Public Information Dissemination for Ramp Metering in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Area

Although ramp metering systems have been in use throughout the U.S. for over 40 years,ramp meters are still a foreign concept in many places. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is one suchplace; therefore, successful implementation of ramp meters in the Pittsburgh area would require acomprehensive public education campaign. However, there are currently no standards inPennsylvania for such a campaign. This lack of information on public education raises thefollowing questions: How important is a public education campaign to the success of a rampmetering project in the Pittsburgh area? What have other states done in the past to educate thepublic on ramp metering? And what is the most effective way to inform the public about rampmeters?This study aims to answer these questions through the development, administration, andanalysis of a number of surveys. Eleven state departments of transportation were surveyed as apart of this study, and the trends of these states' experiences with ramp metering and publiceducation are discussed. A test group of thirty-one motorists representing the Pittsburgh area general public were also surveyed as part of the study. This survey was conducted in two parts(before and after reviewing informational material on ramp metering), and the results wereanalyzed both individually and as a comparison. The findings of all surveys are discussed, andrecommendations are made for a ramp metering public education campaign in the Pittsburgharea

Comparative Genomics of 9 Novel Paenibacillus Larvae Bacteriophages

American Foulbrood Disease, caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae, is one of the most destructive diseases of the honeybee, Apis mellifera. Our group recently published the sequences of 9 new phages with the ability to infect and lyse P. larvae. Here, we characterize the genomes of these P. larvae phages, compare them to each other and to other sequenced P. larvae phages, and putatively identify protein function. The phage genomes are 38–45 kb in size and contain 68–86 genes, most of which appear to be unique to P. larvae phages. We classify P. larvae phages into 2 main clusters and one singleton based on nucleotide sequence identity. Three of the new phages show sequence similarity to other sequenced P. larvae phages, while the remaining 6 do not. We identified functions for roughly half of the P. larvae phage proteins, including structural, assembly, host lysis, DNA replication/metabolism, regulatory, and host-related functions. Structural and assembly proteins are highly conserved among our phages and are located at the start of the genome. DNA replication/metabolism, regulatory, and host-related proteins are located in the middle and end of the genome, and are not conserved, with many of these genes found in some of our phages but not others. All nine phages code for a conserved N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidase. Comparative analysis showed the phages use the “cohesive ends with 30 overhang” DNA packaging strategy. This work is the first in-depth study of P. larvae phage genomics, and serves as a marker for future work in this area

First Vouchered Record for \u3ci\u3eStrumigenys Louisianae\u3c/i\u3e (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Illinois

We report the first known vouchered collection of Strumigenys louisianae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Illinois. Two specimens were captured in pitfall traps during a field study at Fults Hill Prairie Nature Preserve in Monroe County

An Examination of the Sufficiency of Small Qualitative Samples

These findings suggest that under some study conditions, rich qualitative findings can be discovered with relatively small sample sizes. Further determining the parameters under which this applies would be helpful to researchers and research participants alike. Most efforts thus far have been done with studies relying on individual interviews, and many are within the medical field. In addition, examinations of minimal required sample sizes that examine available interviews once, in the order they were collected, raise concerns about possible temporal bias. We sought to examine the minimum sample sizes needed to adequately include the themes and codes in areas of inquiry within the field of social work. Considering three distinct qualitative research studies inclusive of both individual interviewing and focus group data collection approaches, we addressed four research questions: (1) What minimum sample size is needed to adequately identify codes (smaller units of meaning) within the data? (2) What minimum sample size is needed to ensure that all larger themes are partially represented by at least one of the codes that comprise that theme? (3) What minimum sample size is needed to fully realize the complete dimensionality of all themes by including all assigned codes? (4) Are minimum sample sizes needed consistent across different substantive areas of exploration and different modes of data collection, specifically individual interviews and focus groups? To address temporal bias, we addressed these questions by examining multiple random draws of various sample sizes within each included qualitative study

Group Interview, class of 1966, Oral History Interview

https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/raymond-college/1155/thumbnail.jp

Benson Lossing: His Life and Work, 1830-1860

Benson J. Lossing\u27s interest in reaching a popular rather than an elite audience, his journalistic style, and the changing methods of historical research, which began to develop at the end of the nineteenth century, have all led to the current opinion of him-that he was a popularizer of history, and not a historian. However, an examination of his long and varied career suggests that his work deserves consideration in the study of antebellum American life

Mineralogy and stable isotope geochemistry of gold-silver telluride mineralization in the Berners Bay district, Alaska

Mesothermal gold mineralization in the Berners Bay district (\u3e2.2 Moz Au) is unique among gold-producing districts along the Juneau gold belt in that tellurides are a significant constituent of the ore. Most of the prospects in the Berners Bay district are hosted by the 105 Ma Jualin Diorite. At the large Kensington deposit (1.9 Moz Au), gold is associated with the third of four hydrothermal vein stages, dated at 56.5 to 53.2 Ma by Miller et al (1995). Gold-bearing minerals at Kensington consist of native gold, calaverite (AuTe2) and petzite (Ag3AuTe2). These minerals occur as inclusions in pyrite, chalcopyrite and quartz. Traces of coloradoite (HgTe), volynskite (AgBiTe2), sylvanite ((Au,Ag)2Te4), tellurobismuthite (Bi2Te3), altaite (PbTe), hessite (Ag2Te), sphalerite, bomite, pyrrhotite, galena, hematite and magnetite are also present in stage 3 veins. Petzite and electrum are the dominant gold-bearing minerals in veins along the Comet shear. These veins also contain greater amounts of hessite and altaite than do those to the east. The presence of pavonite ((Ag,Cu)(Bi,Pb)3S5), bismuthinite (Bi2S3), a member of the friedrichite (Pb5Cu5Bi7S18)-aikinite (PbCuBiS3) solid solution series, and ?rucklidgeite ((Bi,Pb)3)Te4) also characterizes the Valentine prospect. The distribution of tellurides in the district reflects variations of physicochemical conditions of the ore-forming fluids, different levels of uplift along the shear zones, and fluid compositions. Values of [Delta]34S of vein sulfides in the Berners Bay district range between -10.7 and 3.20/00 (n = 84), with the majority ranging from -3.0 to 1.O0/00. These data are consistent with an external, reduced source of sulfur. Values of [Delta]13C and [Delta]18O of calcite and ankerite from vein stages 2-4 in the Kensington deposit range from -7.57 to -4.70/00 and 11.07 to 16.640/00 (n=15), respectively, whereas values of [Delta]13C and [Delta]18O of calcite in unknown vein stages from elsewhere in the district range from -7.70 to -1.330/00 and 11.41 to 16.580/00, respectively. Some of the isotopically light values of [Delta]13C of vein carbonates reflect local interaction of the hydrothermal fluids with the carbonaceous metasedimentary rocks of the Treadwell Formation. Gold-forming fluids resulted from metamorphic dehydration reactions produced by movement along the Coast Shear Zone

Reflexive Self-Identity and Work: Working Women, Biographical Disruption and Agency

The article examines how women workers reflexively shape their self-identities and work identities following a significant biographical disruption incurred by breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Based on interviews with 22 women navigating their post-diagnosis life course, the article addresses participants’ challenges in their relationships with paid employment, their responses and self-identity narratives. It finds that women strive to revise and innovate their self-identity and work identity in the midst of personal and social constraints in working life. They craft their cancer disruptive experiences into new developments of who they are, and want to be, as persons and as workers. Multiple intersectional features of participants’ work-related self-identity are identified, including reassessment of priorities, capabilities and workplace relations

Infrared luminosities and aromatic features in the 24 μm flux-limited sample of 5muses

We study a 24 μm selected sample of 330 galaxies observed with the infrared spectrograph for the 5 mJy Unbiased Spitzer Extragalactic Survey. We estimate accurate total infrared luminosities by combining mid-IR spectroscopy and mid-to-far infrared photometry, and by utilizing newempirical spectral templates from Spitzer data. The infrared luminosities of this sample range mostly from 10^9 L_⊙ to 10^(13.5) L_⊙,with 83% in the range 10^(10) L_⊙ < L_(IR) < 10^(12) L_⊙. The redshifts range from 0.008 to 4.27, with a median of 0.144. The equivalent widths of the 6.2 μm aromatic feature have a bimodal distribution, probably related to selection effects. We use the 6.2μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon equivalent width (PAH EW) to classify our objects as starburst (SB)-dominated (44%), SB-AGN composite (22%), and active galactic nucleus (AGN)-dominated (34%). The high EW objects (SB-dominated) tend to have steeper mid-IR to far-IR spectral slopes and lower L_(IR) and redshifts. The low EW objects (AGN-dominated) tend to have less steep spectral slopes and higher L_(IR) and redshifts. This dichotomy leads to a gross correlation between EW and slope, which does not hold within either group. AGN-dominated sources tend to have lower log(L_(PAH7.7 μm)/L_(PAH11.3 μm)) ratios than star-forming galaxies, possibly due to preferential destruction of the smaller aromatics by the AGN. The log(L_(PAH7.7 μm)/L_(PAH11.3 μm)) ratios for star-forming galaxies are lower in our sample than the ratios measured from the nuclear spectra of nearby normal galaxies, most probably indicating a difference in the ionization state or grain size distribution between the nuclear regions and the entire galaxy. Finally, we provide a calibration relating the monochromatic continuum or aromatic feature luminosity to L_(IR) for different types of objects

A Latent Class Analysis of Heterosexual Young Men\u27s Masculinities

Parallel bodies of research have described the diverse and complex ways that men understand and construct their masculine identities (often termed masculinities ) and, separately, how adherence to traditional notions of masculinity places men at risk for negative sexual and health outcomes. The goal of this analysis was to bring together these two streams of inquiry. Using data from a national, online sample of 555 heterosexually active young men, we employed latent class analysis (LCA) to detect patterns of masculine identities based on men\u27s endorsement of behavioral and attitudinal indicators of dominant masculinity, including sexual attitudes and behaviors. LCA identified four conceptually distinct masculine identity profiles. Two groups, termed the Normative and Normative/Male Activities groups, respectively, constituted 88Ã¥ % of the sample and were characterized by low levels of adherence to attitudes, sexual scripts, and behaviors consistent with dominant masculinity, but differed in their levels of engagement in male-oriented activities (e.g., sports teams). Only eight percent of the sample comprised a masculinity profile consistent with traditional ideas about masculinity; this group was labeled Misogynistic because of high levels of sexual assault and violence toward female partners. The remaining four percent constituted a Sex-Focused group, characterized by high numbers of sexual partners, but relatively low endorsement of other indicators of traditional masculinity. Follow-up analyses showed a small number of differences across groups on sexual and substance use health indicators. Findings have implications for sexual and behavioral health interventions and suggest that very few young men embody or endorse rigidly traditional forms of masculinity