Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research; project: hazardous materials in aquatic environments; subproject: biomarkers and risk assessment in Bayou Trepagnier, LA

Tulane and Xavier Universities have singled out the environment as a major strategic focus for research and training for now and beyond the year 2000. the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research (CBR) was established in 1989 as the umbrella organization to coordinate environmental research at both universities. CBR projects funded by the DOE under the Hazardous Materials in Aquatic Environments grant are defining the following: (1) the complex interactions that occur during the transport of contaminants through wetlands environments, (2) the actual and potential impact of contaminants on ecological systems and health, (3) the mechanisms and new technologies through which these impacts might be remediated, and (4) new programs aimed at educating and training environmental workers of the future. The subproject described in this report, `Biomarkers and Risk Assessment in Bayou Trepagnier, LN`, is particularly relevant to the US Department of Energy`s Environmental Restoration and Waste Management program aimed at solving problems related to hazard monitoring and clean-up prioritization at sites with aquatic pollution problems in the DOE complex

Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering study of charge excitations in La2CuO4

We report a resonant inelastic x-ray scattering study of the dispersion relations of charge transfer excitations in insulating La$_2$CuO$_4$. These data reveal two peaks, both of which show two-dimensional characteristics. The lowest energy excitation has a gap energy of $\sim 2.2$ eV at the zone center, and a dispersion of $\sim 1$ eV. The spectral weight of this mode becomes dramatically smaller around ($\pi$, $\pi$). The second peak shows a smaller dispersion ($\sim 0.5$ eV) with a zone-center energy of $\sim 3.9$ eV. We argue that these are both highly dispersive exciton modes damped by the presence of the electron-hole continuum.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

The measurement of aircraft performance and stability and control after flight through natural icing conditions

The effects of airframe icing on the performance and stability and control of a twin-engine commuter-class aircraft were measured by the NASA Lewis Research Center. This work consisted of clear air tests with artificial ice shapes attached to the horizontal tail, and natural icing flight tests in measured icing clouds. The clear air tests employed static longitudinal flight test methods to determine degradation in stability margins for four simulated ice shapes. The natural icing flight tests employed a data acquisition system, which was provided under contract to NASA by Kohlman Systems Research Incorporated. This system used a performance modeling method and modified maximum likelihood estimation (MMLE) technique to determine aircraft performance degradation and stability and control. Flight test results with artificial ice shapes showed that longitudinal, stick-fixed, static margins are reduced on the order of 5 percent with flaps up. Natural icing tests with the KSR system corroborated these results and showed degradation in the elevator control derivatives on the order of 8 to 16 percent depending on wing flap configuration. Performance analyses showed the individual contributions of major airframe components to the overall degration in lift and drag

Pembuatan dan Uji Efektivitas Chess Of Chemistry (Coc)sebagai Upaya Peningkatan Minat, Prestasi dan Kecepatan Berpikir Siswa dalam Pokok Bahasan Stoikiometri

Pembelajaran dibidang Kimia seringkali dianggap sulit bagi pelajar maupun mahasiswa terutama untuk bidang perhitungan kimia dan deskripsi objek yang dipelajari di kimia yang cenderung abstrak, kendala ini mesti dicari solusinya agar bidang kimia yang punya peranan penting di kehidupan dapat dipelajari dengan baik oleh pelajar ataupun mahasiswa, sehingga Sumber Daya Manusia (SDM) yang memahami kimia akan dapat termanfaatkan dengan baik demi kemajuan bangsa. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh dan efektivitas Chess of Chemistry (COC) sebagai Media Pembelajaran terhadap pembelajaran siswa pada pokok bahasan Stoikiometri khususnya dan perhitungan kimia pada umumnya, penelitian ini berjenis eksperimen (Experiment Research) yang melibatkan 2 kelas yang mengambil perwakilan dari kelas-kelas IPA yang dipilih berdasarkan homogenitas sebagai sampel. Populasi dari penelitian ini adalah pelajar bidang IPA SMAN 8 Kota Bengkulu, pengujian efektivitas dari COC ini dilakukan dengan membandingkan rata-rata nilai dan kecepatan berpikir menggunakan tes yang singkat(dalam rentang waktu yang sempit), antara kelas yang menggunakan Chess of Chemistry (COC) dalam pembelajaran dan yang tidak, dengan membandingkan nilai rata-rata tes, waktu dan nilai rata-rata tes sebelumnya serta membandingkan nilai rata-rata kelas yang menggunakan COC dan kelas yang menggunakan metode konvensional, kesimpulan efektivitas positif diambil, jika nilai rata-rata kelas dengan metode menggunakan Chess of Chemistry (COC) > dari kelas yang menggunakan metode tanpa media Chess of Chemistry (COC)

Tailoring teleportation to the quantum alphabet

We introduce a refinement of the standard continuous variable teleportation measurement and displacement strategies. This refinement makes use of prior knowledge about the target state and the partial information carried by the classical channel when entanglement is non-maximal. This gives an improvement in the output quality of the protocol. The strategies we introduce could be used in current continuous variable teleportation experiments.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, RevTeX, made changes as recommended by referee, other minor textual corrections, resubmitted to Phys. Rev.

Seismic and geodetic constraints on Cascadia slow slip

Automatically detected and located tremor epicenters from episodic tremor and slip (ETS) episodes in northern Cascadia provide a high-resolution map of Washington’s slow slip region. Thousands of epicenters from the past four ETS events from 2004 to 2008 provide detailed map-view constraints that correlate with geodetic estimates of the simultaneous slow slip. Each of these ETS events exhibits remarkable similarity in the timing and geographic distribution of tremor density and geodetically inferred slip. Analysis of the latest 15-month inter-ETS period also reveals ageodetic tremor activity similar both in duration and extent to ETS tremor. Epicenters from both ETS and inter- ETS tremor are bounded between the 30- and 45-km plate interface depth contours and locate approximately 75 km east of previous estimates of the locked portion of the subducting Juan de Fuca plate. Inter-ETS tremor overlaps but is generally downdip of ETS tremor and does not yet correlate with geodetically observed slip, but this is likely because the slip is below current GPS detection levels. Based on the tremor and slip correlation and the tremor-duration and slip magnitude relationship, we suggest that the well-resolved, sharp updip edge of tremor epicenters reflects a change in plate interface coupling properties. The region updip of this boundary may accumulate stress with the potential for coseismic shear failure during a megathrust earthquake. Alternatively, plate convergence in this region could be accommodated by continuous slow slip with no detectable tremor or by slow slip events with sufficiently long recurrence intervals that none have been detected during the past 10 years of GPS observations

The vertebrate fauna of the Upper Permian of Niger—III, morphology and ontogeny of the hindlimb of Moradisaurus grandis (Reptilia, Captorhinidae)

We describe hindlimb elements of the large captorhinid Moradisaurus grandis (Reptilia: Captorhinidae) recently collected from the Upper Permian Moradi Formation of north-central Niger. This description is based primarily on an associated partial skeleton comprising a hemimandible, vertebral column, and partial left and nearly complete right hindlimb. Additionally, we report on a well-preserved, articulated, and essentially complete juvenile pes that provides important information on the ontogeny of the captorhinid tarsus. The hindlimb of Moradisaurus is stout and more massively built than in any other known captorhinid. The femur displays several features interpreted as adaptations to the demands of large body size, and the tibia and fibula have short, wide shafts and hypertrophied condyles and epicondyles. The astragalus is very derived, possessing two accessory ossifications and a relatively horizontal tibial articulation, indicating that the tibia was held more vertically than in other captorhinids. The calcaneum is co-ossified with distal tarsal five. The juvenile pes indicates that the captorhinid centrale arose from the fusion of two ossification centers, and that the captorhinid astragalus arose from the fusion of at least three ossification centers

Monitoring Ion Channel Function In Real Time Through Quantum Decoherence

In drug discovery research there is a clear and urgent need for non-invasive detection of cell membrane ion channel operation with wide-field capability. Existing techniques are generally invasive, require specialized nano structures, or are only applicable to certain ion channel species. We show that quantum nanotechnology has enormous potential to provide a novel solution to this problem. The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre in nano-diamond is currently of great interest as a novel single atom quantum probe for nanoscale processes. However, until now, beyond the use of diamond nanocrystals as fluorescence markers, nothing was known about the quantum behaviour of a NV probe in the complex room temperature extra-cellular environment. For the first time we explore in detail the quantum dynamics of a NV probe in proximity to the ion channel, lipid bilayer and surrounding aqueous environment. Our theoretical results indicate that real-time detection of ion channel operation at millisecond resolution is possible by directly monitoring the quantum decoherence of the NV probe. With the potential to scan and scale-up to an array-based system this conclusion may have wide ranging implications for nanoscale biology and drug discovery.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure