 20 human subjects shows that the system has potential, but certain aspects need to be improved before deployment with children.

Safety issues associated with the use of nanoparticles in human body.

PubMed

Sufian, Mian Muhammad; Khattak, Jabar Zaman Khan; Yousaf, Shahzad; Rana, Muhammad Suleman

2017-09-01

Nanotechnology has transformed the world by the introduction of a distinctive class of materials and products in a wide array of fields. It has contributed to the production of innovative materials and devices. Having unique advantages and domestic along with industrial applications, however, has raised the issue of safety for consumers, producers and environment. Having a comparative smaller dimension and other exclusive properties, nanoparticles have the ability to harm human body by interacting through various mechanisms. Here, we endeavoured to review and discuss the characteristics of nanoparticles relevant to their toxicity, conceivable exposure routes of nanoparticles to human body like skin contact, inhalation, and ingestion, and the basic approaches which can aid to control human exposures to toxic nanoparticles have been discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Following the Leader? Network Models of "World-Class" Universities on Twitter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shields, Robin

2016-01-01

Much research on higher education has discussed the positional competition induced by global rankings and the complementary concept of "world-class" universities. This paper investigates the network of social media communication between globally ranked universities. Specifically, it examines whether universities seek to preserve and…

World Class Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchell, Rosalita

1998-01-01

School communities are challenged to find ways to identify good teachers and give other teachers a chance to learn from them. The New Mexico World Class Teacher Project is encouraging teachers to pursue certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. This process sharpens teachers' student assessment skills and encourages…

The Gamma-Ray Imager GRI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wunderer, Cornelia B.; GRI Collaboration

2006-09-01

Observations of the gamma-ray sky reveal the most powerful sources and the most violent events in the Universe. While at lower wavebands the observed emission is generally dominated by thermal processes, the gamma-ray sky provides us with a view on the non-thermal Universe. Here particles are accelerated to extreme relativistic energies by mechanisms which are still poorly understood, and nuclear reactions are synthesizing the basic constituents of our world. Cosmic accelerators and cosmic explosions are the major science themes that are addressed in the gamma-ray regime. With the INTEGRAL observatory, ESA has provided a unique tool to the astronomical community revealing hundreds of sources, new classes of objects, extraordinary views of antimatter annihilation in our Galaxy, and fingerprints of recent nucleosynthesis processes. While INTEGRAL provides the global overview over the soft gamma-ray sky, there is a growing need to perform deeper, more focused investigations of gamma-ray sources. In soft X-rays a comparable step was taken going from the Einstein and the EXOSAT satellites to the Chandra and XMM/Newton observatories. Technological advances in the past years in the domain of gamma-ray focusing using Laue diffraction and multilayer coated mirror techniques have paved the way towards a gamma-ray mission, providing major improvements compared to past missions regarding sensitivity and angular resolution. Such a future Gamma-Ray Imager will allow to study particle acceleration processes and explosion physics in unprecedented detail, providing essential clues on the innermost nature of the most violent and most energetic processes in the Universe.

GRI: the gamma-ray imager mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knödlseder, Jürgen

2006-06-01

Observations of the gamma-ray sky reveal the most powerful sources and the most violent events in the Universe. While at lower wavebands the observed emission is generally dominated by thermal processes, the gamma-ray sky provides us with a view on the non-thermal Universe. Here particles are accelerated to extreme relativistic energies by mechanisms which are still poorly understood, and nuclear reactions are synthesizing the basic constituents of our world. Cosmic accelerators and cosmic explosions are the major science themes that are addressed in the gamma-ray regime. With the INTEGRAL observatory, ESA has provided a unique tool to the astronomical community revealing hundreds of sources, new classes of objects, extraordinary views of antimatter annihilation in our Galaxy, and fingerprints of recent nucleosynthesis processes. While INTEGRAL provides the global overview over the soft gamma-ray sky, there is a growing need to perform deeper, more focused investigations of gamma-ray sources. In soft X-rays a comparable step was taken going from the Einstein and the EXOSAT satellites to the Chandra and XMM/Newton observatories. Technological advances in the past years in the domain of gamma-ray focusing using Laue diffraction and multilayer-coated mirror techniques hav paved the way towards a gamma-ray mission, providing major improvements compared to past missions regarding sensitivity and angular resolution. Such a future Gamma-Ray Imager will allow to study particle acceleration processes and explosion physics in unprecedented detail, providing essential clues on the innermost nature of the most violent and most energetic processes in the Universe.

GRI: The Gamma-Ray Imager mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knödlseder, J.; Gri Consortium

Observations of the gamma-ray sky reveal the most powerful sources and the most violent events in the Universe While at lower wavebands the observed emission is generally dominated by thermal processes the gamma-ray sky provides us with a view on the non-thermal Universe Here particles are accelerated to extreme relativistic energies by mechanisms which are still poorly understood and nuclear reactions are synthesizing the basic constituents of our world Cosmic accelerators and cosmic explosions are the major science themes that are addressed in the gamma-ray regime With the INTEGRAL observatory ESA has provided a unique tool to the astronomical community and has put Europe in the lead in the field of gamma-ray astronomy INTEGRAL provides an unprecedented survey of the soft gamma-ray sky revealing hundreds of sources new classes of objects extraordinary views of antimatter annihilation in our Galaxy and fingerprints of recent nucleosynthesis processes While INTEGRAL has provided the global overview over the soft gamma-ray sky there is a growing need to perform deeper more focused investigations of gamma-ray sources In soft X-rays a comparable step was taken going from the Einstein satellite to the XMM Newton observatory Technological advances in the past years in the domain of gamma-ray focusing using Laue diffraction and multilayer-coated mirror techniques have paved the way towards a gamma-ray mission providing major improvements compared to past missions regarding sensitivity and angular resolution Such a

Confirmatory factors analysis of science teacher leadership in the Thailand world-class standard schools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thawinkarn, Dawruwan

2018-01-01

This research aims to analyze factors of science teacher leadership in the Thailand World-Class Standard Schools. The research instrument was a five scale rating questionnaire with reliability 0.986. The sample group included 500 science teachers from World-Class Standard Schools who had been selected by using the stratified random sampling technique. Factor analysis of science teacher leadership in the Thailand World-Class Standard Schools was conducted by using M plus for Windows. The results are as follows: The results of confirmatory factor analysis on science teacher leadership in the Thailand World-Class Standard Schools revealed that the model significantly correlated with the empirical data. The consistency index value was x2 = 105.655, df = 88, P-Value = 0.086, TLI = 0.997, CFI = 0.999, RMSEA = 0.022, and SRMR = 0.019. The value of factor loading of science teacher leadership was positive, with statistical significance at the level of 0.01. The value of six factors was between 0.880-0.996. The highest factor loading was the professional learning community, followed by child-centered instruction, participation in development, the role model in teaching, transformational leaders, and self-development with factor loading at 0.996, 0.928, 0.911, 0.907, 0.901, and 0.871, respectively. The reliability of each factor was 99.1%, 86.0%, 83.0%, 82.2%, 81.0%, and 75.8%, respectively.

Reducing uncertainties in the velocities determined by inversion of phase velocity dispersion curves using synthetic seismograms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hosseini, Seyed Mehrdad

Characterizing the near-surface shear-wave velocity structure using Rayleigh-wave phase velocity dispersion curves is widespread in the context of reservoir characterization, exploration seismology, earthquake engineering, and geotechnical engineering. This surface seismic approach provides a feasible and low-cost alternative to the borehole measurements. Phase velocity dispersion curves from Rayleigh surface waves are inverted to yield the vertical shear-wave velocity profile. A significant problem with the surface wave inversion is its intrinsic non-uniqueness, and although this problem is widely recognized, there have not been systematic efforts to develop approaches to reduce the pervasive uncertainty that affects the velocity profiles determined by the inversion. Non-uniqueness cannot be easily studied in a nonlinear inverse problem such as Rayleigh-wave inversion and the only way to understand its nature is by numerical investigation which can get computationally expensive and inevitably time consuming. Regarding the variety of the parameters affecting the surface wave inversion and possible non-uniqueness induced by them, a technique should be established which is not controlled by the non-uniqueness that is already affecting the surface wave inversion. An efficient and repeatable technique is proposed and tested to overcome the non-uniqueness problem; multiple inverted shear-wave velocity profiles are used in a wavenumber integration technique to generate synthetic time series resembling the geophone recordings. The similarity between synthetic and observed time series is used as an additional tool along with the similarity between the theoretical and experimental dispersion curves. The proposed method is proven to be effective through synthetic and real world examples. In these examples, the nature of the non-uniqueness is discussed and its existence is shown. Using the proposed technique, inverted velocity profiles are estimated and effectiveness of this technique is evaluated; in the synthetic example, final inverted velocity profile is compared with the initial target velocity model, and in the real world example, final inverted shear-wave velocity profile is compared with the velocity model from independent measurements in a nearby borehole. Real world example shows that it is possible to overcome the non-uniqueness and distinguish the representative velocity profile for the site that also matches well with the borehole measurements.

Advances in Neutron Spectroscopy and High Magnetic Field Instrumentation for studies of Correlated Electron Systems

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

Granroth, Garrett E

2011-01-01

Neutron Spectroscopy has provided critical information on the magnetism in correlated electron systems. Specifically quantum magnets, superconductors, and multi-ferroics are areas of productive research. A discussion of recent measurements on the SEQUOIA spectrometer will provide examples of how novel instrumentation concepts are used on the latest generation of spectrometers to extend our knowledge in such systems. The now ubiquitous function of sample rotation allows for full mapping of volumes ofmore » $Q$ and $$\\omega$$ space. An instrument focused on low angles could extend these maps to cover more of the first Brillioun zone. Innovative chopper cascades allow two unique modes of operation. Multiplexed measurements allow the simultaneous measurement of high and low energy features in an excitation spectrum. Alternatively by limiting the neutron bandwidth incident on the Fermi Chopper, background from subsequent time frames is removed, enabling the observation of weak, large energy transfer features. Finally the implementation of event-based detection for neutron experiments is time correlated experiments. Diffraction studies of the high field spin states in MnWO$$_4$$ using magnetic fields up to 30 T, provided by a pulsed magnet, illustrate this method. Expanding the high field studies to spectroscopy will require a novel instrument, focused around a world class DC magnet, like Zeemans proposed for the SNS.« less

Paths for World-Class Universities in Agricultural Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Zhimin; Kipchumba, Simon Kibet; Liu, Lu

2016-01-01

The top-ranking world-class universities in agricultural science denote those universities which are globally popular with agriculture-related subjects. The paper synthesizes the results of three different ranking scales (NTU, QS and ARWU) of top 50 universities in agriculture subject in 2013. The overlapped parts have been synchronized to derive…

Developing the Vision: Preparing Teachers to Deliver a Digital World-Class Education System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Jenny M.

2012-01-01

In 2008 Australians were promised a "Digital Education Revolution" by the government to dramatically change classroom education and build a "world-class education system". Eight billion dollars have been spent providing computer equipment for upper secondary classrooms, yet there is little evidence that a revolution has…

Changes in the social class gradient of cirrhosis mortality in England and Wales across the 20th century.

PubMed

Crombie, Iain K; Precious, Elaine

2011-01-01

To explore the nature of the social class gradient of cirrhosis mortality in England and Wales across the 20th century. Data on male cirrhosis mortality by social class were obtained from the Registrar General's Decennial Supplements for the years 1921-1991. Data for 1941 were not collected because of the second World War. In 1921, cirrhosis mortality was substantially higher among the professional and managerial classes (I and II) than among the other social classes (III-V). This marked social class difference persisted until 1961 when the differences between the social classes were inconsistent. By 1991, the gradient had reversed and the lower social classes (IV and V) had the higher mortality. The excess mortality was greatest for social class V. The change in the mortality gradient is stark: in 1921social classes I and II had a cirrhosis mortality at least twice that of social classes IV and V, but by 1991 this ratio had reversed. The reversal in the social class gradient of cirrhosis mortality indicates a major change in risk factor distribution across social classes. Differential changes in alcohol consumption are a possible explanation for this change, although the 1991 social class gradient in cirrhosis is inconsistent with alcohol consumption data from national surveys. Further research is required to clarify the explanation for the observed gradient, so that appropriate preventive measures can be put into place.

Teacher Justice and Students’ Class Identification: Belief in a Just World and Teacher–Student Relationship as Mediators

PubMed Central

Jiang, Ronghuan; Liu, Ru-De; Ding, Yi; Zhen, Rui; Sun, Yan; Fu, Xinchen

2018-01-01

For school-age adolescents, teacher justice plays an important role in their learning and social outcomes. The present study examined the relation between teacher justice and students’ class identification in 1735 Chinese school-age adolescents by considering belief in a just world (BJW) and teacher–student relationship as mediators. Structure equation modeling (SEM) was used to reveal the direct and indirect effects. The analyses showed that all the direct and indirect effects were significant. These findings indicated that teacher justice had a positive effect on students’ class identification. In addition, teacher justice impacted students’ class identification through students’ just-world belief and teacher–student relationships. These results suggested that for adolescents, teacher justice played an important role in shaping their just-world belief system and their interpersonal relationships with teachers, which in turn affected their sense of belonging and values in relation to their class. Thus, it is important for teachers to be aware that their injustice may negatively impact their relationships with students, students’ belief systems, and their psychological engagement at school. There is a need to develop teacher-training programs to help teachers to establish classroom reward-punishment systems with the consideration of social justice, to communicate with students through an unbiased approach, and to increase student participation in the important decision making of the whole class. PMID:29875726

Teacher Justice and Students' Class Identification: Belief in a Just World and Teacher-Student Relationship as Mediators.

PubMed

Jiang, Ronghuan; Liu, Ru-De; Ding, Yi; Zhen, Rui; Sun, Yan; Fu, Xinchen

2018-01-01

For school-age adolescents, teacher justice plays an important role in their learning and social outcomes. The present study examined the relation between teacher justice and students' class identification in 1735 Chinese school-age adolescents by considering belief in a just world (BJW) and teacher-student relationship as mediators. Structure equation modeling (SEM) was used to reveal the direct and indirect effects. The analyses showed that all the direct and indirect effects were significant. These findings indicated that teacher justice had a positive effect on students' class identification. In addition, teacher justice impacted students' class identification through students' just-world belief and teacher-student relationships. These results suggested that for adolescents, teacher justice played an important role in shaping their just-world belief system and their interpersonal relationships with teachers, which in turn affected their sense of belonging and values in relation to their class. Thus, it is important for teachers to be aware that their injustice may negatively impact their relationships with students, students' belief systems, and their psychological engagement at school. There is a need to develop teacher-training programs to help teachers to establish classroom reward-punishment systems with the consideration of social justice, to communicate with students through an unbiased approach, and to increase student participation in the important decision making of the whole class.

Hardware/Software To Support Distance Learning Classes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrison, Bruce, Jr.

While the major part of any class is the classroom contact time, out-of-class support often makes the difference between success and failure of a student. With distance learning classes, teachers are faced with a unique set of problems in supplying this outside support. Students are often spread over large geographical areas and have varying…

A latent class approach to understanding patterns of peer victimization in four low-resource settings.

PubMed

Nguyen, Amanda J; Bradshaw, Catherine; Townsend, Lisa; Gross, Alden L; Bass, Judith

2016-08-17

Peer victimization is a common form of aggression among school-aged youth, but research is sparse regarding victimization dynamics in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Person-centered approaches have demonstrated utility in understanding patterns of victimization in the USA. We aimed to empirically identify classes of youth with unique victimization patterns in four LMIC settings using latent class analysis (LCA). We used data on past-year exposure to nine forms of victimization reported by 3536 youth (aged 15 years) from the Young Lives (YL) study in Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states), Peru, and Vietnam. Sex and rural/urban context were examined as predictors of class membership. LCA supported a 2-class model in Peru, a 3-class model in Ethiopia and Vietnam, and a 4-class model in India. Classes were predominantly ordered by severity, suggesting that youth who experienced one form of victimization were likely to experience other forms as well. In India, two unordered classes were also observed, characterized by direct and indirect victimization. Boys were more likely than girls to be in the highly victimized (HV) class in Ethiopia and India. Urban contexts, compared with rural, conferred higher risk of victimization in Ethiopia and Peru, and lower risk in India and Vietnam. The identified patterns of multiple forms of victimization highlight a limitation of common researcher-driven classifications and suggest avenues for future person-centered research to improve intervention development in LMIC settings.

Predicting the Unpredictable: 75 Years of Experimental Evidence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radin, Dean I.

2011-11-01

From time immemorial, people have reported foreknowledge of future events. To determine whether such experiences are best understood via conventional explanations, or whether a retrocausal phenomenon might be involved in some instances, researchers have conducted hundreds of controlled laboratory experiments over the past 75 years. These studies fall into four general classes, and each class has generated repeatable evidence consistent with retrocausation. The statistical results for a class of forced-choice studies is associated with odds against chance of about 1024; for a class of free-response studies, odds about 1020; for psychophysiological-based studies, odds about 1017; and for implicit decision studies, odds about 1010. Effect sizes observed in the latter three classes are nearly identical, indicating replication of similar underlying effects. These effects are also in close agreement with the average effect size across 25,000 conventional social psychology experiments conducted over the last century, suggesting that retrocausal phenomena may not be especially unique, at least not in terms of the magnitude of effect. Bayesian analyses of the most recent classes of experiments confirm that the evidence is strongly in favor of a genuine effect, with Bayes Factors ranging from 13,669 to 1 for implicit decision experiments, to 2.9×1013 to 1 for psychophysiological designs. For the two most recent classes of studies examining retrocausal effects via unconscious physiological or behavioral measures, 85 of 101 studies (84%) reported by 25 different laboratories from the United States, Italy, Spain, Holland, Austria, Sweden, England, Scotland, Iran, Japan, and Australia, have produced results in the direction predicted by a retrocausal effect (odds against chance = 1.3×1012, via a sign test). Assessment of the methodologies used in these studies has not identified plausible conventional alternatives for the observed outcomes, suggesting the existence of a genuine retrocausal phenomenon.

Common functionally important motions of the nucleotide-binding domain of Hsp70.

PubMed

Gołaś, Ewa I; Czaplewski, Cezary; Scheraga, Harold A; Liwo, Adam

2015-02-01

The 70 kDa heat shock proteins (Hsp70) are a family of molecular chaperones involved in protein folding, aggregate prevention, and protein disaggregation. They consist of the substrate-binding domain (SBD) that binds client substrates, and the nucleotide-binding domain (NBD), whose cycles of nucleotide hydrolysis and exchange underpin the activity of the chaperone. To characterize the structure-function relationships that link the binding state of the NBD to its conformational behavior, we analyzed the dynamics of the NBD of the Hsp70 chaperone from Bos taurus (PDB 3C7N:B) by all-atom canonical molecular dynamics simulations. It was found that essential motions within the NBD fall into three major classes: the mutual class, reflecting tendencies common to all binding states, and the ADP- and ATP-unique classes, which reflect conformational trends that are unique to either the ADP- or ATP-bound states, respectively. "Mutual" class motions generally describe "in-plane" and/or "out-of-plane" (scissor-like) rotation of the subdomains within the NBD. This result is consistent with experimental nuclear magnetic resonance data on the NBD. The "unique" class motions target specific regions on the NBD, usually surface loops or sites involved in nucleotide binding and are, therefore, expected to be involved in allostery and signal transmission. For all classes, and especially for those of the "unique" type, regions of enhanced mobility can be identified; these are termed "hot spots," and their locations generally parallel those found by NMR spectroscopy. The presence of magnesium and potassium cations in the nucleotide-binding pocket was also found to influence the dynamics of the NBD significantly. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

USAF Academy Center for Space Situational Awareness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dearborn, M.; Chun, F.; Liu, J.; Tippets, R.

2011-09-01

Since the days of Sputnik, the Air Force has maintained the surveillance of space and a position catalog of objects that can be tracked by primarily ground-based radars and optical systems. Recent events in space such as the test of the Chinese anti-satellite weapon in 2007 and the collision between an Iridium and Russian Cosmo satellite have demonstrated the great need to have a more comprehensive awareness of the situation in space. Hence space situational awareness (SSA) has become an increasingly important mission to the Air Force and to the security of the United States. To help meet the need for future leaders knowledgeable about SSA, the Air Force Academy formally stood up the Center for Space Situational Awareness (CSSAR). The goal of the CSSAR is to provide a unique combination of educational operational experience as well as a world-class research capability for hands-on education in SSA. In order to meet this goal, the CSSAR is implementing an array of sensors, operations center, and associated software, and analysis tools. For example we have radar receivers for bi-static returns from the VHF space fence, a network of small aperture telescopes, AFSPC astro standards software, and Joint Mission System software. This paper focuses on the observational capabilities of our telescopes. In general, the preferable method for characterizing a satellite is to obtain a high-resolution image. However, high-resolution images from groundbased telescopes are only achievable if the satellite is large and close in range. Thus small satellites in low-earth orbits and large satellites in geosynchronous orbits are essentially unresolved in the focal plane of a ground-based telescope. Building ever larger telescopes capable of tracking fast enough for satellites at high resolution requires tremendous resources and funding. Cost is one of the reasons we decided to develop a network of small, commercially available telescopes spatially diverse and networked together. We call this the Falcon Telescope Network (FTN) and it provides the Air Force Academy, Air Force and Department of Defense with a unique capability that is essentially non-existent in today’s research and operational environment. With the FTN we will have the eventual capability to conduct simultaneous observations of satellites for non-resolved space object identification (NRSOI). We present preliminary photometric and spectroscopic observations from LEO to GEO satellites. The Air Force Academy has a unique mission to educate future leaders in the science, technology, and operations in missions critical to the Air Force and the CSSAR is stepping up to meet these requirements for the SSA mission.

Natural glide slab avalanches, Glacier National Park, USA: A unique hazard and forecasting challenge

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reardon, Blase; Fagre, Daniel B.; Dundas, Mark; Lundy, Chris

2006-01-01

In a museum of avalanche phenomena, glide cracks and glide avalanches might be housed in the “strange but true” section. These oddities are uncommon in most snow climates and tend to be isolated to specific terrain features such as bedrock slabs. Many glide cracks never result in avalanches, and when they do, the wide range of time between crack formation and slab failure makes them highly unpredictable. Despite their relative rarity, glide cracks and glide avalanches pose a regular threat and complex forecasting challenge during the annual spring opening of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, U.S.A. During the 2006 season, a series of unusual glide cracks delayed snow removal operations by over a week and provided a unique opportunity to record detailed observations of glide avalanches and characterize their occurrence and associated weather conditions. Field observations were from snowpits, crown profiles and where possible, measurements of slab thickness, bed surface slope angle, substrate and other physical characteristics. Weather data were recorded at one SNOTEL site and two automated stations located from 0.6-10 km of observed glide slab avalanches. Nearly half (43%) of the 35 glide slab avalanches recorded were Class D2-2.5, with 15% Class D3-D3.5. The time between glide crack opening and failure ranged from 2 days to over six weeks, and the avalanches occurred in cycles associated with loss of snow water equivalent and spikes in temperature and radiation. We conclude with suggest ions for further study.

An Online, Interactive Renewable Energy Laboratory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Leary, D. A.; Shattuck, J.; Kubby, J.

2012-01-01

An undergraduate introductory science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) class can be a jarring disappointment to new students expecting to work with cutting-edge, real-world technology. Their cell phones are often more technically advanced and real-world than the tools used in a class lab. Not surprisingly, many complain that the STEM labs…

The Global Quest to Build World-Class Universities: Toward a Social Justice Agenda

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rhoads, Robert A.; Li, Shuai; Ilano, Lauren

2014-01-01

This chapter provides a critical perspective on the global quest to build world-class universities (WCUs), including global "ranking mania," excessive emphasis on university branding, and the attending threats to the traditional public good mission of the university. Alternatively, we offer suggestions on how rankings may be used to…

World-Class Higher Education and the Emerging Chinese Model of the University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Jun

2012-01-01

China's recent quest to develop world-class universities is a significant phenomenon within the worldwide transformation of tertiary education. Taking a cultural approach and drawing on empirical findings, this article investigates the emerging Chinese model of the university, considering its key features and contributions to global communities.…

Achieving Recognition as a World Class Airport through Education and Training. Sorenson Best Paper Award Recipient.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quilty, Stephen M.

2003-01-01

The International Civil Aviation Organization has standards for airport certification that require education and training of personnel. The American Association of Airport Executives offers accreditation and certification in airport operations and safety that can meet the needs of world-class airports. (Contains 18 references.) (SK)

An International Model of World-Class Education: The International Baccalaureate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Ian

2012-01-01

This article posits that world-class education is international education, as defined by UNESCO, and presents International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes as examples of this phenomenon. It begins with the IB's 1960s origins in international schools, which educated the children of globally mobile parents who worked principally in the UN and its…

Smooth Sailing for Weather Forecasting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

Through a cooperative venture with NASA's Stennis Space Center, WorldWinds, Inc., developed a unique weather and wave vector map using space-based radar satellite information and traditional weather observations. Called WorldWinds, the product provides accurate, near real-time, high-resolution weather forecasts. It was developed for commercial and scientific users. In addition to weather forecasting, the product's applications include maritime and terrestrial transportation, aviation operations, precision farming, offshore oil and gas operations, and coastal hazard response support. Target commercial markets include the operational maritime and aviation communities, oil and gas providers, and recreational yachting interests. Science applications include global long-term prediction and climate change, land-cover and land-use change, and natural hazard issues. Commercial airlines have expressed interest in the product, as it can provide forecasts over remote areas. WorldWinds, Inc., is currently providing its product to commercial weather outlets.

A New Dimension for Earth Science Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bland, G.; Henry, A.; Bydlowski, D.

2017-12-01

NASA Science Objectives include capturing the global view of Earth from space. This unique perspective is often augmented by instrumented research aircraft, to provide in-situ and remote sensing observations in support of the world picture. Our "Advancing Earth Research Observations with Kites and Atmospheric /Terrestrial Sensors" (AEROKATS) project aims to bring this novel and exciting perspective into the hands of learners young and old. The practice of using instrumented kites as surrogate satellites and aircraft is gaining momentum, as our team undertakes the technical, operational, and scientific challenges in preparations to bring new and easy-to-field tools to broad audiences. The third dimension in spatial perception ("up") has previously been difficult to effectively incorporate in learning and local-scale research activities. AEROKATS brings simple to use instrumented aerial systems into the hands of students, educators, and scientists, with the tangible benefits of detailed, high resolution measurements and observations directly applicable to real-world studies of the environments around us.

Teaching internet use to adult learners: The LANL experience

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

Smith, S.; Comstock, D.

The Research library at Los Alamos National Laboratory has been teaching an Internet class to adult learners since May 1994. The class is a team effort, combining lecture/demo with hands-on practice using Gopher and the World Wide Web. What started out as a small short-term project has become a weekly class available to any Lab employee or associate. More than 250 people have been taught to find basic reference materials and to navigate the Internet on the Gopher and World Wide Web. The class is one of the first classes offered by the Research Library to be filled every month,more » and one Laboratory group has recommended that their staff attend this class in preparation for more advanced Internet and HTML classes as part of their group training. The success of this class spurred development by the Research Library of more specific subject classes using Internet resources, specifically business and general science resources.« less

Unique semantic space in the brain of each beholder predicts perceived similarity

PubMed Central

Charest, Ian; Kievit, Rogier A.; Schmitz, Taylor W.; Deca, Diana; Kriegeskorte, Nikolaus

2014-01-01

The unique way in which each of us perceives the world must arise from our brain representations. If brain imaging could reveal an individual’s unique mental representation, it could help us understand the biological substrate of our individual experiential worlds in mental health and disease. However, imaging studies of object vision have focused on commonalities between individuals rather than individual differences and on category averages rather than representations of particular objects. Here we investigate the individually unique component of brain representations of particular objects with functional MRI (fMRI). Subjects were presented with unfamiliar and personally meaningful object images while we measured their brain activity on two separate days. We characterized the representational geometry by the dissimilarity matrix of activity patterns elicited by particular object images. The representational geometry remained stable across scanning days and was unique in each individual in early visual cortex and human inferior temporal cortex (hIT). The hIT representation predicted perceived similarity as reflected in dissimilarity judgments. Importantly, hIT predicted the individually unique component of the judgments when the objects were personally meaningful. Our results suggest that hIT brain representational idiosyncrasies accessible to fMRI are expressed in an individual's perceptual judgments. The unique way each of us perceives the world thus might reflect the individually unique representation in high-level visual areas. PMID:25246586

On the Concept of Information and Its Role in Nature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roederer, Juan G.

2003-03-01

In this article we address some fundamental questions concerning information: Can the existing laws of physics adequately deal with the most striking property of information, namely to cause specific changes in the structure and energy flows of a complex system, without the information in itself representing fields, forces or energy in any of their characteristic forms? Or is information irreducible to the laws of physics and chemistry? Are information and complexity related concepts? Does the Universe, in its evolution, constantly generate new information? Or are information and information-processing exclusive attributes of living systems, related to the very definition of life? If that were the case, what happens with the physical meanings of entropy in statistical mechanics or wave function in quantum mechanics? How many distinct classes of information and information processing do exist in the biological world? How does information appear in Darwinian evolution? Does the human brain have unique properties or capabilities in terms of information processing? In what ways does information processing bring about human self-consciousness? We shall introduce the meaning of "information" in a way that is detached from human technological systems and related algorithms and semantics, and that is not based on any mathematical formula. To accomplish this we turn to the concept of interaction as the basic departing point, and identify two fundamentally different classes, with information and information-processing appearing as the key discriminator: force-field driven interactions between elementary particles and ensembles of particles in the macroscopic physical domain, and information-based interactions between certain kinds of complex systems that form the biological domain. We shall show that in an abiotic world, information plays no role; physical interactions just happen, they are driven by energy exchange between the interacting parts and do not require any operations of information processing. Information only enters the non-living physical world when a living thing interacts with it-and when a scientist extracts information through observation and measurement. But for living organisms, information is the very essence of their existence: to maintain a long-term state of unstable thermodynamic equilibrium with its surroundings, consistently increase its organization and reproduce, an organism has to rely on information-based interactions in which form or pattern, not energy, is the controlling factor. This latter class comprises biomolecular information processes controlling the metabolism, growth, multiplication and differentiation of cells, and neural information processes controlling animal behavior and intelligence. The only way new information can appear is through the process of biological evolution and, in the short term, through sensory acquisition and the manipulation of images in the nervous system. Non-living informational systems such as books, computers, AI systems and other artifacts, as well as living organisms that are the result of breeding or cloning, are planned by human beings and will not be considered here.

VISTA Views the Sculptor Galaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-06-01

A spectacular new image of the Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253) has been taken with the ESO VISTA telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile as part of one of its first major observational campaigns. By observing in infrared light VISTA's view is less affected by dust and reveals a myriad of cooler stars as well as a prominent bar of stars across the central region. The VISTA image provides much new information on the history and development of the galaxy. The Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253) lies in the constellation of the same name and is one of the brightest galaxies in the sky. It is prominent enough to be seen with good binoculars and was discovered by Caroline Herschel from England in 1783. NGC 253 is a spiral galaxy that lies about 13 million light-years away. It is the brightest member of a small collection of galaxies called the Sculptor Group, one of the closest such groupings to our own Local Group of galaxies. Part of its visual prominence comes from its status as a starburst galaxy, one in the throes of rapid star formation. NGC 253 is also very dusty, which obscures the view of many parts of the galaxy (eso0902). Seen from Earth, the galaxy is almost edge on, with the spiral arms clearly visible in the outer parts, along with a bright core at its centre. VISTA, the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, the latest addition to ESO's Paranal Observatory in the Chilean Atacama Desert, is the world's largest survey telescope. After being handed over to ESO at the end of 2009 (eso0949) the telescope was used for two detailed studies of small sections of the sky before it embarked on the much larger surveys that are now in progress. One of these "mini surveys" was a detailed study of NGC 253 and its environment. As VISTA works at infrared wavelengths it can see right through most of the dust that is such a prominent feature of the Sculptor Galaxy when viewed in visible light. Huge numbers of cooler stars that are barely detectable with visible-light telescopes are now also seen. The VISTA view reveals most of what was hidden by the thick dust clouds in the central part of the disc and allows a clear view of a prominent bar of stars across the nuclear region - a feature that is not seen in visible light pictures. The majestic spiral arms now spread over the whole disc of the galaxy. The spectacular viewing conditions VISTA shares with ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), located on the next mountain peak, also allow VISTA images to be exceptionally sharp for a ground-based telescope. With this powerful instrument at their command astronomers wanted to peel away some of the mysteries of the Sculptor Galaxy. They are studying the myriad of cool red giant stars in the halo that surrounds the galaxy, measuring the composition of some of NGC 253's small dwarf satellite galaxies, and searching for as yet undiscovered new objects such as globular clusters and ultra-compact dwarf galaxies that would otherwise be invisible without the deep VISTA infrared images. Using the unique VISTA data they plan to map how the galaxy formed and has evolved. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Cosmo Girls: Configurations of Class and Femininity in Elite Educational Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allan, Alexandra; Charles, Claire

2014-01-01

In this paper we offer a unique contribution to understandings of schooling as a site for the production of social class difference. We bring together the rich body of work that has been conducted on middle-class educational identities, with explorations of the centrality of the feminine in representations of class difference from the field of…

Origin of magnetite and pyrrhotite in carbonaceous chondrites

USGS Publications Warehouse

Herndon, J.M.; Rowe, M.W.; Larson, E.E.; Watson, D.E.

1975-01-01

CARBONACEOUS chondrites, although comprising only about 2% of known meteorites, are extremely interesting for scientific investigation. Their mineral constitution, and the correspondence between their bulk chemical composition and the solar abundance of condensable elements, indicate that minimum chemical fractionation and thermal alteration have occurred. The mineral phases observed in these primitive chondrites are sufficiently unique, with respect to other meteorite classes, to have elicited considerable speculation about the physical environment in which they formed1-7. ?? 1975 Nature Publishing Group.

A Typology of Ethnographic Scales for Virtual Worlds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boellstorff, Tom

This chapter outlines a typology of genres of ethnographic research with regard to virtual worlds, informed by extensive research the author has completed both in Second Life and in Indonesia. It begins by identifying four confusions about virtual worlds: they are not games, they need not be graphical or even visual, they are not mass media, and they need not be defined in terms of escapist role-playing. A three-part typology of methods for ethnographic research in virtual worlds focuses on the relationship between research design and ethnographic scale. One class of methods for researching virtual worlds with regard to ethnographic scale explores interfaces between virtual worlds and the actual world, whereas a second examines interfaces between two or more virtual worlds. The third class involves studying a single virtual world in its own terms. Recognizing that all three approaches have merit for particular research purposes, ethnography of virtual worlds can be a vibrant field of research, contributing to central debates about human selfhood and sociality.

Explorer of Enceladus and Titan (E2T): Investigating the habitability and evolution of ocean worlds in the Saturn system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitri, Giuseppe; Postberg, Frank; Soderblom, Jason M.; Tobie, Gabriel; Tortora, Paolo; Wurz, Peter; Barnes, Jason W.; Coustenis, Athena; Ferri, Francesca; Hayes, Alexander; Hayne, Paul O.; Hillier, Jon; Kempf, Sascha; Lebreton, Jean-Pierre; Lorenz, Ralph; Orosei, Roberto; Petropoulos, Anastassios; Yen, Chen-wan; Reh, Kim R.; Schmidt, Jürgen; Sims, Jon; Sotin, Christophe; Srama, Ralf

2016-10-01

The NASA-ESA-ASI Cassini-Huygens mission has revealed Titan and Enceladus to be two of the most enigmatic worlds in the Solar System. Titan, with its organically rich and dynamic atmosphere and geology, and Enceladus, with its active plume of water vapor and ice laced with organics, salts, and silica nano-particles, both harbouring subsurface oceans, are prime environments in which to investigate the conditions for the emergence of life and the habitability potential of ocean worlds as well as the origin and evolution of unique complex planetary systems. Explorer of Enceladus and Titan (E2T) is a space mission concept dedicated to investigating the evolution and habitability of these Saturnian satellites and is proposed as a medium-class mission led by ESA in collaboration with NASA in response to ESA's M5 Cosmic Vision Call. E2T has a focused state-of-the-art adapted payload that will provide in-situ sampling, high-resolution imaging and radio science measurements from multiple flybys of Enceladus and Titan using a solar-electric powered spacecraft in orbit around Saturn. With significant improvements in mass range and resolution, as compared with Cassini, the Ion and Neutral Gas Mass Spectrometer (INMS) and the Enceladus Icy Jet Analyzer (ENIJA) time of flight mass spectrometers will provide the data needed to decipher the subtle details of the aqueous environment of Enceladus from plume sampling and of the complex pre-biotic chemistry occurring in Titan's atmosphere. The Titan Imaging and Geology, Enceladus Reconnaissance (TIGER) mid-wave infrared camera will map thermal emission from Enceladus' tiger stripes at meter scales and investigate Titan's geology and compositional variability at decameter scales. The Radio Science Experiment (RSE) measurements will provide constraints on the ice shell structure and the properties of the internal oceans of Enceladus and Titan. We will present the concept and discuss the major improvements to our understanding of these two unique worlds around Saturn that the mission could provide.

Learning Efficient Spatial-Temporal Gait Features with Deep Learning for Human Identification.

PubMed

Liu, Wu; Zhang, Cheng; Ma, Huadong; Li, Shuangqun

2018-02-06

The integration of the latest breakthroughs in bioinformatics technology from one side and artificial intelligence from another side, enables remarkable advances in the fields of intelligent security guard computational biology, healthcare, and so on. Among them, biometrics based automatic human identification is one of the most fundamental and significant research topic. Human gait, which is a biometric features with the unique capability, has gained significant attentions as the remarkable characteristics of remote accessed, robust and security in the biometrics based human identification. However, the existed methods cannot well handle the indistinctive inter-class differences and large intra-class variations of human gait in real-world situation. In this paper, we have developed an efficient spatial-temporal gait features with deep learning for human identification. First of all, we proposed a gait energy image (GEI) based Siamese neural network to automatically extract robust and discriminative spatial gait features for human identification. Furthermore, we exploit the deep 3-dimensional convolutional networks to learn the human gait convolutional 3D (C3D) as the temporal gait features. Finally, the GEI and C3D gait features are embedded into the null space by the Null Foley-Sammon Transform (NFST). In the new space, the spatial-temporal features are sufficiently combined with distance metric learning to drive the similarity metric to be small for pairs of gait from the same person, and large for pairs from different persons. Consequently, the experiments on the world's largest gait database show our framework impressively outperforms state-of-the-art methods.

Qualitative Video Analysis of Track-Cycling Team Pursuit in World-Class Athletes.

PubMed

Sigrist, Samuel; Maier, Thomas; Faiss, Raphael

2017-11-01

Track-cycling team pursuit (TP) is a highly technical effort involving 4 athletes completing 4 km from a standing start, often in less than 240 s. Transitions between athletes leading the team are obviously of utmost importance. To perform qualitative video analyses of transitions of world-class athletes in TP competitions. Videos captured at 100 Hz were recorded for 77 races (including 96 different athletes) in 5 international track-cycling competitions (eg, UCI World Cups and World Championships) and analyzed for the 12 best teams in the UCI Track Cycling TP Olympic ranking. During TP, 1013 transitions were evaluated individually to extract quantitative (eg, average lead time, transition number, length, duration, height in the curve) and qualitative (quality of transition start, quality of return at the back of the team, distance between third and returning rider score) variables. Determination of correlation coefficients between extracted variables and end time allowed assessment of relationships between variables and relevance of the video analyses. Overall quality of transitions and end time were significantly correlated (r = .35, P = .002). Similarly, transition distance (r = .26, P = .02) and duration (r = .35, P = .002) were positively correlated with end time. Conversely, no relationship was observed between transition number, average lead time, or height reached in the curve and end time. Video analysis of TP races highlights the importance of quality transitions between riders, with preferably swift and short relays rather than longer lead times for faster race times.

Global Rankings, World-Class Universities and Dilemma in Higher Education Policy in India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tilak, Jandhyala B. G.

2016-01-01

Global university rankings and world-class universities have become buzzwords almost in every country. Both exercise positive and not-so-positive impact on higher education systems. Universities everywhere are trying hard to improve their status and global rankings. The article reviews some of the important issues related to these two strongly…

In the Shadow of Celebrity? World-Class University Policies and Public Value in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cremonini, Leon; Westerheijden, Don F.; Benneworth, Paul; Dauncey, Hugh

2014-01-01

The growing popularity of the concept of world-class universities raises the question of whether investing in such universities is a worthwhile use of public resources. Does concentrating public resources on the most excellent universities improve the overall quality of a higher education system, especially if definitions of excellence and…

Building the World-Class Research Universities: A Case Study of China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Futao

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to analyze how China has strived to develop its world-class research universities and what are distinguishing characteristics of China's efforts to form these universities for the last decades. This study begins with a review of literature and research questions. It then touches on the background and rationale of…

How to Make a Math Modeling Class from Scratch in Six (Not-So) Easy Steps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerhardt, Ira

2017-01-01

The recent introduction of a new course in mathematical modeling at Manhattan College has provided students with a valuable opportunity to gain practical experience utilizing tools in applying their mathematical abilities to a real-world problem. This paper describes the steps taken to create this class, from obtaining a real-world partner…

Quest for Building World-Class Universities in South Korea: Outcomes and Consequences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byun, Kiyong; Jon, Jae-Eun; Kim, Dongbin

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the Korean government's policies for building world class universities (WCUs) and their implications for Korean higher education institutions. Primarily through an extensive literature review, but also through a discussion of field interviews and the experiences of one of the authors as a…

Slushie World: An In-Class Access Database Tutorial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wynn, Donald E., Jr.; Pratt, Renée M. E.

2015-01-01

The Slushie World case study is designed to teach the basics of Microsoft Access and database management over a series of three 75-minute class sessions. Students are asked to build a basic database to track sales and inventory for a small business. Skills to be learned include table creation, data entry and importing, form and report design,…

Is Iowa Educationally Competitive? Children and Iowa's Economic Future. Iowa Kids Count Special Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruner, Charles; Crawford, Michael

2010-01-01

In 1991, the Child and Family Policy Center (CFPC) titled its first Iowa Kids Count Data Book "World-Class Futures." That year, Iowa ranked eighth among states in the national Kids Count Data Book, and the report warned against complacence. "World-Class Futures" drew comparisons between Iowa's child outcomes and those for some…

Initiatives for Change in Korean Higher Education: Quest for Excellence of World-Class Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kang, Jean S.

2015-01-01

The establishment of World-Class Universities (WCUs) is noted as a paramount development in the realm of international higher education. The integration of higher education into a more international scheme has enabled for higher education institutions (HEIs) to have a broader impact on the states and their respective citizens. This study examines…

Achieving World-Class Schools: Mastering School Improvement Using a Genetic Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimmelman, Paul L.; Kroeze, David J.

In providing its program for education reform, this book uses, as an analogy, the genetic model taken from the Human Genome project. In the first part, "Theoretical Underpinnings," the book explains why a genetic model can be used to improve school systems; describes the critical components of a world-class school system; and details the…

Legitimating the World-Class University Concept through the Discourse of Elite Universities' Presidents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodriguez-Pomeda, Jesus; Casani, Fernando

2016-01-01

Although well-renowned universities attempt to differentiate themselves from other universities, little research has been undertaken on the principal themes involved in the concept of the world-class university (WCU) as presented in speeches by members of WCUs. These discourses are a key tool in universities' attempt to shape the competitive…

The GIK-Archive of sediment core radiographs with documentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grobe, Hannes; Winn, Kyaw; Werner, Friedrich; Driemel, Amelie; Schumacher, Stefanie; Sieger, Rainer

2017-12-01

The GIK-Archive of radiographs is a collection of X-ray negative and photographic images of sediment cores based on exposures taken since the early 1960s. During four decades of marine geological work at the University of Kiel, Germany, several thousand hours of sampling, careful preparation and X-raying were spent on producing a unique archive of sediment radiographs from several parts of the World Ocean. The archive consists of more than 18 500 exposures on chemical film that were digitized, geo-referenced, supplemented with metadata and archived in the data library PANGAEA®. With this publication, the images have become available open-access for use by the scientific community at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.854841.

Maximum likelihood: Extracting unbiased information from complex networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garlaschelli, Diego; Loffredo, Maria I.

2008-07-01

The choice of free parameters in network models is subjective, since it depends on what topological properties are being monitored. However, we show that the maximum likelihood (ML) principle indicates a unique, statistically rigorous parameter choice, associated with a well-defined topological feature. We then find that, if the ML condition is incompatible with the built-in parameter choice, network models turn out to be intrinsically ill defined or biased. To overcome this problem, we construct a class of safely unbiased models. We also propose an extension of these results that leads to the fascinating possibility to extract, only from topological data, the “hidden variables” underlying network organization, making them “no longer hidden.” We test our method on World Trade Web data, where we recover the empirical gross domestic product using only topological information.

Second user workshop on high-power lasers at the Linac Coherent Light Source

DOE PAGES

Heimann, Phil; Glenzer, Siegfried

2015-05-28

The second international workshop on the physics enabled by the unique combination of high-power lasers with the world-class Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) free-electron X-ray laser beam was held in Stanford, CA, on October 7–8, 2014. The workshop was co-organized by UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratories. More than 120 scientists, including 40 students and postdoctoral scientists who are working in high-intensity laser-matter interactions, fusion research, and dynamic high-pressure science came together from North America, Europe, and Asia. The focus of the second workshop was on scientific highlights and the lessons learned from 16 newmore » experiments that were performed on the Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC) instrument since the first workshop was held one year ago.« less

Marine natural flavonoids: chemistry and biological activities.

PubMed

Martins, Beatriz T; Correia da Silva, Marta; Pinto, Madalena; Cidade, Honorina; Kijjoa, Anake

2018-05-04

As more than 70% of the world's surface is covered by oceans, marine organisms offer a rich and unlimited resource of structurally diverse bioactive compounds. These organisms have developed unique properties and bioactive compounds that are, in majority of them, unparalleled by their terrestrial counterparts due to the different surrounding ecological systems. Marine flavonoids have been extensively studied in the last decades due to a growing interest concerning their promising biological/pharmacological activities. The most common classes of marine flavonoids are flavones and flavonols, which are mostly isolated from marine plants. Although most of flavonoids are hydroxylated and methoxylated, some marine flavonoids possess an unusual substitution pattern, not commonly found in terrestrial organisms, namely the presence of sulphate, chlorine, and amino groups. This review presents, for the first time in a systematic way, the structure, natural occurrence, and biological activities of marine flavonoids.

A Latent Class Analysis of Weight-Related Health Behaviors among 2- and 4-year College Students, and Associated Risk of Obesity

PubMed Central

Mathur, C; Stigler, M; Lust, K; Laska, M

2016-01-01

Little is known about the complex patterning of weight-related health behaviors in 2- and 4-year college students. The objective of this study was to identify and describe unique classes of weight-related health behaviors among college youth. Latent class analysis was used to identify homogenous, mutually exclusive classes of nine health behaviors which represent multiple theoretically/clinically relevant dimensions of obesity risk among 2- versus 4-year college students using cross-sectional statewide surveillance data (n= 17,584). Additionally, differences in class membership on selected sociodemographic characteristics were examined using a model-based approach. Analysis was conducted separately for both college groups, and 5 and 4 classes were identified for 2-and 4-year college students, respectively. Four classes were similar across 2-and 4-year college groups and were characterized as “mostly healthy dietary habits, active”, “moderately high screen time, active”, “moderately healthy dietary habits, inactive”, and “moderately high screen time, inactive”. “Moderately healthy dietary habits, high screen time” was the additional class unique to 2-year college students. These classes differed on a number of sociodemographic characteristics, including the proportion in each class who were classified as obese. Implications for prevention scientists and future intervention programs are considered. PMID:24990599

A latent class analysis of weight-related health behaviors among 2- and 4-year college students and associated risk of obesity.

PubMed

Mathur, Charu; Stigler, Melissa; Lust, Katherine; Laska, Melissa

2014-12-01

Little is known about the complex patterning of weight-related health behaviors in 2- and 4-year college students. The objective of this study was to identify and describe unique classes of weight-related health behaviors among college students. Latent class analysis was used to identify homogenous, mutually exclusive classes of nine health behaviors that represent multiple theoretically/clinically relevant dimensions of obesity risk among 2- versus 4-year college students using cross-sectional statewide surveillance data (N = 17,584). Additionally, differences in class membership on selected sociodemographic characteristics were examined using a model-based approach. Analysis was conducted separately for both college groups, and five and four classes were identified for 2- and 4-year college students, respectively. Four classes were similar across 2- and 4-year college groups and were characterized as "mostly healthy dietary habits, active"; "moderately high screen time, active"; "moderately healthy dietary habits, inactive"; and "moderately high screen time, inactive." "Moderately healthy dietary habits, high screen time" was the additional class unique to 2-year college students. These classes differed on a number of sociodemographic characteristics, including the proportion in each class who were classified as obese. Implications for prevention scientists and future intervention programs are considered. © 2014 Society for Public Health Education.

Unique Normal Form and the Associated Coefficients for a Class of Three-Dimensional Nilpotent Vector Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jing; Kou, Liying; Wang, Duo; Zhang, Wei

2017-12-01

In this paper, we mainly focus on the unique normal form for a class of three-dimensional vector fields via the method of transformation with parameters. A general explicit recursive formula is derived to compute the higher order normal form and the associated coefficients, which can be achieved easily by symbolic calculations. To illustrate the efficiency of the approach, a comparison of our result with others is also presented.

In situ sensing of subsurface contamination--part I: near-infrared spectral characterization of alkanes, aromatics, and chlorinated hydrocarbons.

PubMed

Klavarioti, Maria; Kostarelos, Konstantinos; Pourjabbar, Anahita; Ghandehari, Masoud

2014-05-01

There is an imperative need for a chemical sensor capable of remote, in situ, long-term monitoring of chemical species at sites containing toxic chemical spills, specifically at chemical waste dumps, landfills, and locations with underground storage tanks. In the current research, a series of experiments were conducted measuring the near-infrared optical absorption of alkanes, aromatics, and chlorinated hydrocarbons. A spectral library was then developed to characterize the optical spectra of liquid hydrocarbons. Near-infrared analysis was chosen due to compatibility with optical fibers. The goal was to differentiate between classes of hydrocarbons and to also discriminate between compounds within a class of similar molecular structures. It was observed that unique absorption spectra can be obtained for each hydrocarbon, and this uniqueness can be used to discriminate between hydrocarbons from different families. Statistical analyses, namely, principal component analysis (PCA) and correlation coefficient (Spearman and Pearson methods), were attempted to match absorption spectra from an unknown hydrocarbon with the database with limited success. An algorithm was subsequently written to identify the characteristic peaks of each hydrocarbon that could be used to match data from an unknown chemical species with the database.

Multiple tooth anomalies in a nonsyndromic patient with class II division 2 malocclusions: A case report and a literature review.

PubMed

Isman, E; Isman, O; Aktan, A M; Ciftci, E; Topcuoglu, T

2015-01-01

Reports in the literature about the craniofacial characteristics of patients with class II division 2 malocclusions show a lot of different patterns accompanied by palatally displaced upper incisors, congenital missing teeth, polydiastema, fusion, germination, tooth impaction, peg-shaped lateral incisors, persistent teeth, hypodontia, persistent deciduous teeth, transpositions, and supernumerary teeth. The following case report focuses on the description of the clinical characteristics observed on a patient with a very unusual conjunction of dental and skeletal anomalies mentioned above, as well as a literature review on the related issues. Extra-intra-oral examinations, radiographic evaluations, orthodontic consultation, and reviewing the literature concluded that this nonsyndromic patient that refused to receive all dental treatment approaches is special with its uniqueness.

The structure of a bottlenose dolphin society is coupled to a unique foraging cooperation with artisanal fishermen.

PubMed

Daura-Jorge, F G; Cantor, M; Ingram, S N; Lusseau, D; Simões-Lopes, P C

2012-10-23

Diverse and localized foraging behaviours have been reported in isolated populations of many animal species around the world. In Laguna, southern Brazil, a subset of resident bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) uses a foraging tactic involving cooperative interactions with local, beach-casting fishermen. We used individual photo-identification data to assess whether cooperative and non-cooperative dolphins were socially segregated. The social structure of the population was found to be a fission-fusion system with few non-random associations, typical for this species. However, association values were greater among cooperative dolphins than among non-cooperative dolphins or between dolphins from different foraging classes. Furthermore, the dolphin social network was divided into three modules, clustering individuals that shared or lacked the cooperative foraging tactic. Space-use patterns were not sufficient to explain this partitioning, indicating a behavioural factor. The segregation of dolphins using different foraging tactics could result from foraging behaviour driving social structure, while the closer association between dolphins engaged in the cooperation could facilitate the transmission and learning of this behavioural trait from conspecifics. This unique case of a dolphin-human interaction represents a valuable opportunity to explore hypotheses on the role of social learning in wild cetaceans.

Unique Education and Workforce Development for NASA Engineers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forsgren, Roger C.; Miller, Lauren L.

2010-01-01

NASA engineers are some of the world's best-educated graduates, responsible for technically complex, highly significant scientific programs. Even though these professionals are highly proficient in traditional analytical competencies, there is a unique opportunity to offer continuing education that further enhances their overall scientific minds. With a goal of maintaining the Agency's passionate, "best in class" engineering workforce, the NASA Academy of Program/Project & Engineering Leadership (APPEL) provides educational resources encouraging foundational learning, professional development, and knowledge sharing. NASA APPEL is currently partnering with the scientific community's most respected subject matter experts to expand its engineering curriculum beyond the analytics and specialized subsystems in the areas of: understanding NASA's overall vision and its fundamental basis, and the Agency initiatives supporting them; sharing NASA's vast reservoir of engineering experience, wisdom, and lessons learned; and innovatively designing hardware for manufacturability, assembly, and servicing. It takes collaboration and innovation to educate an organization that possesses such a rich and important historyand a future that is of great global interest. NASA APPEL strives to intellectually nurture the Agency's technical professionals, build its capacity for future performance, and exemplify its core valuesalJ to better enable NASA to meet its strategic visionand beyond.

Reading in Class & out of Class: An Experience Sampling Method Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shumow, Lee; Schmidt, Jennifer A.; Kackar, Hayal

2008-01-01

This study described and compared the reading of sixth and eighth grade students both in and out of school using a unique data set collected with the Experience Sampling Method (ESM). On average, students read forty minutes a day out of class and seventeen minutes a day in class indicating that reading is a common leisure practice for…

Studies in interactive communication. II - The effects of four communication modes on the linguistic performance of teams during cooperative problem solving

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chapanis, A.; Parrish, R. N.; Ochsman, R. B.; Weeks, G. D.

1977-01-01

Two-man teams solved credible, 'real world' problems for which computer assistance has been or could be useful. Conversations were carried on in one of four modes of communication: typewriting, handwriting, voice, and natural unrestricted communication. Performance was assessed on three classes of dependent measures: time to solution, behavioral measures of activity, and linguistic measures. Significant differences among the communication modes were found in each of the three classes. This paper is concerned mainly with the results of the linguistic analyses. Linguistic performance was assessed with 182 measures, most of which turned out to be redundant and some of which were useless or meaningless. Those that remain show that although problems can be solved faster in the oral modes than in the hard-copy modes, the oral modes are characterized by many more messages, sentences, words, and unique words; much higher communication rates; but lower type-token ratios. Although a number of significant problem and job-role effects were found, there were relatively few significant interactions of modes with thsse variables. It appears, therefore, that the mode effects hold for both problems and for both job roles assigned to the subjects.

The new collaborative path in medical device development: the medical device innovation consortium.

PubMed

Kampfrath, Thomas; Cotten, Steven W

2013-10-01

The United States medical device market is the world's largest with over $100 billion in sales in 2011. Despite robust industry growth, the efficiency of the FDA approval process for moderate-risk (Class II) and high-risk devices (Class III) requiring 510(k) submission or pre-market approval (PMA) has been criticized. Recently, the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) announced the creation of a Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC), a public-private partnership (PPP) to share knowledge in regulatory science. Overarching goals include creating a forum for the exchange of ideas among the FDA, industry, and non-profit entities; providing monetary investments for project proposals prioritized by key working groups; and developing tools that support cost effective innovation, data-driven methodology, and implementation strategies. Clinical chemists and clinical laboratory scientists have several unique opportunities to contribute to the MDIC. These laboratory professionals have invaluable experience with the real-life performance of a variety of medical devices and their expertise can recognize unmet needs and contribute towards the acceleration of device development. Copyright © 2013 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Conversation Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Acy L.

2012-01-01

The conversation class occupies a unique place in the process of learning English as a second or foreign language. From the author's own experience in conducting special conversation classes with Persian-speaking adults, he has drawn up a number of simple but important guidelines, some of which he hopes may provide helpful suggestions for the…

75 FR 81710 - Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-28

... clearance by OMB as required by the PRA. Title: Safety Integration Plans. OMB Control Number: 2130-0557... for the development and implementation of safety integration plans (``SIPs'' or ``plans'') by a Class... affected railroads (Class Is and some Class IIs) address critical safety issues unique to the amalgamation...

70 Years of Making the World Safer

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

None

This video shows our roles in making the world safer — working to end World War II, providing stable isotopes for research, providing unique precision manufacturing capabilities, and meeting nonproliferation and global security missions.

Soda pans of the Pannonian steppe harbor unique bacterial communities adapted to multiple extreme conditions.

PubMed

Szabó, Attila; Korponai, Kristóf; Kerepesi, Csaba; Somogyi, Boglárka; Vörös, Lajos; Bartha, Dániel; Márialigeti, Károly; Felföldi, Tamás

2017-05-01

Soda pans of the Pannonian steppe are unique environments regarding their physical and chemical characteristics: shallowness, high turbidity, intermittent character, alkaline pH, polyhumic organic carbon concentration, hypertrophic condition, moderately high salinity, sodium and carbonate ion dominance. The pans are highly productive environments with picophytoplankton predominance. Little is known about the planktonic bacterial communities inhabiting these aquatic habitats; therefore, amplicon sequencing and shotgun metagenomics were applied to reveal their composition and functional properties. Results showed a taxonomically complex bacterial community which was distinct from other soda lakes regarding its composition, e.g. the dominance of class Alphaproteobacteria was observed within phylum Proteobacteria. The shotgun metagenomic analysis revealed several functional gene components related to the harsh and at the same time hypertrophic environmental conditions, e.g. proteins involved in stress response, transport and hydrolase systems targeting phytoplankton-derived organic matter. This is the first detailed report on the indigenous planktonic bacterial communities coping with the multiple extreme conditions present in the unique soda pans of the Pannonian steppe.

Small Worlds Week: Raising Curiosity and Contributing to STEM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ng, C.; Mayo, L.; Stephenson, B. E.; Keck, A.; Cline, T. D.; Lewis, E. M.

2015-12-01

Dwarf planets, comets, asteroids, and icy moons took center stage in the years 2014-2015 as multiple spacecraft (New Horizons, Dawn, Rosetta, Cassini) and ground-based observing campaigns observed these small and yet amazing celestial bodies. Just prior to the historic New Horizons encounter with the Pluto system, NASA celebrated Small Worlds Week (July 6-10) as a fully online program to highlight small worlds mission discoveries. Small Worlds Week leveraged the infrastructure of Sun-Earth Days that included a robust web design, exemplary education materials, hands-on fun activities, multimedia resources, science and career highlights, and a culminating event. Each day from July 6-9, a new class of solar system small worlds was featured on the website: Monday-comets, Tuesday-asteroids, Wednesday-icy moons, and Thursday-dwarf planets. Then on Friday, July 10, nine scientists from Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Naval Research Laboratory, and Lunar and Planetary Institute gathered online for four hours to answer questions from the public via Facebook and Twitter. Throughout the afternoon the scientists worked closely with a social media expert and several summer interns to reply to inquirers and to archive their chats. By all accounts, Small Worlds Week was a huge success. The group plans to improve and replicate the program during the school year with a more classroom focus, and then to build and extend the program to be held every year. For more information, visit http:// sunearthday.nasa.gov or catch us on Twitter, #nasasww.

South Africa: the new world of disability.

PubMed

Coetzer, Pieter

2008-01-01

Over the past 10 years, unique business imperatives in South Africa have led to innovative risk product design, some of which are still unfamiliar to the rest of the world. The main drivers are: the unique mix of first- and third-world societies in our country, and an energetic marketing force operating in an already highly saturated insurance market. As a result, new product design has become one of the most effective ways to grow new business volumes in this competitive environment. This article reviews some of the unique products available and their advantages, target markets and disadvantages. The products that are discussed include lump sum total and permanent disability benefits, extended critical illness products, cover for impairment of function as well as risk products for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Creating a Culture of Innovation: The Challenge in Becoming and Staying a World-Class University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tierney, William G.

2014-01-01

In the 21st century world-class universities will need to be much more focused on innovation, rather than on stability and standardization. An innovative organization is different from a stable one. It requires different skills from its participants, and it functions in a different way from a stable organization. A focus on innovation will…

Race-Class Relations and Integration in Secondary Education: The Case of Miller High. Secondary Education in a Changing World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eick, Caroline

2010-01-01

Eick explores the history of a comprehensive high school from the world views of its assorted student body, confronting issues of race, ethnicity, class, gender, nationality, and religion. Her case study examines the continuities and differences in student relationships over five decades. While she discusses the "dark side" of the high school…

Seeking a Roadmap to Becoming World Class: Strategic Planning at Peking University. Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.11.13

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guangkuan, Xie

2013-01-01

Strategic planning plays an important but sometimes controversial role in higher education. This paper examines how strategic planning works in Chinese universities, using Peking University as a case study. This essay discusses the rationale for why Peking University (PKU) decided to pursue status as a world-class university along with objectives…

Building World Class Universities in China: Exploring Faculty's Perceptions, Interpretations of and Struggles with Global Forces in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Dongbin; Song, Quirong; Liu, Ji; Liu, Qingqin; Grimm, Adam

2018-01-01

Employing a glonacal (global, national and local) heuristic as a theoretical lens, and a qualitative analysis with interview data, this study highlights how Chinese faculty members interpret the definitions and implications of pursuing world class universities (WCUs) and struggle with the multiple dimensions of their academic lives across global,…

Nearing World-Class: Singapore's Two Universities in QSWUR 2015/16

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soh, Kaycheng

2016-01-01

Many universities strive to become world-class and two of Singapore's universities are almost there, being ranked 12th and 13th in the QSWUR 2015/16. This study looked into the details of indicator rankings and found that the two universities are comparable to those in the top 10 universities in the same ranking in practically all indicators with…

World Class: The Massachusetts Agenda to Meet the International Challenge for Math- and Science-Educated Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fortmann, Thomas

2005-01-01

This report draws on the findings of nearly four dozen others: national and international studies that speak with a strong, collective voice about what it takes to improve math and science education. But the authors' intent with "World Class" is not simply to synthesize those reports. It is to establish a statewide, working agenda for…

Building a World-Class Front-Line Workforce: The Need for Occupational Skill Standards in State Workforce Preparation Programs. EQW Working Papers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheets, Robert G.

Establishment of a national-state system of world-class occupational skill standards is a first step in restructuring adult vocational-technical education and job training programs. Occupational skills standards provide the necessary foundation for addressing three major state policy issues: the state's proper role in private work-based training,…

Can BRICS Build Ivory Towers of Excellence? Giving New Meaning to World-Class Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

David, Solomon Arulraj; Motala, Shireen

2017-01-01

This paper aims to map the landscape of higher education transformation in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations while exploring the status of BRICS nations in some of the global university rankings and analysing their potential to give new meaning to notions such as excellent and world-class universities. The study…

Securing World-Class Research in UK Universities: Exploring the Impact of Block Grant Funding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Universities UK, 2009

2009-01-01

The UK research base is world class. It is second only to the USA on leading scientific indicators and crucially, during the current economic climate, ranks first on publication productivity and citations in relation to research and development public spend. Commonly known as quality-related (QR) funding because it is allocated selectively on the…

Integrating MRP (materiel requirements planning) II and JIT to achieve world-class status.

PubMed

Titone, R C

1994-05-01

The concepts and principles of using manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) for planning are not new. Their success has been proven in numerous manufacturing companies in America. The concepts and principles of using just-in-time (JIT) inventory for execution, while more recent, have also been available for some time, and their success in Japan well documented. However, it is the effective integration of these two powerful tools that open the way to achieving world-class manufacturing status. This article will utilize a newly developed world-class manufacturing model, which will review the aspects of planning, beginning with a business plan through the production planning process and culminating with a master schedule that drives a materiel/capacity plan. The importance and interrelationship of these functions are reviewed. The model then illustrates the important aspects of executing these plans beginning with people issues, through total quality control (TQC) and pull systems. We will then utilize this new functional model to demonstrate the relationship between these various functions and the importance of integrating them with a total comprehensive manufacturing strategy that will lead to world-class manufacturing and profits.

Development of emission factors for motorcycles and shared auto-rickshaws using real-world driving cycle for a typical Indian city.

PubMed

Adak, Prasenjit; Sahu, Ravi; Elumalai, Suresh Pandian

2016-02-15

Vehicular emission is one of the most important contributors of urban air pollution. To quantify the impact of traffic on urban air quality, it is necessary to quantify vehicular emission. In many cities of India, such as Dhanbad, shared auto-rickshaw is the pre-dominant mode of transportation. Indian Driving Cycle (IDC) and Modified Indian Driving Cycle (MIDC) are used for emission testing of motorcycles, shared auto-rickshaws and passenger cars in India for regulatory purposes. IDC used for motorcycles and shared auto-rickshaws does not recognize the difference in two vehicle classes in terms of driving pattern. In real world, shared auto-rickshaws, behave differently than motorcycles. To quantify the impact of shared auto-rickshaws on urban air quality accurately, emission factors (EFs) are required to derive from real-world driving cycles (DCs). In heterogeneous traffic, vehicles of one class affect the behavior of vehicles of other classes. To estimate the emissions from different vehicle classes accurately, EFs for motorcycles and passenger cars are also required to be revised. In this study, real-world DCs were developed for motorcycles, shared auto-rickshaws and passenger cars in Dhanbad. Developed DCs were used to calculate EFs for respective classes. Shared auto-rickshaws were found to have the highest deviation from EFs derived using IDC. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Affective, Biological, and Cognitive Predictors of Depressive Symptom Trajectories in Adolescence

PubMed Central

Salk, Rachel; Hyde, Janet Shibley; Priess-Groben, Heather A.; Simonson, Jordan L.

2013-01-01

Heterogeneity in the longitudinal course of depressive symptoms was examined using latent growth mixture modeling among a community sample of 382 U.S. youth from ages 11 to 18 (52.1% female). Three latent trajectory classes were identified: Stable Low (51%; displayed low depressive symptoms at all assessments), Increasing (37%; reported low depressive symptoms at age 11, but then significantly higher depressive symptoms than the Stable Low class at ages 13, 15, and 18), and Early High (12%; reported high early depressive symptoms at age 11, followed by symptoms that declined over time yet remained significantly higher than those of the Stable Low class at ages 13, 15, and 18). By age 15, rates of Major Depressive Disorder diagnoses among the Early High (25.0%) and Increasing (20.4%) classes were more than twice that observed among the Stable Low class (8.8%). Affective (negative affectivity), biological (pubertal timing, sex) and cognitive (cognitive style, rumination) factors were examined as predictors of class membership. Results indicated general risk factors for both high-risk trajectories as well as specific risk factors unique to each trajectory. Being female and high infant negative affectivity predicted membership in the Increasing class. Early puberty, high infant negative affectivity for boys, and high rumination for girls predicted membership in the Early High class. Results highlight the importance of examining heterogeneity in depression trajectories in adolescence as well as simultaneously considering risk factors across multiple domains. PMID:24158642

New fuzzy support vector machine for the class imbalance problem in medical datasets classification.

PubMed

Gu, Xiaoqing; Ni, Tongguang; Wang, Hongyuan

2014-01-01

In medical datasets classification, support vector machine (SVM) is considered to be one of the most successful methods. However, most of the real-world medical datasets usually contain some outliers/noise and data often have class imbalance problems. In this paper, a fuzzy support machine (FSVM) for the class imbalance problem (called FSVM-CIP) is presented, which can be seen as a modified class of FSVM by extending manifold regularization and assigning two misclassification costs for two classes. The proposed FSVM-CIP can be used to handle the class imbalance problem in the presence of outliers/noise, and enhance the locality maximum margin. Five real-world medical datasets, breast, heart, hepatitis, BUPA liver, and pima diabetes, from the UCI medical database are employed to illustrate the method presented in this paper. Experimental results on these datasets show the outperformed or comparable effectiveness of FSVM-CIP.

NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS): A U.S. Network of Data Centers Serving Earth Science Data: A Network Member of ICSU WDS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Behnke, Jeanne; Ramapriyan, H. K. " Rama"

2016-01-01

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been in operation since August 1994, and serving a diverse user community around the world with Earth science data from satellites, aircraft, field campaigns and research investigations. The ESDIS Project, responsible for EOSDIS is a Network Member of the International Council for Sciences (ICSU) World Data System (WDS). Nine of the 12 Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs), which are part of EOSDIS, are Regular Members of the ICSUWDS. This poster presents the EOSDIS mission objectives, key characteristics of the DAACs that make them world class Earth science data centers, successes, challenges and best practices of EOSDIS focusing on the years 2014-2016, and illustrates some highlights of accomplishments of EOSDIS. The highlights include: high customer satisfaction, growing archive and distribution volumes, exponential growth in number of products distributed to users around the world, unified metadata model and common metadata repository, flexibility provided to uses by supporting data transformations to suit their applications, near-real-time capabilities to support various operational and research applications, and full resolution image browse capabilities to help users select data of interest. The poster also illustrates how the ESDIS Project is actively involved in several US and international data system organizations.

A Monomeric Membrane Peptide that Lives in Three Worlds: In Solution, Attached to, and Inserted across Lipid Bilayers

PubMed Central

Reshetnyak, Yana K.; Segala, Michael; Andreev, Oleg A.; Engelman, Donald M.

2007-01-01

The membrane peptide pH (low) insertion peptide (pHLIP) lives in three worlds, being soluble in aqueous solution at pH 7.4, binding to the surface of lipid bilayers, and inserting as a transbilayer helix at low pH. With low pH driving the process, pHLIP can translocate cargo molecules attached to its C-terminus via a disulfide and release them in the cytoplasm of a cell. Here we examine a key aspect of the mechanism, showing that pHLIP is monomeric in each of its three major states: soluble in water near neutral pH (state I), bound to the surface of a membrane near neutral pH (state II), and inserted across the membrane as an α-helix at low pH (state III). The peptide does not induce fusion or membrane leakage. The unique properties of pHLIP made it attractive for the biophysical investigation of membrane protein folding in vitro and for the development of a novel class of delivery peptides for the transport of therapeutic and diagnostic agents to acidic tissue sites associated with various pathological processes in vivo. PMID:17557792

A Latent Class Analysis of Weight-Related Health Behaviors among 2-and 4-Year College Students and Associated Risk of Obesity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mathur, Charu; Stigler, Melissa; Lust, Katherine; Laska, Melissa

2014-01-01

Little is known about the complex patterning of weight-related health behaviors in 2-and 4-year college students. The objective of this study was to identify and describe unique classes of weight-related health behaviors among college students. Latent class analysis was used to identify homogenous, mutually exclusive classes of nine health…

The Need for Hydrologists in the Third World.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sedlar, F.

2014-12-01

The United Nations estimates that by 2040 there will be 2 billion people living in slums around the world. Though the problems surrounding slums are varied and unique to each location, water is almost always the major concern. From physical issues such as water scarcity, treatment, and flooding to political issues including water privatization and distribution, water manifests itself in many complex, negative and unconventional ways in the global slums. Although many human rights and aid organizations are already doing important work in slums around the world I argue that the technical knowledge and perspectives that hydrologists have, particularly early career hydrologists, are extremely unique and desperately required in slums the world over.

Prediction of hemoglobin in blood donors using a latent class mixed-effects transition model.

PubMed

Nasserinejad, Kazem; van Rosmalen, Joost; de Kort, Wim; Rizopoulos, Dimitris; Lesaffre, Emmanuel

2016-02-20

Blood donors experience a temporary reduction in their hemoglobin (Hb) value after donation. At each visit, the Hb value is measured, and a too low Hb value leads to a deferral for donation. Because of the recovery process after each donation as well as state dependence and unobserved heterogeneity, longitudinal data of Hb values of blood donors provide unique statistical challenges. To estimate the shape and duration of the recovery process and to predict future Hb values, we employed three models for the Hb value: (i) a mixed-effects models; (ii) a latent-class mixed-effects model; and (iii) a latent-class mixed-effects transition model. In each model, a flexible function was used to model the recovery process after donation. The latent classes identify groups of donors with fast or slow recovery times and donors whose recovery time increases with the number of donations. The transition effect accounts for possible state dependence in the observed data. All models were estimated in a Bayesian way, using data of new entrant donors from the Donor InSight study. Informative priors were used for parameters of the recovery process that were not identified using the observed data, based on results from the clinical literature. The results show that the latent-class mixed-effects transition model fits the data best, which illustrates the importance of modeling state dependence, unobserved heterogeneity, and the recovery process after donation. The estimated recovery time is much longer than the current minimum interval between donations, suggesting that an increase of this interval may be warranted. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Clear New View of a Classic Spiral

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-05-01

ESO is releasing a beautiful image of the nearby galaxy Messier 83 taken by the HAWK-I instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. The picture shows the galaxy in infrared light and demonstrates the impressive power of the camera to create one of the sharpest and most detailed pictures of Messier 83 ever taken from the ground. The galaxy Messier 83 (eso0825) is located about 15 million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra (the Sea Serpent). It spans over 40 000 light-years, only 40 percent the size of the Milky Way, but in many ways is quite similar to our home galaxy, both in its spiral shape and the presence of a bar of stars across its centre. Messier 83 is famous among astronomers for its many supernovae: vast explosions that end the lives of some stars. Over the last century, six supernovae have been observed in Messier 83 - a record number that is matched by only one other galaxy. Even without supernovae, Messier 83 is one of the brightest nearby galaxies, visible using just binoculars. Messier 83 has been observed in the infrared part of the spectrum using HAWK-I [1], a powerful camera on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). When viewed in infrared light most of the obscuring dust that hides much of Messier 83 becomes transparent. The brightly lit gas around hot young stars in the spiral arms is also less prominent in infrared pictures. As a result much more of the structure of the galaxy and the vast hordes of its constituent stars can be seen. This clear view is important for astronomers looking for clusters of young stars, especially those hidden in dusty regions of the galaxy. Studying such star clusters was one of the main scientific goals of these observations [2]. When compared to earlier images, the acute vision of HAWK-I reveals far more stars within the galaxy. The combination of the huge mirror of the VLT, the large field of view and great sensitivity of the camera, and the superb observing conditions at ESO's Paranal Observatory makes HAWK-I one of the most powerful near-infrared imagers in the world. Astronomers are eagerly queuing up for the chance to use the camera, which began operation in 2007 (eso0736), and to get some of the best ground-based infrared images ever of the night sky. Notes [1] HAWK-I stands for High-Acuity Wide-field K-band Imager. More technical details about the camera can be found in an earlier press release (eso0736). [2] The data used to prepare this image were acquired by a team led by Mark Gieles (University of Cambridge) and Yuri Beletsky (ESO). Mischa Schirmer (University of Bonn) performed the challenging data processing. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Are Face-to-Face Classes More Effective than Online Classes? An Empirical Examination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ganesh, Gopala; Paswan, Audhesh; Sun, Qin

2015-01-01

Using data from a unique undergraduate marketing math course offered in both traditional and online formats, this study looks at four dimensions of course evaluation: overall evaluation, perceived competence, perceived communication, and perceived challenge. Results indicate that students rate traditional classes better on all four dimensions.…

The Trifold Display Board: A Visual and Portable Way to Present Physical Education Class Information

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lavay, Barry; Alexander, Susan; Lawrence, Barbara

2008-01-01

Physical educators at all grade levels often provide instruction in open environments and classrooms without walls, such as gymnasiums, school playgrounds and athletic fields. Open teaching environments present unique challenges when it comes to implementing and displaying class information such as class schedules, routines and procedures, rules…

Probabilistic Open Set Recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jain, Lalit Prithviraj

Real-world tasks in computer vision, pattern recognition and machine learning often touch upon the open set recognition problem: multi-class recognition with incomplete knowledge of the world and many unknown inputs. An obvious way to approach such problems is to develop a recognition system that thresholds probabilities to reject unknown classes. Traditional rejection techniques are not about the unknown; they are about the uncertain boundary and rejection around that boundary. Thus traditional techniques only represent the "known unknowns". However, a proper open set recognition algorithm is needed to reduce the risk from the "unknown unknowns". This dissertation examines this concept and finds existing probabilistic multi-class recognition approaches are ineffective for true open set recognition. We hypothesize the cause is due to weak adhoc assumptions combined with closed-world assumptions made by existing calibration techniques. Intuitively, if we could accurately model just the positive data for any known class without overfitting, we could reject the large set of unknown classes even under this assumption of incomplete class knowledge. For this, we formulate the problem as one of modeling positive training data by invoking statistical extreme value theory (EVT) near the decision boundary of positive data with respect to negative data. We provide a new algorithm called the PI-SVM for estimating the unnormalized posterior probability of class inclusion. This dissertation also introduces a new open set recognition model called Compact Abating Probability (CAP), where the probability of class membership decreases in value (abates) as points move from known data toward open space. We show that CAP models improve open set recognition for multiple algorithms. Leveraging the CAP formulation, we go on to describe the novel Weibull-calibrated SVM (W-SVM) algorithm, which combines the useful properties of statistical EVT for score calibration with one-class and binary support vector machines. Building from the success of statistical EVT based recognition methods such as PI-SVM and W-SVM on the open set problem, we present a new general supervised learning algorithm for multi-class classification and multi-class open set recognition called the Extreme Value Local Basis (EVLB). The design of this algorithm is motivated by the observation that extrema from known negative class distributions are the closest negative points to any positive sample during training, and thus should be used to define the parameters of a probabilistic decision model. In the EVLB, the kernel distribution for each positive training sample is estimated via an EVT distribution fit over the distances to the separating hyperplane between positive training sample and closest negative samples, with a subset of the overall positive training data retained to form a probabilistic decision boundary. Using this subset as a frame of reference, the probability of a sample at test time decreases as it moves away from the positive class. Possessing this property, the EVLB is well-suited to open set recognition problems where samples from unknown or novel classes are encountered at test. Our experimental evaluation shows that the EVLB provides a substantial improvement in scalability compared to standard radial basis function kernel machines, as well as P I-SVM and W-SVM, with improved accuracy in many cases. We evaluate our algorithm on open set variations of the standard visual learning benchmarks, as well as with an open subset of classes from Caltech 256 and ImageNet. Our experiments show that PI-SVM, WSVM and EVLB provide significant advances over the previous state-of-the-art solutions for the same tasks.

Peripheral formalin injection induces unique spinal cord microglial phenotypic changes

PubMed Central

Fu, Kai-Yuan; Tan, Yong-Hui; Sung, Backil; Mao, Jianren

2014-01-01

Microglia are resident immune cells of brain and activated by peripheral tissue injury. In the present study, we investigated the possible induction of several microglial surface immunomolecules in the spinal cord, including leukocyte common antigen (LCA/CD45), MHC class I antigen, MHC class II antigen, Fc receptor, and CD11c following formalin injection into the rat’s hind paw. CD45 and MHC class I were upregulated in the activated microglia, which was evident on day 3 with the peak expression on day 7 following peripheral formalin injection. There was a very low basal expression of MHC class II, CD11c, and the Fc receptor, which did not change after the formalin injection. These results, for the first time, indicate that peripheral formalin injection can induce phenotypic changes of microglia with distinct upregulation of CD45 and MHC class I antigen. The data suggest that phenotypic changes of the activated microglia may be a unique pattern of central changes following peripheral tissue injury. PMID:19015000

SERS-Based Prognosis of Kidney Transplant Outcome

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chi, Jingmao

Kidney transplant is the predominant procedure of all organ transplants around the world. The number of patients on the waiting list for a kidney is growing rapidly, yet the number of donations does not keep up with the fast-growing need. This thesis focuses on the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) analysis of urine samples for prognosis of kidney transplant outcome, which can potentially let patients have a more timely treatment as well as expand the organ pool for transplant. We have observed unique SERS spectral features from urine samples of kidney transplant recipients that have strong associations with the kidney acute rejection (AR) based on the analysis of urine one day after the transplant. Our ability to provide an early prognosis of transplant outcome is a significant advance over the current gold standard of clinical diagnosis, which occurs weeks or months after the surgical procedure. The SERS analysis has also been applied to urine samples from deceased kidney donors. Excellent classification ability was achieved when the enhanced PCA-LDA analysis was used to classify and identify urine samples from different cases. The sensitivity of the acute tubular necrosis (ATN) class is more than 90%, which can indicate the usable kidneys in the high failure risk category. This analysis can help clinicians identify usable kidneys which would be discarded using conventional clinic methods as high failure risk. To investigate the biomarkers that cause the unique SERS features, an HPLC-SERS-MS approach was established. The high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to separate the urinary components to reduce the sample complexity. The mass spectrometry (MS) was used to determine the formulas and the structures of the biomarkers. The presence of 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and adenine in urine samples were confirmed by both MS and SERS analysis. Succinylmonocholine, a metabolite of suxamethonium, has a potential to be the biomarker that causes the unique SERS spectral features that indicate kidney AR. By integrating SERS analysis with statistical and chemical analysis and with the promising outcomes, this research has made a significant contribution in exploring the frontier of SERS analysis in biomedical sensing and diagnosis.

Research and Publication on the World Wide Web: A Fifth Grade Class' Experience.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neal, Nancy L.

The World Wide Web (WWW) has become a major presence on the Internet, and teachers are just beginning to discover many valuable applications the Web can have in their classrooms. This study explored use of WWW as a research and publication tool in a fifth grade class project on the formation of the United States. Students were given instruction in…

An Analysis of Mobility in Global Rankings: Making Institutional Strategic Plans and Positioning for Building World-Class Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hou, Angela Yung Chi; Morse, Robert; Chiang, Chung-Lin

2012-01-01

Since the start of the twenty-first century, university rankings have become internationalized. Global rankings have a variety of uses, levels of popularity and rationales and they are here to stay. An examination of the results of the current global ranking reveals that well-reputed world-class universities are amongst the top ranked ones. A…

What Price the Building of World-Class Universities? Academic Pressure Faced by Young Lecturers at a Research-Centered University in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tian, Mei; Lu, Genshu

2017-01-01

This study explores the challenges faced by young lecturers in managerial transformation in elite Chinese academic institutions which aim to develop into world-class universities. Drawing on data from in-depth interviews, the paper discusses how a group of lecturers on tenure-track contracts at a research university in China perceived the impacts…

The Effect of Mixed-Age Classes in Sweden

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindstrom, Elly-Ann; Lindahl, Erica

2011-01-01

Mixed-aged (MA) classes are a common phenomenon around the world. In Sweden, these types of classes increased rapidly during the 1980s and 1990s, despite the fact that existing empirical support for MA classes is weak. In this paper, the effect of attending an MA class during grades 4-6 on students' cognitive skills is estimated. Using a unique…

Latent Cognitive Phenotypes in De Novo Parkinson's Disease: A Person-Centered Approach.

PubMed

LaBelle, Denise R; Walsh, Ryan R; Banks, Sarah J

2017-08-01

Cognitive impairment is an important aspect of Parkinson's disease (PD), but there is considerable heterogeneity in its presentation. This investigation aims to identify and characterize latent cognitive phenotypes in early PD. Latent class analysis, a data-driven, person-centered, cluster analysis was performed on cognitive data from the Parkinson's Progressive Markers Initiative baseline visit. This analytic method facilitates identification of naturally occurring endophenotypes. Resulting classes were compared across biomarker, symptom, and demographic data. Six cognitive phenotypes were identified. Three demonstrated consistent performance across indicators, representing poor ("Weak-Overall"), average ("Typical-Overall"), and strong ("Strong-Overall") cognition. The remaining classes demonstrated unique patterns of cognition, characterized by "Strong-Memory," "Weak-Visuospatial," and "Amnestic" profiles. The Amnestic class evidenced greater tremor severity and anosmia, but was unassociated with biomarkers linked with Alzheimer's disease. The Weak-Overall class was older and reported more non-motor features associated with cognitive decline, including anxiety, depression, autonomic dysfunction, anosmia, and REM sleep behaviors. The Strong-Overall class was younger, more female, and reported less dysautonomia and anosmia. Classes were unrelated to disease duration, functional independence, or available biomarkers. Latent cognitive phenotypes with focal patterns of impairment were observed in recently diagnosed individuals with PD. Cognitive profiles were found to be independent of traditional biomarkers and motoric indices of disease progression. Only globally impaired class was associated with previously reported indicators of cognitive decline, suggesting this group may drive the effects reported in studies using variable-based analysis. Longitudinal and neuroanatomical characterization of classes will yield further insight into the evolution of cognitive change in the disease. (JINS, 2017, 23, 551-563).

Patterns of Alcohol Policy Enforcement Activities among Local Law Enforcement Agencies: A Latent Class Analysis

PubMed Central

Erickson, Darin J.; Rutledge, Patricia C.; Lenk, Kathleen M.; Nelson, Toben F.; Jones-Webb, Rhonda; Toomey, Traci L.

2015-01-01

Aims We assessed levels and patterns of alcohol policy enforcement activities among U.S. local law enforcement agencies. Design/Setting/Participants We conducted a cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of 1,631 local law enforcement agencies across the 50 states. Measures/Methods We assessed 29 alcohol policy enforcement activities within each of five enforcement domains—underage alcohol possession/consumption, underage alcohol provision, underage alcohol sales, impaired driving, and overservice of alcohol—and conducted a series of latent class analyses to identify unique classes or patterns of enforcement activity for each domain. Findings We identified three to four unique enforcement activity classes for each of the enforcement domains. In four of the domains, we identified a Uniformly Low class (i.e., little or no enforcement) and a Uniformly High enforcement activity class (i.e., relatively high levels of enforcement), with one or two middle classes where some but not all activities were conducted. The underage provision domain had a Uniformly Low class but not a Uniformly High class. The Uniformly Low class was the most prevalent class in three domains: underage provision (58%), underage sales (61%), and overservice (79%). In contrast, less than a quarter of agencies were in Uniformly High classes. Conclusions We identified qualitatively distinct patterns of enforcement activity, with a large proportion of agencies in classes characterized by little or no enforcement and fewer agencies in high enforcement classes. An important next step is to determine if these patterns are associated with rates of alcohol use and alcohol-related injury and mortality. PMID:26877822

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harrington, Kathleen; Marriage, Tobias; Ali, Aamir; Appel, John; Bennett, Charles; Boone, Fletcher; Brewer, Michael; Chan, Manwei; Chuss, David T.; Colazo, Felipe;

FCS and English: Dual Class Develops "Taste" for Other Cultures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caya, Billie Ann

2005-01-01

"Foods and Literature of the World" is a dual class taught at Bismarck High School in Bismarck, North Dakota. There are two components of the class--English and family and consumer sciences (FCS). (The English component fulfills the 12th grade English requirement.) Culture is explored through class discussion, essay writing, research,…

Class and University Education: Inter-Generational Patterns in Canada. NALL Working Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Livingstone, D. W.; Stowe, Susan

Young people from lower class origins continue to face major barriers to university education in Canada. This paper documents both substantial inter-generational class mobility and continuing inequalities in formal educational attainments by class origins. While Canada now has the world's higher educational attainments in its youth cohort and has…

Elements of NASA GSFC Wallops Island's ozone measurement program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidlin, F. J.; Schauer, A. G.; Thompson, A. M.; Northam, E. T.; Brothers, G. B.; Beebe, A.

2003-04-01

Ozone observations from GSFC Wallops Flight Facility, Natal, Brazil, and Ascension Island involve instrument preparation, analyses, comparisons, archiving, and documentation. The complement of instrumentation enables reliable, accurate world-class information be made available to the scientific community. At Wallops Island, instruments in use include the electrochemical concentration cell ECC ozonesondes, Dobson spectrophotometer, Microtops Sun Photometer, Ground-based Ultraviolet Radiometer GUV, and the NILU-UV Irradiance meter. ECC's and a Dobson are used at Natal while ECC's and a handheld Microtops Sunphotometer are used at Ascension Island. ECC ozonesondes are released from Natal as part of an agreement between NASA and INPE and from Ascension Island with US Air Force cooperation. Both of these sites provide vertical ozone profiles to SHADOZ. All of the instruments mentioned are widely used and need not be described further. Unique ECC preparation procedures developed at Wallops Island over many years also are used at the three sites. Description of the ECC calibration against known standards is given. Emphasis is given to results of comparisons between ECC's of two manufacturers, to the affect of different KI solutions and possible adjustment to older measurements that used different KI solution strengths, and to laboratory tests conducted during JOSIE2000 and their relationship to in situ tests conducted at Wallops Island. If time permits, we will give a summary of the performance of the ground-based instruments.

Mosaic of Jupiter's Great Red Spot (Methane Filter)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

Great Red Spot of Jupiter as seen through the methane (886 nm) filter of the Galileo imaging system. The image is a mosaic of six images that have been map-projected to a uniform grid of latitude and longitude. North is at the top. The mosaic was taken over a 76 second interval beginning at universal time 14 hours, 33 minutes, 22 seconds, on June 26, 1996. The Red Spot is 20,000 km long and has been followed by observers on Earth since the telescope was invented 300 years ago. It is a huge storm made visible by variations in the composition of the cloud particles. The Red Spot is not unique, but is simply the largest of a class of long-lived vortices, some of which are visible in the lower part of the image. The range is 1.46 million kilometers.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission for NASA s Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo

Arginine (Di)methylated Human Leukocyte Antigen Class I Peptides Are Favorably Presented by HLA-B*07.

PubMed

Marino, Fabio; Mommen, Geert P M; Jeko, Anita; Meiring, Hugo D; van Gaans-van den Brink, Jacqueline A M; Scheltema, Richard A; van Els, Cécile A C M; Heck, Albert J R

2017-01-06

Alterations in protein post-translational modification (PTM) are recognized hallmarks of diseases. These modifications potentially provide a unique source of disease-related human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I-presented peptides that can elicit specific immune responses. While phosphorylated HLA peptides have already received attention, arginine methylated HLA class I peptide presentation has not been characterized in detail. In a human B-cell line we detected 149 HLA class I peptides harboring mono- and/or dimethylated arginine residues by mass spectrometry. A striking preference was observed in the presentation of arginine (di)methylated peptides for HLA-B*07 molecules, likely because the binding motifs of this allele resemble consensus sequences recognized by arginine methyl-transferases. Moreover, HLA-B*07-bound peptides preferentially harbored dimethylated groups at the P3 position, thus consecutively to the proline anchor residue. Such a proline-arginine sequence has been associated with the arginine methyl-transferases CARM1 and PRMT5. Making use of the specific neutral losses in fragmentation spectra, we found most of the peptides to be asymmetrically dimethylated, most likely by CARM1. These data expand our knowledge of the processing and presentation of arginine (di)methylated HLA class I peptides and demonstrate that these types of modified peptides can be presented for recognition by T-cells. HLA class I peptides with mono- and dimethylated arginine residues may therefore offer a novel target for immunotherapy.

Likelihood analysis of spatial capture-recapture models for stratified or class structured populations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Royle, J. Andrew; Sutherland, Christopher S.; Fuller, Angela K.; Sun, Catherine C.

2015-01-01

We develop a likelihood analysis framework for fitting spatial capture-recapture (SCR) models to data collected on class structured or stratified populations. Our interest is motivated by the necessity of accommodating the problem of missing observations of individual class membership. This is particularly problematic in SCR data arising from DNA analysis of scat, hair or other material, which frequently yields individual identity but fails to identify the sex. Moreover, this can represent a large fraction of the data and, given the typically small sample sizes of many capture-recapture studies based on DNA information, utilization of the data with missing sex information is necessary. We develop the class structured likelihood for the case of missing covariate values, and then we address the scaling of the likelihood so that models with and without class structured parameters can be formally compared regardless of missing values. We apply our class structured model to black bear data collected in New York in which sex could be determined for only 62 of 169 uniquely identified individuals. The models containing sex-specificity of both the intercept of the SCR encounter probability model and the distance coefficient, and including a behavioral response are strongly favored by log-likelihood. Estimated population sex ratio is strongly influenced by sex structure in model parameters illustrating the importance of rigorous modeling of sex differences in capture-recapture models.

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harrington, Kathleen; Marriange, Tobias; Aamir, Ali; Appel, John W.; Bennett, Charles L.; Boone, Fletcher; Brewer, Michael; Chan, Manwei; Chuss, David T.; Colazo, Felipe;

70 Years of Making the World Safer: Extended

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

None

Extended version with narration. This video shows our roles in making the world safer — working to end World War II, providing stable isotopes for research, providing unique precision manufacturing capabilities, and meeting nonproliferation and global security missions.

Recent R&D status for 70 MW class superconducting generators in the Super-GM project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ageta, Takasuke

2000-05-01

Three types of 70 MW class superconducting generators called model machines have been developed to establish basic technologies for a pilot machine. The series of on-site verification tests was completed in June 1999. The world's highest generator output (79 MW), the world's longest continuous operation (1500 hours) and other excellent results were obtained. The model machine was connected to a commercial power grid and fundamental data were collected for future utilization. It is expected that fundamental technologies on design and manufacture required for a 200 MW class pilot machine are established.

Queue observing at the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic 1.6-m telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Artigau, Étienne; Lamontagne, Robert; Doyon, René; Malo, Lison

2010-07-01

Queue planning of observation and service observing are generally seen as specific to large, world-class, astronomical observatories that draw proposal from a large community. One of the common grievance, justified or not, against queue planning and service observing is the fear of training a generation of astronomers without hands-on observing experience. At the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic (OMM) 1.6-m telescope, we are developing a student-run service observing program. Queue planning and service observing are used as training tools to expose students to a variety of scientific project and instruments beyond what they would normally use for their own research project. The queue mode at the OMM specifically targets relatively shallow observations that can be completed in less than a few hours and are too short to justify a multi-night classical observing run.

No Evidence of a Common DNA Variant Profile Specific to World Class Endurance Athletes

PubMed Central

Wolfarth, Bernd; Wang, Guan; Sarzynski, Mark A.; Alexeev, Dmitry G.; Ahmetov, Ildus I.; Boulay, Marcel R.; Cieszczyk, Pawel; Eynon, Nir; Filipenko, Maxim L.; Garton, Fleur C.; Generozov, Edward V.; Govorun, Vadim M.; Houweling, Peter J.; Kawahara, Takashi; Kostryukova, Elena S.; Kulemin, Nickolay A.; Larin, Andrey K.; Maciejewska-Karłowska, Agnieszka; Miyachi, Motohiko; Muniesa, Carlos A.; Murakami, Haruka; Ospanova, Elena A.; Padmanabhan, Sandosh; Pavlenko, Alexander V.; Pyankova, Olga N.; Santiago, Catalina; Sawczuk, Marek; Scott, Robert A.; Uyba, Vladimir V.; Yvert, Thomas; Perusse, Louis; Ghosh, Sujoy; Rauramaa, Rainer; North, Kathryn N.; Lucia, Alejandro; Pitsiladis, Yannis; Bouchard, Claude

2016-01-01

There are strong genetic components to cardiorespiratory fitness and its response to exercise training. It would be useful to understand the differences in the genomic profile of highly trained endurance athletes of world class caliber and sedentary controls. An international consortium (GAMES) was established in order to compare elite endurance athletes and ethnicity-matched controls in a case-control study design. Genome-wide association studies were undertaken on two cohorts of elite endurance athletes and controls (GENATHLETE and Japanese endurance runners), from which a panel of 45 promising markers was identified. These markers were tested for replication in seven additional cohorts of endurance athletes and controls: from Australia, Ethiopia, Japan, Kenya, Poland, Russia and Spain. The study is based on a total of 1520 endurance athletes (835 who took part in endurance events in World Championships and/or Olympic Games) and 2760 controls. We hypothesized that world-class athletes are likely to be characterized by an even higher concentration of endurance performance alleles and we performed separate analyses on this subsample. The meta-analysis of all available studies revealed one statistically significant marker (rs558129 at GALNTL6 locus, p = 0.0002), even after correcting for multiple testing. As shown by the low heterogeneity index (I2 = 0), all eight cohorts showed the same direction of association with rs558129, even though p-values varied across the individual studies. In summary, this study did not identify a panel of genomic variants common to these elite endurance athlete groups. Since GAMES was underpowered to identify alleles with small effect sizes, some of the suggestive leads identified should be explored in expanded comparisons of world-class endurance athletes and sedentary controls and in tightly controlled exercise training studies. Such studies have the potential to illuminate the biology not only of world class endurance performance but also of compromised cardiac functions and cardiometabolic diseases. PMID:26824906

No Evidence of a Common DNA Variant Profile Specific to World Class Endurance Athletes.

PubMed

Rankinen, Tuomo; Fuku, Noriyuki; Wolfarth, Bernd; Wang, Guan; Sarzynski, Mark A; Alexeev, Dmitry G; Ahmetov, Ildus I; Boulay, Marcel R; Cieszczyk, Pawel; Eynon, Nir; Filipenko, Maxim L; Garton, Fleur C; Generozov, Edward V; Govorun, Vadim M; Houweling, Peter J; Kawahara, Takashi; Kostryukova, Elena S; Kulemin, Nickolay A; Larin, Andrey K; Maciejewska-Karłowska, Agnieszka; Miyachi, Motohiko; Muniesa, Carlos A; Murakami, Haruka; Ospanova, Elena A; Padmanabhan, Sandosh; Pavlenko, Alexander V; Pyankova, Olga N; Santiago, Catalina; Sawczuk, Marek; Scott, Robert A; Uyba, Vladimir V; Yvert, Thomas; Perusse, Louis; Ghosh, Sujoy; Rauramaa, Rainer; North, Kathryn N; Lucia, Alejandro; Pitsiladis, Yannis; Bouchard, Claude

2016-01-01

There are strong genetic components to cardiorespiratory fitness and its response to exercise training. It would be useful to understand the differences in the genomic profile of highly trained endurance athletes of world class caliber and sedentary controls. An international consortium (GAMES) was established in order to compare elite endurance athletes and ethnicity-matched controls in a case-control study design. Genome-wide association studies were undertaken on two cohorts of elite endurance athletes and controls (GENATHLETE and Japanese endurance runners), from which a panel of 45 promising markers was identified. These markers were tested for replication in seven additional cohorts of endurance athletes and controls: from Australia, Ethiopia, Japan, Kenya, Poland, Russia and Spain. The study is based on a total of 1520 endurance athletes (835 who took part in endurance events in World Championships and/or Olympic Games) and 2760 controls. We hypothesized that world-class athletes are likely to be characterized by an even higher concentration of endurance performance alleles and we performed separate analyses on this subsample. The meta-analysis of all available studies revealed one statistically significant marker (rs558129 at GALNTL6 locus, p = 0.0002), even after correcting for multiple testing. As shown by the low heterogeneity index (I2 = 0), all eight cohorts showed the same direction of association with rs558129, even though p-values varied across the individual studies. In summary, this study did not identify a panel of genomic variants common to these elite endurance athlete groups. Since GAMES was underpowered to identify alleles with small effect sizes, some of the suggestive leads identified should be explored in expanded comparisons of world-class endurance athletes and sedentary controls and in tightly controlled exercise training studies. Such studies have the potential to illuminate the biology not only of world class endurance performance but also of compromised cardiac functions and cardiometabolic diseases.

Long Time Quantum Evolution of Observables on Cusp Manifolds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonthonneau, Yannick

2016-04-01

The Eisenstein functions {E(s)} are some generalized eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on manifolds with cusps. We give a version of Quantum Unique Ergodicity for them, for {|{I}s| to ∞} and {R}s to d/2} with {{R}s - d/2 ≥ log log |{I}s| / log |{I}s|}. For the purpose of the proof, we build a semi-classical quantization procedure for finite volume manifolds with hyperbolic cusps, adapted to a geometrical class of symbols. We also prove an Egorov Lemma until Ehrenfest times on such manifolds.

Seeing a Stellar Explosion in 3D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-08-01

Astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope have for the first time obtained a three-dimensional view of the distribution of the innermost material expelled by a recently exploded star. The original blast was not only powerful, according to the new results. It was also more concentrated in one particular direction. This is a strong indication that the supernova must have been very turbulent, supporting the most recent computer models. Unlike the Sun, which will die rather quietly, massive stars arriving at the end of their brief life explode as supernovae, hurling out a vast quantity of material. In this class, Supernova 1987A (SN 1987A) in the rather nearby Large Magellanic Cloud occupies a very special place. Seen in 1987, it was the first naked-eye supernova to be observed for 383 years (eso8704), and because of its relative closeness, it has made it possible for astronomers to study the explosion of a massive star and its aftermath in more detail than ever before. It is thus no surprise that few events in modern astronomy have been met with such an enthusiastic response by scientists. SN 1987A has been a bonanza for astrophysicists (eso8711 and eso0708). It provided several notable observational 'firsts', like the detection of neutrinos from the collapsing inner stellar core triggering the explosion, the localisation on archival photographic plates of the star before it exploded, the signs of an asymmetric explosion, the direct observation of the radioactive elements produced during the blast, observation of the formation of dust in the supernova, as well as the detection of circumstellar and interstellar material (eso0708). New observations making use of a unique instrument, SINFONI [1], on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) have provided even deeper knowledge of this amazing event, as astronomers have now been able to obtain the first-ever 3D reconstruction of the central parts of the exploding material. This view shows that the explosion was stronger and faster in some directions than others, leading to an irregular shape with some parts stretching out further into space. The first material to be ejected from the explosion travelled at an incredible 100 million km per hour, which is about a tenth of the speed of light or around 100 000 times faster than a passenger jet. Even at this breakneck speed it has taken 10 years to reach a previously existing ring of gas and dust puffed out from the dying star. The images also demonstrate that another wave of material is travelling ten times more slowly and is being heated by radioactive elements created in the explosion. "We have established the velocity distribution of the inner ejecta of Supernova 1987A," says lead author Karina Kjær. "Just how a supernova explodes is not very well understood, but the way the star exploded is imprinted on this inner material. We can see that this material was not ejected symmetrically in all directions, but rather seems to have had a preferred direction. Besides, this direction is different to what was expected from the position of the ring." Such asymmetric behaviour was predicted by some of the most recent computer models of supernovae, which found that large-scale instabilities take place during the explosion. The new observations are thus the first direct confirmation of such models. SINFONI is the leading instrument of its kind, and only the level of detail it affords allowed the team to draw their conclusions. Advanced adaptive optics systems counteracted the blurring effects of the Earth's atmosphere while a technique called integral field spectroscopy allowed the astronomers to study several parts of the supernova's chaotic core simultaneously, leading to the build-up of the 3D image. "Integral field spectroscopy is a special technique where for each pixel we get information about the nature and velocity of the gas," says Kjær. "This means that besides the normal picture we also have the velocity along the line of sight. Because we know the time that has passed since the explosion, and because the material is moving outwards freely, we can convert this velocity into a distance. This gives us a picture of the inner ejecta as seen straight on and from the side." Notes [1] The team used the SINFONI (Spectrograph for INtegral Field Observations in the Near Infrared) instrument mounted on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). SINFONI is a near-infrared (1.1-2.45 µm) integral field spectrograph fed by an adaptive optics module. More information This research will appear in Astronomy and Astrophysics ("The 3-D Structure of SN 1987A's inner Ejecta", by K. Kjær et al.). The team is composed of Karina Kjær (Queen's University Belfast, UK), Bruno Leibundgut and Jason Spyromilio (ESO), and Claes Fransson and Anders Jerkstrand (Stockholm University, Sweden). ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Undergraduates | Argonne National Laboratory

Science.gov Websites

Directory Argonne National Laboratory Educational Programs Connecting today's world-class research to which you can use to change the world." -Nelson Mandela Undergrads are just beginning their journey into the world of science and engineering. Here at Argonne, we work to make the world a better place

The challenge of spin–orbit-tuned ground states in iridates: a key issues review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Gang; Schlottmann, Pedro

2018-04-01

Effects of spin–orbit interactions in condensed matter are an important and rapidly evolving topic. Strong competition between spin–orbit, on-site Coulomb and crystalline electric field interactions in iridates drives exotic quantum states that are unique to this group of materials. In particular, the ‘J eff  =  ½’ Mott state served as an early signal that the combined effect of strong spin–orbit and Coulomb interactions in iridates has unique, intriguing consequences. In this Key Issues Review, we survey some current experimental studies of iridates. In essence, these materials tend to defy conventional wisdom: absence of conventional correlations between magnetic and insulating states, avoidance of metallization at high pressures, ‘S-shaped’ I–V characteristic, emergence of an odd-parity hidden order, etc. It is particularly intriguing that there exist conspicuous discrepancies between current experimental results and theoretical proposals that address superconducting, topological and quantum spin liquid phases. This class of materials, in which the lattice degrees of freedom play a critical role seldom seen in other materials, evidently presents some profound intellectual challenges that call for more investigations both experimentally and theoretically. Physical properties unique to these materials may help unlock a world of possibilities for functional materials and devices. We emphasize that, given the rapidly developing nature of this field, this Key Issues Review is by no means an exhaustive report of the current state of experimental studies of iridates.

Neonicotinoid insecticides: highlights of a symposium on strategic molecular designs.

PubMed

Tomizawa, Motohiro; Casida, John E

2011-04-13

Neonicotinoids are the newest of the five major classes of insecticides (the others are chlorinated hydrocarbons, organophosphorus compounds, methylcarbamates, and pyrethroids), and they make up approximately one-fourth of the world insecticide market. Nithiazine was the lead compound from Shell Development Co. in California later optimized by Shinzo Kagabu of Nihon Tokushu Noyaku Seizo to increase the potency and photostability, resulting in imidacloprid and thiacloprid. These discoveries are the basis for the International Award for Research in Agrochemicals of the American Chemical Society presented in 2010 to Professor Shinzo Kagabu. Five other neonicotinoids were added by others for the current set of seven commercial compounds. This symposium considers the progress in discovery and development of novel chemotype nicotinic insecticides with enhanced effectiveness, unique biological properties, and maximal safety. Chemorational approaches considered include physicochemical properties, metabolic activation and detoxification, and chemical and structural biology aspects potentially facilitating receptor structure-guided insecticide design.

The Hubble Space Telescope: UV, Visible, and Near-Infrared Pursuits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiseman, Jennifer

2010-01-01

The Hubble Space Telescope continues to push the limits on world-class astrophysics. Cameras including the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the new panchromatic Wide Field Camera 3 which was installed nu last year's successful servicing mission S2N4,o{fer imaging from near-infrared through ultraviolet wavelengths. Spectroscopic studies of sources from black holes to exoplanet atmospheres are making great advances through the versatile use of STIS, the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. The new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, also installed last year, is the most sensitive UV spectrograph to fly io space and is uniquely suited to address particular scientific questions on galaxy halos, the intergalactic medium, and the cosmic web. With these outstanding capabilities on HST come complex needs for laboratory astrophysics support including atomic and line identification data. I will provide an overview of Hubble's current capabilities and the scientific programs and goals that particularly benefit from the studies of laboratory astrophysics.

Street as Public Space - Measuring Street Life of Kuala Lumpur

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sulaiman, Normah; Ayu Abdullah, Yusfida; Hamdan, Hazlina

2017-10-01

Kuala Lumpur has envisioning in becoming World Class City by the year 2020. Essential elements of form and function of the urban environment are streets. Streets showcase the community and connect people. It’s one of the most comfortable social environment that provides aesthetical and interaction pleasure for everyone. Classified as main shopping streets in the local Kuala Lumpur urban design guidelines, Jalan Masjid India (JMI) has its uniqueness of shopping experience and social interaction. This conceptual paper will study the physical and cultural characteristics of the street that will generate the street character by mapping its original characters. The findings will focus on strengthening the methodology applied to promote improvements in evaluating it as a great public space. Results will also contribute to understanding the overall site context, the street connectivity, and urban dynamics. This paper is part of a larger study that addresses on transforming the sociability of public space.

Task Force 62 Medical Brigade combat healthcare support system in the mature Iraq theater of operations.

PubMed

Sargent, Patrick D

2008-01-01

Leading a deployed combat healthcare system is a very complex task and requires a command and control structure that is a unique blend of technical and tactical expertise to efficaciously deliver world-class medical care to America's sons and daughters. The medical task force in Iraq has successfully managed the transformation of the medical footprint from a tactically arrayed set of disparate medical units to a nascent integrated healthcare system with many features similar to the best healthcare systems in the United States. The American public demands, and Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen, and Coast Guardsmen deserve US quality medical care, whether they are being treated at a military medical center in the US, or a US medical facility in Iraq. This article presents an overview of the 62nd Medical Brigade's development of the combat healthcare support system during its tenure leading the US medical task force in Iraq.

Pattern formations and optimal packing.

PubMed

Mityushev, Vladimir

2016-04-01

Patterns of different symmetries may arise after solution to reaction-diffusion equations. Hexagonal arrays, layers and their perturbations are observed in different models after numerical solution to the corresponding initial-boundary value problems. We demonstrate an intimate connection between pattern formations and optimal random packing on the plane. The main study is based on the following two points. First, the diffusive flux in reaction-diffusion systems is approximated by piecewise linear functions in the framework of structural approximations. This leads to a discrete network approximation of the considered continuous problem. Second, the discrete energy minimization yields optimal random packing of the domains (disks) in the representative cell. Therefore, the general problem of pattern formations based on the reaction-diffusion equations is reduced to the geometric problem of random packing. It is demonstrated that all random packings can be divided onto classes associated with classes of isomorphic graphs obtained from the Delaunay triangulation. The unique optimal solution is constructed in each class of the random packings. If the number of disks per representative cell is finite, the number of classes of isomorphic graphs, hence, the number of optimal packings is also finite. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

25 CFR 547.7 - What are the minimum technical hardware standards applicable to Class II gaming systems?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... OF CLASS II GAMES § 547.7 What are the minimum technical hardware standards applicable to Class II... the game, and are specially manufactured or proprietary and not off-the-shelf, shall display a unique... outcome or integrity of any game, progressive award, financial instrument, cashless transaction, voucher...

25 CFR 547.7 - What are the minimum technical hardware standards applicable to Class II gaming systems?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... OF CLASS II GAMES § 547.7 What are the minimum technical hardware standards applicable to Class II... the game, and are specially manufactured or proprietary and not off-the-shelf, shall display a unique... outcome or integrity of any game, progressive award, financial instrument, cashless transaction, voucher...

25 CFR 547.7 - What are the minimum technical hardware standards applicable to Class II gaming systems?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... OF CLASS II GAMES § 547.7 What are the minimum technical hardware standards applicable to Class II... the game, and are specially manufactured or proprietary and not off-the-shelf, shall display a unique... outcome or integrity of any game, progressive award, financial instrument, cashless transaction, voucher...

Identify the Cracks; That's Where the Light Slips In: The Narratives of Latina/o Bilingual Middle-Class Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lapayese, Yvette V.

2016-01-01

In this qualitative study, I examine the intersections of learner identity, power, and language through the experiences and insights of Latina/o 2nd-generation middle-class children who occupy a unique positionality between the discourses surrounding bilingual education. Through narrative inquiry, emerging bilingual middle-class students actualize…

Aidan Chambers' "Breaktime": Class Conflict and Anxiety in the Work of a Scholarship-Boy Writer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Takiuchi, Haru

2016-01-01

Aidan Chambers' "Breaktime" (1978) is famous for its unique narrative style and sexual content. This focus has obscured another significant aspect of the novel: the role of social class in "Breaktime" and Chambers' working-class background have rarely been explored. Chambers was an example of what Richard Hoggart calls…

The changing face of antihistamines and cardiac adverse drug reactions: a clinical perspective.

PubMed

Shaikh, W A

2000-07-01

Recent times have witnessed a qualitative shift in the recognition and management of adverse drug effects. Many of them occur in organs that are unconnected to the primary target of pharmacological action. Out of these, cardiac side-effects have drawn particular attention because of their potential to cause death. Starting with the early observations on antibiotics such as macrolides, followed by fluoroquinolones and others, the focus has now shifted to the antihistamine class of drugs which are used extensively by patients all over the world, thanks to the ever increasing levels of environmental pollution. The occurrence of prolonged QTc interval following treatment with terfenadine leading to ventricular tachycardia of torsades de points variety with a potentially fatal outcome has forced many regulatory authorities of the world to clamp a ban the use of this drug. Alerted by these developments, studies on a new member, followed by fluoroquinolones and others, the focus has now shifted to the antihistamine class of drugs which are used extensively by patients all over the world, thanks to the ever incresing levels of envrionmental pollution. The occurrence of prolonged QTc interval following treatment with terfenadine leading to ventricular tachycardia of torsades de points variety with a potentially fatal outcome has forced many regulatory authorities of the world to clamp a ban use of this drug. Alerted by these developments, studies on a new member of non-sedating antihistamine class viz, fexofenadine, have been reviewed especially because of the structural similarity between terfenadine and fexofenadine. It is now clear that despite the closeness of its chemical structure to terfenadine fexofenadine behaves in a different manner and does not affect the electrophysiology of the heart muscle tissue, as proved by data from extensive clinical trials as well as membrane models in vitro. Interestingly, the solitary false alarm that was sounded on the drug by a group of workers in the Netherlands was later rectified by the same group. Clinically speaking, the cardiovascular safety of fexofenadine has been convincingly demonstrated at various dose levels and various time intervals, alone and together with other drugs of potential toxigenicity. All things put together, it appears reasonable to conclude that fexofenadine is free from cardiovascular ADRs of clinical significance. It could also be concluded that cardiac side-effects of antihistamines is not a class effect.

Some concepts of favorability for world-class-type uranium deposits in the northeastern United States

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

Adler, H.H.

1981-03-01

An account is given of concepts of favorability of geologic environments in the eastern United States for uranium deposits of several major types existing elsewhere in the world. The purpose is to convey some initial ideas about the interrelationships of the geology of the eastern United States and the geologic settings of certain of these world-class deposits. The study and report include consideration of uranium deposits other than those generally manifesting the geologic, geochemical and genetic characteristics associated with the conventional sandstone-type ores of the western United States.

Visualizing histopathologic deep learning classification and anomaly detection using nonlinear feature space dimensionality reduction.

PubMed

Faust, Kevin; Xie, Quin; Han, Dominick; Goyle, Kartikay; Volynskaya, Zoya; Djuric, Ugljesa; Diamandis, Phedias

2018-05-16

There is growing interest in utilizing artificial intelligence, and particularly deep learning, for computer vision in histopathology. While accumulating studies highlight expert-level performance of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) on focused classification tasks, most studies rely on probability distribution scores with empirically defined cutoff values based on post-hoc analysis. More generalizable tools that allow humans to visualize histology-based deep learning inferences and decision making are scarce. Here, we leverage t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE) to reduce dimensionality and depict how CNNs organize histomorphologic information. Unique to our workflow, we develop a quantitative and transparent approach to visualizing classification decisions prior to softmax compression. By discretizing the relationships between classes on the t-SNE plot, we show we can super-impose randomly sampled regions of test images and use their distribution to render statistically-driven classifications. Therefore, in addition to providing intuitive outputs for human review, this visual approach can carry out automated and objective multi-class classifications similar to more traditional and less-transparent categorical probability distribution scores. Importantly, this novel classification approach is driven by a priori statistically defined cutoffs. It therefore serves as a generalizable classification and anomaly detection tool less reliant on post-hoc tuning. Routine incorporation of this convenient approach for quantitative visualization and error reduction in histopathology aims to accelerate early adoption of CNNs into generalized real-world applications where unanticipated and previously untrained classes are often encountered.

The Unique and Shared Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Fear, Anger, and Sadness in Childhood

PubMed Central

Clifford, Sierra; Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn; Goldsmith, H. Hill

2015-01-01

This study examined the extent to which subordinate dimensions of negative emotionality were genetically and environmentally distinct in a sample of 1316 twins (51% female, 85.8% Caucasian, primarily middle class, mean age = 7.87 years, SD = .93), recruited from Wisconsin hospital birth records between 1989 and 2004. Cholesky, independent pathway, and common pathway models were fitted for mother-report, father-report, and in-home observation of temperament. Although findings support the use of negative emotionality, there were heritable aspects of anger and fear not explained by a common genetic factor, and shared environmental influences common to anger and sadness but not fear. Observed fear was independent from observed anger and sadness. Distinctions support specificity in measurement when considering implications for child development. PMID:26182850

Globalization, China's Drive for World-Class Universities (211 Project) and the Challenges of Ethnic Minority Higher Education: The Case of Yanbian University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Sheena

2010-01-01

This case study of Yanbian University, a Korean minority university in China, examines the challenges faced, strategies employed, and resources mobilized by a minority university in its attempt to become a world-class university. Specifically, this case study focuses on how the University is attempting to reach its goals within the context of the…

The Variation of Universally Acknowledged World-Class Universities (UAWCUs) between 2010 and 2015: An Empirical Study by the Ranks of THEs, QS and ARWU

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Lu; Liu, Zhimin

2016-01-01

Due to certainty recognition in ranking systems, the commonly included top 100 universities are regarded as the Universally Acknowledged World-Class Universities (UAWCUs). From three university rankings-THEs, QS and ARWU from 2010 to 2015, the following conclusions can be drawn from this study: Firstly, 56 universities are commonly ranked in the…

Actors' Interpretations and Organisational Change Processes: The Case of the University of Ghana's Strategic Vision of Becoming a "World Class University"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Intsiful, Emmanuel; Maassen, Peter

2017-01-01

Despite its seemingly subjective and ambiguous nature, the notion of a World Class University (WCU) appears both established and widely discussed in higher education discourses over the last decade. At the same time, some scholars have argued that the notion does not fit or refer to universities in Africa. In the year 2010, the University of Ghana…

VNIR multispectral observations of rocks at Cape York, Endeavour crater, Mars by the Opportunity rover's Pancam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farrand, William H.; Bell, James F.; Johnson, Jeffrey R.; Rice, Melissa S.; Hurowitz, Joel A.

2013-07-01

From its arrival at the portion of the rim of Endeavour crater known informally as Cape York, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has made numerous visible and near infrared (VNIR) multispectral observations of rock surfaces. This paper describes multispectral observations from Opportunity's arrival at Cape York to its winter-over location at Greeley Haven. Averages of pixels from the Pancam's left and right eyes were joined to form 11 point spectra from numerous observations and were examined via a number of techniques. These included principal components analysis, a sequential maximum angle convex cone approach, examination of spectral parameters, and a hierarchical clustering approach. The end result of these analyses was the determination of six primary spectral (PS) classes describing spectrally unique materials observed on Cape York. These classes consisted of a "standard" outcrop spectrum that was observed on the clasts and matrix comprising the upper unit of the Shoemaker formation, a class representing rock surfaces exposed around Odyssey crater and typified by the rocks of the Tisdale series, pebbles occurring in and weathered out of the upper unit of the Shoemaker formation that appear red in 1009, 904, 754 nm color composites, patches on Tisdale rocks exhibiting a 864 nm band minimum that were spectrally anomalous in root mean square error images derived from spectral mixture analyses, clasts with a high 904 nm band depth occurring in the Greeley Haven location, and gypsum veins typified by the vein Homestake. Comparisons of three of these classes that had well defined band minima between 800 and 1009 nm with spectral library spectra of ferrous silicates and ferric oxide, oxyhydroxide and ferric sulfate minerals indicated tentative matches of the "red" pebbles with orthopyroxenes, of the spectrally anomalous 864 nm band minimum material with hematite or ferric sulfates, and of the high 904 nm band depth material with an orthopyroxene-clinopyroxene mixture. The spectral properties of rock surfaces on Cape York are distinct from those of Burns Formation outcrops observed on the Meridiani Plains. The Cape York outcrop is Noachian in age and study of these materials provides insight into less acidic environmental conditions extant before the formation of the Burns Formation.

Genomic Characterization of Methanomicrobiales Reveals Three Classes of Methanogens

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

Anderson, Iain; Ulrich, Luke E.; Lupa, Boguslaw

2009-05-01

Methanomicrobiales is the least studied order of methanogens. While these organisms appear to be more closely related to the Methanosarcinales in ribosomal-based phylogenetic analyses, they are metabolically more similar to Class I methanogens. In order to improve our understanding of this lineage, we have completely sequenced the genomes of two members of this order, Methanocorpusculum labreanum Z and Methanoculleus marisnigri JR1, and compared them with the genome of a third, Methanospirillum hungatei JF-1. Similar to Class I methanogens, Methanomicrobiales use a partial reductive citric acid cycle for 2-oxoglutarate biosynthesis, and they have the Eha energy-converting hydrogenase. In common with Methanosarcinales,more » Methanomicrobiales possess the Ech hydrogenase and at least some of them may couple formylmethanofuran formation and heterodisulfide reduction to transmembrane ion gradients. Uniquely, M. labreanum and M. hungatei contain hydrogenases similar to the Pyrococcus furiosus Mbh hydrogenase, and all three Methanomicrobiales have anti-sigma factor and anti-anti-sigma factor regulatory proteins not found in other methanogens. Phylogenetic analysis based on seven core proteins of methanogenesis and cofactor biosynthesis places the Methanomicrobiales equidistant from Class I methanogens and Methanosarcinales. Our results indicate that Methanomicrobiales, rather than being similar to Class I methanogens or Methanomicrobiales, share some features of both and have some unique properties. We find that there are three distinct classes of methanogens: the Class I methanogens, the Methanomicrobiales (Class II), and the Methanosarcinales (Class III).« less

USGS Science: Addressing Our Nation's Challenges

USGS Publications Warehouse

Larson, Tania M.

2009-01-01

With 6.6 billion people already living on Earth, and that number increasing every day, human influence on our planet is ever more apparent. Changes to the natural world combined with increasing human demands threaten our health and safety, our national security, our economy, and our quality of life. As a planet and a Nation, we face unprecedented challenges: loss of critical and unique ecosystems, the effects of climate change, increasing demand for limited energy and mineral resources, increasing vulnerability to natural hazards, the effects of emerging diseases on wildlife and human health, and growing needs for clean water. The time to respond to these challenges is now, but policymakers and decisionmakers face difficult choices. With competing priorities to balance, and potentially serious - perhaps irreversible - consequences at stake, our leaders need reliable scientific information to guide their decisions. As the Nation's earth and natural science agency, the USGS monitors and conducts scientific research on natural hazards and resources and how these elements and human activities influence our environment. Because the challenges we face are complex, the science needed to better understand and deal with these challenges must reflect the complex interplay among natural and human systems. With world-class expertise in biology, geology, geography, hydrology, geospatial information, and remote sensing, the USGS is uniquely capable of conducting the comprehensive scientific research needed to better understand the interdependent interactions of Earth's systems. Every day, the USGS helps decisionmakers to minimize loss of life and property, manage our natural resources, and protect and enhance our quality of life. This brochure provides examples of the challenges we face and how USGS science helps decisionmakers to address these challenges.

Surveillance of HIV antiretroviral drug resistance in treated individuals in England: 1998-2000.

PubMed

Scott, Paul; Arnold, Eve; Evans, Barry; Pozniak, Anton; Moyle, Graeme; Shahmenesh, Mohsen; White, David; Shirley, Jane; Cane, Patricia; Pillay, Deenan

2004-03-01

To establish a surveillance programme for HIV drug resistance within the UK covering the years from 1998 to 2000, following the introduction of triple combination antiretroviral therapy. Sentinel sites included large, medium sized and small clinical centres. Data were analysed until December 2000. Of nearly 300 samples tested, results from 91, 92 and 92 patients, respectively in 1998, 1999 and 2000, who were receiving HIV therapy with a viral load >2000 copies/mL, the majority had viruses with some degree of drug resistance. Overall, the presence of any resistance increased between 1998 and 1999, and fell again in 2000 (69% versus 88% versus 55%). However, major differences were observed between drug classes, such that non-nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) resistance rose dramatically over the period studied. We show that this correlated with increased NNRTI prescribing. Furthermore, an overall increase in prevalence of viruses with resistance to one or more drugs within all three available classes was observed. A higher prevalence of drug resistance was observed in patients from smaller clinical centres. This is the first such sentinel surveillance dataset from the UK, and is unique in correlating these data with national antiretroviral prescribing patterns. Our findings are relevant to the increased transmission of HIV drug resistance observed over this period.

Unique phenomenon of the accumulation of terrestrial metal iron particles in lacustrine deposits: Zhombolok volcanic region, East Sayan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pechersky, D. M.; Kazanskii, A. Yu.; Markov, G. P.; Tselmovich, V. A.; Shchetnikov, A. A.

2018-01-01

The native iron particles that were previously detected by thermomagnetic and microprobe analyses in the sediments of different age in many regions of the world are of extraterrestrial origin. The similarity in the compositions, grain shapes, and sizes observed in the extraterrestrial and terrestrial particles of native iron testifies to the common production conditions of iron particles during the formation of planets. In this paper, the single finding of terrestrial iron in the lacustrine sediments of the Zhombolok volcanic region, East Sayan, is discussed. The uniqueness of the results indicates that the spatial distribution of the particles of native iron is limited to a fairly narrow area around their source—volcanic eruption or/and the fall of a large meteorite.

Note on cosmological Levi-Civita spacetimes in higher dimensions

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

Sarioglu, Oezguer; Tekin, Bayram

2009-04-15

We find a class of solutions to cosmological Einstein equations that generalizes the four dimensional cylindrically symmetric spacetimes to higher dimensions. The AdS soliton is a special member of this class with a unique singularity structure.

Genes versus environment: geography and phylogenetic relationships shape the chemical profiles of stingless bees on a global scale

PubMed Central

Leonhardt, Sara D.; Rasmussen, Claus; Schmitt, Thomas

2013-01-01

Chemical compounds are highly important in the ecology of animals. In social insects, compounds on the body surface represent a particularly interesting trait, because they comprise different compound classes that are involved in different functions, such as communication, recognition and protection, all of which can be differentially affected by evolutionary processes. Here, we investigate the widely unknown and possibly antagonistic influence of phylogenetic and environmental factors on the composition of the cuticular chemistry of tropical stingless bees. We chose stingless bees because some species are unique in expressing not only self-produced compounds, but also compounds that are taken up from the environment. By relating the cuticular chemistry of 40 bee species from all over the world to their molecular phylogeny and geographical occurrence, we found that distribution patterns of different groups of compounds were differentially affected by genetic relatedness and biogeography. The ability to acquire environmental compounds was, for example, highly correlated with the bees' phylogeny and predominated in evolutionarily derived species. Owing to the presence of environmentally derived compounds, those species further expressed a higher chemical and thus functional diversity. In Old World species, chemical similarity of both environmentally derived and self-produced compounds was particularly high among sympatric species, even when they were less related to each other than to allopatric species, revealing a strong environmental effect even on largely genetically determined compounds. Thus, our findings do not only reveal an unexpectedly strong influence of the environment on the cuticular chemistry of stingless bees, but also demonstrate that even within one morphological trait (an insect's cuticular profile), different components (compound classes) can be differentially affected by different drivers (relatedness and biogeography), depending on the functional context. PMID:23658202

Global Public Water Education: The World Water Monitoring Day Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Araya, Yoseph Negusse; Moyer, Edward H.

2006-01-01

Public awareness of the impending world water crisis is an important prerequisite to create a responsible citizenship capable of participating to improve world water management. In this context, the case of a unique global water education outreach exercise, World Water Monitoring Day of October 18, is presented. Started in 2002 in the United…

The Cosmic Bat - An Island of Stars in the Making on the Outskirts of Orion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-03-01

The delicate nebula NGC 1788, located in a dark and often neglected corner of the Orion constellation, is revealed in a new and finely nuanced image that ESO is releasing today. Although this ghostly cloud is rather isolated from Orion's bright stars, the latter's powerful winds and light have had a strong impact on the nebula, forging its shape and making it home to a multitude of infant suns. Stargazers all over the world are familiar with the distinctive profile of the constellation of Orion (the Hunter). Fewer know about the nebula NGC 1788, a subtle, hidden treasure just a few degrees away from the bright stars in Orion's belt. NGC 1788 is a reflection nebula, whose gas and dust scatter the light coming from a small cluster of young stars in such a way that the tenuous glow forms a shape reminiscent of a gigantic bat spreading its wings. Very few of the stars belonging to the nebula are visible in this image, as most of them are obscured by the dusty cocoons surrounding them. The most prominent, named HD 293815, can be distinguished as the bright star in the upper part of the cloud, just above the centre of the image and the pronounced dark lane of dust extending through the nebula. Although NGC 1788 appears at first glance to be an isolated cloud, observations covering a field beyond the one presented in this image have revealed that bright, massive stars, belonging to the vast stellar groupings in Orion, have played a decisive role in shaping NGC 1788 and stimulating the formation of its stars. They are also responsible for setting the hydrogen gas ablaze in the parts of the nebula facing Orion, leading to the red, almost vertical rim visible in the left half of the image. All the stars in this region are extremely young, with an average age of only a million years, a blink of an eye compared to the Sun's age of 4.5 billion years. Analysing them in detail, astronomers have discovered that these "preschool" stars fall naturally into three well separated classes: the slightly older ones, located on the left side of the red rim, the fairly young ones, to its right, making up the small cluster enclosed in the nebula and illuminating it, and eventually the very youngest stars, still deeply embedded in their nascent dusty cocoons, further to the right. Although none of the latter are visible in this image because of the obscuring dust, dozens of them have been revealed through observations in the infrared and millimetre wavelengths of light. This fine distribution of stars, with the older ones closer to Orion and the younger ones concentrated on the opposite side, suggests that a wave of star formation, generated around the hot and massive stars in Orion, propagated throughout NGC 1788 and beyond. This image has been obtained using the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Class Size Effects on Fourth-Grade Mathematics Achievement: Evidence from TIMSS 2011

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Wei; Konstantopoulos, Spyros

2016-01-01

Class size reduction policies have been widely implemented around the world in recent years. However, findings about the effects of class size on student achievement have been mixed. This study examines class size effects on fourth-grade mathematics achievement in 14 European countries using data from TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and…

Spirituality and positive psychology go hand in hand: an investigation of multiple empirically derived profiles and related protective benefits.

PubMed

Barton, Yakov A; Miller, Lisa

2015-06-01

We investigate the relationship between personal spirituality and positive psychology traits as potentially presented in multiple profiles, rather than monolithically across a full sample. A sample of 3966 adolescents and emerging adults (aged 18-25, mean = 20.19, SD = 2.08) and 2014 older adults (aged 26-82, mean = 38.41, SD = 11.26) completed a survey assessing daily spiritual experiences (relationship with a Higher Power and sense of a sacred world), forgiveness, gratitude, optimism, grit, and meaning. To assess the relative protective benefits of potential profiles, we also assessed the level of depressive symptoms and frequency of substance use (tobacco, marijuana, alcohol, and heavy alcohol use). Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to examine common subgroupings of study participants across report on personal spirituality and positive psychology scales in each age cohort, with potential difference between latent classes then tested in level of depressive symptoms and degree of substance use. LCA determined a four-class and a three-class best-fitting models for the younger and older cohorts, respectively. Level of personal spirituality and level of positive psychology traits were found to coincide in 83 % of adolescents and emerging adults and in 71 % of older adults, suggesting personal spirituality and positive psychology traits go hand in hand. A minority subgroup of "virtuous humanists" showed high levels of positive psychology traits but low levels of personal spirituality, across both age cohorts. Whereas level of depression was found to be inversely associated with positive psychology traits and personal spirituality, uniquely personal spirituality was protective against degree of substance use across both age cohorts. Overall interpretation of the study findings suggests that personal spirituality may be foundational to positive psychology traits in the majority of people.

Psychometric properties and a latent class analysis of the 12-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) in a pooled dataset of community samples.

PubMed

MacLeod, Melissa A; Tremblay, Paul F; Graham, Kathryn; Bernards, Sharon; Rehm, Jürgen; Wells, Samantha

2016-12-01

The 12-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) is a brief measurement tool used cross-culturally to capture the multi-dimensional nature of disablement through six domains, including: understanding and interacting with the world; moving and getting around; self-care; getting on with people; life activities; and participation in society. Previous psychometric research supports that the WHODAS 2.0 functions as a general factor of disablement. In a pooled dataset from community samples of adults (N = 447) we used confirmatory factor analysis to confirm a one-factor structure. Latent class analysis was used to identify subgroups of individuals based on their patterns of responses. We identified four distinct classes, or patterns of disablement: (1) pervasive disability; (2) physical disability; (3) emotional, cognitive, or interpersonal disability; (4) no/low disability. Convergent validity of the latent class subgroups was found with respect to socio-demographic characteristics, number of days affected by disabilities, stress, mental health, and substance use. These classes offer a simple and meaningful way to classify people with disabilities based on the 12-item WHODAS 2.0. Focusing on individuals with a high probability of being in the first three classes may help guide interventions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

NRAO Response to NSF Senior Review of Astronomy Facilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2006-11-01

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Astronomy Senior Review Committee report (pdf file), released today, made major recommendations for restructuring the NSF's ground-based astronomy efforts, including significant changes for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The committee's report urged that leadership in radio astronomy, including millimeter- and submillimeter-wave observatories, "remain centered at NRAO as it is, by far, the largest radio astronomy organization in the world." The report praised the record of management of NRAO and the scientific capabilities of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA), the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT), and the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). However, the report also recommended that some reductions and changes occur at the NRAO by 2011. Specifically, the report recommended that: (a) VLBA operations make a transition to a significant reliance on international funding or risk closure; (b) GBT operations costs be reduced; and (c) NRAO scientific staff costs be reduced. "The Senior Review Committee had the very difficult task of reconciling the needs of current facilities and funding new facilities for the future of astronomy. We appreciate their efforts and look forward to working with the NSF to ensure that the valuable and unique research capabilities of our NRAO telescopes continue to serve the astronomical community," said Dr. Fred K.Y. Lo, NRAO Director. The VLBA provides the greatest angular resolution, or ability to see fine detail, of any telescope in the world, greatly exceeding the capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope and the future Square Kilometre Array. The committee recognized that, "if the VLBA is closed, a unique capability would likely be lost for decades." "The VLBA is used by scientists from around the world because of its unique capabilities. It has produced landmark research milestones and the committee recognized in its report that the VLBA now is poised to become even more scientifically productive. We will aggressively pursue international assistance in keeping this world-class research tool operational, and are optimistic that we will succeed," Lo said. The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, termed by the committee a "new and highly promising telescope," already has taken the lead in some important research fields. While the committee recommended reductions in the operational costs of the GBT, the NRAO already has been taking steps to make the operations as efficient as possible, commensurate with adequate support for productive science operations. "We look forward to an independent cost analysis by specialists in telescope operations and business administration," Lo said, adding that, "In the meantime, we will redouble efforts to explore alternative modes of operation while continuing to enhance scientific capabilities." The scientific staff of NRAO, composed of Ph.D astronomers, provides scientific guidance for the development and operations of the telescopes, assistance and mentoring to scientists using the telescopes and to students, and serves in key management and operational roles. The expertise embodied in NRAO's staff is a unique resource for planning the next generation of radio astronomy facilities. "As astronomy becomes more reliant on multi-wavelength investigations and NRAO telescopes are used more by researchers unfamiliar with radio observational techniques, the support provided by an excellent scientific staff will become even more important," Lo said. "Throughout this whole process, the NRAO will continue to carry out its mission of enabling cutting-edge research, attracting and training future scientists and engineers, and stimulating public interest in science," Lo said. The NRAO will work closely with the NSF in the coming months as the NSF considers the Senior Review recommendations. "The future of the NRAO is extremely bright," Lo said. "Our scientific focus is on some of the most important and challenging questions of 21st-Century astronomy. With the GBT and VLBA, EVLA and ALMA coming on line, we will remain a flagship observatory for the astronomical research community of the U.S. and the world," he said. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

Ancestral Asian source(s) of new world Y-chromosome founder haplotypes.

PubMed Central

Karafet, T M; Zegura, S L; Posukh, O; Osipova, L; Bergen, A; Long, J; Goldman, D; Klitz, W; Harihara, S; de Knijff, P; Wiebe, V; Griffiths, R C; Templeton, A R; Hammer, M F

1999-01-01

Haplotypes constructed from Y-chromosome markers were used to trace the origins of Native Americans. Our sample consisted of 2,198 males from 60 global populations, including 19 Native American and 15 indigenous North Asian groups. A set of 12 biallelic polymorphisms gave rise to 14 unique Y-chromosome haplotypes that were unevenly distributed among the populations. Combining multiallelic variation at two Y-linked microsatellites (DYS19 and DXYS156Y) with the unique haplotypes results in a total of 95 combination haplotypes. Contra previous findings based on Y- chromosome data, our new results suggest the possibility of more than one Native American paternal founder haplotype. We postulate that, of the nine unique haplotypes found in Native Americans, haplotypes 1C and 1F are the best candidates for major New World founder haplotypes, whereas haplotypes 1B, 1I, and 1U may either be founder haplotypes and/or have arrived in the New World via recent admixture. Two of the other four haplotypes (YAP+ haplotypes 4 and 5) are probably present because of post-Columbian admixture, whereas haplotype 1G may have originated in the New World, and the Old World source of the final New World haplotype (1D) remains unresolved. The contrasting distribution patterns of the two major candidate founder haplotypes in Asia and the New World, as well as the results of a nested cladistic analysis, suggest the possibility of more than one paternal migration from the general region of Lake Baikal to the Americas. PMID:10053017

Enceladus Life Finder (ELF): A Proposed Mission to Assess the Habitability of a Plume-Bearing World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cable, M. L.; Spilker, L. J.; Postberg, F.; Waite, J. H.; Kempf, S.; Clark, K.; Reh, K.; Sherwood, B.; Lunine, J. I.

2017-11-01

Enceladus is a uniquely accessible ocean world due to its plume emanating from the south polar terrain. Here we discuss the Enceladus Life Finder mission concept and its implications for this and other ocean worlds.

Expanding the Evidence Base: Comparing Randomized Controlled Trials and Observational Studies of Statins.

PubMed

Atar, Dan; Ong, Seleen; Lansberg, Peter J

2015-01-01

It is widely accepted that randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the gold standard for demonstrating the efficacy of a given therapy (results under ideal conditions). Observational studies, on the other hand, can complement this by demonstrating effectiveness (results under real-world conditions). To examine the role that observational studies can play in complementing data from RCTs, we reviewed published studies for statins, a class of drugs that have been widely used to reduce the risk of cardiovascular (CV) events by lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. RCTs have consistently demonstrated the benefits of statin treatment in terms of CV risk reduction and have demonstrated that more intensive statin therapy has incremental benefits over less intensive treatment. Observational studies of statin use in 'real-world' populations have served to augment the evidence base generated from statin RCTs in preselected populations of patients who are often at high CV risk and have led to similar safety and efficacy findings. They have also raised questions about factors affecting medication adherence, under-treatment, switching between statins, and failure to reach low-density lipoprotein cholesterol target levels, questions for which the answers could lead to improved patient care.

Multi-site evaluation of IKONOS data for classification of tropical coral reef environments

USGS Publications Warehouse

Andrefouet, S.; Kramer, Philip; Torres-Pulliza, D.; Joyce, K.E.; Hochberg, E.J.; Garza-Perez, R.; Mumby, P.J.; Riegl, Bernhard; Yamano, H.; White, W.H.; Zubia, M.; Brock, J.C.; Phinn, S.R.; Naseer, A.; Hatcher, B.G.; Muller-Karger, F. E.

2003-01-01

Ten IKONOS images of different coral reef sites distributed around the world were processed to assess the potential of 4-m resolution multispectral data for coral reef habitat mapping. Complexity of reef environments, established by field observation, ranged from 3 to 15 classes of benthic habitats containing various combinations of sediments, carbonate pavement, seagrass, algae, and corals in different geomorphologic zones (forereef, lagoon, patch reef, reef flats). Processing included corrections for sea surface roughness and bathymetry, unsupervised or supervised classification, and accuracy assessment based on ground-truth data. IKONOS classification results were compared with classified Landsat 7 imagery for simple to moderate complexity of reef habitats (5-11 classes). For both sensors, overall accuracies of the classifications show a general linear trend of decreasing accuracy with increasing habitat complexity. The IKONOS sensor performed better, with a 15-20% improvement in accuracy compared to Landsat. For IKONOS, overall accuracy was 77% for 4-5 classes, 71% for 7-8 classes, 65% in 9-11 classes, and 53% for more than 13 classes. The Landsat classification accuracy was systematically lower, with an average of 56% for 5-10 classes. Within this general trend, inter-site comparisons and specificities demonstrate the benefits of different approaches. Pre-segmentation of the different geomorphologic zones and depth correction provided different advantages in different environments. Our results help guide scientists and managers in applying IKONOS-class data for coral reef mapping applications. ?? 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Superwind Galaxy NGC 4666

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-09-01

The galaxy NGC 4666 takes pride of place at the centre of this new image, made in visible light with the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. NGC 4666 is a remarkable galaxy with very vigorous star formation and an unusual "superwind" of out-flowing gas. It had previously been observed in X-rays by the ESA XMM-Newton space telescope, and the image presented here was taken to allow further study of other objects detected in the earlier X-ray observations. The prominent galaxy NGC 4666 in the centre of the picture is a starburst galaxy, about 80 million light-years from Earth, in which particularly intense star formation is taking place. The starburst is thought to be caused by gravitational interactions between NGC 4666 and its neighbouring galaxies, including NGC 4668, visible to the lower left. These interactions often spark vigorous star-formation in the galaxies involved. A combination of supernova explosions and strong winds from massive stars in the starburst region drives a vast flow of gas from the galaxy into space - a so-called "superwind". The superwind is huge in scale, coming from the bright central region of the galaxy and extending for tens of thousands of light-years. As the superwind gas is very hot it emits radiation mostly as X-rays and in the radio part of the spectrum and cannot be seen in visible light images such as the one presented here. This image was made as part of a follow-up to observations made with the ESA XMM-Newton space telescope in X-rays. NGC 4666 was the target of the original XMM-Newton observations, but thanks to the telescope's wide field-of-view many other X-ray sources were also seen in the background. One such serendipitous detection is a faint galaxy cluster seen close to the bottom edge of the image, right of centre. This cluster is much further away from us than NGC 4666, at a distance of about three billion light-years. In order to fully understand the nature of astronomical objects, researchers must study them at several wavelengths. This is because light of different wavelengths can tell us about different physical processes taking place. In this case the Wide Field Imager (WFI) [1] observations were made in visible light to further investigate these serendipitously detected X-ray objects - a good example of how astronomers using different telescopes work together to explore the Universe. Notes [1] The WFI is a joint project between the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA) in Heidelberg (Germany) and the Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte (OAC) in Naples (Italy). More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

NREL Researcher is Top World Physicist

Science.gov Websites

is Top World Physicist For more information contact: Kerry Masson, (303) 275-4083 e:mail physicists in the world by the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI). The standing is based on the number your peers is the ultimate measure of the quality and quantity of world class research being conducted

Studies of lysine cyclodeaminase from Streptomyces pristinaespiralis: Insights into the complex transition NAD+ state.

PubMed

Ying, Hanxiao; Wang, Jing; Shi, Ting; Zhao, Yilei; Wang, Xin; Ouyang, Pingkai; Chen, Kequan

2018-01-01

Lysine cyclodeaminase (LCD) catalyzes the piperidine ring formation in macrolide-pipecolate natural products metabolic pathways from a lysine substrate through a combination of cyclization and deamination. This enzyme belongs to a unique enzyme class, which uses NAD + as the catalytic prosthetic group instead of as the co-substrate. To understand the molecular details of NAD + functions in lysine cyclodeaminase, we have determined four ternary crystal structure complexes of LCD-NAD + with pipecolic acid (LCD-PA), lysine (LCD-LYS), and an intermediate (LCD-INT) as ligands at 2.26-, 2.00-, 2.17- and 1.80 Å resolutions, respectively. By combining computational studies, a NAD + -mediated "gate keeper" function involving NAD + /NADH and Arg49 that control the binding and entry of the ligand lysine was revealed, confirming the critical roles of NAD + in the substrate access process. Further, in the gate opening form, a substrate delivery tunnel between ε-carboxyl moiety of Glu264 and the α-carboxyl moiety of Asp236 was observed through a comparison of four structure complexes. The LCD structure details including NAD + -mediated "gate keeper" and substrate tunnel may assist in the exploration the NAD + function in this unique enzyme class, and in regulation of macrolide-pipecolate natural product synthesis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Parallel evolution of a self-signal: humans and new world monkeys independently lost the cell surface sugar Neu5Gc.

PubMed

Springer, Stevan A; Diaz, Sandra L; Gagneux, Pascal

2014-11-01

Human sialic acid biology is unusual and thought to be unique among mammals. Humans lack a functional cytidine monophosphate-N-acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase (CMAH) protein and cannot synthesize the sugar Neu5Gc, an innate mammalian signal of self. Losing this sugar changed how humans interact with some of our deadliest pathogens: malaria, influenza, and streptococcus among others. We show that the New World monkeys, comprising the third of all primate species, have human-like sialic acid biology. They have lost Neu5Gc because of an independent CMAH inactivation ~30 million years ago (mya) (compared to ~3 mya in hominids). This parallel loss of Neu5Gc opens sialic acid biology to comparative phylogenetic analysis and reveals an unexpected conservation priority. New World monkeys risk infection by human pathogens that can recognize cells in the absence of Neu5Gc. This striking molecular convergence provides a mechanism that could explain the long-standing observation that New World monkeys are susceptible to some human diseases that cannot be transmitted to other primates.

The GalileoMobile starts its South American voyage - Astronomy education goes on tour through the Andes Mountains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2009-10-01

Today marks the beginning of the GalileoMobile Project, a two-month expedition to bring the wonder and excitement of astronomy to young people in Chile, Bolivia and Peru. Supported by ESO and partners, a group of astronomers and educators will travel through a region of the Andes Mountains aboard the GalileoMobile, offering astronomical activities, such as workshops for students and star parties for the general public. Professional filmmakers on the trip will produce a multilingual documentary capturing the thrill of discovery through science, culture and travel. The GalileoMobile is a Special Project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009), which is a global celebration commemorating the first use of a telescope to view the Universe by the Italian astronomer Galileo four hundred years ago. The project will promote basic science education through astronomy by visiting schools and communities that have limited access to outreach programmes. The GalileoMobile will provide these underserved groups with hands-on activities and educational material from international partners. The van is fully equipped to offer unique sky-observing opportunities for young students and other locals, with star parties at night and solar observations during the day. The team will use various tools including IYA2009's handy Galileoscopes, which will be donated to the schools after the visits. By stimulating curiosity, critical thinking and a sense of wonder and discovery for the Universe and our planet, the GalileoMobile Project aims to encourage interest in astronomy and science, and exchange culturally different visions of the cosmos. Spearheading the initiative is a group of enthusiastic Latin American and European PhD students from the European Southern Observatory, the Max Planck Society, the University Observatory Munich, and the Stockholm University Observatory. This itinerant educational programme is intended to reach about 20 000 people during eight weeks in October and November 2009, and will cover 5000 kilometres. The voyage will largely take place across the Altiplano, or high plateau, shared by Peru, Bolivia and Chile, which is among the poorest regions in these countries. South America and the Andes Mountains were particularly chosen for the GalileoMobile Project for several reasons. IYA2009 already has a strong presence in the region through national contacts, including three Cornerstone IYA2009 projects: Developing Astronomy Globally, Universe Awareness and the Galileo Teacher Training Programme, which are all official partners of the project. Most people in Peru, Bolivia and Chile speak the same language, Spanish [1], and have a rich astronomical heritage dating back to the pre-Columbian Inca and Tiwanaku civilisations that lived on the Altiplano. The region's high elevation and the quality of its skies for astronomical observations also made it an attractive candidate for the maiden voyage of the GalileoMobile. The journey starts today 5 October 2009 in Antofagasta, Chile, with a free, public inauguration event at 19:00 in the Berta González Square at the Universidad Católica del Norte. The event, which will include observations of the night sky, is organised by ESO in collaboration with Explora II Region and the Astronomy Institute of the University. From Antofagasta the GalileoMobile heads north through La Paz in Bolivia and on into Peru. The return trip to Antofagasta goes via the Panamericana coastal road, and passes near the home of ESO's world-class observatory, the Very Large Telescope at Cerro Paranal. ESO Education and Outreach coordinator in Chile, Laura Ventura, will assist the GalileoMobile team as they greet communities throughout Chile's northern deserts. "The GalileoMobile is a wonderful initiative, and a unique opportunity to reinforce educational activities in the north of Chile and the neighbouring countries. It will promote greater awareness of astronomy and science", says Ventura. "We are looking forward to helping the team members make the GalileoMobile a great success." To chronicle this remarkable astronomy expedition, members of the GalileoMobile team will write entries for the GalileoMobile blog and Cosmic Diary, an online blog-cum-journal that is also a Cornerstone IYA2009 project, and run a Twitter feed and a Facebook page. The team will reach out to national newspapers, websites and television stations during the tour, and will be accompanied by a film crew who will produce a multilingual documentary of the expedition. Project Coordinator Philippe Kobel concludes: "We hope that, by showing the excitement of astronomical discovery, and the diversity and richness of the South American traditions, the GalileoMobile Project will encourage a feeling of 'unity under the same sky' between people of different cultures and backgrounds." The GalileoMobile is supported by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), whose host country is Chile and which is the seat of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) Secretariat, the Max Planck Society (MPG/MPE/MPA/MPS), NORDITA, Regione Molise and the Optical Society of America. Notes [1] To facilitate access to remote sites and foster the communication and translation in native non-Spanish languages, such as Quechua and Aymara, local university students or education officials will join the GalileoMobile team from time to time. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

A Non-science Major Undergraduate Seminar on the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS): A Student Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weatherford, V. L.; Redemann, J.

2003-12-01

Titled "Observing Climate Change From Space-what tools do we have?", this non-science major freshman seminar at UCLA is the culmination of a year-long interdisciplinary program sponsored by the Institute of the Environment and the College Honors programs at the University. Focusing on the anthropogenic and natural causes of climate change, students study climate forcings and learn about satellite and other technological means of monitoring climate and weather. NASA's Terra satellite is highlighted as one of the most recent and comprehensive monitoring systems put into space and the role of future NASA platforms in the "A-train"-constellation of satellites is discussed. Course material is typically presented in a Power-Point presentation by the instructor, with assigned supplementary reading to stimulate class discussion. In addition to preparing lectures for class presentation, students work on a final term paper and oral presentation which constitutes the majority of their grade. Field trips to the San Gabriel mountains to take atmospheric measurements with handheld sunphotometers and to JPL, Pasadena (CA) to listen to a NASA scientist discuss the MISR instrument aboard the Terra satellite help bring a real-world perspective to the science learned in the classroom. In this paper, we will describe the objectives and structure of this class and present measurement results taken during the field trip to the San Gabriel Mountains. In this context we will discuss the potential relevance of hands-on experience to meeting class objectives and give a student perspective of the overall class experience.

Assessment of Multiple Solvents for Extraction and Direct GC-MS Determination of the Phytochemical Inventory of Sansevieria Extrafoliar Nectar Droplets.

PubMed

Gaylor, Michael O; Juntunen, Hope L; Hazelwood, Donna; Videau, Patrick

2018-04-01

Considerable effort has been devoted to analytical determinations of sugar and amino acid constituents of plant nectars, with the primary aim of understanding their ecological roles, yet few studies have reported more exhaustive organic compound inventories of plant nectars or extrafoliar nectars. This work evaluated the efficacy of four solvents (ethyl acetate, dichloromethane, toluene and hexane) to extract the greatest number of organic compound classes and unique compounds from extrafoliar nectar drops produced by Sansevieria spp. Aggregation of the results from each solvent revealed that 240 unique compounds were extracted in total, with 42.5% of those detected in multiple extracts. Aliphatic hydrocarbons dominated in all but the ethyl acetate extracts, with 44 unique aliphatic hydrocarbons detected in dichloromethane (DCM) extracts, followed by 41, 19 and 8 in hexane, toluene and ethyl acetate extracts, respectively. Hexane extracted the most unique compounds (79), followed by DCM (73), ethyl acetate (56) and toluene (32). Integrated total ion chromatographic peak areas of extracted compound classes were positively correlated with numbers of unique compounds detected within those classes. In addition to demonstrating that multi-solvent extraction with direct GC-MS detection is a suitable analytical approach for determining secondary nectar constituents, to the best of our knowledge, this study also represents: (i) the first attempt to inventory the secondary phytochemical constituents of Sansevieria spp. extrafoliar nectar secretions and (ii) the largest organic solvent extractable compound inventory reported for any plant matrix to date.

76 FR 40978 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated; Notice of Filing and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-12

... to attract more customer volume to the Exchange in this option class and to allow CBOE market-makers to better compete for order flow. CBOE noted that the SPY option class is unique in the manner in... continue to enable CBOE to compete for order flow in the SPY option class. However, because the SPY option...

76 FR 20411 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated; Notice of Filing and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-12

... intended to attract more customer volume to the Exchange in this option class and to allow CBOE market-makers to better compete for order flow. CBOE noted that the SPY option class is unique in the manner in... proposed and will continue to enable CBOE to compete for order flow in the SPY option class. However...

Measuring Sports Class Learning Climates: The Development of the Sports Class Environment Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dowdell, Trevor; Tomson, L. Mich; Davies, Michael

2011-01-01

The development and validation of a new and unique learning climate instrument, the Sports Class Environment Scale (SCES), was the focus of this study. We began with a consolidation of the dimensions and items of the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2 and the Classroom Environment Scale. Field-testing of the SCES involved 204…

Refringence, field theory and normal modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barceló, Carlos; Liberati, Stefano; Visser, Matt

2002-06-01

In a previous paper [Barceló C et al 2001 Class. Quantum Grav. 18 3595-610 (Preprint gr-qc/0104001)] we have shown that the occurrence of curved spacetime 'effective Lorentzian geometries' is a generic result of linearizing an arbitrary classical field theory around some nontrivial background configuration. This observation explains the ubiquitous nature of the 'analogue models' for general relativity that have recently been developed based on condensed matter physics. In the simple (single scalar field) situation analysed in our previous paper, there is a single unique effective metric; more complicated situations can lead to bi-metric and multi-metric theories. In the present paper we will investigate the conditions required to keep the situation under control and compatible with experiment - either by enforcing a unique effective metric (as would be required to be strictly compatible with the Einstein equivalence principle), or at the worst by arranging things so that there are multiple metrics that are all 'close' to each other (in order to be compatible with the Eötvös experiment). The algebraically most general situation leads to a physical model whose mathematical description requires an extension of the usual notion of Finsler geometry to a Lorentzian-signature pseudo-Finsler geometry; while this is possibly of some interest in its own right, this particular case does not seem to be immediately relevant for either particle physics or gravitation. The key result is that wide classes of theories lend themselves to an effective metric description. This observation provides further evidence that the notion of 'analogue gravity' is rather generic.

Body Image Disturbance in 1000 Male Appearance and Performance Enhancing Drug Users

PubMed Central

Hildebrandt, Tom; Alfano, Lauren; Langenbucher, James W.

2010-01-01

Body image disturbance (BID) among men has only recently become a phenomenon of clinical significance with noted heterogeneity in the behavioral consequences of these disturbances. The degree of heterogeneity among appearance and performance enhancing drug (APED) users is unknown and an empirically derived framework for studying BID is necessary. 1000 APED users were recruited via the Internet and they completed a comprehensive online assessment APED use patterns, motivations, consequences, and BID. Data were evaluated using latent trait, latent class, and factor mixture models. Model results were validated using a range of covariates including cycle characteristics, age, APED history, and APED risk. A 1-Factor, 4-Class model provided the best fit to the data with Class 1 scoring the highest on all measures of BID and Class 4 the lowest on all measures. Class 2 differed in their preference for being lean over muscular and Class 3 preferred adding mass and size. Each class was associated with unique risks, APED history, and training identity. Not all APED users suffer from significant BID and there are unique profiles for those with elevated BID. Future research on male BID should account for this structure in order to better define relevant diagnostic categories and evaluate the clinical significance of BID. PMID:20110092

Neoliberalism as a class ideology; or, the political causes of the growth of inequalities.

PubMed

Navarro, Vicente

2007-01-01

Neoliberalism is the dominant ideology permeating the public policies of many governments in developed and developing countries and of international agencies such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, and many technical agencies of the United Nations, including the World Health Organization. This ideology postulates that the reduction of state interventions in economic and social activities and the deregulation of labor and financial markets, as well as of commerce and investments, have liberated the enormous potential of capitalism to create an unprecedented era of social well-being in the world's population. This article questions each of the theses that support such ideology, presenting empirical information that challenges them. The author also describes how the application of these neoliberal policies has been responsible for a substantial growth of social inequalities within the countries where such policies have been applied, as well as among countries. The major beneficiaries of these policies are the dominant classes of both the developed and the developing countries, which have established worldwide class alliances that are primarily responsible for the promotion of neoliberalism.

Posttraumatic stress in aging World War II survivors after a fireworks disaster: a controlled prospective study.

PubMed

Bramsen, Inge; van der Ploeg, Henk M; Boers, Maarten

2006-04-01

Little is known about the effects of cumulative trauma and whether traumatized individuals are more vulnerable. In 2000, a fireworks disaster created the possibility to examine this issue among World War II survivors who were part of an ongoing longitudinal study. Between 1998 and 2000 posttraumatic stress increased in disaster exposed respondents as opposed to the control group. War-related reexperiencing and avoidance also increased. The strongest increase occurred in disaster-exposed respondents who had low levels of wartime stress and a slight decrease occurred in those who had high wartime exposure. This unique controlled observation suggests that disasters do increase the levels of posttraumatic stress, and that reactivation of previous traumatic events generally occurs. However, the vulnerability hypothesis was not supported.

Classes Azur Astro Espace International Hands-on Space Experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, P.

2002-01-01

Created in 1994 in the wake of the closure of the Space Camp of Patrick Baudry in Cannes, Classes Azur Astro Espace (AAE) provide a world's unique combination of space and astronomy courses, as given by active and retired professionals of two of the best space and astronomical facilities extant: Alcatel Space in Cannes and Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur (OCA) in Nice, Grasse and Caussols. Fifteen space modules, of 30 to 60 minutes each, have been established, giving simple and clear explanations on launchers, satellites, their applications, their development, together with an historical background. Basic experiments are included, such as an unique small catapult to explain gravity, or more classical water rockets. The basic AAE sojourn extends over 3 days: one day for space (including a visit of Alcatel Space, the biggest satellite manufacturer outside the US and Russia), one day for astronomy (including a visit of the biggest observatory in Europe) and one day à-la-carte (Côte d'Azur offers much, such as the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco). More and more groups are adding a fourth day, with a visit to the nice old village of Perinaldo in Italy, where famous astronomer Cassini was born. Lycée de Cachan, near Paris, even takes 12-day sojourns every year. The public has been extremely wide, from age 5 to 70, from students to enthusiasts. Coming initially all over from France, participants now include since 2001 German and Italian pupils and teachers. In 2001 also, ESA came in the shape of a Space Camp. ISU's Master of Space Studies participates to a shortened version of AAE every even-year. Up to the end of 2001, 62 classes with 2,025 participants from 20 countries had thus come to enjoy space education on Côte d'Azur. Such success is due in no small part to the very attractive price and flexibility of these activities, notably thanks to the support of ESA, CNES, Rectorat d'Académie de Nice, Conseil Général des Alpes-Maritimes, Ville de Cannes, AAAF, TDF, Alcatel Space and OCA.

Students' First Impression of Second Life: A Case from the United Arab Emirates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abdallah, Salam; Douglas, Jamal

2010-01-01

Emerging 3D virtual worlds such as Second Life can offer students with opportunities to enhance learning using rich collaborative asynchronous media. Virtual worlds are believed to impact the future of higher education and therefore, universities across the world are immersing themselves inside virtual worlds to establish a unique learning and…

Using the Web To Deliver and Enhance Classes: Two Case Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Helford, Paul Q.; Lei, Richard M.

This paper discusses two case studies conducted at Northern Arizona University. The studies are from classes that are using the World Wide Web to enhance teaching and learning. One class is the Art of Cinema, a film studies class that has been taught via Instructional Television (ITV) for five years. Various techniques have been used over the…

Class Counts: Education, Inequality, and the Shrinking Middle Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ornstein, Allan

2007-01-01

Class differences and class warfare have existed since the beginning of western civilization, but the gap in income and wealth between the rich (top 10 percent) and the rest has increased steadily in the last twenty-five years. The U.S. is heading for a financial oligarchy much worse than the aristocratic old world that our Founding Fathers feared…

Global perspectives on ensuring the safety of pharmaceutical products in the distribution process
.

PubMed

Jeong, Sohyun; Ji, Eunhee

2018-01-01

The distribution of counterfeit or falsified drugs is increasing worldwide. This can contribute to the high burden of disease and cost to society and is of global concern with the worldwide circulation of pharmaceuticals. The preparation and implementation of good distribution practice should be one of the most important aspects of ensuring safe drug circulation and administration. This research aimed to compare and analyze good distribution practice guidelines from advanced countries and international organizations, and to evaluate the status of the current good distribution practice guidelines in the world. Advanced pharmaceutical countries and international organizations, such as the World Health Organization, European Union, Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme, United States of America, Canada, and Australia, which have stable good distribution practice guidelines and public confidence, were included in the analysis. The World Health Organization and European Union guidelines are models for standardized good distribution practice for nations worldwide. The United States of America has a combination of four different series of distribution practices which have a unique structure and detailed content compared to those of other countries. The Canadian guidelines focus on temperature control during storage and transportation. The Australian guidelines apply to both classes of medicinal products and medical devices and need separate standardization. Transparent information about the Internet chain, international cooperation regarding counterfeiting, a high-standard qualification of sellers and customers, and technology to track and trace the whole life cycle of drugs should be the main focus of future good distribution practice guidelines worldwide.
.

A Technical Overview and Description of SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kunz, Nans

2003-01-01

This paper provides a technical overview of SOFIA, a unique airborne observatory, from an engineering perspective. It will do this by describing several of the systems of this observatory that are common with mountain top ground based observatories but mostly emphasize those more unique features and systems that are required to facilitate world class astronomy from a highly modified Boeing 747-SP flying at Mach 0.84 in the Stratosphere. This paper provides a technical overview of SOFIA by reviewing each of the performance specifications (the level one requirements for development) and describing some of the technical advancements for the telescope as well as the platform required to achieve these performance specifications. The technical advancements involved include mirror technologies, control system features, the telescope suspension system, and the aircraft open port cavity with associated cavity door that opens in flight and tracks the telescope elevation angle. For background this paper will provide a brief programmatic overview of the SOFIA project including the joint project arrangement between the US and Germany (NASA and DLR). Additionally, this paper will describe the up to date status of the development of SOFIA as the Observatory nears the date of the first test flight in the summer of 2004.

Reversible shear-induced crystallization above equilibrium freezing temperature in a lyotropic surfactant system

PubMed Central

Rathee, Vikram; Krishnaswamy, Rema; Pal, Antara; Raghunathan, V. A.; Impéror-Clerc, Marianne; Pansu, Brigitte; Sood, A. K.

2013-01-01

We demonstrate a unique shear-induced crystallization phenomenon above the equilibrium freezing temperature in weakly swollen isotropic and lamellar mesophases with bilayers formed in a cationic-anionic mixed surfactant system. Synchrotron rheological X-ray diffraction study reveals the crystallization transition to be reversible under shear (i.e., on stopping the shear, the nonequilibrium crystalline phase melts back to the equilibrium mesophase). This is different from the shear-driven crystallization below , which is irreversible. Rheological optical observations show that the growth of the crystalline phase occurs through a preordering of the phase to an phase induced by shear flow, before the nucleation of the phase. Shear diagram of the phase constructed in the parameter space of shear rate vs. temperature exhibits and transitions above the equilibrium crystallization temperature , in addition to the irreversible shear-driven nucleation of in the phase below . In addition to revealing a unique class of nonequilibrium phase transition, the present study urges a unique approach toward understanding shear-induced phenomena in concentrated mesophases of mixed amphiphilic systems. PMID:23986497

FINAL ECOSYSTEM GOODS AND SERVICES CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (FEGS-CS)

EPA Science Inventory

This document defines and classifies 338 Final Ecosystem Goods and Services (FEGS), each defined and uniquely numbered by a combination of environmental class or sub-class and a beneficiary category or sub-category. The introductory section provides the rationale and conceptual ...

Research | Energy Systems Integration Facility | NREL

Science.gov Websites

levels of variable supply and demand? How do we keep the lights on and the fuel flowing in a world of , regulatory frameworks, and value propositions for consumers in this changing world? NREL's crosscutting Partner with our world-class researchers Work

Children's Understanding of Social Class Differences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naimark, Hedwin

Investigated were school children's recognition of social class distinctions, cues they used, and the relationship of their ideas about social class to other beliefs and attitudes about the social world. An ethnically mixed group of 201 male and female subjects participated in the study. Five age groups were represented: second, fifth, and sixth…

Novel classes of antibiotics or more of the same?

PubMed

Coates, Anthony R M; Halls, Gerry; Hu, Yanmin

2011-05-01

The world is running out of antibiotics. Between 1940 and 1962, more than 20 new classes of antibiotics were marketed. Since then, only two new classes have reached the market. Analogue development kept pace with the emergence of resistant bacteria until 10-20 years ago. Now, not enough analogues are reaching the market to stem the tide of antibiotic resistance, particularly among gram-negative bacteria. This review examines the existing systemic antibiotic pipeline in the public domain, and reveals that 27 compounds are in clinical development, of which two are new classes, both of which are in Phase I clinical trials. In view of the high attrition rate of drugs in early clinical development, particularly new classes and the current regulatory hurdles, it does not seem likely that new classes will be marketed soon. This paper suggests that, if the world is to return to a situation in which there are enough antibiotics to cope with the inevitable ongoing emergence of bacterial resistance, we need to recreate the prolific antibiotic discovery period between 1940 and 1962, which produced 20 classes that served the world well for 60 years. If another 20 classes and their analogues, particularly targeting gram-negatives could be produced soon, they might last us for the next 60 years. How can this be achieved? Only a huge effort by governments in the form of finance, legislation and providing industry with real incentives will reverse this. Industry needs to re-enter the market on a much larger scale, and academia should rebuild its antibiotic discovery infrastructure to support this effort. The alternative is Medicine without effective antibiotics. © 2011 The Authors. British Journal of Pharmacology © 2011 The British Pharmacological Society.

British Defense Policy: A New Approach?

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-12-14

inherent to their well-being, was also acknowledged by the remainder of the world in its attitude toward Britain. Is not "Rule Britannia , Britannia ...Castle Class 1 1 Island Class 7 43 Mine -Counter Minesweepers 2 2 Mine River Class 12 Ton Class 10 3 Hunt Class 12 1 Patrol Craft Bird Class 5 Coastal 15...submarine warfare carriers, assault ships, and mine -counter mine vessels. British naval aircraft is as depicted in Table 2. Table 2. Aircraft of the Royal

The Challenge to Promote Understanding of and Change Attitudes toward the Third World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drake, Christine

Results of a survey of college students to determine attitude change toward the Third World as a result of their participation in classes taught by faculty members involved in a Third World Faculty Development Seminar are discussed. Faculty from many disciplines participated in the seminar and then integrated Third World materials into their…

Daylight levels during the solar eclipse of 11 August 1999

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darula, S.; Kambezidis, H. D.; Kittler, R.

Solar eclipses are unique phenomena not only for astronomical and space observations but also for terrestrial; they create unique conditions of sunbeam blockage which cause not only the reduction of direct sunlight but also the dimming of skylight from the whole sky vault. Very favorable conditions were met during the recent August 1999 solar eclipse in Athens, Greece and Bratislava, Slovakia. General class daylight stations operate within the International Daylight Measurements Program in the two cities. One-minute data of global/diffuse illuminance and zenith luminance from those stations have been used to provide information about their levels and the daylight reduction rate during the eclipse. An approximate formula for the estimation of sunlight and skylight illuminance levels as well as zenith luminance using relative luminance sky patterns is also presented in this work. To achieve this, recently developed sky standards together with their parameterizations are utilized.

Summing Up the Unique Venus Transit 2004 (VT-2004) Programme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2004-11-01

On June 8, 2004, Venus - the Earth's sister planet - passed in front of the Sun. This rare event - the last one occurred in 1882 - attracted the attention of millions of people all over the world. In a few days' time, on November 5-7, 2004, about 150 educators, media representatives, as well as amateur and professional astronomers will gather in Paris (France) at the international conference "The Venus Transit Experience" to discuss the outcome of the related Venus Transit 2004 (VT-2004) public education programme. This unique project was set up by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), together with the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE), the Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Éphémérides (IMCCE) and the Observatoire de Paris in France, as well as the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. It was also supported by the European Commission in the framework of the European Science and Technology Week, cf. ESO PR 03/04. The VT-2004 programme successfully exposed the broad public to a number of fundamental issues at the crucial interface between society and basic science. It ensured the most comprehensive real-time coverage of the event via an extremely dynamic Central Display that was updated a short intervals. Thanks to the prior establishment of hundreds of mirror sites, the VT-2004 website was easily accessible all through the transit, even though it experienced about 55 million webhits during a period of 8 hours. The VT-2004 programme established a wide international network of individuals (including school teachers and their students, amateur astronomers, interested laypeople, etc.) and educational institutions (astronomical observatories, planetaria, science centres, etc.), as well as 25 National Nodes with their own websites about the Venus Transit in as many local languages. It collected a large number of photos and drawings. It also included an international Video Contest, inviting all interested parties to expose a theme around the transit, e.g., preparations for the event and the actual observations, as well as conveying the personal impressions. A professional jury has now selected among the many excellent entries the laureates (see the list below) who will present their videos at the Paris conference this week, competing for one of the top prizes, including a trip by the winning team to the ESO Paranal Observatory (Chile), home of the Very Large Telescope. The "Venus Transit Experience" Conference The Venus Transit Experience conference will take place at "Le Carré des Sciences" at the French Ministry of Research in Paris. It brings together the main participants in this project from many different European countries. A main aim is to discuss the impact of the project, identifying possible differences from country to country and showing how to share good practices in the future. The VT-2004 programme provided an exciting field test for the execution of large-scale public activities relating to a particular, scientific event with strong operational constraints, including the requirement to act in real-time as this event progressed. Much valuable experience was gathered for future continent-wide activities involving the same mechanisms and carried out under similar conditions. Thus, the overall outcome of this unique public education project is clearly of very wide interest, not just in the field of astronomy. The Distance to the Sun Remeasured A central feature of the VT-2004 programme was the VT-2004 Observing Campaign, aimed at re-enacting the historical determination of the distance to the Sun (the "Astronomical Unit") by collecting timings of the four contacts made by participating observers and combining them in a calculation of the AU. A large number of groups of observers registered; at the end, there were 2763 all over the world. Among these were almost 1000 school classes, demonstrating the large interest among students and teachers to participate actively in this unique celestial event. As expected, not all groups delivered timing observations of the transit. In some places, the weather did not co-operate, some observers may have had instrumental problems, e.g., with the time signals, and others may not have felt confident to send in their measurements. Still, the resulting database is very comprehensive: before the stipulated deadline on July 10, 2004, no less than 4550 contact timings were received from 1510 registered observers! The impressive outcome of this unique project is now available in a number of reports, accessible via the "VT-2004 Observing Campaign Results" webpage. Following extensive analysis of this large material at Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Éphémérides (IMCCE; Paris), the resulting distance from the Earth to the Sun, based on the extensive observational data is: Calculated value of 1 AU with uncertainty Difference from "true" value 149 608 708 km ± 11 835 km + 10 838 km This result is only 0.007% larger than the currently accepted value, as determined by radar measurements (1 AU = 149 597 871 km), a splendid outcome of a truly unique international collaboration! A comparison with the results obtained by transit observations in past centuries shows that the above determination of the distance to the Sun in 2004 is the "best" in terms of accuracy, despite the relative lack of experience of most of the observers and notwithstanding a random distribution of the observing sites, caused by the absence in 2004 of any specific planning as this was done in earlier centuries. This success is undoubtedly due, above all, to more accurate timings and better known geographical locations, better optics in the telescopes, digital image recording and advanced image processing software. In fact, even if we had not known the distance to the Sun before the Venus Transit 2004, we would have been able to measure it with an accuracy of one hundredth of a percent by means of the observations made on this occasion by the many participants all over the world! Appendix: List of VT-2004 Video Laureates Here is the list of Video Laureates (in alphabetic order) who will present their films at the "Venus Transit Experience" conference in Paris (November 5-7, 2004): * ...121 ans après - Dourbes, Belgium * The Big Black Dot - Poznan, Poland * Millennium Transit - Torun, Poland * Venus in Sole Visa - Praha, Czech Republik * Venus, the transit - Epinay-sous-Senart, France * Venus-Transit - Dresden, Germany * Venus Transit 2004 - Pisek, Czech Republic * Venus Transit 2004 - Teplice, Czech Republic * The Venus Transit in the Golden Valley - Hereford, UK * What's happening in Bialkow? - Wroclaw, Poland The winners of the prizes will be announced at the VT-2004 website on Monday, November 8, 2004.

Circumstellar Interaction in Supernovae in Dense Environments—An Observational Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandra, Poonam

2018-02-01

In a supernova explosion, the ejecta interacting with the surrounding circumstellar medium (CSM) give rise to variety of radiation. Since CSM is created from the mass loss from the progenitor, it carries footprints of the late time evolution of the star. This is one of the unique ways to get a handle on the nature of the progenitor system. Here, I will focus mainly on the supernovae (SNe) exploding in dense environments, a.k.a. Type IIn SNe. Radio and X-ray emission from this class of SNe have revealed important modifications in their radiation properties, due to the presence of high density CSM. Forward shock dominance in the X-ray emission, internal free-free absorption of the radio emission, episodic or non-steady mass loss rate, and asymmetry in the explosion seem to be common properties of this class of SNe.

Simulations and experiments on gas adsorption in novel microporous polymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larsen, Gregory Steven

Microporous materials represent a fascinating class of materials with a broad range of applications. The work presented here focuses on the use of a novel class of microporous material known as polymers of intrinsic micrioporosity, or PIMs, for use in gas separation and storage technologies. The aim of this research is to develop a detailed understanding of the relationship between the monomeric structure and the adsorptive performance of PIMs. First, a generalizable structure generation technique was developed such that simulation samples of PIM-1 recreated experimental densities, scattering, surface areas, pore size distributions, and adsorption isotherms. After validation, the simulations were applied as virtual experiments on several new PIMs with the intent to screen their capabilities as adsorbent materials and elucidate design principles for linear PIMs. The simulations are useful in understanding the unique properties such as pore size distribution and scattering observed experimentally.

Genomic Characterization of Methanomicrobiales Reveals Three Classes of Methanogens

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

Anderson, Iain; Ulrich, Luke; Lupa, Boguslaw

2009-01-01

Background Methanomicrobiales is the least studied order of methanogens. While these organisms appear to be more closely related to the Methanosarcinales in ribosomal-based phylogenetic analyses, they are metabolically more similar to Class I methanogens. Methodology/Principal Findings In order to improve our understanding of this lineage, we have completely sequenced the genomes of two members of this order, Methanocorpusculum labreanum Z and Methanoculleus marisnigri JR1, and compared them with the genome of a third, Methanospirillum hungatei JF-1. Similar to Class I methanogens, Methanomicrobiales use a partial reductive citric acid cycle for 2-oxoglutarate biosynthesis, and they have the Eha energy-converting hydrogenase. Inmore » common with Methanosarcinales, Methanomicrobiales possess the Ech hydrogenase and at least some of them may couple formylmethanofuran formation and heterodisulfide reduction to transmembrane ion gradients. Uniquely, M. labreanum and M. hungatei contain hydrogenases similar to the Pyrococcus furiosus Mbh hydrogenase, and all three Methanomicrobiales have anti-sigma factor and anti-anti-sigma factor regulatory proteins not found in other methanogens. Phylogenetic analysis based on seven core proteins of methanogenesis and cofactor biosynthesis places the Methanomicrobiales equidistant from Class I methanogens and Methanosarcinales. Conclusions/Significance Our results indicate that Methanomicrobiales, rather than being similar to Class I methanogens or Methanomicrobiales, share some features of both and have some unique properties. We find that there are three distinct classes of methanogens: the Class I methanogens, the Methanomicrobiales (Class II), and the Methanosarcinales (Class III).« less

NASA Space Launch System: A Cornerstone Capability for Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Creech, Stephen D.; Robinson, Kimberly F.

2014-01-01

Under construction today, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Space Launch System (SLS), managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center, will provide a robust new capability for human and robotic exploration beyond Earth orbit. The vehicle's initial configuration, sched will enable human missions into lunar space and beyond, as well as provide game-changing benefits for space science missions, including offering substantially reduced transit times for conventionally designed spacecraft. From there, the vehicle will undergo a series of block upgrades via an evolutionary development process designed to expedite mission capture as capability increases. The Space Launch System offers multiple benefits for a variety of utilization areas. From a mass-lift perspective, the initial configuration of the vehicle, capable of delivering 70 metric tons (t) to low Earth orbit (LEO), will be the world's most powerful launch vehicle. Optimized for missions beyond Earth orbit, it will also be the world's only exploration-class launch vehicle capable of delivering 25 t to lunar orbit. The evolved configuration, with a capability of 130 t to LEO, will be the most powerful launch vehicle ever flown. From a volume perspective, SLS will be compatible with the payload envelopes of contemporary launch vehicles, but will also offer options for larger fairings with unprecedented volume-lift capability. The vehicle's mass-lift capability also means that it offers extremely high characteristic energy for missions into deep space. This paper will discuss the impacts that these factors - mass-lift, volume, and characteristic energy - have on a variety of mission classes, particularly human exploration and space science. It will address the vehicle's capability to enable existing architectures for deep-space exploration, such as those documented in the Global Exploration Roadmap, a capabilities-driven outline for future deep-space voyages created by the International Space Exploration Coordination Group, which represents 14 of the world's space agencies. In addition, this paper will detail this new rocket's capability to support missions beyond the human exploration roadmap, including robotic precursor missions to other worlds or uniquely high-mass space operation facilities in Earth orbit. As this paper will explain, the SLS Program is currently building a global infrastructure asset that will provide robust space launch capability to deliver sustainable solutions for exploration.

NASA's Space Launch System: A Cornerstone Capability for Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Creech, Stephen D.

2014-01-01

Under construction today, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Space Launch System (SLS), managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center, will provide a robust new capability for human and robotic exploration beyond Earth orbit. The vehicle's initial configuration, scheduled for first launch in 2017, will enable human missions into lunar space and beyond, as well as provide game-changing benefits for space science missions, including offering substantially reduced transit times for conventionally designed spacecraft. From there, the vehicle will undergo a series of block upgrades via an evolutionary development process designed to expedite mission capture as capability increases. The Space Launch System offers multiple benefits for a variety of utilization areas. From a mass-lift perspective, the initial configuration of the vehicle, capable of delivering 70 metric tons (t) to low Earth orbit (LEO), will be the world's most powerful launch vehicle. Optimized for missions beyond Earth orbit, it will also be the world's only exploration-class launch vehicle capable of delivering 25 t to lunar orbit. The evolved configuration, with a capability of 130 t to LEO, will be the most powerful launch vehicle ever flown. From a volume perspective, SLS will be compatible with the payload envelopes of contemporary launch vehicles, but will also offer options for larger fairings with unprecedented volume-lift capability. The vehicle's mass-lift capability also means that it offers extremely high characteristic energy for missions into deep space. This paper will discuss the impacts that these factors - mass-lift, volume, and characteristic energy - have on a variety of mission classes, particularly human exploration and space science. It will address the vehicle's capability to enable existing architectures for deep-space exploration, such as those documented in the Global Exploration Roadmap, a capabilities-driven outline for future deep-space voyages created by the International Space Exploration Coordination Group, which represents 12 of the world's space agencies. In addition, this paper will detail this new rocket's capability to support missions beyond the human exploration roadmap, including robotic precursor missions to other worlds or uniquely high-mass space operation facilities in Earth orbit. As this paper will explain, the SLS Program is currently building a global infrastructure asset that will provide robust space launch capability to deliver sustainable solutions for exploration.

Phylogenomic analyses and molecular signatures for the class Halobacteria and its two major clades: a proposal for division of the class Halobacteria into an emended order Halobacteriales and two new orders, Haloferacales ord. nov. and Natrialbales ord. nov., containing the novel families Haloferacaceae fam. nov. and Natrialbaceae fam. nov.

PubMed

Gupta, Radhey S; Naushad, Sohail; Baker, Sheridan

2015-03-01

The Halobacteria constitute one of the largest groups within the Archaea. The hierarchical relationship among members of this large class, which comprises a single order and a single family, has proven difficult to determine based upon 16S rRNA gene trees and morphological and physiological characteristics. This work reports detailed phylogenetic and comparative genomic studies on >100 halobacterial (haloarchaeal) genomes containing representatives from 30 genera to investigate their evolutionary relationships. In phylogenetic trees reconstructed on the basis of 32 conserved proteins, using both neighbour-joining and maximum-likelihood methods, two major clades (clades A and B) encompassing nearly two-thirds of the sequenced haloarchaeal species were strongly supported. Clades grouping the same species/genera were also supported by the 16S rRNA gene trees and trees for several individual highly conserved proteins (RpoC, EF-Tu, UvrD, GyrA, EF-2/EF-G). In parallel, our comparative analyses of protein sequences from haloarchaeal genomes have identified numerous discrete molecular markers in the form of conserved signature indels (CSI) in protein sequences and conserved signature proteins (CSPs) that are found uniquely in specific groups of haloarchaea. Thirteen CSIs in proteins involved in diverse functions and 68 CSPs that are uniquely present in all or most genome-sequenced haloarchaea provide novel molecular means for distinguishing members of the class Halobacteria from all other prokaryotes. The members of clade A are distinguished from all other haloarchaea by the unique shared presence of two CSIs in the ribose operon protein and small GTP-binding protein and eight CSPs that are found specifically in members of this clade. Likewise, four CSIs in different proteins and five other CSPs are present uniquely in members of clade B and distinguish them from all other haloarchaea. Based upon their specific clustering in phylogenetic trees for different gene/protein sequences and the unique shared presence of large numbers of molecular signatures, members of clades A and B are indicated to be distinct from all other haloarchaea because of their uniquely shared evolutionary histories. Based upon these results, it is proposed that clades A and B be recognized as two new orders, Natrialbales ord. nov. and Haloferacales ord. nov., within the class Halobacteria, containing the novel families Natrialbaceae fam. nov. and Haloferacaceae fam. nov. Other members of the class Halobacteria that are not members of these two orders will remain part of the emended order Halobacteriales in an emended family Halobacteriaceae. © 2015 IUMS.

Intergenerational Class Mobility in Britain: A Comparative Look across Three Generations in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Wendy; Brett, Caroline E.; Deary, Ian J.

2010-01-01

The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 sample is in a uniquely good position to provide relevant data on social class mobility patterns over most of the last century. These participants, with known ultimate social class attainment, took a validated mental test in the Scottish Mental Survey of 1947 and were followed up at approximately age 70. Then, besides…

A Century of Change in Kenya's Mammal Communities: Increased Richness and Decreased Uniqueness in Six Protected Areas

PubMed Central

Tóth, Anikó B.; Lyons, S. Kathleen; Behrensmeyer, Anna K.

2014-01-01

The potential for large-scale biodiversity losses as a result of climate change and human impact presents major challenges for ecology and conservation science. Governments around the world have established national parks and wildlife reserves to help protect biodiversity, but there are few studies on the long-term consequences of this strategy. We use Kenya as a case study to investigate species richness and other attributes of mammal communities in 6 protected areas over the past century. Museum records from African expeditions that comprehensively sampled mammals from these same areas in the early 1900's provide a baseline for evaluating changes in species richness and community structure over time. We compare species lists assembled from archived specimens (1896–1950) to those of corresponding modern protected areas (1950–2013). Species richness in Kenya was stable or increased at 5 out of 6 sites from historical to modern times. Beta-diversity, in contrast, decreased across all sites. Potential biases such as variable historical vs. modern collection effort and detection of small-bodied, rare, and low-visibility species do not account for the observed results. We attribute the pattern of decreased beta diversity primarily to increased site occupancy by common species across all body size classes. Despite a decrease in land area available to wildlife, our data do not show the extinctions predicted by species-area relationships. Moreover, the results indicate that species-area curves based solely on protected areas could underestimate diversity because they do not account for mammal species whose ranges extend beyond protected area boundaries. We conclude that the 6 protected areas have been effective in preserving species richness in spite of continuing conversion of wild grasslands to cropland, but the overall decrease in beta diversity indicates a decline in the uniqueness of mammal communities that historically characterized Kenya's varied landscape. PMID:24718262

A century of change in Kenya's mammal communities: increased richness and decreased uniqueness in six protected areas.

PubMed

Tóth, Anikó B; Lyons, S Kathleen; Behrensmeyer, Anna K

2014-01-01

The potential for large-scale biodiversity losses as a result of climate change and human impact presents major challenges for ecology and conservation science. Governments around the world have established national parks and wildlife reserves to help protect biodiversity, but there are few studies on the long-term consequences of this strategy. We use Kenya as a case study to investigate species richness and other attributes of mammal communities in 6 protected areas over the past century. Museum records from African expeditions that comprehensively sampled mammals from these same areas in the early 1900's provide a baseline for evaluating changes in species richness and community structure over time. We compare species lists assembled from archived specimens (1896-1950) to those of corresponding modern protected areas (1950-2013). Species richness in Kenya was stable or increased at 5 out of 6 sites from historical to modern times. Beta-diversity, in contrast, decreased across all sites. Potential biases such as variable historical vs. modern collection effort and detection of small-bodied, rare, and low-visibility species do not account for the observed results. We attribute the pattern of decreased beta diversity primarily to increased site occupancy by common species across all body size classes. Despite a decrease in land area available to wildlife, our data do not show the extinctions predicted by species-area relationships. Moreover, the results indicate that species-area curves based solely on protected areas could underestimate diversity because they do not account for mammal species whose ranges extend beyond protected area boundaries. We conclude that the 6 protected areas have been effective in preserving species richness in spite of continuing conversion of wild grasslands to cropland, but the overall decrease in beta diversity indicates a decline in the uniqueness of mammal communities that historically characterized Kenya's varied landscape.

Integrated geophysical imaging of a concealed mineral deposit: a case study of the world-class Pebble porphyry deposit in southwestern Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shah, Anjana K.; Bedrosian, Paul A.; Anderson, Eric D.; Kelley, Karen D.; Lang, James

2013-01-01

We combined aeromagnetic, induced polarization, magnetotelluric, and gravity surveys as well as drillhole geologic, alteration, magnetic susceptibility, and density data for exploration and characterization of the Cu-Au-Mo Pebble porphyry deposit. This undeveloped deposit is almost completely concealed by postmineralization sedimentary and volcanic rocks, presenting an exploration challenge. Individual geophysical methods primarily assist regional characterization. Positive chargeability and conductivity anomalies are observed over a broad region surrounding the deposit, likely representing sulfide minerals that accumulated during multiple stages of hydrothermal alteration. The mineralized area occupies only a small part of the chargeability anomaly because sulfide precipitation was not unique to the deposit, and mafic rocks also exhibit strong chargeability. Conductivity anomalies similarly reflect widespread sulfides as well as water-saturated glacial sediments. Mineralogical and magnetic susceptibility data indicate magnetite destruction primarily within the Cu-Au-Mo mineralized area. The magnetic field does not show a corresponding anomaly low but the analytic signal does in areas where the deposit is not covered by postmineralization igneous rocks. The analytic signal shows similar lows over sedimentary rocks outside of the mineralized area, however, and cannot uniquely distinguish the deposit. We find that the intersection of positive chargeability anomalies with analytic signal lows, indicating elevated sulfide concentrations but low magnetite at shallow depths, roughly delineates the deposit where it is covered only by glacial sediments. Neither chargeability highs nor analytic signal lows are present where the deposit is covered by several hundred meters of sedimentary and volcanic rocks, but a 3D resistivity model derived from magnetotelluric data shows a corresponding zone of higher conductivity. Gravity data highlight geologic features within the deposit, including shallow diorite sills that locally contain higher-grade mineralization. The results thus show ways in which an integrated survey approach might be used to distinguish zones of potentially economic mineralization.

Marine biodiversity at the end of the world: Cape Horn and Diego Ramírez islands.

PubMed

Friedlander, Alan M; Ballesteros, Enric; Bell, Tom W; Giddens, Jonatha; Henning, Brad; Hüne, Mathias; Muñoz, Alex; Salinas-de-León, Pelayo; Sala, Enric

2018-01-01

The vast and complex coast of the Magellan Region of extreme southern Chile possesses a diversity of habitats including fjords, deep channels, and extensive kelp forests, with a unique mix of temperate and sub-Antarctic species. The Cape Horn and Diego Ramírez archipelagos are the most southerly locations in the Americas, with the southernmost kelp forests, and some of the least explored places on earth. The giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera plays a key role in structuring the ecological communities of the entire region, with the large brown seaweed Lessonia spp. forming dense understories. Kelp densities were highest around Cape Horn, followed by Diego Ramírez, and lowest within the fjord region of Francisco Coloane Marine Park (mean canopy densities of 2.51 kg m-2, 2.29 kg m-2, and 2.14 kg m-2, respectively). There were clear differences in marine communities among these sub-regions, with the lowest diversity in the fjords. We observed 18 species of nearshore fishes, with average species richness nearly 50% higher at Diego Ramírez compared with Cape Horn and Francisco Coloane. The number of individual fishes was nearly 10 times higher at Diego Ramírez and 4 times higher at Cape Horn compared with the fjords. Dropcam surveys of mesophotic depths (53-105 m) identified 30 taxa from 25 families, 15 classes, and 7 phyla. While much of these deeper habitats consisted of soft sediment and cobble, in rocky habitats, echinoderms, mollusks, bryozoans, and sponges were common. The southern hagfish (Myxine australis) was the most frequently encountered of the deep-sea fishes (50% of deployments), and while the Fueguian sprat (Sprattus fuegensis) was the most abundant fish species, its distribution was patchy. The Cape Horn and Diego Ramírez archipelagos represent some of the last intact sub-Antarctic ecosystems remaining and a recently declared large protected area will help ensure the health of this unique region.

Marine biodiversity at the end of the world: Cape Horn and Diego Ramírez islands

PubMed Central

Ballesteros, Enric; Bell, Tom W.; Giddens, Jonatha; Henning, Brad; Hüne, Mathias; Muñoz, Alex; Salinas-de-León, Pelayo; Sala, Enric

2018-01-01

The vast and complex coast of the Magellan Region of extreme southern Chile possesses a diversity of habitats including fjords, deep channels, and extensive kelp forests, with a unique mix of temperate and sub-Antarctic species. The Cape Horn and Diego Ramírez archipelagos are the most southerly locations in the Americas, with the southernmost kelp forests, and some of the least explored places on earth. The giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera plays a key role in structuring the ecological communities of the entire region, with the large brown seaweed Lessonia spp. forming dense understories. Kelp densities were highest around Cape Horn, followed by Diego Ramírez, and lowest within the fjord region of Francisco Coloane Marine Park (mean canopy densities of 2.51 kg m-2, 2.29 kg m-2, and 2.14 kg m-2, respectively). There were clear differences in marine communities among these sub-regions, with the lowest diversity in the fjords. We observed 18 species of nearshore fishes, with average species richness nearly 50% higher at Diego Ramírez compared with Cape Horn and Francisco Coloane. The number of individual fishes was nearly 10 times higher at Diego Ramírez and 4 times higher at Cape Horn compared with the fjords. Dropcam surveys of mesophotic depths (53–105 m) identified 30 taxa from 25 families, 15 classes, and 7 phyla. While much of these deeper habitats consisted of soft sediment and cobble, in rocky habitats, echinoderms, mollusks, bryozoans, and sponges were common. The southern hagfish (Myxine australis) was the most frequently encountered of the deep-sea fishes (50% of deployments), and while the Fueguian sprat (Sprattus fuegensis) was the most abundant fish species, its distribution was patchy. The Cape Horn and Diego Ramírez archipelagos represent some of the last intact sub-Antarctic ecosystems remaining and a recently declared large protected area will help ensure the health of this unique region. PMID:29364902

On the solubility of certain classes of non-linear integral equations in p-adic string theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khachatryan, Kh. A.

2018-04-01

We study classes of non-linear integral equations that have immediate application to p-adic mathematical physics and to cosmology. We prove existence and uniqueness theorems for non-trivial solutions in the space of bounded functions.

Comparative structural modeling of six old yellow enzymes (OYEs) from the necrotrophic fungus Ascochyta rabiei: insight into novel OYE classes with differences in cofactor binding, organization of active site residues and stereopreferences.

PubMed

Nizam, Shadab; Gazara, Rajesh Kumar; Verma, Sandhya; Singh, Kunal; Verma, Praveen Kumar

2014-01-01

Old Yellow Enzyme (OYE1) was the first flavin-dependent enzyme identified and characterized in detail by the entire range of physical techniques. Irrespective of this scrutiny, true physiological role of the enzyme remains a mystery. In a recent study, we systematically identified OYE proteins from various fungi and classified them into three classes viz. Class I, II and III. However, there is no information about the structural organization of Class III OYEs, eukaryotic Class II OYEs and Class I OYEs of filamentous fungi. Ascochyta rabiei, a filamentous phytopathogen which causes Ascochyta blight (AB) in chickpea possesses six OYEs (ArOYE1-6) belonging to the three OYE classes. Here we carried out comparative homology modeling of six ArOYEs representing all the three classes to get an in depth idea of structural and functional aspects of fungal OYEs. The predicted 3D structures of A. rabiei OYEs were refined and evaluated using various validation tools for their structural integrity. Analysis of FMN binding environment of Class III OYE revealed novel residues involved in interaction. The ligand para-hydroxybenzaldehyde (PHB) was docked into the active site of the enzymes and interacting residues were analyzed. We observed a unique active site organization of Class III OYE in comparison to Class I and II OYEs. Subsequently, analysis of stereopreference through structural features of ArOYEs was carried out, suggesting differences in R/S selectivity of these proteins. Therefore, our comparative modeling study provides insights into the FMN binding, active site organization and stereopreference of different classes of ArOYEs and indicates towards functional differences of these enzymes. This study provides the basis for future investigations towards the biochemical and functional characterization of these enigmatic enzymes.

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harrington, Kathleen; Marriage, Tobias; Ali, Aamir; Appel, John W.; Bennett, Charles L.; Boone, Fletcher; Brewer, Michael; Chan, Manwei; Chuss, David T.; Colazo, Felipe; Dahal, Sumit; Denis, Kevin; Dünner, Rolando; Eimer, Joseph; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Fluxa, Pedro; Halpern, Mark; Hilton, Gene; Hinshaw, Gary F.; Hubmayr, Johannes; Iuliano, Jeffrey; Karakla, John; McMahon, Jeff; Miller, Nathan T.; Moseley, Samuel H.; Palma, Gonzalo; Parker, Lucas; Petroff, Matthew; Pradenas, Bastián.; Rostem, Karwan; Sagliocca, Marco; Valle, Deniz; Watts, Duncan; Wollack, Edward; Xu, Zhilei; Zeng, Lingzhen

2016-07-01

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is a four telescope array designed to characterize relic primordial gravitational waves from in ation and the optical depth to reionization through a measurement of the polarized cosmic microwave background (CMB) on the largest angular scales. The frequencies of the four CLASS telescopes, one at 38 GHz, two at 93 GHz, and one dichroic system at 145/217 GHz, are chosen to avoid spectral regions of high atmospheric emission and span the minimum of the polarized Galactic foregrounds: synchrotron emission at lower frequencies and dust emission at higher frequencies. Low-noise transition edge sensor detectors and a rapid front-end polarization modulator provide a unique combination of high sensitivity, stability, and control of systematics. The CLASS site, at 5200 m in the Chilean Atacama desert, allows for daily mapping of up to 70% of the sky and enables the characterization of CMB polarization at the largest angular scales. Using this combination of a broad frequency range, large sky coverage, control over systematics, and high sensitivity, CLASS will observe the reionization and recombination peaks of the CMB E- and B-mode power spectra. CLASS will make a cosmic variance limited measurement of the optical depth to reionization and will measure or place upper limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r, down to a level of 0.01 (95% C.L.).

LC-ESI-MS/MS identification of polar lipids of two thermophilic Anoxybacillus bacteria containing a unique lipid pattern.

PubMed

Rezanka, Tomáš; Kambourova, Margarita; Derekova, Anna; Kolouchová, Irena; Sigler, Karel

2012-07-01

Phospholipids and glycolipids from two recently described species belonging to the thermophilic genus Anoxybacillus were analyzed by liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS). Analysis of total lipids from the facultatively anaerobic A. bogrovensis on a HILIC (Hydrophilic Interaction LIquid Chromatography) column succeeded in separating diacyl- and plasmalogen phospholipids. The LC/ESI-MS/MS analysis of the strict aerobe A. rupiensis revealed the presence of different unique polar lipids, predominantly alanyl-, lysyl-, and glucosyl-phosphatidylglycerols and cardiolipins. Each of the classes of polar lipids was then analyzed by means of the ESI-MS/MS and more than 140 molecular species of six lipid classes from A. bogrovensis and nearly 200 molecular species of nine classes of polar lipids from A. rupiensis were identified. Five classes of unidentified polar lipids were detected in both strains. Plasmalogens were thus determined for the first time in a facultatively anaerobic bacterium, i.e. A. bogrovensis.

The natural history of cystic echinococcosis in untreated and albendazole-treated patients.

PubMed

Solomon, N; Kachani, M; Zeyhle, E; Macpherson, C N L

2017-07-01

The World Health Organization (WHO) treatment protocols for cystic echinococcosis (CE) are based on the standardized ultrasound (US) classification. This study examined whether the classification reflected the natural history of CE in untreated and albendazole-treated patients. Data were collected during mass US screenings in CE endemic regions among transhumant populations, the Turkana and Berber peoples of Kenya and Morocco. Cysts were classified using the WHO classification. Patient records occurring prior to treatment, and after albendazole administration, were selected. 852 paired before/after observations of 360 cysts from 257 patients were analyzed. A McNemar-Bowker χ 2 test for symmetry was significant (p<0.0001). 744 observations (87.3%) maintained the same class, and 101 (11.9%) progressed, consistent with the classification. Regression to CE3B occurred in seven of 116 CE4 cyst observations (6.0%). A McNemar-Bowker χ 2 test of 1414 paired before/after observations of 288 cysts from 157 albendazole-treated patients was significant (p<0.0001). 1236 observations (87.4%) maintained the same class, and 149 (10.5%) progressed, consistent with the classification. Regression to CE3B occurred in 29 of 206 CE4 observations (14.1%). Significant asymmetry confirms the WHO classification's applicability to the natural history of CE and albendazole-induced changes. Regressions may reflect the stability of CE3B cysts. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Reducing uncertainty on satellite image classification through spatiotemporal reasoning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Partsinevelos, Panagiotis; Nikolakaki, Natassa; Psillakis, Periklis; Miliaresis, George; Xanthakis, Michail

2014-05-01

The natural habitat constantly endures both inherent natural and human-induced influences. Remote sensing has been providing monitoring oriented solutions regarding the natural Earth surface, by offering a series of tools and methodologies which contribute to prudent environmental management. Processing and analysis of multi-temporal satellite images for the observation of the land changes include often classification and change-detection techniques. These error prone procedures are influenced mainly by the distinctive characteristics of the study areas, the remote sensing systems limitations and the image analysis processes. The present study takes advantage of the temporal continuity of multi-temporal classified images, in order to reduce classification uncertainty, based on reasoning rules. More specifically, pixel groups that temporally oscillate between classes are liable to misclassification or indicate problematic areas. On the other hand, constant pixel group growth indicates a pressure prone area. Computational tools are developed in order to disclose the alterations in land use dynamics and offer a spatial reference to the pressures that land use classes endure and impose between them. Moreover, by revealing areas that are susceptible to misclassification, we propose specific target site selection for training during the process of supervised classification. The underlying objective is to contribute to the understanding and analysis of anthropogenic and environmental factors that influence land use changes. The developed algorithms have been tested upon Landsat satellite image time series, depicting the National Park of Ainos in Kefallinia, Greece, where the unique in the world Abies cephalonica grows. Along with the minor changes and pressures indicated in the test area due to harvesting and other human interventions, the developed algorithms successfully captured fire incidents that have been historically confirmed. Overall, the results have shown that the use of the suggested procedures can contribute to the reduction of the classification uncertainty and support the existing knowledge regarding the pressure among land-use changes.

General and inducible hypermutation facilitate parallel adaptation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa despite divergent mutation spectra.

PubMed

Weigand, Michael R; Sundin, George W

2012-08-21

The successful growth of hypermutator strains of bacteria contradicts a clear preference for lower mutation rates observed in the microbial world. Whether by general DNA repair deficiency or the inducible action of low-fidelity DNA polymerases, the evolutionary strategies of bacteria include methods of hypermutation. Although both raise mutation rate, general and inducible hypermutation operate through distinct molecular mechanisms and therefore likely impart unique adaptive consequences. Here we compare the influence of general and inducible hypermutation on adaptation in the model organism Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 through experimental evolution. We observed divergent spectra of single base substitutions derived from general and inducible hypermutation by sequencing rpoB in spontaneous rifampicin-resistant (Rif(R)) mutants. Likewise, the pattern of mutation in a draft genome sequence of a derived inducible hypermutator isolate differed from those of general hypermutators reported in the literature. However, following experimental evolution, populations of both mutator types exhibited comparable improvements in fitness across varied conditions that differed from the highly specific adaptation of nonmutators. Our results suggest that despite their unique mutation spectra, general and inducible hypermutation can analogously influence the ecology and adaptation of bacteria, significantly shaping pathogenic populations where hypermutation has been most widely observed.

The search for majoron emission in xenon-136 and two-neutrino double-beta decay of xenon-134 with the enriched xenon observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walton, Josiah

Despite neutrino oscillation experiments firmly establishing neutrinos have non-zero mass, the absolute mass scale is unknown. Moreover, it's unknown whether the neutrino is distinguishable from its antiparticle. The most promising approach for measuring the neutrino mass scale and answering the issue of neutrino-antineutrino distinguishability is by searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay, a very rare theorized process not allowed under the current theoretical framework of particle physics. Positive observation of neutrinoless double-beta decay would usher in a revolution in particle physics, since it would determine the neutrino mass scale, establish that neutrinos and antineutrinos are indistinguishable, and that the particle physics conservation law of total lepton number is violated in nature. The latter two consequences are particularly salient, as they lead to potential explanations of neutrino mass generation and the observed large asymmetry of matter over antimatter in the universe. The Enriched Xenon Observatory (EXO-200) is an international collaboration searching for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of the isotope 136 Xe. EXO-200 operates a unique world-class low-radioactivity detector containing 110 kg of liquified xenon isotopically enriched to 80.6% in 136Xe. Recently, EXO-200 published the most precise two-neutrino double-beta decay half-life ever measured and one of the strongest limits on the half-life of the neutrinoless double-beta decay mode of 136Xe. This work presents an improved experimental search for the majoron-mediated neutrinoless double-beta decay modes of 136Xe and a novel search for the yet unobserved two neutrino double-beta decay of 134Xe.

Project Catch: A space based solution to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Part I: Vessel monitoring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Detsis, Emmanouil; Brodsky, Yuval; Knudtson, Peter; Cuba, Manuel; Fuqua, Heidi; Szalai, Bianca

2012-11-01

Space assets have a unique opportunity to play a more active role in global resource management. There is a clear need to develop resource management tools in a global framework. Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing is placing pressure on the health and size of fishing stocks around the world. Earth observation systems can provide fishery management organizations with cost effective monitoring of large swaths of ocean. Project Catch is a fisheries management project based upon the complimentary, but independent Catch-VMS and Catch-GIS systems. Catch-VMS is a Vessel Monitoring System with increased fidelity over existing offerings. Catch-GIS is a Geographical Information System that combines VMS information with existing Earth Observation data and other data sources to identify Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing. Project Catch was undertaken by 19 Masters students from the 2010 class of the International Space University. In this paper, the space-based system architecture of Project Catch is presented and analyzed. The rationale for the creation of the system, as well as the engineering trade-off studies in its creation, are discussed. The Catch-VMS proposal was envisaged in order to address two specific problems: (1) the expansion of illegal fishing to high-latitude regions where existing satellite systems coverage is an issue and (2) the lack of coverage in remote oceanic regions due to reliance on coastal-based monitoring. Catch-VMS utilizes ship-borne transponders and hosted-payload receivers on a Global Navigation Satellite System in order to monitor the position and activity of compliant fishing vessels. Coverage is global and continuous with multiple satellites in view providing positional verification through multilateration techniques. The second part of the paper briefly describes the Catch-GIS system and investigates its cost of implementation.

Antigen presentation by small intestinal epithelial cells uniquely enhances IFN-γ secretion from CD4{sup +} intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes

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

Hatano, Ryo; Yamada, Kiyoshi; Iwamoto, Taku

2013-06-14

Highlights: •Small intestinal epithelial cells (sIECs). •sIECs are able to induce antigen specific proliferation of CD4{sup +} IELs. •sIECs induce markedly enhanced IFN-γ secretion by CD4{sup +} IELs. •Induction of enhanced IFN-γ secretion by sIECs is uniquely observed in CD4{sup +} IELs. -- Abstract: Small intestinal epithelial cells (sIECs) express major histocompatibility complex class II molecules even in a normal condition, and are known to function as antigen presenting cells (APCs) at least in vitro. These findings raised the possibility that sIECs play an important role in inducing immune responses against luminal antigens, especially those of intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs)more » and lamina propria lymphocytes (LPLs). We herein showed that antigenic stimulation with sIECs induced markedly greater secretion of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) by CD4{sup +} IELs, but not interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10 and IL-17 although the proliferative response was prominently lower than that with T cell-depleted splenic APCs. In contrast, no enhanced IFN-γ secretion by CD4{sup +} LPLs and primed splenic CD4{sup +} T cells was observed when stimulated with sIECs. Taken together, these results suggest that sIECs uniquely activate CD4{sup +} IELs and induce remarkable IFN-γ secretion upon antigenic stimulation in vivo.« less

Double Engine for a Nebula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2009-08-01

ESO has just released a stunning new image of a field of stars towards the constellation of Carina (the Keel). This striking view is ablaze with a flurry of stars of all colours and brightnesses, some of which are seen against a backdrop of clouds of dust and gas. One unusual star in the middle, HD 87643, has been extensively studied with several ESO telescopes, including the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). Surrounded by a complex, extended nebula that is the result of previous violent ejections, the star has been shown to have a companion. Interactions in this double system, surrounded by a dusty disc, may be the engine fuelling the star's remarkable nebula. The new image, showing a very rich field of stars towards the Carina arm of the Milky Way, is centred on the star HD 87643, a member of the exotic class of B[e] stars [1]. It is part of a set of observations that provide astronomers with the best ever picture of a B[e] star. The image was obtained with the Wide Field Imager (WFI) attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the 2400-metre-high La Silla Observatory in Chile. The image shows beautifully the extended nebula of gas and dust that reflects the light from the star. The central star's wind appears to have shaped the nebula, leaving bright, ragged tendrils of gas and dust. A careful investigation of these features seems to indicate that there are regular ejections of matter from the star every 15 to 50 years. A team of astronomers, led by Florentin Millour, has studied the star HD 87643 in great detail, using several of ESO's telescopes. Apart from the WFI, the team also used ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Paranal. At the VLT, the astronomers used the NACO adaptive optics instrument, allowing them to obtain an image of the star free from the blurring effect of the atmosphere. To probe the object further, the team then obtained an image with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). The sheer range of this set of observations, from the panoramic WFI image to the fine detail of the VLTI observations, corresponds to a zoom-in factor of 60 000 between the two extremes. The astronomers found that HD 87643 has a companion located at about 50 times the Earth-Sun distance and is embedded in a compact dust shell. The two stars probably orbit each other in a period between 20 and 50 years. A dusty disc may also be surrounding the two stars. The presence of the companion could be an explanation for the regular ejection of matter from the star and the formation of the nebula: as the companion moves on a highly elliptical orbit, it would regularly come very close to HD 87643, triggering an ejection. Notes [1]: B[e] stars are stars of spectral type B, with emission lines in their spectra, hence the "e". They are surrounded by a large amount of dust. More information The work on HD 87643 has been published in a paper to appear in Astronomy and Astrophysics: A binary engine fueling HD 87643's complex circumstellar environment using AMBER/VLTI imaging, by F. Millour et al. ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Ethical Considerations for Educational Research in a Virtual World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Girvan, C.; Savage, T.

2012-01-01

The combination of features in virtual worlds provides an opportunity to implement and research unique learning experiences. With increasing interest and activity from the educational research community, exploring virtual worlds for teaching and learning, there is a need to identify and understand the ethical implications of conducting research in…

Learning in Virtual Worlds: Results from Two Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jestice, Rebecca J.

2010-01-01

Virtual worlds are garnering a lot of attention from educators and trainers as a new tool to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of online learning. Virtual worlds are considered beneficial to the learning process because their unique combination of features and capabilities and their richness allows the employment of new instructional…

Early Career Preparation, Experiences, and Commitment of Female and Male West Point Graduates.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-01-01

report. Data Collection All participants in the study were graduates in the Class of 1980, the v first coeducational class at West Point. The sampling...Class of 1980 has been regarded as an unique entity because of its destiny as the first coeducational class. These data will show where this is true and...understand the experiences of the graduates from West Point. This is the first systematic program to assess the effects of coeducation by using as 5-5 .*:. 0

Subgroups of Chemotherapy Patients With Distinct Morning and Evening Fatigue Trajectories

PubMed Central

Kober, Kord M.; Cooper, Bruce A.; Paul, Steven M.; Dunn, Laura B.; Levine, Jon D.; Wright, Fay; Hammer, Marilyn J.; Mastick, Judy; Venook, Alan; Aouizerat, Bradley E.; Miaskowski, Christine

2017-01-01

Purpose Purposes of this study were to: identify subgroups of patients with distinct trajectories for morning and evening fatigue; evaluate for differences in demographic and clinical characteristics among these subgroups; and compare and contrast the predictors of subgroup membership for morning and evening fatigue. Methods Outpatients with breast, gastrointestinal, gynecological, or lung cancer (n=582) completed questionnaires a total of six times over two cycles of CTX. Morning and evening fatigue severity were evaluated using the Lee Fatigue Scale. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to identify distinct subgroups. Results Three latent classes were identified for morning fatigue (i.e., Low (31.8%), High (51.4%), and Very High (16.8%)) and for evening evening fatigue (i.e., Moderate (20.0%), High (21.8%), and Very High (58.2%)). Most of the disease and treatment characteristics did not distinguish among the morning and evening fatigue classes. Compared to the Low class, patients in the High and Very High morning fatigue class were younger, had a lower functional status and higher level of comorbidity. Compared to the Moderate class, patients in the Very High evening fatigue class were younger, more likely to be female, had child care responsibilities, had a lower functional status, and a higher level of comorbidity. Conclusion LPA allows for the identification of risk factors for more severe fatigue. Since an overlap was not observed across the morning and evening fatigue classes and unique predictors for morning and evening fatigue were identified, these findings suggest that morning and evening fatigue may have distinct underlying mechanisms. PMID:26361758

Spectral Variability among Rocks in Visible and Near Infrared Multispectral Pancam Data Collected at Gusev Crater: Examinations using Spectral Mixture Analysis and Related Techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Farrand, W. H.; Bell, J. F., III; Johnson, J. R.; Squyres, S. W.; Soderblom, J.; Ming, D. W.

2006-01-01

Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) multispectral observations of rocks made by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit s Panoramic camera (Pancam) have been analysed using a spectral mixture analysis (SMA) methodology. Scenes have been examined from the Gusev crater plains into the Columbia Hills. Most scenes on the plains and in the Columbia Hills could be modeled as three endmember mixtures of a bright material, rock, and shade. Scenes of rocks disturbed by the rover s Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) required additional endmembers. In the Columbia Hills there were a number of scenes in which additional rock endmembers were required. The SMA methodology identified relatively dust-free areas on undisturbed rock surfaces, as well as spectrally unique areas on RAT abraded rocks. Spectral parameters from these areas were examined and six spectral classes were identified. These classes are named after a type rock or area and are: Adirondack, Lower West Spur, Clovis, Wishstone, Peace, and Watchtower. These classes are discriminable based, primarily, on near-infrared (NIR) spectral parameters. Clovis and Watchtower class rocks appear more oxidized than Wishstone class rocks and Adirondack basalts based on their having higher 535 nm band depths. Comparison of the spectral parameters of these Gusev crater rocks to parameters of glass-dominated basaltic tuffs indicates correspondence between measurements of Clovis and Watchtower classes, but divergence for the Wishstone class rocks which appear to have a higher fraction of crystalline ferrous iron bearing phases. Despite a high sulfur content, the rock Peace has NIR properties resembling plains basalts.

Single-molecule nanopore enzymology

PubMed Central

Wloka, Carsten; Maglia, Giovanni

2017-01-01

Biological nanopores are a class of membrane proteins that open nanoscale water-conduits in biological membranes. When they are reconstituted in artificial membranes and a bias voltage is applied across the membrane, the ionic current passing through individual nanopores can be used to monitor chemical reactions, to recognize individual molecules and, of most interest, to sequence DNA. More recently, proteins and enzymes have started being analysed with nanopores. Monitoring enzymatic reactions with nanopores, i.e. nanopore enzymology, has the unique advantage that it allows long-timescale observations of native proteins at the single-molecule level. Here we describe the approaches and challenges in nanopore enzymology. PMID:28630164

Metabolome classification of Brassica napus L. organs via UPLC-QTOF-PDA-MS and their anti-oxidant potential.

PubMed

Farag, Mohamed A; Sharaf Eldin, Mohamed G; Kassem, Hanaa; Abou el Fetouh, Mohamed

2013-01-01

Brassica napus L. is a crop widely grown for its oil production and other nutritional components in the seed. In addition to the seed, other organs contain a wide range of phenolic metabolites although they have not been investigated to the same extent as in seeds. To define and compare the phytochemical composition of B. napus L. organs, namely the root, stem, leaf, inflorescence and seeds. Non-targeted metabolomic analysis via UPLC-QTOF-MS was utilised in order to localise compounds belonging to various chemical classes (i.e. oxygenated fatty acids, flavonols, phenolic acids and sinapoyl choline derivatives). The vast majority of identified metabolites were flavonol glycosides that accumulated in most of the plant organs. Whereas other classes were detected predominantly in specific organs, i.e. sinapoyl cholines were present uniquely in seeds. Furthermore, variation in the accumulation pattern of metabolites from the same class was observed, particularly in the case of quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin flavonols. Anti-oxidant activity, based on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhdrazyl analysis was observed for all extracts, and correlated to some extent with total flavonoid content. This study provides the most complete map for polyphenol composition in B. napus L. organs. By describing the metabolites profile in B. napus L., this study provides the basis for future investigations of seeds for potential health and/or medicinal use. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Enhanced Lipidome Coverage in Shotgun Analyses by using Gas-Phase Fractionation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nazari, Milad; Muddiman, David C.

2016-11-01

A high resolving power shotgun lipidomics strategy using gas-phase fractionation and data-dependent acquisition (DDA) was applied toward comprehensive characterization of lipids in a hen ovarian tissue in an untargeted fashion. Using this approach, a total of 822 unique lipids across a diverse range of lipid categories and classes were identified based on their MS/MS fragmentation patterns. Classes of glycerophospholipids and glycerolipids, such as glycerophosphocholines (PC), glycerophosphoethanolamines (PE), and triglycerides (TG), are often the most abundant peaks observed in shotgun lipidomics analyses. These ions suppress the signal from low abundance ions and hinder the chances of characterizing low abundant lipids when DDA is used. These issues were circumvented by utilizing gas-phase fractionation, where DDA was performed on narrow m/z ranges instead of a broad m/z range. Employing gas-phase fractionation resulted in an increase in sensitivity by more than an order of magnitude in both positive- and negative-ion modes. Furthermore, the enhanced sensitivity increased the number of lipids identified by a factor of ≈4, and facilitated identification of low abundant lipids from classes such as cardiolipins that are often difficult to observe in untargeted shotgun analyses and require sample-specific preparation steps prior to analysis. This method serves as a resource for comprehensive profiling of lipids from many different categories and classes in an untargeted manner, as well as for targeted and quantitative analyses of individual lipids. Furthermore, this comprehensive analysis of the lipidome can serve as a species- and tissue-specific database for confident identification of other MS-based datasets, such as mass spectrometry imaging.

The Faint "Heartbeats" of IGR J17091-3624: An Exceptional Black Hole Candidate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Altamirano, D.; Belloni, T.; Linares, M.; VanDerKlis, M.; Wunands, R.; Curran, P. A.; Kalamkar, M.; Stiele, H.; Motta, S.; Munoz-Darias, T.;

Effects of the Competitive Season on the Isokinetic Muscle Parameters Changes in World-Class Handball Players.

PubMed

Maurelli, Olivier; Bernard, Pierre L; Dubois, Romain; Ahmaidi, Said; Prioux, Jacques

2018-05-25

Maurelli, O, Bernard, PL, Dubois, R, Ahmaidi, S, and Prioux, J. Effects of the competitive season on the isokinetic muscle parameters changes in world-class handball players. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2018-The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the competitive season on isokinetic muscular parameters of the lower limbs in world-class handball players. Nineteen, male, world-class, handball players (age, 26.6 ± 5.4 years) participated in the study. Two bilateral isokinetic tests of knee joint flexors (H; hamstring) and extensors (Q; quadriceps) were performed in the beginning and end of the competitive season to determine the peak torque (PT), the mean power, and agonist-antagonist ratio, dominant-nondominant ratio (DNDR), and combined ratio. The results showed a significant decrease in PT values at low angular velocity (60°·s) in concentric mode for Q on dominant leg (p < 0.001). The other PT values for dominant and nondominant legs at low and high angular velocities (240°·s) and in eccentric mode (30°·s) were not significantly different for Q and H. For mean power, values did not change at 60°·s. At 240°·s, we found a significant decrease in H for dominant leg (p < 0.001) but not for nondominant leg. In eccentric mode, the results showed a significant increase on both legs (p < 0.001). For the ratios, values significantly decreased for DNDR at 60°·s for Q (p < 0.03) and for agonist/antagonist ratio at 240°·s for the dominant leg (p < 0.01). The present results highlight the importance of integrating regular strength training sessions during the competitive season in world-class handball players. Accordingly, this study should help trainers to modify their planning to maximize strength and power qualities of the lower limbs of their players in addition to avoiding injuries.

Effects of Newcastle disease virus vaccine antibodies on the shedding and transmission of challenge viruses

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Different genotypes of avian paramyxovirus serotype-1 virus (APMV-1) circulate in many parts of the world. Traditionally, Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is recognized as having two major divisions represented by class I and class II, with class II being further divided into eighteen genotypes. Alth...

Effects of Newcastle disease virus vaccine antibodies on the shedding and transmission of challenge viruses

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Different genotypes of avian paramyxovirus serotype-1 virus (APMV-1) circulate in many parts of the world. Traditionally, Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is recognized as having two major divisions represented by class I and class II, with class II being further divided into sixteen genotypes. Althoug...

Structural (Performance) class Potential for North America

Treesearch

Eric Jones; David E. Kretschmann; Kevin Cheung

2014-01-01

Structural class systems are species-independent product classification systems for structural timber. They are used throughout the world to reduce the number of species and grade choices that face the designer of wood construction projects. Structural class systems offer an opportunity to simplify timber specification in North America and to encourage more effective...

40 CFR 86.085-37 - Production vehicles and engines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

.... (d) The following definitions apply to this section: (1) Model type means a unique combination of car..., inertia weight, and transmission class. (3) Vehicle configuration means a unique combination of basic engine, engine code, inertia weight, transmission configuration, and axle ratio within a base level. [48...

40 CFR 86.085-37 - Production vehicles and engines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

.... (d) The following definitions apply to this section: (1) Model type means a unique combination of car..., inertia weight, and transmission class. (3) Vehicle configuration means a unique combination of basic engine, engine code, inertia weight, transmission configuration, and axle ratio within a base level. [48...

An Oral History Project: World War II Veterans Share Memories in My Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fuchs, David W.

2004-01-01

This article describes how the author developed and implemented a course on World War II that has an oral history component. The author describes the format of the World War II course and the oral history component within the course framework. The author uses classroom presentations by veterans to enliven his World War II history class and enhance…

Political Warfare and Contentious Politics

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-01

stone for the United States to develop and test Cold War strategies for combating communist expansion and influence around the world . This study...around the world enabled the PCCH to gain valuable 64 support and resources for organizing membership in the rapidly growing working-class unions of...show the world the capitalist model of third- world development worked better than the Marxist one.”134

Summary of development of 70 MW class model superconducting generator--research and development of superconducting for electric power application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oishi, Ikuo; Nishijima, Kenichi

2002-03-01

A 70 MW class superconducting model generator was designed, manufactured, and tested from 1988 to 1999 as Phase I, which was Japan's national project on applications of superconducting technologies to electric power apparatuses that was commissioned by NEDO as part of New Sunshine Program of AIST and MITI. Phase II then is now being carried out by almost same organization as Phase I. With the development of the 70 MW class superconducting model generator, technologies for a 200 MW class pilot generator were established. The world's largest output (79 MW), world's longest continuous operation (1500 h), and other sufficient characteristics were achieved on the 70 MW class superconducting model generator, and key technologies of design and manufacture required for the 200 MW class pilot generator were established. This project contributed to progress of R&D of power apparatuses. Super-GM has started the next project (Phase II), which shall develop the key technologies for larger-capacity and more-compact machine and is scheduled from 2000 to 2003. Phase II shall be the first step for commercialization of superconducting generator.

Application Exercises Improve Transfer of Statistical Knowledge in Real-World Situations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daniel, Frances; Braasch, Jason L. G.

2013-01-01

The present research investigated whether real-world application exercises promoted students' abilities to spontaneously transfer statistical knowledge and to recognize the use of statistics in real-world contexts. Over the course of a semester of psychological statistics, two classes completed multiple application exercises designed to mimic…

Sea World Curriculum Guide. Program Theme: Behavior K-3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sea World, Inc., San Diego, CA.

This document provides science curriculum instructional material relating to marine biology. Items presented relate to live animal exhibits seen during visits to Sea World marine aquarium exhibits; however, all materials are also useful for in-class instruction without visits to Sea World displays. Ideally, material should be reviewed immediately…

Sea World Curriculum Guide. Program Theme: Adaptations K-3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sea World, Inc., San Diego, CA.

This document provides science curriculum instructional material relating to marine biology. Items presented relate to live animal exhibits seen during visits to Sea World marine aquarium exhibits; however, all materials are also useful for in-class instruction without visits to Sea World displays. Ideally, material should be reviewed immediately…

Sea World Curriculum Guide. Program Theme: Adaptations 4-8.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sea World, Inc., San Diego, CA.

This document provides science curriculum instructional material relating to marine biology. Items presented relate to live animal exhibits seen during visits to Sea World marine aquarium exhibits; however, all materials are also useful for in-class instruction without visits to Sea World displays. Ideally, material should be reviewed immediately…

Sea World Curriculum Guide. Program Theme: Behavior 4-8.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sea World, Inc., San Diego, CA.

This document provides science curriculum instructional material relating to marine biology. Items presented relate to live animal exhibits seen during visits to Sea World marine aquarium exhibits; however, all materials are also useful for in-class instruction without visits to Sea World displays. Ideally, material should be reviewed immediately…

From old alkylating agents to new minor groove binders.

PubMed

Puyo, Stéphane; Montaudon, Danièle; Pourquier, Philippe

2014-01-01

Alkylating agents represent the oldest class of anticancer agents with the approval of mechloretamine by the FDA in 1949. Even though their clinical use is far beyond the use of new targeted therapies, they still occupy a major place in the treatment of specific malignancies, sometimes representing the unique option for the treatment of refractory tumors. Here, we are reviewing the major classes of alkylating agents, with a particular focus on the latest generations of compounds that specifically target the minor groove of the DNA. These naturally occurring derivatives have a unique mechanism of action that explains the recent regain of interest in developing new classes of alkylating agents that could be used in combination with other anticancer drugs to enhance tumor response in the clinic. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Evolving Relationship Between Technology and National Security in China: Innovation, Defense Transformation, and China’s Place in the Global Technology Order

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-12

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: This project examined China’s drive to become a world-class defense and dual -use technological and industrial power and...2211 China, science, technology, dual use, defense, security, innovation REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE 11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT NUMBER(S) 10...Place in the Global Technology Order Report Title This project examined China’s drive to become a world-class defense and dual -use technological and

Highly Symmetric and Congruently Tiled Meshes for Shells and Domes

PubMed Central

Rasheed, Muhibur; Bajaj, Chandrajit

2016-01-01

We describe the generation of all possible shell and dome shapes that can be uniquely meshed (tiled) using a single type of mesh face (tile), and following a single meshing (tiling) rule that governs the mesh (tile) arrangement with maximal vertex, edge and face symmetries. Such tiling arrangements or congruently tiled meshed shapes, are frequently found in chemical forms (fullerenes or Bucky balls, crystals, quasi-crystals, virus nano shells or capsids), and synthetic shapes (cages, sports domes, modern architectural facades). Congruently tiled meshes are both aesthetic and complete, as they support maximal mesh symmetries with minimal complexity and possess simple generation rules. Here, we generate congruent tilings and meshed shape layouts that satisfy these optimality conditions. Further, the congruent meshes are uniquely mappable to an almost regular 3D polyhedron (or its dual polyhedron) and which exhibits face-transitive (and edge-transitive) congruency with at most two types of vertices (each type transitive to the other). The family of all such congruently meshed polyhedra create a new class of meshed shapes, beyond the well-studied regular, semi-regular and quasi-regular classes, and their duals (platonic, Catalan and Johnson). While our new mesh class is infinite, we prove that there exists a unique mesh parametrization, where each member of the class can be represented by two integer lattice variables, and moreover efficiently constructable. PMID:27563368

Problem-based learning in an on-line biotechnology course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheaney, James Daniel

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogical tool that uses a "real world" problem or situation as a context for learning. PBL encourages student development of critical thinking skills, a high professional competency, problem-solving ability, knowledge acquisition, the ability to work productively as a team member and make decisions in unfamiliar situations, and the acquisition of skills that support self-directed life-long learning, metacognition, and adaptation to change. However, little research has focused on the use of PBL in on-line "virtual" classes. We conducted two studies exploring the use of PBL in an on-line biotechnology course. In the first study, ethical, legal, social, and human issues were used as a motivation for learning about DNA testing technologies, applications, and bioethical issues. In the second study, we combined PBL pedagogy with a rich multimedia environment of streaming video interviews, physical artifacts, and extensive links to articles and databases to create a multidimensional immersive PBL environment called "Robert's World". In "Robert's World", a man is determining whether to undergo a pre-symptomatic DNA test for an untreatable, incurable, fatal genetic disease for which he has a family history. In both studies, design and implementation issues of the on-line PBL environment are discussed, as are differences between on-line PBL and face-to-face PBL. Both studies provide evidence to suggest that PBL stimulates higher-order learning in students. However, in both studies, student performance on an exam testing acquisition of lower-order factual learning was lower for PBL students than for students who learned the same material through a traditional lecture-based approach. Possible reasons for this lower level of performance are explored. Student feedback expressed engagement with the issues and material covered, with reservations about some aspects of the PBL format, such as the lack of flexibility provided in cooperative learning. We conclude that on-line PBL is a powerful tool in helping to develop higher-order learning in students. The reasons for the decrease in student understanding of factual information are unclear. However, there are certain circumstances unique to on-line classes to keep in mind when implementing on-line PBL. These are summarized in concluding recommendations.

Exoplanets Clue to Sun's Curious Chemistry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2009-11-01

A ground-breaking census of 500 stars, 70 of which are known to host planets, has successfully linked the long-standing "lithium mystery" observed in the Sun to the presence of planetary systems. Using ESO's successful HARPS spectrograph, a team of astronomers has found that Sun-like stars that host planets have destroyed their lithium much more efficiently than "planet-free" stars. This finding does not only shed light on the lack of lithium in our star, but also provides astronomers with a very efficient way of finding stars with planetary systems. "For almost 10 years we have tried to find out what distinguishes stars with planetary systems from their barren cousins," says Garik Israelian, lead author of a paper appearing this week in the journal Nature. "We have now found that the amount of lithium in Sun-like stars depends on whether or not they have planets." Low levels of this chemical element have been noticed for decades in the Sun, as compared to other solar-like stars, and astronomers have been unable to explain the anomaly. The discovery of a trend among planet-bearing stars provides a natural explanation to this long-standing mystery. "The explanation of this 60 year-long puzzle is for us rather simple," adds Israelian. "The Sun lacks lithium because it has planets." This conclusion is based on the analysis of 500 stars, including 70 planet-hosting stars. Most of these stars were monitored for several years with ESO's High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher. This spectrograph, better known as HARPS, is attached to ESO's 3.6-metre telescope and is the world's foremost exoplanet hunter. "This is the best possible sample available to date to understand what makes planet-bearing stars unique," says co-author Michel Mayor. The astronomers looked in particular at Sun-like stars, almost a quarter of the whole sample. They found that the majority of stars hosting planets possess less than 1% of the amount of lithium shown by most of the other stars. "Like our Sun, these stars have been very efficient at destroying the lithium they inherited at birth," says team member Nuno Santos. "Using our unique, large sample, we can also prove that the reason for this lithium reduction is not related to any other property of the star, such as its age." Unlike most other elements lighter than iron, the light nuclei of lithium, beryllium and boron are not produced in significant amounts in stars. Instead, it is thought that lithium, composed of just three protons and four neutrons, was mainly produced just after the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago. Most stars will thus have the same amount of lithium, unless this element has been destroyed inside the star. This result also provides the astronomers with a new, cost-effective way to search for planetary systems: by checking the amount of lithium present in a star astronomers can decide which stars are worthy of further significant observing efforts. Now that a link between the presence of planets and curiously low levels of lithium has been established, the physical mechanism behind it has to be investigated. "There are several ways in which a planet can disturb the internal motions of matter in its host star, thereby rearrange the distribution of the various chemical elements and possibly cause the destruction of lithium. It is now up to the theoreticians to figure out which one is the most likely to happen," concludes Mayor. More information This research was presented in a paper that appears in the 12 November 2009 issue of Nature (Enhanced lithium depletion in Sun-like stars with orbiting planets, by G. Israelian et al.). The team is composed of Garik Israelian, Elisa Delgado Mena, Carolina Domínguez Cerdeña, and Rafael Rebolo (Instituto de Astrofisíca de Canarias, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain), Nuno Santos and Sergio Sousa (Centro de Astrofisica, Universidade de Porto, Portugal), Michel Mayor and Stéphane Udry (Observatoire de Genève, Switzerland), and Sofia Randich (INAF, Osservatorio di Arcetri, Firenze, Italy). ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

The Chinese FY-1 Meteorological Satellite Application in Observation on Oceanic Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weimin, S.

meteorological satellite is stated in this paper. exploration of the ocean resources has been a very important question of global strategy in the world. The exploration of the ocean resources includes following items: Making full use of oceanic resources and space, protecting oceanic environment. to observe the ocean is by using of satellite. In 1978, US successfully launched the first ocean observation satellite in the world --- Sea Satellite. It develops ancient oceanography in to advanced space-oceanography. FY-1 B and FY- IC respectively. High quality data were acquired at home and abroad. FY-1 is Chinese meteorological satellite, but with 0.43 ~ 0.48 μm ,0.48 ~ 0.53 μm and 0.53 ~ 0.58 μm three ocean color channels, actually it is a multipurpose remote sensing satellite of meteorology and oceanography. FY-1 satellite's capability of observation on ocean partly, thus the application field is expanded and the value is increased. With the addition of oceanic channels on FY-1, the design of the satellite is changed from the original with meteorological observation as its main purpose into remote sensing satellite possessing capability of observing meteorology and ocean as well. Thus, the social and economic benefit of FY-1 is increased. the social and economic benefit of the development of the satellite is the key technique in the system design of the satellite. technically feasible but also save the funds in researching and manufacturing of the satellite, quicken the tempo of researching and manufacturing satellite. the scanning radiometer for FY-1 is conducted an aviation experiment over Chinese ocean. This experiment was of vital importance to the addition of oceanic observation channel on FY-1. FY-1 oceanic channels design to be correct. detecting ocean color. This is the unique character of Chinese FY-1 meteorological satellite. meteorological remote sensing channel on FY-1 to form detecting capability of three visible channels: red, yellow and blue spectrum bands. Thus FY-1 satellite can be used for observation on ocean color experiment. This experiment is successful, a lot of data were acquired. Good application results were obtained in the field of oceanic science research. Therefore, it makes FY-1 a remote sensing satellite used for observation on meteorology and ocean. This is the unique character of Chinese FY-1 meteorological satellite, it is widely noticed all over the world. Chinese meteorological satellite has been realized the aim of using one satellite for multipurpose applications and brought more and more social and economic benefit. oceanic channel in Chinese meteorological satellites is also foreseen to expand the application field in Chinese meteorological satellites. Key Word : Meteorological Satellite Oceanic Remote Sensing

Oath Taking at U.S. and Canadian Medical School Ceremonies: Historical Perspectives, Current Practices, and Future Considerations.

PubMed

Scheinman, Steven J; Fleming, Patrick; Niotis, Kellyann

2017-12-12

The widespread use of oaths at medical commencements is a recent phenomenon of the late 20th century. While many are referred to as "Hippocratic," surveys have found that most oaths are modern, and the use of unique oaths has been rising. Oaths taken upon entry to medical school are even more recent, and their content has not been reported. The authors surveyed all Association of American Medical Colleges member schools in the United States and Canada in 2015 and analyzed oath texts. Of 111 (70.2%) responses, full texts were submitted for 80 commencement and 72 white coat oaths. Previous studies have shown that while oaths before World War II were commonly variations on the original Hippocratic text and subsequently more often variations on the Geneva or Lasagna Oath, now more than half of commencement ceremonies use an oath unique to that school or written by that class. With a wider range of oath texts, content elements are less uniformly shared, so that only three elements (respecting confidentiality, avoiding harm, and upholding the profession's integrity) are present in as many as 80% of oaths. There is less uniformity in the content of oaths upon entry to medical school. Consistently all of these oaths represent the relationship between individual physicians and individual patients, and only a minority express obligations to teach, advocate, prevent disease, or advance knowledge. They do not reflect obligations to assure that systems operate safely, for example. None of the obligations in these oaths are unique to physicians.

Internal character dictates transition dynamics between isolation and cohesive grouping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manrique, Pedro D.; Hui, Pak Ming; Johnson, Neil F.

2015-12-01

We show that accounting for internal character among interacting heterogeneous entities generates rich transition behavior between isolation and cohesive dynamical grouping. Our analytical and numerical calculations reveal different critical points arising for different character-dependent grouping mechanisms. These critical points move in opposite directions as the population's diversity decreases. Our analytical theory may help explain why a particular class of universality is so common in the real world, despite the fundamental differences in the underlying entities. It also correctly predicts the nonmonotonic temporal variation in connectivity observed recently in one such system.

East Asian observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stephenson, F. R.

East Asian observations are of established importance in Applied Historical Astronomy. The earliest astronomical records from this part of the world (China, Japan and Korea) originate from China. These observations, mainly of lunar eclipses, are recorded on oracle bones from the period ca. 1300 - 1050 BC. Virtually all later Chinese and other East Asian astronomical records now exist only in printed copies. The earliest surviving series of solar eclipse observations from any part of the world is contained in the Chunqiu (722 - 481 BC), a chronicle of the Chinese state of Lu. However, not until after 200 BC, with the establishment of a stable empire in China, do detailed astronomical records survive. These are mainly contained in specially compiled astrological treatises in the official dynastic histories. Such records, following the traditional style, extend down to the start of the present century. All classes of phenomena visible to the unaided eye are represented: solar and lunar eclipses, lunar and planetary movements among the constellations, comets, novae and supernovae, meteors, sunspots and the aurora borealis. Parallel, but independent series of observations are recorded in Japanese and Korean history, especially after about AD 800. Sources of Japanese records tend to be more diverse than their Chinese and Korean counterparts, but fortunately Kanda Shigeru (1935) and Ohsaki Shyoji (1994) have made extensive compilations of Japanese astronomical observations down to the 1860s. Throughout East Asia, dates were expressed in terms of a luni-solar calendar.

Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope: High-resolution observing of the dynamic Sun

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tritschler, A.; Rimmele, T. R.; Berukoff, S.; Casini, R.; Kuhn, J. R.; Lin, H.; Rast, M. P.; McMullin, J. P.; Schmidt, W.; Wöger, F.; DKIST Team

2016-11-01

The 4-m aperture Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) formerly known as the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) is currently under construction on Haleakalā (Maui, Hawai'i) projected to start operations in 2019. At the time of completion, DKIST will be the largest ground-based solar telescope providing unprecedented resolution and photon collecting power. The DKIST will be equipped with a set of first-light facility-class instruments offering unique imaging, spectroscopic and spectropolarimetric observing opportunities covering the visible to infrared wavelength range. This first-light instrumentation suite will include: a Visible Broadband Imager (VBI) for high-spatial and -temporal resolution imaging of the solar atmosphere; a Visible Spectro-Polarimeter (ViSP) for sensitive and accurate multi-line spectropolarimetry; a Fabry-Pérot based Visible Tunable Filter (VTF) for high-spatial resolution spectropolarimetry; a fiber-fed Diffraction-Limited Near Infra-Red Spectro-Polarimeter (DL-NIRSP) for two-dimensional high-spatial resolution spectropolarimetry (simultaneous spatial and spectral information); and a Cryogenic Near Infra-Red Spectro-Polarimeter (Cryo-NIRSP) for coronal magnetic field measurements and on-disk observations of, e.g., the CO lines at 4.7 μm. We will provide an overview of the DKIST's unique capabilities with strong focus on the first-light instrumentation suite, highlight some of the additional properties supporting observations of transient and dynamic solar phenomena, and touch on some operational strategies and the DKIST critical science plan.

1982 World's Fair Transportation System Evaluation

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1982-12-01

Each World's Fair is a unique event. Many of the lessons learned in : transportation planning are, however, transferable to other special events. The : Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) sponsored this study to identify : and evaluate th...

Brain-to-Brain Synchrony and Learning Outcomes Vary by Student-Teacher Dynamics: Evidence from a Real-world Classroom Electroencephalography Study.

PubMed

Bevilacqua, Dana; Davidesco, Ido; Wan, Lu; Oostrik, Matthias; Chaloner, Kim; Rowland, Jess; Ding, Mingzhou; Poeppel, David; Dikker, Suzanne

2018-04-30

How does the human brain support real-world learning? We used wireless electroencephalography to collect neurophysiological data from a group of 12 senior high school students and their teacher during regular biology lessons. Six scheduled classes over the course of the semester were organized such that class materials were presented using different teaching styles (videos and lectures), and students completed a multiple-choice quiz after each class to measure their retention of that lesson's content. Both students' brain-to-brain synchrony and their content retention were higher for videos than lectures across the six classes. Brain-to-brain synchrony between the teacher and students varied as a function of student engagement as well as teacher likeability: Students who reported greater social closeness to the teacher showed higher brain-to-brain synchrony with the teacher, but this was only the case for lectures, that is, when the teacher is an integral part of the content presentation. Furthermore, students' retention of the class content correlated with student-teacher closeness, but not with brain-to-brain synchrony. These findings expand on existing social neuroscience research by showing that social factors such as perceived closeness are reflected in brain-to-brain synchrony in real-world group settings and can predict cognitive outcomes such as students' academic performance.

Co-evolution of MHC class I and variable NK cell receptors in placental mammals.

PubMed

Guethlein, Lisbeth A; Norman, Paul J; Hilton, Hugo G; Parham, Peter

2015-09-01

Shaping natural killer (NK) cell functions in human immunity and reproduction are diverse killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) that recognize polymorphic MHC class I determinants. A survey of placental mammals suggests that KIRs serve as variable NK cell receptors only in certain primates and artiodactyls. Divergence of the functional and variable KIRs in primates and artiodactyls predates placental reproduction. Among artiodactyls, cattle but not pigs have diverse KIRs. Catarrhine (humans, apes, and Old World monkeys) and platyrrhine (New World monkeys) primates, but not prosimians, have diverse KIRs. Platyrrhine and catarrhine systems of KIR and MHC class I are highly diverged, but within the catarrhines, a stepwise co-evolution of MHC class I and KIR is discerned. In Old World monkeys, diversification focuses on MHC-A and MHC-B and their cognate lineage II KIR. With evolution of C1-bearing MHC-C from MHC-B, as informed by orangutan, the focus changes to MHC-C and its cognate lineage III KIR. Evolution of C2 from C1 and fixation of MHC-C drove further elaboration of MHC-C-specific KIR, as exemplified by chimpanzee. In humans, the evolutionary trajectory changes again. Emerging from reorganization of the KIR locus and selective attenuation of KIR avidity for MHC class I are the functionally distinctive KIR A and KIR B haplotypes. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Assessment of health-related quality of life, mental health status and psychological distress based on the type of pharmacotherapy used among patients with depression.

PubMed

Shah, Drishti; Vaidya, Varun; Patel, Amit; Borovicka, Mary; Goodman, Monica-Holiday

2017-04-01

Effectiveness of antidepressants is generally comparable between and within classes. However, real-world studies on antidepressant treatment and its consequences on the overall quality of life and mental health of individuals are limited. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of specific class of antidepressants with the health-related quality of life, psychological distress and self-reported mental health of individuals suffering from depression who are on monotherapy. This retrospective, longitudinal study included individuals with depression who were on antidepressant monotherapy, using data from 2008 to 2011 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Changes in health-related quality of life, self-reported mental health and psychological distress over a year's time were observed. A multinomial logistic regression model was built to examine the association between the class of antidepressant medications and the dependent variables. A total of 688 adults met the study inclusion criteria. No significant difference was observed in the change in Physical Component Summary (PCS), self-reported mental health and psychological distress based on the class of antidepressants. However, individuals on serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) (OR 0.337, 95 % CI 0.155-0.730) were significantly less likely to show improvement on Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores as compared to those on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The study findings suggest that practitioners should be aware of the differences in the health-related quality of life of those taking SSRIs versus other classes of antidepressants. Further research needs to be done to determine the reason for SSRIs to show greater improvement on mental health as compared to SNRIs.

Adding to the Toolkit: Three Conceptual Tradeoffs

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-02

Greek philosophers Parmenides and Heraclites. In his essay titled, “Design and the Prospects of a Military Renaissance,” Paparone described the world...viewed by Parmenides as the objective world of scientific reproducibility, ruled by concrete knowledge and nomotheticism, or the philosophy of seeking...subjective world of uniqueness, locality, novelty, and conceptualism. Parmenides

Planning Education To Care for the Earth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Joy, Ed.; And Others

The World Conservation Union brings together states, government agencies, and a diverse range of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in a unique world partnership that seeks to influence, encourage, and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature as well as to ensure that any use of natural resources…

Classroom Management Challenges in the Dance Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Dawn

2007-01-01

Teaching dance can be a challenge because of the unique classroom-management situations that arise from the dynamic nature of the class content. Management is a delicate navigation of advance planning; rule setting; the establishment and implementation of daily protocols, routines, and interventions; and the teacher's own presentation. This…

White Middle Class Identities and Urban Schooling. Identity Studies in the Social Sciences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reay, Diane; Crozier, Gill; James, David

2011-01-01

This book examines experiences and implications of "against-the-grain" school choices, where white middle class families choose ordinary and "low performing" secondary schools for their children. It offers a unique view of identity formation, taking in matters like family history, locality and whiteness.

"I'm Like You Not": Intergenerational Mobility of Working Class Students from a Cultural-Evolutionary Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lovett, Trevor

2016-01-01

This retrospective narrative investigation challenges aspects of structural determinism. The biographical data generated in the study revealed that the baby-boomer, male participants were not academically constrained by their working class identities. Interpersonal relationships experienced within an individual's unique communities of practice…

Remote sensing survey of Chinese tallow tree in the Toledo Bend Reservoir area, Louisiana and Texas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ramsey, Elijah W.; Rangoonwala, Amina; Bannister, Terri; Suzuoki, Yukihiro

2013-01-01

We applied Hyperion sensor satellite data acquired by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite in conjunction with reconnaissance surveys to map the occurrences of the invasive Chinese tallow tree (Triadica sebifera) in the Toledo Bend Reservoir study area of northwestern Louisiana and northeastern Texas. The rationale for application of high spectral resolution EO-1 Hyperion data was based on the successful use of Hyperion data in the mapping of Chinese tallow tree in southwestern Louisiana in 2005. In contrast to the single Hyperion image used in the 2005 project, more than 20 EO-1 Hyperion and Advanced Land Imager (ALI) images of the study area were collected in 2009 and 2010 during the fall senescence when Chinese tallow tree leaves turn red. Atmospherically corrected reflectance spectra of Hyperion imagery collected at ground and aerial observation locations provided the input datasets used in the program for spectral discrimination analysis. Discrimination analysis was used to identify spectral indicator sets to best explain variance contained in the input databases. The expectation was that at least one set of Hyperion-based indicator spectra would uniquely identify occurrences of red-leaf Chinese tallow tree; however, no combination of Hyperion-based reflectance datasets produced a unique identifier. The inability to discover a unique spectral indicator resulted primarily from relatively sparse coverage by red-leaf Chinese tallow tree within the study area (percentage of coverage was less than 5 percent per 30- by 30-meter Hyperion pixel). To enhance the performance of the spectral discrimination analysis, leaf and canopy spectra of Chinese tallow tree were added to the input datasets to guide the indicator selection. In addition, input databases were segregated by land class obtained from an ALI-based landcover classification in order to reduce the input variance and to promote spectral discrimination of red-leaf Chinese tallow tree. Although no unique spectral identifier for red-leaf Chinese tallow tree was uncovered with these enhanced methods, in some cases predicted spatial patterns throughout the Hyperion images revealed alignment with vegetation associations within each land class that was often observed to contain Chinese tallow trees. These instances were associated particularly with the addition of helicopter-based spectra to the input databases. It was attempted to extend such predictions of likely occurrences of Chinese tallow tree by mapping six of the nine Hyperion swaths and four of the nine land classes, but this attempt produced uncertain results that could not be fully evaluated for accuracy. Even though the final mapping showed promise in identifying likely Chinese tallow tree occurrences, the low percentage of occurrences hindered mapping performance and validation. Results of the mapping suggested that successful detection of Chinese tallow tree in the study area would require a spectral sensor similar to the Hyperion but with a higher ground-level spatial resolution. Although the Hyperion-based spectral mapping did not provide the desired results, the associated field (ground and aerial) surveys did provide for a qualitative assessment of the overall Chinese tallow tree distribution within the study area. Ground and aerial surveys suggested that Chinese tallow tree occurrences were uncommon and were without an observed pattern in relation to proximity to the Toledo Bend Reservoir. Although uncommon and scattered, Chinese tallow trees and shrubs most commonly existed along forest edges, water edges, and fence lines, probably most in line with seed dispersal by birds. Chinese tallow trees were observed to be more densely dispersed within some scrublands and grasslands than were observed in pine, hardwood, and mixed forests.

Effect of roasting degree on the antioxidant activity of different Arabica coffee quality classes.

PubMed

Odžaković, Božana; Džinić, Natalija; Kukrić, Zoran; Grujić, Slavica

2016-01-01

Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, because of its unique sensory properties and physiological properties. Coffee beverages represent a significant source of antioxidants in the consumers' diet and contribute significantly to their daily intake. The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of different roasting degrees on the content of biologically active compounds and antioxidant activity in different quality classes of Arabica coffee. Samples of green Arabica coffee (Rio Minas) of two quality classes from two production batches were used for the research. Roasting was carried out at temperatures of 167, 175 and 171°C. The total phenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), flavonol content (FC) and antioxidant activity (DPPH, ABTS) in the coffee extracts was determined. This research shows that TPC was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in green coffee compared to TPC in roasted coffee, and TPC decreases as the roasting temperature increases. TFC and FC were significantly lower (P < 0.05) in green coffee than in roasted coffee. Differences in TPC between the 1st and 2nd classes of Arabica coffee were not significant (P > 0.05), while differences in TFC were significant (P < 0.05) only for green coffee from the second production batch and differences in FC were significant (P < 0.05) for green coffee and for coffee roasted at 175°C. Roasting temperatures have different influences the antioxidant activity (DPPH, ABTS) of coffee and the highest antioxidant activity was determined in coffee roasted at 171°C. An exception was 1st class Arabica coffee roasted at 167°C (ABTS). All samples of 1st class Arabica coffee had higher antioxidant activity (DPPH, ABTS) compared to 2nd class Arabica. This research shows that the bioactive compounds content and antioxidant activity of different quality classes of Arabica coffee are dependent on the degree of roasting. TPC decreases when the roasting temperature increases, while TFC and FC also increase. These results indicate that the antioxidant activity of coffee depends on a variety of bioactive components in coffee beans. Antioxidant activity largely depends on the class of coffee. The coffee samples of 1stclass quality (maximum 8 black beans/300 g from the sample and large bean size) had higher antioxidant activity compared to samples of 2nd quality class (maximum 19 black beans/300 g in the sample and medium-sized beans).

Use of responder threshold criteria to evaluate the response to treatment in the phase III CHEST-1 study.

PubMed

D'Armini, Andrea M; Ghofrani, Hossein-Ardeschir; Kim, Nick H; Mayer, Eckhard; Morsolini, Marco; Pulido-Zamudio, Tomás; Simonneau, Gerald; Wilkins, Martin R; Curram, John; Davie, Neil; Hoeper, Marius M

2015-03-01

In the Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension Soluble Guanylate Cyclase - Stimulator Trial 1 (CHEST-1) study, riociguat improved 6-minute walking distance (6MWD) vs placebo in patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension or persistent/recurrent pulmonary hypertension after pulmonary endarterectomy. In this study, the proportion of patients who achieved responder thresholds that correlate with improved outcome in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension was determined at baseline and at the end of CHEST-1. Patients received placebo or riociguat individually adjusted up to 2.5 mg 3 times a day for 16 weeks. Response criteria were defined as follows: 6MWD increase ≥40 m, 6MWD ≥380 m, cardiac index ≥2.5 liters/min/m(2), pulmonary vascular resistance <500 dyn∙sec∙cm(-5), mixed venous oxygen saturation ≥65%, World Health Organization functional class I/II, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide <1,800 pg/ml, and right atrial pressure <8 mm Hg. Riociguat increased the proportion of patients with 6MWD ≥380 m, World Health Organization functional class I/II, and pulmonary vascular resistance <500 dyn∙sec∙cm(-5) from 37%, 34%, and 25% at baseline to 58%, 57%, and 50% at Week 16, whereas there was little change in placebo-treated patients (6MWD ≥380 m, 43% vs 44%; World Health Organization functional class I/II, 29% vs 38%; pulmonary vascular resistance <500 dyn∙sec∙cm(-5), 27% vs 26%). Similar changes were observed for thresholds for cardiac index, mixed venous oxygen saturation, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, and right atrial pressure. In this exploratory analysis, riociguat increased the proportion of patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension or persistent/recurrent pulmonary hypertension after pulmonary endarterectomy achieving criteria defining a positive response to therapy. Copyright © 2015 International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Characterization of Unstable Rock Slopes Through Passive Seismic Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kleinbrod, U.; Burjanek, J.; Fäh, D.

2014-12-01

Catastrophic rock slope failures have high social impact, causing significant damage to infrastructure and many casualties throughout the world each year. Both detection and characterization of rock instabilities are therefore of key importance. An analysis of ambient vibrations of unstable rock slopes might be a new alternative to the already existing methods, e.g. geotechnical displacement measurements. Systematic measurements have been performed recently in Switzerland to study the seismic response of potential rockslides concerning a broad class of slope failure mechanisms and material conditions. Small aperture seismic arrays were deployed at sites of interest for a short period of time (several hours) in order to record ambient vibrations. Each measurement setup included a reference station, which was installed on a stable part close to the instability. Recorded ground motion is highly directional in the unstable parts of the rock slope, and significantly amplified with respect to stable areas. These effects are strongest at certain frequencies, which were identified as eigenfrequencies of the unstable rock mass. In most cases the directions of maximum amplification are perpendicular to open cracks and in good agreement with the deformation directions obtained by geodetic measurements. Such unique signatures might improve our understanding of slope structure and stability. Thus we link observed vibration characteristics with available results of detailed geological characterization. This is supported by numerical modeling of seismic wave propagation in fractured media with complex topography.For example, a potential relation between eigenfrequencies and unstable rock mass volume is investigated.

Training mid- to late-career health professionals for clinical work in low-income regions abroad.

PubMed

Harris, W Andrew; Spencer, Peter; Winthrop, Kevin; Kravitz, Jay

2014-01-01

Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Global Health Center has developed a unique training program-Professionals' Training in Global Health (PTGH)--for mid- and late-career health professionals wanting to perform clinical services overseas in low-income countries. A multidisciplinary, multifaceted, structured curriculum underpins the clinical retraining, with classes aimed to be practical for clinical settings in resource-poor regions of the world. Preceptorships in family medicine and emergency medicine offer specialists the opportunity to observe primary care physicians one-on-one. In addition, PTGH trainees volunteer at free medical clinics where they work under the guidance and supervision of a family physician. For those individuals who live at some distance from Portland, Oregon, the course offers live videoconferencing, as well as archived streaming for later review. As of November 2013, 79 health professionals have completed the course, with 45 graduates having subsequently volunteered on one or more overseas medical missions, for a total of 109 medical service visits to 36 countries. Pre- and post-course testing shows improvements in clinical skills and knowledge base. Professionals' Training in Global Health has a 6-year record of interprofessional training and service both overseas and at home. The course has trained physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, midwives, paramedics and other health professionals. © 2014 The Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education, and the Council on Continuing Medical Education, Association for Hospital Medical Education.

Arctic Forecasts Available from Polar Bear Exhibit as an Example of Formal/Informal Collaboration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Landis, C. E.; Cervenec, J.

2012-12-01

A subset of the general population enjoys and frequents informal education venues, offering an opportunity for lifelong learning that also enhances and supports formal education efforts. The Byrd Polar Research Center (BPRC) at The Ohio State University collaborated with the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium (CZA) in the development of their Polar Frontier exhibit, from its initial planning to the Grand Opening of the exhibit, through the present. Of course, the addition to the Zoo of polar bears and Arctic fox in the Polar Frontier has been very popular, with almost a 7% increase in visitors in 2010 when the exhibit opened. The CZA and BPRC are now investigating ways to increase the climate literacy impact of the exhibit, and to increase engagement with the topics through follow-on activities. For example, individuals or classes anywhere in the world can check forecasts from the Polar Weather and Research Forecasting model and compare them to observed conditions-- allowing deep investigation into changes in the Arctic. In addition, opportunities exist to adapt the Zoo School experience (affecting several Central Ohio school districts) and/or to enable regular participation through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of digital communication. BPRC's sustained engagement with the CZA is an example of a trusted and meaningful partnership where open dialogue exists about providing the best learning experience for visitors. This presentation will share some of the lessons learned from this unique partnership, and strategies that are adopted to move it forward.

BRFS: TOXICOLOGY AND RISK

EPA Science Inventory

Brominated flame retardants are a large class of diverse chemicals which are being used in increasing amounts world wide to protect against fires. The major classes include the polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), the brominated bisphenols (e.g., tetrabromobisphenol A, TBBPA)...

Travelers, Not Tourists: A World Literature Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Downing, Karen

2002-01-01

Describes a high school world literature course. Outlines four "destinations" for topics including: searching for meaning; injustice; romantic love; and border crossing. Discusses teaching techniques and literature the author uses to teach the class. (SG)

Nonmagnetotactic Multicellular Prokaryotes from Low-Saline, Nonmarine Aquatic Environments and Their Unusual Negative Phototactic Behavior▿ †

PubMed Central

Lefèvre, Christopher T.; Abreu, Fernanda; Lins, Ulysses; Bazylinski, Dennis A.

2010-01-01

Magnetotactic multicellular prokaryotes (MMPs) are unique magnetotactic bacteria of the Deltaproteobacteria class and the first found to biomineralize the magnetic mineral greigite (Fe3S4). Thus far they have been reported only from marine habitats. We questioned whether MMPs exist in low-saline, nonmarine environments. MMPs were observed in samples from shallow springs in the Great Boiling Springs geothermal field and Pyramid Lake, both located in northwestern Nevada. The temperature at all sites was ambient, and salinities ranged from 5 to 11 ppt. These MMPs were not magnetotactic and did not contain magnetosomes (called nMMPs here). nMMPs ranged from 7 to 11 μm in diameter, were composed of about 40 to 60 Gram-negative cells, and were motile by numerous flagella that covered each cell on one side, characteristics similar to those of MMPs. 16S rRNA gene sequences of nMMPs show that they form a separate phylogenetic branch within the MMP group in the Deltaproteobacteria class, probably representing a single species. nMMPs exhibited a negative phototactic behavior to white light and to wavelengths of ≤480 nm (blue). We devised a “light racetrack” to exploit this behavior, which was used to photoconcentrate nMMPs for specific purposes (e.g., DNA extraction) even though their numbers were low in the sample. Our results show that the unique morphology of the MMP is not restricted to marine and magnetotactic prokaryotes. Discovery of nonmagnetotactic forms of the MMP might support the hypothesis that acquisition of the magnetosome genes involves horizontal gene transfer. To our knowledge, this is the first report of phototaxis in bacteria of the Deltaproteobacteria class. PMID:20363801

It's a Small World After All

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, M. Gail; Broadwell, Bethany; Falvo, Michael; Minogue, James; Oppewal, Thomas

2005-01-01

As one of the authors was warning the fifth-grade class about protecting clothes from spills in the lab, one student commented that his pants wouldn't stain because they were covered with some "nano stuff." The class tossed water on the pants and watched it bead up and roll off "like magic." The class's interest was piqued, and the questions…

Contributions of identifiable neurons and neuron classes to lamprey vertebrate neurobiology.

PubMed

Buchanan, J T

2001-03-01

Among the advantages offered by the lamprey brainstem and spinal cord for studies of the structure and function of the nervous system is the unique identifiability of several pairs of reticulospinal neurons in the brainstem. These neurons have been exploited in investigations of the patterns of sensory input to these cells and the patterns of their outputs to spinal neurons, but no doubt these cells could be used much more effectively in exploring their roles in descending control of the spinal cord. The variability of cell positions of neurons in the spinal cord has precluded the recognition of unique spinal neurons. However, classes of nerve cells can be readily defined and characterized within the lamprey spinal cord and this has led to progress in understanding the cellular and synaptic mechanisms of locomotor activity. In addition, both the identifiable reticulospinal cells and the various spinal nerve cell classes and their known synaptic interactions have been used to demonstrate the degree and specificity of regeneration within the lamprey nervous system. The lack of uniquely identifiable cells within the lamprey spinal cord has hampered progress in these areas, especially in gaining a full understanding of the locomotor network and how neuromodulation of the network is accomplished.

Notch Decoys that Selectively Block Dll/Notch or Jagged/Notch Disrupt Angiogenesis by Unique Mechanisms to Inhibit Tumor Growth

PubMed Central

Kangsamaksin, Thaned; Murtomaki, Aino; Kofler, Natalie M.; Cuervo, Henar; Chaudhri, Reyhaan A.; Tattersall, Ian W.; Rosenstiel, Paul E.; Shawber, Carrie J.; Kitajewski, Jan

2015-01-01

A pro-angiogenic role for Jagged-dependent activation of Notch signaling in the endothelium has yet to be described. Using proteins that encoded different NOTCH1 EGF-like repeats, we identified unique regions of DLL-class and JAG-class ligand/receptor interactions, and developed Notch decoys that function as ligand-specific Notch inhibitors. N110-24 decoy blocked JAG1/JAG2-mediated NOTCH1 signaling, angiogenic sprouting in vitro and retinal angiogenesis, demonstrating JAG-dependent Notch signal activation promotes angiogenesis. In tumors, N110-24 decoy reduced angiogenic sprouting, vessel perfusion, pericyte coverage, and tumor growth. JAG/NOTCH signaling uniquely inhibited expression of anti-angiogenic sVEFGFR-1/sFlt-1. N11-13 decoy interfered with DLL1/DLL4-mediated NOTCH1 signaling and caused endothelial hypersprouting in vitro, in retinal angiogenesis and in tumors. Thus, blockade of JAG- or DLL-mediated Notch signaling inhibits angiogenesis by distinct mechanisms. JAG/Notch signaling positively regulates angiogenesis by suppressing sVEGFR-1/sFlt-1 and promoting mural/endothelial cell interactions. Blockade of JAG-class ligands represents a novel, viable therapeutic approach to block tumor angiogenesis and growth. PMID:25387766

CNN Newsroom Classroom Guides. December 1999.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cable News Network, Atlanta, GA.

These guides, designed to accompany the daily Cable News Network (CNN) Newsroom broadcasts for December 1-17, 1999, provide program rundowns, suggestions for class activities and discussion, links to relevant World Wide Web sites, and a list of related news terms. Top stories include: World AIDS Day, World Trade Organization protests in Seattle,…

World-Class Leaders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weinstein, Margery

2012-01-01

Future leaders' creativity and problem-solving skills have been honed in leadership courses, but that doesn't mean they are ready to use those skills to further a company's place in the world. With emerging markets in Asia, South America, and other areas of the world, a workforce needs to have an understanding of and interest in cultures beyond…

Careers | Argonne National Laboratory

Science.gov Websites

YouTube Google+ More Social Media » Jason Carter Mechanical Engineer Read more » Look at the world differently. At Argonne, we view the world from a different perspective. Our scientists and engineers conduct world-class research in clean energy, the environment, technology, national security and more. We're

Structural and biochemical analyses of a Clostridium perfringens sortase D transpeptidase

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

Suryadinata, Randy, E-mail: randy.suryadinata@csiro.au; Seabrook, Shane A.; Adams, Timothy E.

The structure of C. perfringens sortase D was determined at 1.99 Å resolution. Comparative biochemical and structural analyses revealed that this transpeptidase may represent a new subclass of the sortase D family. The assembly and anchorage of various pathogenic proteins on the surface of Gram-positive bacteria is mediated by the sortase family of enzymes. These cysteine transpeptidases catalyze a unique sorting signal motif located at the C-terminus of their target substrate and promote the covalent attachment of these proteins onto an amino nucleophile located on another protein or on the bacterial cell wall. Each of the six distinct classes ofmore » sortases displays a unique biological role, with sequential activation of multiple sortases often observed in many Gram-positive bacteria to decorate their peptidoglycans. Less is known about the members of the class D family of sortases (SrtD), but they have a suggested role in spore formation in an oxygen-limiting environment. Here, the crystal structure of the SrtD enzyme from Clostridium perfringens was determined at 1.99 Å resolution. Comparative analysis of the C. perfringens SrtD structure reveals the typical eight-stranded β-barrel fold observed in all other known sortases, along with the conserved catalytic triad consisting of cysteine, histidine and arginine residues. Biochemical approaches further reveal the specifics of the SrtD catalytic activity in vitro, with a significant preference for the LPQTGS sorting motif. Additionally, the catalytic activity of SrtD is most efficient at 316 K and can be further improved in the presence of magnesium cations. Since C. perfringens spores are heat-resistant and lead to foodborne illnesses, characterization of the spore-promoting sortase SrtD may lead to the development of new antimicrobial agents.« less

Investing in sustainability at Coral World

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

Jackson, O.

Now open and operational for several years, Coral World offers a unique environmental model for other tourism-related facilities throughout the Caribbean and beyond. The extensive energy conservation program has yielded a 40 to 50% reduction in energy use and costs. The facility's unique on-site storm water absorption system virtually eliminates silt runoff to the coastal waters. The innovative, highly cost-effective series of renewable energy installations include a photovoltaic-powered restaurant kitchen, solar hot water systems and one of the world's first hydroelectric systems that uses wastewater drainage for turbine source waters. The extensive marine environmental conservation program protects fragile local ecosystemsmore » while also protecting the owners' investment in tourism. By investing aggressively in sustainability, Coral World's owners are reaping the benefits not only in reduced operating costs and improved profitability, but also in increased visitor volume and satisfaction.« less

Total cellular glycomics allows characterizing cells and streamlining the discovery process for cellular biomarkers.

PubMed

Fujitani, Naoki; Furukawa, Jun-ichi; Araki, Kayo; Fujioka, Tsuyoshi; Takegawa, Yasuhiro; Piao, Jinhua; Nishioka, Taiki; Tamura, Tomohiro; Nikaido, Toshio; Ito, Makoto; Nakamura, Yukio; Shinohara, Yasuro

2013-02-05

Although many of the frequently used pluripotency biomarkers are glycoconjugates, a glycoconjugate-based exploration of novel cellular biomarkers has proven difficult due to technical difficulties. This study reports a unique approach for the systematic overview of all major classes of oligosaccharides in the cellular glycome. The proposed method enabled mass spectrometry-based structurally intensive analyses, both qualitatively and quantitatively, of cellular N- and O-linked glycans derived from glycoproteins, glycosaminoglycans, and glycosphingolipids, as well as free oligosaccharides of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), and various human cells derived from normal and carcinoma cells. Cellular total glycomes were found to be highly cell specific, demonstrating their utility as unique cellular descriptors. Structures of glycans of all classes specifically observed in hESCs and hiPSCs tended to be immature in general, suggesting the presence of stem cell-specific glycosylation spectra. The current analysis revealed the high similarity of the total cellular glycome between hESCs and hiPSCs, although it was suggested that hESCs are more homogeneous than hiPSCs from a glycomic standpoint. Notably, this study enabled a priori identification of known pluripotency biomarkers such as SSEA-3, -4, and -5 and Tra-1-60/81, as well as a panel of glycans specifically expressed by hESCs and hiPSCs.

VenSAR on EnVision: Taking earth observation radar to Venus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghail, Richard C.; Hall, David; Mason, Philippa J.; Herrick, Robert R.; Carter, Lynn M.; Williams, Ed

2018-02-01

Venus should be the most Earth-like of all our planetary neighbours: its size, bulk composition and distance from the Sun are very similar to those of Earth. How and why did it all go wrong for Venus? What lessons can be learned about the life story of terrestrial planets in general, in this era of discovery of Earth-like exoplanets? Were the radically different evolutionary paths of Earth and Venus driven solely by distance from the Sun, or do internal dynamics, geological activity, volcanic outgassing and weathering also play an important part? EnVision is a proposed ESA Medium class mission designed to take Earth Observation technology to Venus to measure its current rate of geological activity, determine its geological history, and the origin and maintenance of its hostile atmosphere, to understand how Venus and Earth could have evolved so differently. EnVision will carry three instruments: the Venus Emission Mapper (VEM); the Subsurface Radar Sounder (SRS); and VenSAR, a world-leading European phased array synthetic aperture radar that is the subject of this article. VenSAR will obtain images at a range of spatial resolutions from 30 m regional coverage to 1 m images of selected areas; an improvement of two orders of magnitude on Magellan images; measure topography at 15 m resolution vertical and 60 m spatially from stereo and InSAR data; detect cm-scale change through differential InSAR, to characterise volcanic and tectonic activity, and estimate rates of weathering and surface alteration; and characterise of surface mechanical properties and weathering through multi-polar radar data. These data will be directly comparable with Earth Observation radar data, giving geoscientists unique access to an Earth-sized planet that has evolved on a radically different path to our own, offering new insights on the Earth-sized exoplanets across the galaxy.

Antigen-B Cell Receptor Complexes Associate with Intracellular major histocompatibility complex (MHC) Class II Molecules*

PubMed Central

Barroso, Margarida; Tucker, Heidi; Drake, Lisa; Nichol, Kathleen; Drake, James R.

2015-01-01

Antigen processing and MHC class II-restricted antigen presentation by antigen-presenting cells such as dendritic cells and B cells allows the activation of naïve CD4+ T cells and cognate interactions between B cells and effector CD4+ T cells, respectively. B cells are unique among class II-restricted antigen-presenting cells in that they have a clonally restricted antigen-specific receptor, the B cell receptor (BCR), which allows the cell to recognize and respond to trace amounts of foreign antigen present in a sea of self-antigens. Moreover, engagement of peptide-class II complexes formed via BCR-mediated processing of cognate antigen has been shown to result in a unique pattern of B cell activation. Using a combined biochemical and imaging/FRET approach, we establish that internalized antigen-BCR complexes associate with intracellular class II molecules. We demonstrate that the M1-paired MHC class II conformer, shown previously to be critical for CD4 T cell activation, is incorporated selectively into these complexes and loaded selectively with peptide derived from BCR-internalized cognate antigen. These results demonstrate that, in B cells, internalized antigen-BCR complexes associate with intracellular MHC class II molecules, potentially defining a site of class II peptide acquisition, and reveal a selective role for the M1-paired class II conformer in the presentation of cognate antigen. These findings provide key insights into the molecular mechanisms used by B cells to control the source of peptides charged onto class II molecules, allowing the immune system to mount an antibody response focused on BCR-reactive cognate antigen. PMID:26400081

R Coronae Australis: A Cosmic Watercolour

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-06-01

This magnificent view of the region around the star R Coronae Australis was created from images taken with the Wide Field Imager (WFI) at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile. R Coronae Australis lies at the heart of a nearby star-forming region and is surrounded by a delicate bluish reflection nebula embedded in a huge dust cloud. The image reveals surprising new details in this dramatic area of sky. The star R Coronae Australis lies in one of the nearest and most spectacular star-forming regions. This portrait was taken by the Wide Field Imager (WFI) on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. The image is a combination of twelve separate pictures taken through red, green and blue filters. This image shows a section of sky that spans roughly the width of the full Moon. This is equivalent to about four light-years at the distance of the nebula, which is located some 420 light-years away in the small constellation of Corona Australis (the Southern Crown). The complex is named after the star R Coronae Australis, which lies at the centre of the image. It is one of several stars in this region that belong to the class of very young stars that vary in brightness and are still surrounded by the clouds of gas and dust from which they formed. The intense radiation given off by these hot young stars interacts with the gas surrounding them and is either reflected or re-emitted at a different wavelength. These complex processes, determined by the physics of the interstellar medium and the properties of the stars, are responsible for the magnificent colours of nebulae. The light blue nebulosity seen in this picture is mostly due to the reflection of starlight off small dust particles. The young stars in the R Coronae Australis complex are similar in mass to the Sun and do not emit enough ultraviolet light to ionise a substantial fraction of the surrounding hydrogen. This means that the cloud does not glow with the characteristic red colour seen in many star-forming regions. The huge dust cloud in which the reflection nebula is embedded is here shown in impressively fine detail. The subtle colours and varied textures of the dust clouds make this image resemble an impressionist painting. A prominent dark lane crosses the image from the centre to the bottom left. Here the visible light emitted by the stars that are forming inside the cloud is completely absorbed by the dust. These objects could only be detected by observing at longer wavelengths, by using a camera that can detect infrared radiation. R Coronae Australis itself is not visible to the unaided eye, but the tiny, tiara-shaped constellation in which it lies is easily spotted from dark sites due to its proximity on the sky to the larger constellation of Sagittarius and the rich star clouds towards the centre of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

A multi-case study of school gardens in Southwest Montana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yates, Kimberly Ann

Many children today spend little time outdoors exploring the natural world and a great deal of time inside viewing the television or playing video games. This new condition of childhood has many negative ramifications, such as poor social development, childhood obesity, and a lack of feeling connected to the environment. One instructional tool being used by some schools to address these rising concerns is a school garden. School gardens can provide an opportunity for students to experience learning in a real-world application, outside of the classroom walls. This qualitative multi-case study explores three school gardens in Southwest Montana and tells each of their unique stories. Through the process of participant observation, interviews, and the collection of multiple data sources, a thorough description is given of the history behind the gardens, how they have impacted the teachers and students, what challenges they have faced, and the common characteristics found in a successful school garden program. During the data analysis process, themes for each case study site were revealed. The results of this study found that each school garden was unique in character and purpose and that a number of dedicated garden supporters are essential to the success of a garden program. In conclusion, suggestions and resources were provided for practitioners interested in pursuing a garden program.

The System for Quick Search of the Astronomical Objects and Events in the Digital Plate Archives.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sergeev, A. V.; Sergeeva, T. P.

From the middle of the XIX century observatories all over the world have accumulated about three millions astronomical plates contained the unique information about the Universe which can not be obtained or restored with the help of any newest facilities and technologies but may be useful for many modern astronomical investigations. The threat of astronomical plate archives loss caused by economical, technical or some other causes have put before world astronomical community a problem: the preservation of the unique information kept on those plates. The problem can be solved by transformation of the information from plates to digital form and keeping it on electronic data medium. We began a creation of a system for quick search and analysing of astronomical events and objects in digital plate archive of the Ukrainian Main astronomical observatory of NAS. Connection of the system to Internet will allow a remote user (astronomer or observer) to have access to digital plate archive and to work with it. For providing of the high efficiency of this work the plate database (list of the plates with all information about them and access software) are preparing. Modular structure of the system basic software and standard format of the plate image files allow future development of problem-oriented software for special astronomical researches.

Orion in a New Light - VISTA exposes high-speed antics of young stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-02-01

The Orion Nebula reveals many of its hidden secrets in a dramatic image taken by ESO's new VISTA survey telescope. The telescope's huge field of view can show the full splendour of the whole nebula and VISTA's infrared vision also allows it to peer deeply into dusty regions that are normally hidden and expose the curious behaviour of the very active young stars buried there. VISTA - the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy - is the latest addition to ESO's Paranal Observatory (eso0949). It is the largest survey telescope in the world and is dedicated to mapping the sky at infrared wavelengths. The large (4.1-metre) mirror, wide field of view and very sensitive detectors make VISTA a unique instrument. This dramatic new image of the Orion Nebula illustrates VISTA's remarkable powers. The Orion Nebula [1] is a vast stellar nursery lying about 1350 light-years from Earth. Although the nebula is spectacular when seen through an ordinary telescope, what can be seen using visible light is only a small part of a cloud of gas in which stars are forming. Most of the action is deeply embedded in dust clouds and to see what is really happening astronomers need to use telescopes with detectors sensitive to the longer wavelength radiation that can penetrate the dust. VISTA has imaged the Orion Nebula at wavelengths about twice as long as can be detected by the human eye. As in the many visible light pictures of this object, the new wide field VISTA image shows the familiar bat-like form of the nebula in the centre of the picture as well as the fascinating surrounding area. At the very heart of this region lie the four bright stars forming the Trapezium, a group of very hot young stars pumping out fierce ultraviolet radiation that is clearing the surrounding region and making the gas glow. However, observing in the infrared allows VISTA to reveal many other young stars in this central region that cannot be seen in visible light. Looking to the region above the centre of the picture, curious red features appear that are completely invisible except in the infrared. Many of these are very young stars that are still growing and are seen through the dusty clouds from which they form. These youthful stars eject streams of gas with typical speeds of 700 000 km/hour and many of the red features highlight the places where these gas streams collide with the surrounding gas, causing emission from excited molecules and atoms in the gas. There are also a few faint, red features below the Orion Nebula in the image, showing that stars form there too, but with much less vigour. These strange features are of great interest to astronomers studying the birth and youth of stars. This new image shows the power of the VISTA telescope to image wide areas of sky quickly and deeply in the near-infrared part of the spectrum. The telescope is just starting to survey the sky and astronomers are anticipating a rich harvest of science from this unique ESO facility. Notes [1] The Orion Nebula lies in the sword of the famous celestial hunter and is a favourite target both for casual sky watchers and astrophysicists alike. It is faintly visible to the unaided eye and appeared to early telescopic observers as a small cluster of blue-white stars surrounded by a mysterious grey-green mist. The object was first described in the early seventeenth century although the identity of the discoverer is uncertain. The French comet-hunter Messier made an accurate sketch of its main features in the mid-eighteenth century and gave it the number 42 in his famous catalogue. He also allocated the number 43 to the smaller detached region just above the main part of the nebula. Later William Herschel speculated that the nebula might be "the chaotic material of future suns" and astronomers have since discovered that the mist is indeed gas glowing under the fierce ultraviolet light from young hot stars that have recently formed there. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Colors of Alien Worlds from Direct Imaging Exoplanet Missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Renyu

2016-01-01

Future direct-imaging exoplanet missions such as WFIRST will measure the reflectivity of exoplanets at visible wavelengths. Most of the exoplanets to be observed will be located further away from their parent stars than is Earth from the Sun. These "cold" exoplanets have atmospheric environments conducive for the formation of water and/or ammonia clouds, like Jupiter in the Solar System. I find the mixing ratio of methane and the pressure level of the uppermost cloud deck on these planets can be uniquely determined from their reflection spectra, with moderate spectral resolution, if the cloud deck is between 0.6 and 1.5 bars. The existence of this unique solution is useful for exoplanet direct imaging missions for several reasons. First, the weak bands and strong bands of methane enable the measurement of the methane mixing ratio and the cloud pressure, although an overlying haze layer can bias the estimate of the latter. Second, the cloud pressure, once derived, yields an important constraint on the internal heat flux from the planet, and thus indicating its thermal evolution. Third, water worlds having H2O-dominated atmospheres are likely to have water clouds located higher than the 10-3 bar pressure level, and muted spectral absorption features. These planets would occupy a confined phase space in the color-color diagrams, likely distinguishable from H2-rich giant exoplanets by broadband observations. Therefore, direct-imaging exoplanet missions may offer the capability to broadly distinguish H2-rich giant exoplanets versus H2O-rich super-Earth exoplanets, and to detect ammonia and/or water clouds and methane gas in their atmospheres.

Celestial Fireworks from Dying Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2011-04-01

This image of the nebula NGC 3582, which was captured by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile, shows giant loops of gas bearing a striking resemblance to solar prominences. These loops are thought to have been ejected by dying stars, but new stars are also being born within this stellar nursery. These energetic youngsters emit intense ultraviolet radiation that makes the gas in the nebula glow, producing the fiery display shown here. NGC 3582 is part of a large star-forming region in the Milky Way, called RCW 57. It lies close to the central plane of the Milky Way in the southern constellation of Carina (The Keel of Jason's ship, the Argo). John Herschel first saw this complex region of glowing gas and dark dust clouds in 1834, during his stay in South Africa. Some of the stars forming in regions like NGC 3582 are much heavier than the Sun. These monster stars emit energy at prodigious rates and have very short lives that end in explosions as supernovae. The material ejected from these dramatic events creates bubbles in the surrounding gas and dust. This is the probable cause of the loops visible in this picture. This image was taken through multiple filters. From the Wide Field Imager, data taken through a red filter are shown in green and red, and data taken through a filter that isolates the red glow characteristic of hydrogen are also shown in red. Additional infrared data from the Digitized Sky Survey are shown in blue. The image was processed by ESO using the observational data identified by Joe DePasquale, from the United States [1], who participated in ESO's Hidden Treasures 2010 astrophotography competition [2]. The competition was organised by ESO in October-November 2010, for everyone who enjoys making beautiful images of the night sky using astronomical data obtained using professional telescopes. Notes [1] Joe searched through ESO's archive and identified datasets that he used to compose his image of NGC 3582, which was the tenth highest ranked entry in the competition, out of almost 100 entries. His original work can be seen here. [2] ESO's Hidden Treasures 2010 competition gave amateur astronomers the opportunity to search through ESO's vast archives of astronomical data, hoping to find a well-hidden gem that needed polishing by the entrants. To find out more about Hidden Treasures, visit http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/hiddentreasures/. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Non-thermal X-ray emission from tidal disruption flares

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stone, Nicholas

2016-09-01

A star that passes too close to a supermassive black hole will be disrupted by the black hole's tidal gravity. The result is a flare of thermal emission at optical and X-ray frequencies. The return rate of stellar debris decreases from highly super-Eddington to sub-Eddington in a few years, making stellar tidal disruptions flares (TDFs) a unique laboratory to study accretion physics. In one class of models, the optical emission is due to reprocessing of the X-ray photons, thus explaining the lack of X-ray detections from optically selected TDFs. After a few years, the outer reprocessing regions will dilute, allowing us to observe any non-thermal emission from the inner disk. Here we propose Chandra observations to measure the luminosity of newly formed accretion disks in two known TDFs.

75 FR 42474 - The Future of Aviation Advisory Committee (FAAC) Subcommittee on Labor and World-Class Workforce...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-21

... aviation industry in light of the changing socioeconomic dynamics of the world's technologically advanced... impact of Next Generation Air Transportation System on various aviation workforces; and (4) identifying...

SCSPOD14, a South China Sea physical oceanographic dataset derived from in situ measurements during 1919-2014.

PubMed

Zeng, Lili; Wang, Dongxiao; Chen, Ju; Wang, Weiqiang; Chen, Rongyu

2016-04-26

In addition to the oceanographic data available for the South China Sea (SCS) from the World Ocean Database (WOD) and Array for Real-time Geostrophic Oceanography (Argo) floats, a suite of observations has been made by the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology (SCSIO) starting from the 1970s. Here, we assemble a SCS Physical Oceanographic Dataset (SCSPOD14) based on 51,392 validated temperature and salinity profiles collected from these three datasets for the period 1919-2014. A gridded dataset of climatological monthly mean temperature, salinity, and mixed and isothermal layer depth derived from an objective analysis of profiles is also presented. Comparisons with the World Ocean Atlas (WOA) and IFREMER/LOS Mixed Layer Depth Climatology confirm the reliability of the new dataset. This unique dataset offers an invaluable baseline perspective on the thermodynamic processes, spatial and temporal variability of water masses, and basin-scale and mesoscale oceanic structures in the SCS. We anticipate improvements and regular updates to this product as more observations become available from existing and future in situ networks.

SCSPOD14, a South China Sea physical oceanographic dataset derived from in situ measurements during 1919–2014

PubMed Central

Zeng, Lili; Wang, Dongxiao; Chen, Ju; Wang, Weiqiang; Chen, Rongyu

2016-01-01

In addition to the oceanographic data available for the South China Sea (SCS) from the World Ocean Database (WOD) and Array for Real-time Geostrophic Oceanography (Argo) floats, a suite of observations has been made by the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology (SCSIO) starting from the 1970s. Here, we assemble a SCS Physical Oceanographic Dataset (SCSPOD14) based on 51,392 validated temperature and salinity profiles collected from these three datasets for the period 1919–2014. A gridded dataset of climatological monthly mean temperature, salinity, and mixed and isothermal layer depth derived from an objective analysis of profiles is also presented. Comparisons with the World Ocean Atlas (WOA) and IFREMER/LOS Mixed Layer Depth Climatology confirm the reliability of the new dataset. This unique dataset offers an invaluable baseline perspective on the thermodynamic processes, spatial and temporal variability of water masses, and basin-scale and mesoscale oceanic structures in the SCS. We anticipate improvements and regular updates to this product as more observations become available from existing and future in situ networks. PMID:27116565

Las Cumbres Observatory Followup of Gravitational Waves - Part 3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCully, Curtis; Arcavi, Iair; Howell, D. Andrew

2018-01-01

Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) is a unique followup facility for gravitational-wave detections. It consists of 20 telescopes at 6 sites around the world, working as one robotic, dynamically scheduled global network. This has proven to be extremely useful for gravitational-wave followup during observing run 2 (O2). Given the robotic nature of our network, we are capable of receiving gravitational wave alerts, selecting and prioritizing galaxies to be observed in the localization region, and submitting the observations to the LCO scheduler - all within seconds. Observations can then begin within minutes. We will present our experience employing this strategy during O2, as well as the extensive followup data obtained for one of the triggers. This is talk 3 in a series of three talks (the details of the division of topics between these three talks is embargoed at the time of abstract submission).

Las Cumbres Observatory Followup of Gravitational Waves - Part 1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arcavi, Iair; Howell, D. Andrew; McCully, Curtis

2018-01-01

Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) is a unique followup facility for gravitational-wave detections. It consists of 20 telescopes at 6 sites around the world, working as one robotic, dynamically scheduled global network. This has proven to be extremely useful for gravitational-wave followup during observing run 2 (O2). Given the robotic nature of our network, we are capable of receiving gravitational wave alerts, selecting and prioritizing galaxies to be observed in the localization region, and submitting the observations to the LCO scheduler - all within seconds. Observations can then begin within minutes. We will present our experience employing this strategy during O2, as well as the extensive followup data obtained for one of the triggers. This is talk 1 in a series of three talks (the details of the division of topics between these three talks is embargoed at the time of abstract submission).

Las Cumbres Observatory Followup of Gravitational Waves - Part 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howell, D. Andrew; Arcavi, Iair; McCully, Curtis

2018-01-01

Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) is a unique followup facility for gravitational-wave detections. It consists of 20 telescopes at 6 sites around the world, working as one robotic, dynamically scheduled global network. This has proven to be extremely useful for gravitational-wave followup during observing run 2 (O2). Given the robotic nature of our network, we are capable of receiving gravitational wave alerts, selecting and prioritizing galaxies to be observed in the localization region, and submitting the observations to the LCO scheduler - all within seconds. Observations can then begin within minutes. We will present our experience employing this strategy during O2, as well as the extensive followup data obtained for one of the triggers. This is talk 2 in a series of three talks (the details of the division of topics between these three talks is embargoed at the time of abstract submission).

SeaWiFS technical report series. Volume 17: Ocean color in the 21st century. A strategy for a 20-year time series

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abbott, Mark R.; Brown, Otis B.; Evans, Robert H.; Gordon, Howard R.; Carder, Kendall L.; Mueller-Karger, Frank E.; Esaias, Wayne E.; Hooker, Stanford B.; Firestone, Elaine R.

1994-01-01

Beginning with the upcoming launch of the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), there should be almost continuous measurements of ocean color for nearly 20 years if all of the presently planned national and international missions are implemented. This data set will present a unique opportunity to understand the coupling of physical and biological processes in the world ocean. The presence of multiple ocean color sensors will allow the eventual development of an ocean color observing system that is both cost effective and scientifically based. This report discusses the issues involved and makes recommendations intended to ensure the maximum scientific return from this unique set of planned ocean color missions. An executive summary is included with this document which briefly discusses the primary issues and suggested actions to be considered.

Using Technology to Develop a Collaborative-Reflective Teaching Practice toward Synthecultural Competence: An Ethnographic Case Study in World Language Teacher Preparation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Webber, Dana E.

2013-01-01

Using technology to develop a collaborative-reflective teaching practice in a world language education methods course block for teaching certification creates unique opportunities for world language education undergraduates to learn to develop synthecultural competence for education. Such a program allows undergraduates to expand their capacity to…

Safeguarding the World's Water. UNEP Environment Brief No. 6.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi (Kenya).

Two things make water a unique natural resource: (1) water is essential for human survival; and (2) the total amount of water in the world is constant. This document focuses on the increasingly difficult task of satisfying the collective thirst of people, industry, and agriculture without damaging the world's limited resources of fresh water. It…

The World T.E.A.M. Sports Face of America Character Education Curriculum Package.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

2002

The Exceptional Athlete Matters (World T.E.A.M.) Sports (WTS) brings individuals together to undertake unique athletic events throughout the world to encourage, promote, and develop opportunities in sports for people, with and without disabilities. This classroom program on character education provides teachers with lesson plans on three themes…

Investigating the Cellular and Metabolic Responses of World-Class Canoeists Training: A Sportomics Approach

PubMed Central

Coelho, Wagner Santos; Viveiros de Castro, Luis; Deane, Elizabeth; Magno-França, Alexandre; Bassini, Adriana; Cameron, Luiz-Claudio

2016-01-01

(1) Background: We have been using the Sportomics approach to evaluate biochemical and hematological changes in response to exercise. The aim of this study was to evaluate the metabolic and hematologic responses of world-class canoeists during a training session; (2) Methods: Blood samples were taken at different points and analyzed for their hematological properties, activities of selected enzymes, hormones, and metabolites; (3) Results: Muscle stress biomarkers were elevated in response to exercise which correlated with modifications in the profile of white blood cells, where a leukocyte rise was observed after the canoe session. These results were accompanied by an increase in other exercise intensity parameters such as lactatemia and ammonemia. Adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol increased during the exercise sessions. The acute rise in both erythrocytes and white blood profile were probably due to muscle cell damage, rather than hepatocyte integrity impairment; (4) Conclusion: The cellular and metabolic responses found here, together with effective nutrition support, are crucial to understanding the effects of exercise in order to assist in the creation of new training and recovery planning. Also we show that Sportomics is a primal tool for training management and performance improvement, as well as to the understanding of metabolic response to exercise. PMID:27845704

ESO Telescope Designer Raymond Wilson Wins Prestigious Kavli Award for Astrophysics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-06-01

Raymond Wilson, whose pioneering optics research at ESO made today's giant telescopes possible thanks to "active optics" technology, has been awarded the 2010 Kavli Prize in astrophysics. The founder and original leader of the Optics and Telescopes Group at ESO, Wilson shares the million-dollar prize with two American scientists, Jerry Nelson and Roger Angel. The biennial prize, presented by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Kavli Foundation, and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, was instituted in 2008 and is given to researchers who significantly advance knowledge in the fields of nanoscience, neuroscience, and astrophysics, acting as a complement to the Nobel Prize. The award is named for and funded by Fred Kavli, the Norwegian entrepreneur and phi­lanthropist who later founded the Kavlico Corpora­tion in the US - today one of the world's largest suppliers of sensors for aeronautic, automotive and industrial applications. Wilson, who joined ESO in 1972, strived to achieve optical perfection, developing the concept of active optics as a way to enhance the size of telescopic primary mirrors. It is the size of these mirrors that determines the ability of a telescope to gather light and study faint and distant objects. Before active optics, mirrors over six metres in diameter were impossible, being too heavy, costly, and likely to bend from gravity and temperature changes. The use of active optics, which preserves optimal image quality by continually adjusting the mirror's shape during observations, made lighter, thinner so-called "meniscus mirrors" possible. Wilson first led the implementation of active optics in the revolutionary New Technology Telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory, and continued to develop and improve the technology until his retirement in 1993. Since then, active optics have become a standard part of modern astronomy, applied in every big telescope including ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), a telescope array with four individual telescopes with 17.5 cm thick 8.2-metre mirrors. Active optics has contributed towards making the VLT the world's most successful ground-based observatory and will be an integral part of ESO's European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) project. Active optics technology is also part of the twin 10-metre Keck telescopes, the Subaru telescope's 8.2-metre mirror and the two 8.1-metre Gemini telescopes. Co-prize winners Jerry Nelson and Roger Angel respectively pioneered the use of segmentation in telescope primary mirrors - as used on the Keck telescopes, and the development of lightweight mirrors with short focal ratios. A webcast from Oslo, Norway, announcing the prize winners is available at www.kavlifoundation.org and www.kavliprize.no. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

Adaptive Optics Imaging of the CLASS Gravitational Lens System B1359+154 with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.

PubMed

Rusin; Hall; Nichol; Marlow; Richards; Myers

2000-04-20

We present adaptive optics imaging of the CLASS gravitational lens system B1359+154 obtained with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) in the infrared K band. The observations show at least three brightness peaks within the ring of lensed images, which we identify as emission from multiple lensing galaxies. The results confirm the suspected compound nature of the lens, as deduced from preliminary mass modeling. The detection of several additional nearby galaxies suggests that B1359+154 is lensed by the compact core of a small galaxy group. We attempted to produce an updated lens model based on the CFHT observations and new 5 GHz radio data obtained with the MERLIN array, but there are too few constraints to construct a realistic model at this time. The uncertainties inherent with modeling compound lenses make B1359+154 a challenging target for Hubble constant determination through the measurement of differential time delays. However, time delays will offer additional constraints to help pin down the mass model. This lens system therefore presents a unique opportunity to directly measure the mass distribution of a galaxy group at intermediate redshift.

The inverse resonance problem for CMV operators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weikard, Rudi; Zinchenko, Maxim

2010-05-01

We consider the class of CMV operators with super-exponentially decaying Verblunsky coefficients. For these we define the concept of a resonance. Then we prove the existence of Jost solutions and a uniqueness theorem for the inverse resonance problem: given the location of all resonances, taking multiplicities into account, the Verblunsky coefficients are uniquely determined.

Differential DNA methylation and lymphocyte proportions in a Costa Rican high longevity region.

PubMed

McEwen, Lisa M; Morin, Alexander M; Edgar, Rachel D; MacIsaac, Julia L; Jones, Meaghan J; Dow, William H; Rosero-Bixby, Luis; Kobor, Michael S; Rehkopf, David H

2017-01-01

The Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica has one of the highest old-age life expectancies in the world, but the underlying biological mechanisms of this longevity are not well understood. As DNA methylation is hypothesized to be a component of biological aging, we focused on this malleable epigenetic mark to determine its association with current residence in Nicoya versus elsewhere in Costa Rica. Examining a population's unique DNA methylation pattern allows us to differentiate hallmarks of longevity from individual stochastic variation. These differences may be characteristic of a combination of social, biological, and environmental contexts. In a cross-sectional subsample of the Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study, we compared whole blood DNA methylation profiles of residents from Nicoya ( n  = 48) and non-Nicoya (other Costa Rican regions, n  = 47) using the Infinium HumanMethylation450 microarray. We observed a number of differences that may be markers of delayed aging, such as bioinformatically derived differential CD8+ T cell proportions. Additionally, both site- and region-specific analyses revealed DNA methylation patterns unique to Nicoyans. We also observed lower overall variability in DNA methylation in the Nicoyan population, another hallmark of younger biological age. Nicoyans represent an interesting group of individuals who may possess unique immune cell proportions as well as distinct differences in their epigenome, at the level of DNA methylation.

Novel classes of antibiotics or more of the same?

PubMed Central

Coates, Anthony RM; Halls, Gerry; Hu, Yanmin

2011-01-01

The world is running out of antibiotics. Between 1940 and 1962, more than 20 new classes of antibiotics were marketed. Since then, only two new classes have reached the market. Analogue development kept pace with the emergence of resistant bacteria until 10–20 years ago. Now, not enough analogues are reaching the market to stem the tide of antibiotic resistance, particularly among gram-negative bacteria. This review examines the existing systemic antibiotic pipeline in the public domain, and reveals that 27 compounds are in clinical development, of which two are new classes, both of which are in Phase I clinical trials. In view of the high attrition rate of drugs in early clinical development, particularly new classes and the current regulatory hurdles, it does not seem likely that new classes will be marketed soon. This paper suggests that, if the world is to return to a situation in which there are enough antibiotics to cope with the inevitable ongoing emergence of bacterial resistance, we need to recreate the prolific antibiotic discovery period between 1940 and 1962, which produced 20 classes that served the world well for 60 years. If another 20 classes and their analogues, particularly targeting gram-negatives could be produced soon, they might last us for the next 60 years. How can this be achieved? Only a huge effort by governments in the form of finance, legislation and providing industry with real incentives will reverse this. Industry needs to re-enter the market on a much larger scale, and academia should rebuild its antibiotic discovery infrastructure to support this effort. The alternative is Medicine without effective antibiotics. LINKED ARTICLES This article is part of a themed issue on Respiratory Pharmacology. To view the other articles in this issue visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bph.2011.163.issue-1 PMID:21323894

Spectral variability among rocks in visible and near-infrared mustispectral Pancam data collected at Gusev crater: Examinations using spectral mixture analysis and related techniques

USGS Publications Warehouse

Farrand, W. H.; Bell, J.F.; Johnson, J. R.; Squyres, S. W.; Soderblom, J.; Ming, D. W.

2006-01-01

Visible and near-infrared (VNIR) multispectral observations of rocks made by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's Panoramic camera (Pancam) have been analyzed using a spectral mixture analysis (SMA) methodology. Scenes have been examined from the Gusev crater plains into the Columbia Hills. Most scenes on the plains and in the Columbia Hills could be modeled as three end-member mixtures of a bright material, rock, and shade. Scenes of rocks disturbed by the rover's Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) required additional end-members. In the Columbia Hills, there were a number of scenes in which additional rock end-members were required. The SMA methodology identified relatively dust-free areas on undisturbed rock surfaces as well as spectrally unique areas on RAT abraded rocks. Spectral parameters from these areas were examined, and six spectral classes were identified. These classes are named after a type rock or area and are Adirondack, Lower West Spur, Clovis, Wishstone, Peace, and Watchtower. These classes are discriminable based, primarily, on near-infrared (NIR) spectral parameters. Clovis and Watchtower class rocks appear more oxidized than Wishstone class rocks and Adirondack basalts based on their having higher 535 nm band depths. Comparison of the spectral parameters of these Gusev crater rocks to parameters of glass-dominated basaltic tuffs indicates correspondence between measurements of Clovis and Watchtower classes but divergence for the Wishstone class rocks, which appear to have a higher fraction of crystalline ferrous iron-bearing phases. Despite a high sulfur content, the rock Peace has NIR properties resembling plains basalts. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.

Natural Beauty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coy, Mary

2006-01-01

In this article, the author describes how her art class students were able to create, in just four class periods, clay relief plaques depicting nature. A lesson on texture speeds up the completion of such a project. Seeing that clay is a natural material with its own unique texture, it seemed fitting that the final product should depict a variety…

Mapping quantitative trait loci for a unique 'super soft' kernel trait in soft white wheat

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Wheat (Triticum sp.) kernel texture is an important factor affecting milling, flour functionality, and end-use quality. Kernel texture is normally characterized as either hard or soft, the two major classes of texture. However, further variation is typically encountered in each class. Soft wheat var...

Some Factor Analytic Approximations to Latent Class Structure.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dziuban, Charles D.; Denton, William T.

Three procedures, alpha, image, and uniqueness rescaling, were applied to a joint occurrence probability matrix. That matrix was the basis of a well-known latent class structure. The values of the recurring subscript elements were varied as follows: Case 1 - The known elements were input; Case 2 - The upper bounds to the recurring subscript…

Blue Ribbon Web Sites Contest Winners.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Southworth, Samuel A.

2001-01-01

Presents a collection of prize-winning Web sites created by K-8 teachers nationwide. Some of the unique features of the Web sites include an online student-written newspaper; a sing-along section; a chronicle of the past 3 years of classes to see how the classes have evolved; and student art and writing projects. (SM)

Managing Student Behavior in an Elementary School Music Classroom: A Study of Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caldarella, Paul; Williams, Leslie; Jolstead, Krystine A.; Wills, Howard P.

2017-01-01

Classroom management is a common concern for teachers. Music teachers in particular experience unique behavior challenges because of large class sizes, uncommon pacing requirements, and performance-based outcomes. Positive behavior support is an evidence-based framework for preventing or eliminating challenging behaviors by teaching and…

Mask Making: Incorporating Service Learning into Criminology and Deviance Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nurse, Anne M.; Krain, Matthew

2006-01-01

Criminology and Deviance Classes are often among the most popular in the sociology undergraduate curriculum. These courses provide a unique opportunity for teachers since many students come to class with an intense interest in the subject matter combined with strong opinions about crime, criminals, and deviants. Because these opinions are often…

The NASA Astrobiology Institute: A Decade of Education and Outreach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scalice, Daniella

The mission statement of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) charts a course to establishing astrobiology as a new and influential field of scientific inquiry. It integrates world class, interdisciplinary research with training for the next generation of astrobiologists. It enables collaboration between distributed research teams by prioritizing the use of modern information technologies, and empowers astrobiologists to provide leadership for space missions. But this unique vision would not have been complete without the inclusion of an Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) program. Over the past ten years, NAI's E/PO program has taken shape - from bootstrapping in the early days, to partnering with the likes of Disney and PBS - in pursuit of inspiring young people onto the scientific path. The E/PO program's highly collaborative group of education specialists has worked with museums, national parks, filmmakers, radio broadcasters, families, teachers, and students to ensure that the bright young faces of today find themselves in the labs of tomorrow's astrobiologists.

ER@CEBAF: A test of 5-pass energy recovery at CEBAF

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

Bogacz, S. A.; Douglas, D.; Dubbe, C.

2016-06-06

Jefferson Lab personnel have broad expertise in the design, commissioning, and operation of multiple energy recovery linacs (ERLs): the CEBAF Front-End Test (early 1990s), CEBAF-ER (2003), the IR Free Electron Laser (FEL) Demo, the IR FEL Upgrade, and the UV FEL Driver (1997-2014). Continued development of this core competency has led to this collaborative proposal to explore the forefronts of ERL technology at high energy in a unique expansion of CEBAF capability to a 5-pass ERL with negligible switchover time and programmatic impact to the CEBAF physics program. Such a capability would enable world-class studies of open issues in high-energymore » ERL beam dynamics that are relevant to future facilities such as electron-ion colliders (EICs). This proposal requests support from the CEBAF Program Advisory Committee to seek funding for hardware installation, and a prospective 12 days of beam time circa Fall 2018 for commissioning this high-energy multi-pass ERL experiment in CEBAF.« less

First a tragedy, then farce

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foster, Brian

2008-09-01

It is impossible to think about the problems in the UK over the last 10 months arising from the £80m shortfall in the budget of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) without recalling Marx's famous aphorism: "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce." Certainly the repetition of a funding crisis in UK particle physics and astronomy is hardly unexpected; they seem to occur every decade or so with unwelcome regularity. The consequent loss of morale, jobs and opportunities in the UK for the brightest young people to pursue their dreams in what is widely acknowledged to be world-class science is a tragedy. What perhaps marks the uniqueness of the funding crisis this time round is the level of farce. The sums that did not add up; the consultations without interlocutors; and the truculent and damaging statements about withdrawal from the Gemini telescopes based in Hawaii and Chile, and the International Linear Collider (ILC) - the next big particle-physics project after the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN.

Heroes and Hysterics: ‘Partisan Hysteria’ and Communist State-building in Yugoslavia after 1945

PubMed Central

Antić, Ana

2014-01-01

This article investigates a novel type of war neurosis defined by Yugoslav psychiatrists in the aftermath of the Second World War. This uniquely Yugoslav war trauma—‘partisan hysteria’—was diagnosed exclusively in Communist resistance soldiers—partisans—and did not manifest itself in the form of battle exhaustion or anxiety, as was the case in other armies. Rather, it demonstrated a heightened willingness to fight, and consisted of simulations of wartime battles. Yugoslav psychiatrists argued that ‘partisan hysteria’ most frequently affected uneducated and immature partisans, who were given important political responsibilities but experienced severe trauma due to their own inadequacy. I argue that ‘partisan hysteria’ served as an opportunity for upper-middle-class psychiatric professionals to criticise the increasing upward social mobility after the socialist revolution of 1945. Surprisingly, this touched upon an issue that had already provoked deep disquiet within the Communist Party, and resonated with the Party's own concerns regarding social mobility. PMID:24790389

Illinois Accelerator Research Center

DOE PAGES

Kroc, Thomas K.; Cooper, Charlie A.

2017-10-26

The Illinois Accelerator Research Center (IARC) hosts a new accelerator development program at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. IARC provides access to Fermi's state-of-the-art facilities and technologies for research, development and industrialization of particle accelerator technology. In addition to facilitating access to available existing Fermi infrastructure, the IARC Campus has a dedicated 36,000 ft2 heavy assembly building (HAB) with all the infrastructure needed to develop, commission and operate new accelerators. Connected to the HAB is a 47,000 ft Office, Technology and Engineering (OTE) building, paid for by the state, that has office, meeting, and light technical space. The OTE building, whichmore » contains the Accelerator Physics Center, and nearby Accelerator and Technical divisions provide IARC collaborators with unique access to world class expertise in a wide array of accelerator technologies. Finally, at IARC scientists and engineers from Fermilab and academia work side by side with industrial partners to develop breakthroughs in accelerator science and translate them into applications for the nation's health, wealth and security.« less

Senator Fred Harris's National Social Science Foundation proposal: Reconsidering federal science policy, natural science-social science relations, and American liberalism during the 1960s.

PubMed

Solovey, Mark

2012-03-01

During the 1960s, a growing contingent of left-leaning voices claimed that the social sciences suffered mistreatment and undue constraints within the natural science-dominated federal science establishment. According to these critics, the entrenched scientific pecking order in Washington had an unreasonable commitment to the unity of the sciences, which reinforced unacceptable inequalities between the social and the natural sciences. The most important political figure who advanced this critique, together with a substantial legislative proposal for reform, was the Oklahoma Democratic Senator Fred Harris. Yet histories of science and social science have told us surprisingly little about Harris. Moreover, existing accounts of his effort to create a National Social Science Foundation have misunderstood crucial features of this story. This essay argues that Harris's NSSF proposal developed into a robust, historically unique, and increasingly critical liberal challenge to the post-World War II federal science establishment's treatment of the social sciences as "second-class citizens."

Illinois Accelerator Research Center

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

Kroc, Thomas K.; Cooper, Charlie A.

The Illinois Accelerator Research Center (IARC) hosts a new accelerator development program at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. IARC provides access to Fermi's state-of-the-art facilities and technologies for research, development and industrialization of particle accelerator technology. In addition to facilitating access to available existing Fermi infrastructure, the IARC Campus has a dedicated 36,000 ft2 heavy assembly building (HAB) with all the infrastructure needed to develop, commission and operate new accelerators. Connected to the HAB is a 47,000 ft Office, Technology and Engineering (OTE) building, paid for by the state, that has office, meeting, and light technical space. The OTE building, whichmore » contains the Accelerator Physics Center, and nearby Accelerator and Technical divisions provide IARC collaborators with unique access to world class expertise in a wide array of accelerator technologies. Finally, at IARC scientists and engineers from Fermilab and academia work side by side with industrial partners to develop breakthroughs in accelerator science and translate them into applications for the nation's health, wealth and security.« less

Illinois Accelerator Research Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kroc, Thomas K.; Cooper, Charlie A.

The Illinois Accelerator Research Center (IARC) hosts a new accelerator development program at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. IARC provides access to Fermi's state-of-the-art facilities and technologies for research, development and industrialization of particle accelerator technology. In addition to facilitating access to available existing Fermi infrastructure, the IARC Campus has a dedicated 36,000 ft2 Heavy Assembly Building (HAB) with all the infrastructure needed to develop, commission and operate new accelerators. Connected to the HAB is a 47,000 ft2 Office, Technology and Engineering (OTE) building, paid for by the state, that has office, meeting, and light technical space. The OTE building, which contains the Accelerator Physics Center, and nearby Accelerator and Technical divisions provide IARC collaborators with unique access to world class expertise in a wide array of accelerator technologies. At IARC scientists and engineers from Fermilab and academia work side by side with industrial partners to develop breakthroughs in accelerator science and translate them into applications for the nation's health, wealth and security.

Overview of the Orion Vibroacoustic Test Capability at NASA Glenn Research Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hughes, William O.; Hozman, Aron D.; McNelis, Mark E.; Otten, Kim D.

2008-01-01

In order to support the environmental test needs for our new Orion and Constellation program, NASA is developing unique world-class test facilities. To optimize this testing of spaceflight hardware while minimizing transportation issues, a one-stop, under one roof test capability is being developed at the Space Power Facility at the NASA Glenn Research Center's Plum Brook Station. This facility will provide the capability to perform the following environmental testing: (1) reverberation acoustic testing, (2) mechanical base-shake sine testing, (3) modal testing, (4) thermal-vacuum testing, and (5) EMI/EMC (electromagnetic interference and compatibility) testing. An overview of this test capability will be provided in this presentation, with special focus on the two new vibroacoustic test facilities currently being designed and built, the Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility (RATF) and the Mechanical Vibration Facility (MVF). Testing of the engineering developmental hardware and qualification hardware of the Orion (Crew Exploration Vehicle) will commence shortly after the facilities are commissioned.

Brazilian Science and Research Integrity: Where are We? What Next?

PubMed

Vasconcelos, Sonia M R; Sorenson, Martha M; Watanabe, Edson H; Foguel, Debora; Palácios, Marisa

2015-01-01

Building a world-class scientific community requires first-class ingredients at many different levels: funding, training, management, international collaborations, creativity, ethics, and an understanding of research integrity practices. All over the world, addressing these practices has been high on the science policy agenda of major research systems. Universities have a central role in fostering a culture of research integrity, which has posed additional challenges for faculty, students and administrators - but also opportunities. In Brazil, the leading universities and governmental funding agencies are collaborating on this project, but much remains to be done.

Developing World-Class Customer Service at Navy Field Contracting Activities: An Assessment of the FISC San Diego Regional Contracts Department.

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-06-01

service quality benchmark is determined and then applied to HSC San Diego Regional Contracts Department to assess service ability and identify areas for possible improvement. This assessment process highlights the recent emphasis on improved service quality both in the Federal Government and the private sector. The thesis defines world-class customer service and then describes various aspects of service quality including the customer’s perspective on service, how service is delivered, how to effectively communicate with the

Cis-regulatory signatures of orthologous stress-associated bZIP transcription factors from rice, sorghum and Arabidopsis based on phylogenetic footprints

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background The potential contribution of upstream sequence variation to the unique features of orthologous genes is just beginning to be unraveled. A core subset of stress-associated bZIP transcription factors from rice (Oryza sativa) formed ten clusters of orthologous groups (COG) with genes from the monocot sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and dicot Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). The total cis-regulatory information content of each stress-associated COG was examined by phylogenetic footprinting to reveal ortholog-specific, lineage-specific and species-specific conservation patterns. Results The most apparent pattern observed was the occurrence of spatially conserved ‘core modules’ among the COGs but not among paralogs. These core modules are comprised of various combinations of two to four putative transcription factor binding site (TFBS) classes associated with either developmental or stress-related functions. Outside the core modules are specific stress (ABA, oxidative, abiotic, biotic) or organ-associated signals, which may be functioning as ‘regulatory fine-tuners’ and further define lineage-specific and species-specific cis-regulatory signatures. Orthologous monocot and dicot promoters have distinct TFBS classes involved in disease and oxidative-regulated expression, while the orthologous rice and sorghum promoters have distinct combinations of root-specific signals, a pattern that is not particularly conserved in Arabidopsis. Conclusions Patterns of cis-regulatory conservation imply that each ortholog has distinct signatures, further suggesting that they are potentially unique in a regulatory context despite the presumed conservation of broad biological function during speciation. Based on the observed patterns of conservation, we postulate that core modules are likely primary determinants of basal developmental programming, which may be integrated with and further elaborated by additional intrinsic or extrinsic signals in conjunction with lineage-specific or species-specific regulatory fine-tuners. This synergy may be critical for finer-scale spatio-temporal regulation, hence unique expression profiles of homologous transcription factors from different species with distinct zones of ecological adaptation such as rice, sorghum and Arabidopsis. The patterns revealed from these comparisons set the stage for further empirical validation by functional genomics. PMID:22992304

World Energy Issues: An Inquiry-Based Lesson Using ArcGIS Online

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jo, Injeong

2018-01-01

This 45 minute inquiry lesson can be used for a high school world geography or AP Human Geography course when the class discusses various issues regarding world energy resources. The lesson focuses on two particular issues: fossil fuel dependency and the growing energy demand. Students will examine the geographic distribution of current energy…

A World-Class Education: Learning from International Models of Excellence and Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, Vivien

2012-01-01

Typical comparisons of schools in the United States to those in other countries ignore critical factors and overlook potential lessons learned. But here's a book that reveals what the best schools from around the world are doing to educate students for a rapidly changing innovation-based world. Find out that American education has not "gotten…

Alleviating Prejudice among Ninth Grade World History Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weston, Bonnie Walker

The high level of prejudice in an average 9th grade world history class was addressed by the implementation of a custom-designed prejudice reduction program. Lessons were drawn from "The Prejudice Book" (Shiman, 1979); "A World of Difference" (Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, 1986); and "Hands Across the Campus" (Tiara, 1981). Lessons were…

Chinese Students Speak about Their Favourite Teachers and University Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boshier, Roger

2017-01-01

China is trying to develop better outcomes for students, build world-class institutions and ascend global university rankings. Beijing also wants to jettison the notion it is the workshop of the world and embrace a culture of innovation. Peter Jarvis thinks the world would be a better place if ordinary people were given convivial spaces wherein…

Real-World Units in the Conceptual Age

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campillo, Blanca; Pierson, Bo Hyun

2014-01-01

During an eight-week series of investigations, a class of third-grade students learned how interactions between forces are used to advance technology in their world. This five-part forces and interaction unit was led by a guiding question: How does engineering and design work in the world, and how does it affect our lives? As they explored this…

Using Elementary Mechanics to Estimate the Maximum Range of ICBMs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amato, Joseph

2018-04-01

North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and, more recently, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) has added a grave threat to world order. The threat presented by these weapons depends critically on missile range, i.e., the ability to reach North America or Europe while carrying a nuclear warhead. Using the limited information available from near-vertical test flights, how do arms control experts estimate the maximum range of an ICBM? The purpose of this paper is to show, using mathematics and concepts appropriate to a first-year calculus-based mechanics class, how a missile's range can be estimated from the (observable) altitude attained during its test flights. This topic—while grim—affords an ideal opportunity to show students how the application of basic physical principles can inform and influence public policy. For students who are already familiar with Kepler's laws, it should be possible to present in a single class period.

Hierarchical socioeconomic fractality: The rich, the poor, and the middle-class

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eliazar, Iddo; Cohen, Morrel H.

2014-05-01

Since the seminal work of the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, the study of wealth and income has been a topic of active scientific exploration engaging researches ranging from economics and political science to econophysics and complex systems. This paper investigates the intrinsic fractality of wealth and income. To that end we introduce and characterize three forms of socioeconomic scale-invariance-poor fractality, rich fractality, and middle-class fractality-and construct hierarchical fractal approximations of general wealth and income distributions, based on the stitching of these three forms of fractality. Intertwining the theoretical results with real-world empirical data we then establish that the three forms of socioeconomic fractality-amalgamated into a composite hierarchical structure-underlie the distributions of wealth and income in human societies. We further establish that the hierarchical socioeconomic fractality of wealth and income is also displayed by empirical rank distributions observed across the sciences.

Association of obesity with healthcare resource utilization and costs in a commercial population.

PubMed

Kamble, Pravin S; Hayden, Jennifer; Collins, Jenna; Harvey, Raymond A; Suehs, Brandon; Renda, Andrew; Hammer, Mette; Huang, Joanna; Bouchard, Jonathan

2018-05-10

To examine the association of obesity with healthcare resource utilization (HRU) and costs among commercially insured individuals. This retrospective observational cohort study used administrative claims from 1 January 2007 to 1 December 2013. The ICD-9-CM status codes (V85 hierarchy) from 2008 to 2012 classified body mass index (BMI) into the World Health Organizations' BMI categories. The date of first observed BMI code was defined as the index date and continuous eligibility for one year pre- and post- index date was ensured. Post-index claims determined individuals' HRU and costs. Sampling weights developed using the entropy balance method and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data ensured representation of the US adult commercially insured population. Baseline characteristics were described across BMI classes and associations between BMI categories, and outcomes were examined using multivariable regression. The cohort included 9651 individuals with BMI V85 codes. After weighting, the BMI distribution was: normal (31.1%), overweight (33.4%), obese class I (22.0%), obese class II (8.1%) and obese class III (5.4%). Increasing BMI was associated with greater prevalence of cardiometabolic conditions, including hypertension, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. The use of antihypertensives, antihyperlipidemics, antidiabetics, analgesics and antidepressants rose with increasing BMI. Greater BMI level was associated with increased inpatient, emergency department and outpatient utilization, and higher total healthcare, medical and pharmacy costs. Increasing BMI was associated with higher prevalence of cardiometabolic conditions and higher HRU and costs. There is an urgent need to address the epidemic of obesity and its clinical and economic impacts.

Status of NASA Satellite, Field Observations, and Numerical Modeling Addressing the Impact of Urbanization on Short and Long Term Precipitation Variability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shepherd, J. Marshall; Manyin, Michael; Burian, Steve; Garza, Carlos

2004-01-01

Howard (1833a) made the first documented observation of a temperature difference between an urban area and its rural environment. Manley (1958) termed this contrast the "urban heat island (UHI)". The UHI has now become a widely acknowledged, observed, and researched phenomenon because of its broad implications. It is estimated that by the year 2025, 60% of the world's population will live in cities (UNFP, 1999). In the United States, the current urban growth rate is approximately 12.5%, with 80% currently living in urban areas. As cities continue to grow, urban sprawl creates unique problems related to land use, transportation, agriculture, housing, pollution, and development for policymakers. Urban expansion and its associated urban heat islands also have measurable impacts on weather and climate processes.

Definition of Proteasomal Peptide Splicing Rules for High-Efficiency Spliced Peptide Presentation by MHC Class I Molecules

PubMed Central

Berkers, Celia R.; de Jong, Annemieke; Schuurman, Karianne G.; Linnemann, Carsten; Meiring, Hugo D.; Janssen, Lennert; Neefjes, Jacques J.; Schumacher, Ton N. M.; Rodenko, Boris

2015-01-01

Peptide splicing, in which two distant parts of a protein are excised and then ligated to form a novel peptide, can generate unique MHC class I–restricted responses. Because these peptides are not genetically encoded and the rules behind proteasomal splicing are unknown, it is difficult to predict these spliced Ags. In the current study, small libraries of short peptides were used to identify amino acid sequences that affect the efficiency of this transpeptidation process. We observed that splicing does not occur at random, neither in terms of the amino acid sequences nor through random splicing of peptides from different sources. In contrast, splicing followed distinct rules that we deduced and validated both in vitro and in cells. Peptide ligation was quantified using a model peptide and demonstrated to occur with up to 30% ligation efficiency in vitro, provided that optimal structural requirements for ligation were met by both ligating partners. In addition, many splicing products could be formed from a single protein. Our splicing rules will facilitate prediction and detection of new spliced Ags to expand the peptidome presented by MHC class I Ags. PMID:26401003

The molecular diversity of α-gliadin genes in the tribe Triticeae.

PubMed

Qi, Peng-Fei; Chen, Qing; Ouellet, Thérèse; Wang, Zhao; Le, Cheng-Xing; Wei, Yu-Ming; Lan, Xiu-Jin; Zheng, You-Liang

2013-09-01

Many of the unique properties of wheat flour are derived from seed storage proteins such as the α-gliadins. In this study these α-gliadin genes from diploid Triticeae species were systemically characterized, and divided into 3 classes according to the distinct organization of their protein domains. Our analyses indicated that these α-gliadins varied in the number of cysteine residues they contained. Most of the α-gliadin genes were grouped according to their genomic origins within the phylogenetic tree. As expected, sequence alignments suggested that the repetitive domain and the two polyglutamine regions were responsible for length variations of α-gliadins as were the insertion/deletion of structural domains within the three different classes (I, II, and III) of α-gliadins. A screening of celiac disease toxic epitopes indicated that the α-gliadins of the class II, derived from the Ns genome, contain no epitope, and that some other genomes contain much fewer epitopes than the A, S(B) and D genomes of wheat. Our results suggest that the observed genetic differences in α-gliadins of Triticeae might indicate their use as a fertile ground for the breeding of less CD-toxic wheat varieties.

Unique versus cumulative effects of physical and sexual assault on patterns of adolescent substance use.

PubMed

Charak, Ruby; Koot, Hans M; Dvorak, Robert D; Elklit, Ask; Elhai, Jon D

2015-12-30

The present study assessed the unique versus cumulative effects of physical and sexual assault, on patterns of substance-use in adolescents. It was hypothesized that experiencing a single assault (physical or sexual) when compared with exposure to both physical and sexual assault would be more strongly related to membership of polysubstance use classes. From the National Survey of Adolescents-1995 (N= 4023) 918 adolescents (age range=12-17 years, M=14.92, 49.6% female) with reports of physical assault and/or sexual assault were selected. Using information on alcohol-use, cigarette-smoking, chewing tobacco, non-prescribed use of medicines, and drug-use, latent class analysis indicated a three class solution for substance-use, namely, Experimental use, Light polysubstance-use, and Polysubstance-use. Multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that as compared to adolescents exposed to a single type of assault those exposed to both physical and sexual assault were two-to-three times more likely to be in the heavier polysubstance-use class. Females were more likely to be members of the polysubstance-use class than of the experimental use class. Gender did not emerge as a significant moderator. It was concluded that assessing for single type or co-occurring assault can facilitate identification of adolescents at elevated risk for polysubstance-use. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

NGC 4945: The Milky Way's not-so-distant Cousin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2009-09-01

ESO has released a striking new image of a nearby galaxy that many astronomers think closely resembles our own Milky Way. Though the galaxy is seen edge-on, observations of NGC 4945 suggest that this hive of stars is a spiral galaxy much like our own, with swirling, luminous arms and a bar-shaped central region. These resemblances aside, NGC 4945 has a brighter centre that likely harbours a supermassive black hole, which is devouring reams of matter and blasting energy out into space. As NGC 4945 is only about 13 million light-years away in the constellation of Centaurus (the Centaur), a modest telescope is sufficient for skygazers to spot this remarkable galaxy. NGC 4945's designation comes from its entry number in the New General Catalogue compiled by the Danish-Irish astronomer John Louis Emil Dreyer in the 1880s. James Dunlop, a Scottish astronomer, is credited with originally discovering NGC 4945 in 1826 from Australia. Today's new portrait of NGC 4945 comes courtesy of the Wide Field Imager (WFI) instrument at the 2.2-metre MPG/ESO telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. NGC 4945 appears cigar-shaped from our perspective on Earth, but the galaxy is actually a disc many times wider than it is thick, with bands of stars and glowing gas spiralling around its centre. With the use of special optical filters to isolate the colour of light emitted by heated gases such as hydrogen, the image displays sharp contrasts in NGC 4945 that indicate areas of star formation. Other observations have revealed that NGC 4945 has an active galactic nucleus, meaning its central bulge emits far more energy than calmer galaxies like the Milky Way. Scientists classify NGC 4945 as a Seyfert galaxy after the American astronomer Carl K. Seyfert, who wrote a study in 1943 describing the odd light signatures emanating from some galactic cores. Since then, astronomers have come to suspect that supermassive black holes cause the turmoil in the centre of Seyfert galaxies. Black holes gravitationally draw gas and dust into them, accelerating and heating this attracted matter until it emits high-energy radiation, including X-rays and ultraviolet light. Most large, spiral galaxies, including the Milky Way, host a black hole in their centres, though many of these dark monsters no longer actively "feed" at this stage in galactic development. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".