Remote sensing as an aid to route evaluation for relocated Louisiana Highway 1

NASA aerial photography in the form of color infrared and color positive transparencies is used as an aid for evaluation of the route proposed for relocated Louisiana Highway 1, between LaRose and Golden Meadow, in South Louisiana

Overtime Addiction

Overtime is common in business.  Companies use it to respond to excess demand without increasing the number of employees.  Employees do it as a means of increasing their income. It contributes to communities by increasing disposable income. However, it can become an addiction as companies, employees and communities come to depend on it as a part of their subsistence instead of a temporary benefit.  This paper explains this problem and offers specific suggestions for managers who want to cure or prevent overtime addiction

50 nm GaAs mHEMTs and MMICs for ultra-low power distributed sensor network applications

We report well-scaled 50 nm GaAs metamorphic HEMTs (mHEMTs) with DC power consumption in the range 1-150 ΜW/Μ demonstrating f<sub>T</sub> of 30-400 GHz. These metrics enable the realisation of ultra-low power (<500 ΜW) radio transceivers for autonomous distributed sensor network applications

Surface flow types, near-bed hydraulics and the distribution of stream macroinvertebrates

International audienceSpatial variation in hydraulic conditions in streams often results in distinct water surface patterns, or surface flow types. Visual assessments of the distribution of surface flow types have been used to provide rapid assessment of habitat heterogeneity. The efficacy of this approach is predicated on the notion that surface flow types consistently represent a distinct suite of hydraulic conditions with biological relevance. This study tested this notion, asking three specific questions. First, do surface flow types provide a characterisation of physical habitat that is relevant to macroinvertebrates? Second, how well do near-bed hydraulic conditions explain macroinvertebrate distributions? Third, what components of near-bed hydraulic conditions exert the strongest influence on macroinvertebrate distributions? Results show that hydraulic conditions (incorporating direct measurements of near-bed velocity and turbulence in three dimensions) and substratum character (incorporating estimates of particle size distribution, and biofilm and macrophyte cover) within each surface flow type were largely distinct and that macroinvertebrate assemblages differed across flow types in taxon richness and assemblage composition, thus supporting the notion that rapid assessments of surface flow type distributions provide biologically relevant information. Macroinvertebrate assemblages were most strongly correlated with water depth, size of a flow type patch, near-bed velocity in the downstream direction, turbulence in the transverse direction, % pebble, % sand, % silt and clay and macrophyte cover. This study suggests that surface flow type mapping provides an assessment of physical habitat that is relevant to macroinvertebrates. The strong relationship detected between macroinvertebrate assemblages and transverse turbulence also highlights the value of directly measuring near-bed hydraulics. Further investigations are required to test the mechanisms underlying this relationship

Very high performance 50 nm T-gate III-V HEMTs enabled by robust nanofabrication technologies

In this paper, we review a range of nanofabrication techniques which enable the realization of uniform, high yield, high performance 50 nm T-gate III-V high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). These technologies have been applied in the fabrication of a range of lattice matched and pseudomorphic InP HEMTs and GaAs metamorphic HEMTs with functional yields in excess of 95%, threshold voltage uniformity of 5 mV, DC transconductance of up to 1600 mS/mm and f/sub T/ of up to 480 GHz. These technologies and device demonstrators are key to enabling a wide range of millimeter-wave imaging and sensing applications beyond 100 GHz, particularly where array-based multi-channel solutions are required

Syntactic Variation and Auxiliary Contraction: The Surprising Case of Scots

This article is concerned with the distribution of contracted auxiliaries in English, in particular the re- striction against their occurrence in the immediate context of a gap created by movement or ellipsis. We document apparent exceptions to this restriction in varieties of Scots, all occurring in what we call the LOCATIVE DISCOVERY EXPRESSION. We analyse these as mirative constructions, and using new data from the Scots Syntax Atlas we describe patterns of variation in the acceptance of auxiliary contractions in locative discovery expressions which provide clues as to the role of syntax in conditioning auxiliary contraction. Adapting the proposal in Wilder (1997), where contracted auxiliaries are prosodically incorporated into the following predicate, we provide an account in which the differences across dialects with respect to contraction are explained in terms of the availability of different abstract structures

The consequences of executive turnover

The high rate of executive turnover in the healthcare industry is a major issue for health service organisations and their staff both in Australia and internationally. In the course of planning a research project examining nurse turnover at the clinical level within three Australian States/Territories, the researchers became aware of frequent executive turnover at all levels (State Department of Health, Area Health Service, hospital). Over a period of approximately 2 years there were 41 executives occupying 18 different positions, highlighting the scope of this issue in Australia. Few studies have examined the causes and consequences of this phenomenon in depth. Factors such as age, gender, education, lack of career advancement opportunities and remuneration have all been identified in the literature as important contributors to executive turnover. High turnover rates have been found to be associated with a number of negative consequences, including organisational instability, high financial costs, loss of human capital and adverse effects on staff morale and patient care. While the use of 'acting' roles may assist in filling executive positions on a temporary basis, consequences for the rest of the organisation are associated with their extended use. Steps which health services planners may take to attempt to minimise executive turnover include providing staff members with appropriate challenges and opportunities for growth and ensuring that a clear succession plan is in place to minimise the impact for the organisation and its staff. © The Author(s) 2011

Image size influences visual search and perception of hemorrhages when reading cranial CT: an eye tracking study

Objectives: To explore reader gaze, performance and preference during interpretation of cranial computed tomography (cCT) in stack mode at two different sizes. Background: Digital display of medical images allows for the manipulation of many imaging factors, like image size, by the radiologists, yet it is often not known what display parameters better suit human perception. Materials and Methods: Twenty-one radiologists provided informed consent to be eye tracked while reading 20 cCT cases. Half of these cases were presented at a size of 14x14 cm (512x512 pixels), half at 28x28 cm (1024x1024 pixels). Visual search, performance and preference for the two image sizes were assessed. Results: When reading small images significantly fewer, but longer fixations were observed, and these covered significantly more slices. Time to first fixation of True Positive findings was faster in small images, but dwell time on true findings was longer. Readers made more False Positive decisions in small images, but no overall difference in either JAFROC or reading time was found. Conclusions: Overall performance is not affected by image size. However, small stack mode cCT images may better support the use of motion perception and acquiring an overview, whereas large stack mode cCT images seem better suited for detailed analyses. Application: Subjective and eye tracking data suggest that image size influences how images are searched and that different search strategies might be beneficial under different circumstances

Evidence for an RNA-based catalytic mechanism in eukaryotic nuclear ribonuclease P.

This is the published version. Copyright 2000 by the RNA Society.Ribonuclease P is the enzyme responsible for removing the 5'-leader segment of precursor transfer RNAs in all organisms. All eukaryotic nuclear RNase Ps are ribonucleoproteins in which multiple protein components and a single RNA species are required for activity in vitro as well as in vivo. It is not known, however, which subunits participate directly in phosphodiester-bond hydrolysis. The RNA subunit of nuclear RNase P is evolutionarily related to its catalytically active bacterial counterpart, prompting speculation that in eukaryotes the RNA may be the catalytic component. In the bacterial RNase P reaction, Mg(II) is required to coordinate the nonbridging phosphodiester oxygen(s) of the scissile bond. As a consequence, bacterial RNase P cannot cleave pre-tRNA in which the pro-Rp nonbridging oxygen of the scissile bond is replaced by sulfur. In contrast, the RNase P reaction in plant chloroplasts is catalyzed by a protein enzyme whose mechanism does not involve Mg(II) coordinated by the pro-Rp oxygen. To determine whether the mechanism of nuclear RNase P resembles more closely an RNA- or a protein-catalyzed reaction, we analyzed the ability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae nuclear RNase P to cleave pre-tRNA containing a sulfur substitution of the pro-Rp oxygen at the cleavage site. Sulfur substitution at this position prohibits correct cleavage of pre-tRNA. Cleavage by eukaryotic RNase P thus depends on the presence of a thio-sensitive ligand to the pro-Rp oxygen of the scissile bond, and is consistent with a common, RNA-based mechanism for the bacterial and eukaryal enzymes

The functional readthrough extension of malate dehydrogenase reveals a modification of the genetic code

Translational readthrough gives rise to C-terminally extended proteins, thereby providing the cell with new protein isoforms. These may have different properties from the parental proteins if the extensions contain functional domains. While for most genes amino acid incorporation at the stop codon is far lower than 0.1%, about 4% of malate dehydrogenase (MDH1) is physiologically extended by translational readthrough and the actual ratio of MDH1x (extended protein) to ‘normal' MDH1 is dependent on the cell type. In human cells, arginine and tryptophan are co-encoded by the MDH1x UGA stop codon. Readthrough is controlled by the 7-nucleotide high-readthrough stop codon context without contribution of the subsequent 50 nucleotides encoding the extension. All vertebrate MDH1x is directed to peroxisomes via a hidden peroxisomal targeting signal (PTS) in the readthrough extension, which is more highly conserved than the extension of lactate dehydrogenase B. The hidden PTS of non-mammalian MDH1x evolved to be more efficient than the PTS of mammalian MDH1x. These results provide insight into the genetic and functional co-evolution of these dually localized dehydrogenases