Investigating Water Ice in Persistently Shadowed Craters in Mercury\u27s North Polar Region

Through a combination of Earth-based radar observations, available spacecraft neutron spectrometer and laser altimeter data, and thermal modeling, it has previously been suggested that the planet Mercury hosts extensive water ice deposits in its polar regions. This study concentrates on observations of the permanently shadowed craters of Mercury’s north polar region, where water ice is expected. To examine the interior of craters that host radar-bright material, images from the Wide Angle Camera (WAC) aboard the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft were processed using Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers (ISIS) and stretched on a grayscale to expose reflectivity differences and surface features. This process revealed intriguing dark material within 53.2% of the individual craters studied in the region 75º N and northward, which is interpreted to be sublimation lags. The relationships between visible reflectivity material, radar-bright deposits, and regions of persistent shadow were mapped for these craters. Reflectivity-light material was revealed in the Prokofiev and Kandinsky craters (4.2%), indicating exposed water ice deposits. The remaining craters either did not reveal dark or light material (29.8%) or did not return images of high enough quality for analysis (12.8%). Additionally, the area of 84º N and northward was analyzed on a regional scale. Areas of persistent shadow were mapped and then compared to radar data to both qualify and quantify the relationship between shadowed areas and radar-bright features. In the study area, ~82% of the Harmon et al. (2011) radar-bright features aligned with the mapped areas of persistent shadow. The results of this study indicate that water ice stably resides in the persistently shadowed craters on Mercury’s north polar region and is typically insulated by a reflectivity-dark lag deposit

The People vs. Patrick Sneed: Court Papers from an 1853 Fugitive Slave Case

Patrick Sneed was a runaway slave working in Niagara Falls at a hotel that served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. In 1853, Sneed was charged with murder as part of an attempt to extradite him to Georgia for re-enslavement; he was acquitted. The People vs. Patrick Sneed is a transcription and annotated edition of handwritten court documents in the archives of the Buffalo History Museum. The edition includes a cover page, acknowledgments, historical introduction, description of editorial method, biographical glossary, lightly edited transcription with footnotes, and bibliography. The edition identifies all the principal persons involved in the court case, offers a complete report on the legal arguments and the judge\u27s ruling, presents two theories for the inclusion of the papers in the Hodge collection at the History Museum, and for the first time connects the allegations against Sneed to an actual murder case in Georgia.https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/engprojects/1000/thumbnail.jp

Thermal Processes Associated with Pelleting and Feed Phosphate Variation in Diets on Feed Manufacture and Broiler Performance

The objectives of the first study were to assess performance and digestible amino acid concentration of diets fed to broilers that differed in diet formulation and degree of thermal processing. Basal diets were corn, soybean meal, and DDGS based and formulations were balanced to be similar in calculated energy and digestible amino acids. Treatments were arranged in a 3 x 3 factorial that varied in diet formulation (Basal, Basal + Meat and Bone Meal (MBM), and Basal + Bakery Byproduct (BBP)) and degree of thermal processing (Unprocessed Mash, Pellet, Double Pellet). Pelleted treatments were steam conditioned and extruded through a pellet die. Double Pellet treatments repeated this process. All treatments were ground to similar particle size and fed to ten replicate raised wire cages of 10 straight-run Hubbard x Cobb 500 broiler chicks for 18 d. Broilers provided a Basal + MBM diet improved FCR (P=0.0046). Pelleting and Double Pelleting improved FCR compared to Unprocessed Mash (P=0.0003). Formulation and processing effects interacted to affect LWG, digestible lysine, methionine, threonine, and cysteine concentrations (P\u3c 0.05). Improvements to LWG were apparent only when Basal + MBM diets were thermally processed. Digestible amino acid concentration improved when Basal and Basal + MBM diets were thermally processed. However, digestible lysine and cysteine concentrations decreased when Basal + BBP were thermally processed. In vitro reactive lysine results did not support digestible lysine concentration results. Nutritional benefit or detriment of thermal processes associated with pelleting were dependent on diet formulation.;The objectives of the second study were to assess various commercial inorganic feed phosphates in diets that contained high fat distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) effect on feed manufacture variables. Diets with moderately high levels of corn DDGS are notoriously difficult to pellet due to their high fat and fiber content. Therefore the addition of inorganic phosphate feed ingredients, especially tricalcium phosphate has been anecdotally thought to improve feed manufacture and pellet quality of diets high in corn DDGS. Feed was manufactured on three separate days, each day denoting a replication of the experiment. Six experimental diets consisted of corn- and soybean meal-based diets without meat and bone meal were formulated to include either: 1) FP&S Dicalcium Phosphorus (DCaP), 2) Nexfos, 3) Bolifor, 4)Defourinated Phosphorous, 5) Mixture (1/5 Bolifor, 1/5 MSP, 3/5 DCP), or 6) Bolifor + SiO2. The inclusion of Deflourinate Phosphorous demonstrated decreased hot pellet temperature, motor amperage and pellet quality while increasing production rate relative to the diet that included Bolifor + SiO2 (P\u3c0.05). It is thought that the improvements demonstrated for this product could be due to the physical aspects of the product. The inorganic feed phosphate ingredient that exhibited the densest and smallest particle size is Deflourinated Phosphorous. The small-diameter and high-density particles of Deflourinated Phosphorous could of provided greater inertia within the die, thus enhancing die scouring. The use of Bolifor demonstrated a significantly increased hot pellet temperature, but maintained similar motor amperage and production rate relative to diets that included DCP or Nexfos. Majority of pellet quality variables showed that diets containing Bolifor or DCP were similar yet superior to the diet containing the inorganic feed phosphate ingredient Nexfos

The Effect of Staphylococcus aureus on Stiffness of Cortical Bone

Osteomyelitis, a term for bone infection, is a common cause of hospitalization in the United States. Infection leading to osteomyelitis is almost always a product of bacterial origin. Although polymicrobial presence is seen at infection sites of osteomyelitis, Staphylococcus aureus is most commonly isolated and found to be the cause of more than 95% of bone infection in adults. This organism is a common commensal of humans that is carried by an estimated 60% of the US population. S. aureus is transferred by infected asymptomatic individuals, and its ability to proliferate under a variety of environmental conditions contributes to the organism’s role as a pathogen in hosts with compromised immunity. This study examines the effect that infection of Staphylococcus aureus has on cortical bone stiffness. The data collected may be relevant information for bone-graft banks storing donor tissues. A preliminary experiment showed the ability of S. aureus to infect cortical bone by traveling through its porous structure. Frozen, cortical bone samples were thawed, sterilized with alcohol, inoculated with nutrient broth containing S. aureus and then disinfected with chlorhexidine gluconate. Stiffness measurements of each sample were recorded before and after bacterial contamination to allow each sample to serve as its own control. One cube out of every testing batch was not inoculated in bacteria to serve as a control. The results demonstrate that S. aureus infection of bone does not significantly decrease bone stiffness in the axial orientation (p\u3e0.05). In the transverse orientation a significant decrease was observed in the experimental group (

Preparing Preservice Teachers to Facilitate Courageous Conversations: A Case Study of Social Studies Teacher Educators\u27 Perceptions and Practices

Scholars and associations committed to powerful social studies education have long advocated for students to explore controversial issues so they grow into informed, ethical, and participating citizens. Yet, teachers avoid undertaking this work due to a lack of training, confidence, or experience in facilitating courageous conversations about tough issues. Teachers may fear facing complaints and retribution. They may worry about how to defuse classroom tensions and manage strong emotions. While scholarship on teaching controversy has primarily focused on preservice and in-service teachers’ views and experiences, research examining teacher educators’ perceptions and practices has been limited. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how twelve secondary social studies teacher educators understood and taught controversy. The study examined how they prepared preservice teachers for the challenges of teaching controversy. Three research questions framed the focus for this study: What are secondary social studies teacher educators’ attitudes toward teaching controversial issues? How do secondary social studies teacher educators approach the teaching of controversial issues in their courses? How do secondary social studies teacher educators prepare preservice teachers to handle the challenges associated with teaching controversial issues? Using case study methodology, I conducted semi-structured video conferencing interviews with participants and collected teacher-provided artifacts. Several key findings emerged. The teacher educators agreed teaching controversy helps to prepare young people to become active citizens and is most effective when taught using an interdisciplinary approach. In their methods courses, the teacher educators modeled how to build a classroom community and handle disclosure. They guided preservice teachers in defining and identifying examples of controversial issues as well as locating and examining reliable sources. They modeled practical strategies for steering civil discourse and exploring multiple perspectives. The teacher educators discussed personal and external obstacles that may discourage preservice teachers from broaching contested issues. To overcome these challenges, they advised preservice teachers to build positive relationships with stakeholders, cultivate an emotionally safe classroom space, and seek ways to grow. The study has implications for leaders and teachers in teacher education and secondary education settings. Recommendations for future research related to the findings reached are presented

The Roughness Properties of Small Ice-Bearing Craters at the South Pole of the Moon: Implications for Accessing Fresh Water Ice in Future Surface Operations

The lunar poles provide a fascinating thermal environment capable of cold-trapping water ice on geologic timescales [1]. While there have been many observations indicating the presence of water ice at the lunar surface [e.g., 24], it is still not clear when this ice was delivered to the Moon. The timing of volatile dep-osition provides important constraints on the origin of lunar ice because different delivery mechanisms have been active at different times throughout lunar history. We previously found that some small (<10 km) cra-ters at the south pole of the Moon have morphologies suggestive of relatively young ages, on the basis of crisp crater rims [5]. These craters are too small to date with robust cratering statistics [5], but the possibility of ice in young craters is intriguing because it suggests that there is some recent and perhaps ongoing mechanism that is delivering or redistributing water to polar cold traps. Therefore, understanding if these small, ice-bear-ing craters are indeed young is essential in understand-ing the age and source of volatiles on the Moon. Here we take a new approach to understand the ages of these small polar cold traps: analyzing the roughness properties of small ice-bearing craters. It is well under-stood that impact crater properties (e.g., morphology, rock abundance, and roughness) evolve with time due to a variety of geologic and space-weathering processes [611]. Topographic roughness is a measurement of the local deviation from the mean topography, providing a measurement of surface texture, and is a powerful tool for evaluating surface evolution over geologic time [e.g., 1114]. In this study we analyze the roughness of southern lunar craters (40S90S) from all geologic eras, and determine how the roughness of small (<10 km) ice-bearing craters compare. We discuss the implications of the ages of ice-bearing south polar craters, and potential strategies for accessing fresh ice on the Moon

Targeting hyperarousal: Mantram Repetition Program for PTSD in US veterans.

Background: Hyperarousal appears to play an important role in the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, but current evidence-based treatments appear to address this symptom type less effectively than the other symptom clusters. The Mantram Repetition Program (MRP) is a meditation-based intervention that has previously been shown to improve symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and may be especially helpful for hyperarousal. If MRP is an effective tool for decreasing this often treatment-resistant symptom cluster, it may become an important clinical tool. Objective: The goal of this secondary analysis was to examine the effect of the MRP on hyperarousal and other PTSD symptom clusters and to examine hyperarousal as a mediator of treatment response. Method: Secondary analyses were conducted on data from a randomized controlled trial in which Veterans with PTSD (n = 173) were assigned to the MRP or a non-specific psychotherapy control and assessed pre-treatment, post-treatment and 8 weeks after treatment completion. The impact of the interventions on PTSD symptom clusters was examined, and time-lagged hierarchical linear modelling was applied to examine alternative mediation models. Results: All PTSD symptom clusters improved in both treatments. MRP led to greater reductions in hyperarousal at post-treatment (Hedge's g = 0.57) and follow-up (Hedge's g = 0.52), and in numbing at post-treatment (Hedge's g = 0.47). Hyperarousal mediated reductions in the composite of the other PTSD symptom clusters. Although the reverse model was significant as well, the effect was weaker in this direction. Conclusion: Interventions focused on the management of hyperarousal may play an important role in recovery from PTSD. The MRP appears efficacious in reducing hyperarousal, and thereby impacting other PTSD symptom clusters, as one pathway to facilitating recovery

Selection of high-z supernovae candidates

Deep, ground based, optical wide-field supernova searches are capable of detecting a large number of supernovae over a broad redshift range up to z~1.5. While it is practically unfeasible to obtain spectroscopic redshifts of all the supernova candidates right after the discovery, we show that the magnitudes and colors of the host galaxies, as well as the supernovae, can be used to select high-z supernova candidates, for subsequent spectroscopic and photometric follow-up. Using Monte-Carlo simulations we construct criteria for selecting galaxies in well-defined redshift bands. For example, with a selection criteria using B-R and R-I colors we are able to pick out potential host galaxies for which z>0.85 with 80% confidence level and with a selection efficiency of 64-86%. The method was successfully tested using real observations from the HDF. Similarly, we show that that the magnitude and colors of the supernova discovery data can be used to constrain the redshift. With a set of cuts based on V-R and R-I in a search to m_I~25, supernovae at z~1 can be selected in a redshift interval sigma_z <0.15.Comment: 33 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in PASP (March 2002 issue