Green Grassroots Efforts in Chicago: A Necessary Companion to Much Heralded Mayor Daley

It is widely recognized that Mayor Daley of Chicago has been an important advocate for sustainable and green projects in the urban environment. However, the role of the grassroots advocate in championing these ideas has been critical to their initiation and establishing broad support for them locally and regionally. That role has been largely ignored. To shed light on the important role of green grassroots efforts in Chicago the failure of the Blue Bag Program is compared to the case studies of The Southeast Environmental Task Force, Eden Place Nature Center, and the unique case of Chicago Wilderness. In doing so, the importance of grassroots advocates in the environmental progress of Chicago is established.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/120328/1/Anderson_GreenGrassrootsEffortsInChicago.pd

Wave climatology in the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior

The wave climate of the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior for 35 year (1979–2013) was hindcast and examined using a third‐generation spectral wave model. Wave measurements within the Apostle Islands and offshore NOAA buoys were used to validate the model. Statistics of the significant wave height, peak wave period, and mean wave direction were computed to reveal the spatial variability of wave properties within the archipelago for average and extreme events. Extreme value analysis was performed to estimate the significant wave height at the 1, 10, and 100 year return periods. Significant wave heights in the interior areas of the islands vary spatially but are approximately half those immediately offshore of the islands. Due to reduced winter ice cover and a clockwise shift in wind direction over the hindcast period, long‐term trend analysis indicates an increasing trend of significant wave heights statistics by as much as 2% per year, which is approximately an order of magnitude greater than similar analysis performed in the global ocean for areas unaffected by ice. Two scientific questions related to wave climate are addressed. First, the wave climate change due to the relative role of changing wind fields or ice covers over the past 35 years was revealed. Second, potential bluff erosion affected by the change of wave climate and the trend of lower water levels in the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior was examined.Key Points:Wave climate of the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior for 35 year was hindcastStatistics of the wave climate reveal the spatial variability of wave propertiesAn increasing trend of SWH is found due to climate changePeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113131/1/jgrc21305.pd

Improving Dual-Purpose Winter Wheat in the Southern Great Plains of the United States

This chapter covers the production and breeding status of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) used for early-season animal grazing and late-season grain production in the Southern Great Plains of the United States. Besides, in the chapter, the current production status and needs, the drawbacks of current cultivars, breeding strategies of the crop, novel genomics tools, and sensor technologies that can be used to improve dual-purpose winter wheat cultivars were presented. We will focus on traits that are, in general, not required by cultivars used for grain-only production but are critical for cool-season forage production

Optimal Filling of Shapes

We present filling as a type of spatial subdivision problem similar to covering and packing. Filling addresses the optimal placement of overlapping objects lying entirely inside an arbitrary shape so as to cover the most interior volume. In n-dimensional space, if the objects are polydisperse n-balls, we show that solutions correspond to sets of maximal n-balls. For polygons, we provide a heuristic for finding solutions of maximal discs. We consider the properties of ideal distributions of N discs as N approaches infinity. We note an analogy with energy landscapes.Comment: 5 page

Small Grains as Winter Pasture in the Southern Great Plains of the United States

Small-grain cereals are widely adapted and used as annual cool-season pastures in the Southern Great Plains (SGP) of the United States, where livestock and forage production are the largest contributors to agricultural income. The advantage of growing small grains in the region is evident due to the widespread adoption and flexibility of production for grain only, forage only, or both grain and forage (i.e., dual purpose). Farmers in the SGP often prefer the use of small grains for dual purpose mainly because of alternative income options from livestock and/or grain, ensuring stable income especially when product prices fluctuate with market demands. Small-grain forage is exceptionally important during autumn, winter, and early spring when forage availability from other sources is low. By providing nutritionally high-quality forage, small grains minimize the need for protein and energy supplements. Besides being used for winter pasture, small grains also serve as cool-season cover crops. While small grains offer different advantages in the integrated crop-livestock system in the region, farming management practices can play an important role to maximize the benefit. The objectives of this chapter are to summarize the significance of small grains as winter pasture and highlight the production status of each small-grain species in the SGP of the United States

Recruitment of functionally distinct membrane proteins to chromatin mediates nuclear envelope formation in vivo

Formation of the nuclear envelope (NE) around segregated chromosomes occurs by the reshaping of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a reservoir for disassembled nuclear membrane components during mitosis. In this study, we show that inner nuclear membrane proteins such as lamin B receptor (LBR), MAN1, Lap2β, and the trans-membrane nucleoporins Ndc1 and POM121 drive the spreading of ER membranes into the emerging NE via their capacity to bind chromatin in a collaborative manner. Despite their redundant functions, decreasing the levels of any of these trans-membrane proteins by RNAi-mediated knockdown delayed NE formation, whereas increasing the levels of any of them had the opposite effect. Furthermore, acceleration of NE formation interferes with chromosome separation during mitosis, indicating that the time frame over which chromatin becomes membrane enclosed is physiologically relevant and regulated. These data suggest that functionally distinct classes of chromatin-interacting membrane proteins, which are present at nonsaturating levels, collaborate to rapidly reestablish the nuclear compartment at the end of mitosis

Mathematics of Floating 3D Printed Objects

We explore the stability of floating objects through mathematical modeling and experimentation. Our models are based on standard ideas of center of gravity, center of buoyancy, and Archimedes' Principle. We investigate a variety of floating shapes with two-dimensional cross sections and identify analytically and/or computationally a potential energy landscape that helps identify stable and unstable floating orientations. We compare our analyses and computations to experiments on floating objects designed and created through 3D printing. In addition to our results, we provide code for testing the floating configurations for new shapes, as well as giving details of the methods for 3D printing the objects. The paper includes conjectures and open problems for further study.Comment: 30 pages, 16 figure

Decon2LS: An open-source software package for automated processing and visualization of high resolution mass spectrometry data

Abstract Background Data generated from liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based studies of a biological sample can contain large amounts of biologically significant information in the form of proteins, peptides, and metabolites. Interpreting this data involves inferring the masses and abundances of biomolecules injected into the instrument. Because of the inherent complexity of mass spectral patterns produced by these biomolecules, the analysis is significantly enhanced by using visualization capabilities to inspect and confirm results. In this paper we describe Decon2LS, an open-source software package for automated processing and visualization of high-resolution MS data. Drawing extensively on algorithms developed over the last ten years for ICR2LS, Decon2LS packages the algorithms as a rich set of modular, reusable processing classes for performing diverse functions such as reading raw data, routine peak finding, theoretical isotope distribution modelling, and deisotoping. Because the source code is openly available, these functionalities can now be used to build derivative applications in relatively fast manner. In addition, Decon2LS provides an extensive set of visualization tools, such as high performance chart controls. Results With a variety of options that include peak processing, deisotoping, isotope composition, etc, Decon2LS supports processing of multiple raw data formats. Deisotoping can be performed on an individual scan, an individual dataset, or on multiple datasets using batch processing. Other processing options include creating a two dimensional view of mass and liquid chromatography (LC) elution time features, generating spectrum files for tandem MS data, creating total intensity chromatograms, and visualizing theoretical peptide profiles. Application of Decon2LS to deisotope different datasets obtained across different instruments yielded a high number of features that can be used to identify and quantify peptides in the biological sample. Conclusion Decon2LS is an efficient software package for discovering and visualizing features in proteomics studies that require automated interpretation of mass spectra. Besides being easy to use, fast, and reliable, Decon2LS is also open-source, which allows developers in the proteomics and bioinformatics communities to reuse and refine the algorithms to meet individual needs. Decon2LS source code, installer, and tutorials may be downloaded free of charge at http://http:/ncrr.pnl.gov/software/