CELL AND PROTEIN-BASED SENSING SYSTEMS FOR THE DETECTION OF ENVIRONMENTALLY AND PHYSIOLOGICALLY RELEVANT MOLECULES

The detection of small molecules in complex sample matrices such as environmental (surface and ground water, sediment, etc.) and biological (blood, serum, plasma, etc.) samples is of paramount importance for monitoring the distribution of environmental pollutants and their patterns of exposure within the population as well as diagnosing and managing diseases. Biosensors have demonstrated a singular ability to sensitively and selectively detect analytes in complex samples without the need for extensive sample preparation and pretreatment. Nature has demonstrated myriad examples of exquisite selectivity in spite of complexity and we seek to take advantage of that attribute in the development of novel biosensing systems. In the work presented here, we have developed both cell- and proteinbased biosensing systems for the detection of hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls (OH-PCBs) and protein-based sensing systems for the detection of glucose. In the development of a whole-cell sensing system, the regulatory protein, HbpR, and its associated promoter was used to modulate the expression of luciferase. Additionally, the effector binding domain of HbpR, HbpR-A, was isolated and modified with a solvatochromic fluorophore resulting in a proteinbased sensing system. For the detection of glucose, two different glucose binding proteins were engineered in an effort to tailor their characteristics, such as binding affinity and thermal stability, to develop a rugged, sensitive proteinbased sensing system. We envision that these biosensing systems will find applications in the areas of environmental pollutant monitoring and the management and treatment of diseases such as diabetes

Head Start and School Readiness

The effect of compensatory education was studied as it influences school readiness in preschool children . The research was conducted in the Logan and Providence areas of Cache County, Utah, with 44 children who had completed the kindergarten year of school. Twenty-two of the children had participated in the compensatory educational experience of Head Start prior to their kindergarten experience. It was found that there was not a significant difference between the Head Start children and their neighbors in terms of their performance on the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts. Therefore, in terms of school preparedness, the Head Start children seem to be equal to their peers in basic concept knowledge as they enter the first grade. The findings also indicate that additional studies will be needed to determine if the Head Start children in this study have maintained an ability level comparable to their nearest-neighbor peers

Investigation of alternative production and inventory decisions for a simulation model of an actual shop including multiproducts, parallel and serial routing, labor constraints, and learning curve processing times

This study is concerned with the evaluation of a variety of production and inventory decision rules on a simulation model of an actual shop, a model that includes learning curve processing times

Low-speed wind-tunnel investigation of the flight dynamic characteristics of an advanced turboprop business/commuter aircraft configuration

An investigation was conducted to determine the low-speed flight dynamic behavior of a representative advanced turboprop business/commuter aircraft concept. Free-flight tests were conducted in the NASA Langley Research Center's 30- by 60-Foot Tunnel. In support of the free-flight tests, conventional static, dynamic, and free-to-roll oscillation tests were performed. Tests were intended to explore normal operating and post stall flight conditions, and conditions simulating the loss of power in one engine

CREATIVITY IN STRATEGIC PLANNING: THE INFLUENCE OF TEMPORAL PERSPECTIVE

As organizational environments become more turbulent and complex and as uncertainty about the future increases, reliance on quantitative decision-making approaches for strategic planning becomes less appropriate. Scenario analysis can be an effective qualitative technique for enhancing strategic planning. Typically, scenarios are presented as alternate futures. Some theorists, however, have suggested that forward and backward thinking are different cognitive processes. In this study, we investigate the effect of presenting scenarios retrospectively; that is, as if future events had already happened. A repeated measures laboratory study compared the performance of professional planners (n = 64) using prospective and retrospective scenarios in two simulated business planning tasks. Measures consisted of objective factors (number of individual planning statements and number of monitoring statements), subjective factors (quality based on an 18-question rating instrument), and subject attitudes concerning their experience with the two treatments. Results suggest that use of retrospective scenarios do increase the number of planning statements. In addition, plans prepared using retrospective scenarios were rated higher overall than those prepared with prospective scenarios. Moreover, evidence emerged that a subset of subjects were better able to make use of the retrospective technique, suggesting that selection along with training may improve planning performance.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

"The Predication Semantics Model: The Role of Predicate: Class in Text Comprehension and Recall"

This paper presents and tests the predication semantics model, a computational model of text comprehension. It goes beyond previous case grammar approaches to text comprehension in employing a propositional rather than a rigid hierarchical tree notion, attempting to maintain a coherent set of propositions in working memory. The authors' assertion is that predicate class contains semantic information that readers use to make generally accurate predictions of a given proposition. Thus, the main purpose of the model-which works as a series of input and reduction cycles-is to explore the extent to which predicate categories play a role in reading comprehension and recall. In the reduction phase of the model, the propositions entered into the memory during the input phase are decreased while coherence is maintained among them. In an examination of the working memory at the end of each cycle, the computational model maintained coherence for 70% of cycles. The model appeared prone to serial dependence in errors: the coherence problem appears to occur because (unlike real readers) the simulation docs not reread when necessary. Overall, the experiment suggested that the predication semantics model is robust. The results suggested that the model emulates a primary process in text comprehension: predicate categories provide semantic information that helps to initiate and control automatic processes in reading, and allows people to grasp the gist of a text even when they have only minimal background knowledge. While needing refinement in several areas presenting minor problems-for example, the lack of a sufficiently complex memory to ensure that when the simulation of the model goes wrong it does not, as at present, stay wrong for successive intervals-the success of the model even at the current restrictive level of detail demonstrates the importance of the semantic information in predicate categories.

The Development of the South Carolina Coastal Information Network and Portal Site: Bringing Training Opportunities and Educational Resources to Coastal Community Officials and the Public

2008 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Addressing Water Challenges Facing the State and Regio

Trophic Differentiation In Ilyodon, A Genus Of Stream‐Dwelling Goodeid Fishes: Speciation Versus Ecological Polymorphism

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137594/1/evo04814.pd

Thermal Energy Corporation Combined Heat and Power Project

To meet the planned heating and cooling load growth at the Texas Medical Center (TMC), Thermal Energy Corporation (TECO) implemented Phase 1 of a Master Plan to install an additional 32,000 tons of chilled water capacity, a 75,000 ton-hour (8.8 million gallon) Thermal Energy Storage (TES) tank, and a 48 MW Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system. The Department of Energy selected TMC for a $10 million grant award as part of the Financial Assistance Funding Opportunity Announcement, U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology, Recovery Act: Deployment of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Systems, District Energy Systems, Waste Energy Recovery Systems, and Efficiency Industrial Equipment Funding Opportunity Number: DE-FOA-0000044 to support the installation of a new 48 MW CHP system at the TMC located just outside downtown Houston. As the largest medical center in the world, TMC is home to many of the nationâs best hospitals, physicians, researchers, educational institutions, and health care providers. TMC provides care to approximately six million patients each year, and medical instruction to over 71,000 students. A medical center the size of TMC has enormous electricity and thermal energy demands to help it carry out its mission. Reliable, high-quality steam and chilled water are of utmost importance to the operations of its many facilities. For example, advanced medical equipment, laboratories, laundry facilities, space heating and cooling all rely on the generation of heat and power. As result of this project TECO provides this mission critical heating and cooling to TMC utilizing a system that is both energy-efficient and reliable since it provides the capability to run on power independent of the already strained regional electric grid. This allows the medical center to focus on its primary mission â providing top quality medical care and instruction â without worrying about excessive energy costs or the loss of heating and cooling due to the risk of power outages. TECOâs operation is the largest Chilled Water District Energy System in the United States. The company used DOEâs funding to help install a new high efficiency CHP system consisting of a Combustion Turbine and a Heat Recovery Steam Generator. This CHP installation was just part of a larger project undertaken by TECO to ensure that it can continue to meet TMCâs growing needs. The complete efficiency overhaul that TECO undertook supported more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs in manufacturing, engineering, and construction, with approximately 400 of those being jobs directly associated with construction of the combined heat and power plant. This showcase industrial scale CHP project, serving a critical component of the nationâs healthcare infrastructure, directly and immediately supported the energy efficiency and job creation goals established by ARRA and DOE. It also provided an unsurpassed model of a district energy CHP application that can be replicated within other energy intensive applications in the industrial, institutional and commercial sectors