Assessing Large E-Book Collections: Is the Past a Roadmap for Developing Collections of the Future?

Many academic libraries rely heavily on massive prepackaged e-book collections from vendors such as EBSCO and ProQuest to support their research communities. This shift away from traditional collection development is seen as a budget-friendly strategy to provide current monographs across many disciplines. Librarians at Shenandoah University questioned whether their largest e-book subscriptions, ProQuest’s Ebook Central and EBSCO’s eBook Academic Collection, measured up to standard collection development tools. This study uses the Outstanding Academic Titles lists published by Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries as a benchmark to measure the quality of large e-book collections. By analyzing five years’ worth of Outstanding Academic Titles in each e-book collection, librarians began to evaluate the relevance of large, prepackaged e-book subscriptions

Executive Summary of Ares V: Lunar Capabilities Concept Review Through Phase A-Cycle 3

This Technical Memorandum (TM) was generated as an overall Ares V summary from the Lunar Capabilities Concept Review (LCCR) through Phase A-Cycle 3 (PA-C3) with the intent that it may be coupled with separately published appendices for a more detailed, integrated narrative. The Ares V has evolved from the initial point of departure (POD) 51.00.48 LCCR configuration to the current candidate POD, PA-C3D, and the family of vehicles concept that contains vehicles PA-C3A through H. The logical progression from concept to POD vehicles is summarized in this TM and captures the trade space and performance of each. The family-of-vehicles concept was assessed during PA-C3 and offered flexibility in the path forward with the ability to add options deemed appropriate. A description of each trade space is given in addition to a summary of each Ares V element. The Ares V contributions to a Mars campaign are also highlighted with the goal of introducing Ares V capabilities within the trade space. The assessment of the Ares V vehicle as it pertains to Mars missions remained locked to the architecture presented in Mars Design Reference Authorization 5.0 using the PA-C3D vehicle configuration to assess Mars transfer vehicle options, in-space EDS capabilities, docking adaptor and propellant transfer assessments, and lunar and Mars synergistic potential

Rotor interaction in the annulus billiard

Introducing the rotor interaction in the integrable system of the annulus billiard produces a variety of dynamical phenomena, from integrability to ergodicity

SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE

We present the results and measurement of Charge Transfer Efficiency (CTE) of the WFC3 UVIS detector, based on data acquired during the monthly internal Extended Pixel Edge Response (EPER) observations over a 2 year period. We present an algorithm for CTE assessment and fit a power-law to CTE measures versus signal level. We find that at each signal level, CTE declines linearly over time and CTE losses are worst at the lowest signal levels. 1

Who Participates in an Internet-Based Research Program for Mothers of Infants? A Secondary Prevention Research Study Among Low-Income Families

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the participation rates and factors associated with nonparticipation among mothers living in low-income households who were invited to join a parent-education and -support research program delivered via the Internet with professional support. Methods: Four hundred and seventy-seven mothers of infants were contacted via a variety of recruitment methods, including presentations at clinics/classes, direct mailings, print advertisement, and Internet posts. Research staff attempted to contact these mothers by phone, to assess their eligibility, and interest in participation. For those who were eligible but declined participation, we assessed reasons for declining and collected demographic information. Results: Seventy-four percent of those eligible agreed to participate in the program. Statistical tests comparing participants and decliners on demographic variables found no significant differences on mother’s age and marital status. There was a significant difference on baby’s age due to many decliners in the prenatal period. Mothers were an average age of 28 years and most were married (65.6%). Our sample of low-income participants was diverse with a large number of Latina mothers. Approximately half had a high-school diploma or less but 84% reported being moderately or very comfortable using a computer and half had a computer at home

WFC3 Calibration and Data Processing

Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), a panchromatic imager being developed for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), is now fully integrated and over the past year has completed first rounds of extensive ground testing at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), in both ambient and thermal-vacuum test environments. This report summarizes the results of those tests and describes the pipeline processing methods that will be used to calibrate WFC3 data. WFC3 is designed to ensure that the superb imaging performance of HST is maintained through the end of the mission and takes advantage of recent developments in detector technology to provide new and unique capabilities for HST. WFC3 contains ultraviolet/visible (UVIS) and near-infrared (IR) imaging channels, offering high sensitivity and wide field of view over the broadest wavelength range of any HST instrument. It is slated to replace the current Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 during Servicing Mission 4. The WFC3 UVIS channel is based on elements from the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS)Wide Field Camera (WFC), with a 4096x4096 pixel Marconi CCD covering a 160x160 arcsecond field of view. The WFC3 UVIS channel is optimized for maximum sensitivity in the near-UV and contains a complement of 48 spectral filters and a grism. The WFC3 IR channel uses a 1024x1024 pixel HgCdTe Hawaii-1R detector array covering a 135x135 arcsecond field of view. The array sensitivity is optimized in the 0.8-1.7micron spectral range. The IR channel accomodates 15 filters and 2 grisms for slitless spectroscopy

The demographic consequences of growing older and bigger in oyster populations

Structured population models, particularly size-or age-structured, have a long history of informing conservation and natural resource management. While size is often easier to measure than age and is the focus of many management strategies, age-structure can have important effects on population dynamics that are not captured in size-only models. However, relatively few studies have included the simultaneous effects of both age-and size-structure. To better understand how population structure, particularly that of age and size, impacts restoration and management decisions, we developed and compared a size-structured integral projection model (IPM) and an age-and size-structured IPM, using a population of Crassostrea gigas oysters in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. We analyzed sensitivity of model results across values of local retention that give populations decreasing in size to populations increasing in size. We found that age-and size-structured models yielded the best fit to the demographic data and provided more reliable results about long-term demography. Elasticity analysis showed that population growth rate was most sensitive to changes in the survival of both large (\u3e175 mm shell length) and small (length) oysters, indicating that a maximum size limit, in addition to a minimum size limit, could be an effective strategy for maintaining a sustainable population. In contrast, the purely size-structured model did not detect the importance of large individuals. Finally, patterns in stable age and stable size distributions differed between populations decreasing in size due to limited local retention and populations increasing in size due to high local retention. These patterns can be used to determine population status and restoration success. The methodology described here provides general insight into the necessity of including both age-and size-structure into modeling frameworks when using population models to inform restoration and management decisions

Detectors for CBA

We discuss some current approaches to a large solid angle detector. An alternative approach for utilizing the high rate of events at CBA is to design special purpose detectors for specific physics goals which can be pursued within a limited solid angle. In many cases this will be the only way to proceed, and then high luminosity has a different significance. The total rate in the restricted acceptance is less likely to be a problem, while the need for high luminosity to obtain sufficient data is obvious. Eight such experiments from studies carried out in the community are surveyed. Such experiments could be run on their own or in combination with others at the same intersection, or even with a large solid angle detector, if a window can be provided in the larger facility. The small solid angle detector would provide the trigger and special information, while the facility would provide back-up information on the rest of the event. We consider some possibilities of refurbishing existing detectors for use at CBA. This discussion is motivated by the fact that there is a growing number of powerful detectors at colliding beam machines around the world. Their builders have invested considerable amounts of time, money and ingenuity in them, and may wish to extend the useful lives of their creations, as new opportunities arise