Automating the Classification of Thematic Rasters for Weighted Overlay Analysis in GeoPlanner for ArcGIS

Esri’s GeoPlanner for ArcGIS application provides powerful analysis capabilities through the weighted overlay analysis modeler. This modeler consumes weighted overlay services composed of pre-processed raster layers. Creating custom weighted overlay services for GeoPlanner is a difficult and complex process that requires both domain-specific and GIS expertise. This challenge was addressed by simplifying the weighted overlay service creation workflow and developing two new custom Python tools that guide GeoPlanner users through the process of preparing input datasets and then classifying the raster datasets. Where possible these tools automate the required steps and where user input is needed, the tools provide default recommendations based on the input datasets properties and characteristics. As a result, the weighted overlay services creation workflow has been significantly improved and more GeoPlanner users can include their own data in weighted overlay analyses

An advisory system for scraper selection

Scrapers are useful construction equipment when hauling distances range between 500 to 3000 feet. When preparing an estimate for an earthmoving project utilizing scrapers, the capacity of the scraper and the cycle time for the given project conditions must be calculated. Since travel time varies widely based on the conditions of the haul road and the performance of the equipment, determining the most economical selection (size and model) and the correct number of scrapers and pushers is a rather tedious process. The calculation of travel time between the cut and fill zone involves repetitive calculations. A spreadsheet-based interactive advisory system was created in order to facilitate these calculations and generate a list of recommended equipment. The system contains a scrapers database, performance charts, soil properties, and a user interface to solicit data that is specific to the project such as haul road surface conditions and characteristics. Data such as efficiency (minutes worked per hour) and hourly rates for operators and other workers can also be specified in the user interface. Once the user enters the quantity to be moved the application calculates the production rate, time required for the job, and the estimated unit cost for each scraper in the database. The system then produces a list of all scrapers, sorted in the order of shortest time or lowest unit price

Strengths-Based Case Management: Implementation With High-Risk Youth

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://alliance1.metapress.com/home/main.mpx.Few effective methods of intervention exist for youth at risk for negative life outcomes. One method used successfully with both adults with chronic mental illness and adults with substance abuse problems is strengths-based case management (SBCM). Based on the principles of strengths theory, SBCM aims to assist individuals in identifying and achieving personal goals, with an emphasis on the case manager-client relationship and client self-determination. In the current study, the authors report findings from a feasibility study that implemented SBCM with adolescent runaways. Challenges to implementation, such as financial status, the role of families, abuse and neglect, developmental issues, education, peer relationships, and transportation, are examined. The current findings suggest that it is feasible to successfully implement SBCM with adolescents, but the challenges to application are different with this group compared with adults, given the developmental differences between adolescents and adults

The Greater Kansas City Early Care and Education Landscape Study Final Report: Jackson County, Missouri

The report includes data that will allow districts, schools, centers, funders, and supporters to better understand who is accessing early childhood services, what services are being accessed, and who is providing those services. The survey showed that schools, centers, and homes differed with respect to children served, program characteristics, and staff characteristic. Likely as a result of their access to more sources of revenue, school-based programs were more likely to be accredited, to have appropriately educated teachers who receive fair compensation and benefits, to offer services such as transportation and summer school, and to use strategies to engage families compared to centers and homes. The focus on formal learning opportunities varied with respect to program type. School-based programs were most likely to use a curriculum and to assess kindergarten readiness (100% and 71%, respectively), followed by centers (74% and 50%, respectively), then homes (65% and 32%, respectively)

Natural isoforms of the Photosystem II D1 subunit differ in photoassembly efficiency of the water-oxidizing complex

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. Oxygenic photosynthesis efficiency at increasing solar flux is limited by light-induced damage (photoinhibition) of Photosystem II (PSII), primarily targeting the D1 reaction center subunit. Some cyanobacteria contain two natural isoforms of D1 that function better under low light (D1:1) or high light (D1:2). Herein, rates and yields of photoassembly of the Mn4CaO5 water-oxidizing complex (WOC) from the free inorganic cofactors (Mn2+, Ca2+, water, electron acceptor) and apo-WOC-PSII are shown to differ significantly: D1:1 apo-WOC-PSII exhibits a 2.3-fold faster rate-limiting step of photoassembly and up to seven-fold faster rate to the first light-stable Mn3+ intermediate, IM1, but with a much higher rate of photoinhibition than D1:2. Conversely, D1:2 apo-WOC-PSII assembles slower but has up to seven-fold higher yield, achieved by a higher quantum yield of charge separation and slower photoinhibition rate. These results confirm and extend previous observations of the two holoenzymes: D1:2-PSII has a greater quantum yield of primary charge separation, faster [P680+ Q A- ] charge recombination and less photoinhibition that results in a slower rate and higher yield of photoassembly of its apo-WOC-PSII complex. In contrast, D1:1-PSII has a lower quantum yield of primary charge separation, a slower [P680+ Q A- ] charge recombination rate, and faster photoinhibition that together result in higher rate but lower yield of photoassembly at higher light intensities. Cyanobacterial PSII reaction centers that contain the high- and low-light D1 isoforms can tailor performance to optimize photosynthesis at varying light conditions, with similar consequences on their photoassembly kinetics and yield. These different efficiencies of photoassembly versus photoinhibition impose differential costs for biosynthesis as a function of light intensity

Natural variants of photosystem II subunit D1 tune photochemical fitness to solar intensity

Background: Cyanobacteria use multiple PSII-D1 isoforms to adapt to environmental conditions. Results: D1:2 achieves higher quantum efficiency of water oxidation and biomass accumulation rate at high light versus D1:1; the latter is more efficient at low light due to less charge recombination. Conclusion: A functional advantage for D1:1 is revealed for the first time. Significance: Improved photochemical efficiency at low light suggests an evolutionary advantage to retain D1:1. © 2013 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc

The \u3cem\u3eChlamydomonas\u3c/em\u3e Genome Reveals the Evolution of Key Animal and Plant Functions

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a unicellular green alga whose lineage diverged from land plants over 1 billion years ago. It is a model system for studying chloroplast-based photosynthesis, as well as the structure, assembly, and function of eukaryotic flagella (cilia), which were inherited from the common ancestor of plants and animals, but lost in land plants. We sequenced the ∼120-megabase nuclear genome of Chlamydomonas and performed comparative phylogenomic analyses, identifying genes encoding uncharacterized proteins that are likely associated with the function and biogenesis of chloroplasts or eukaryotic flagella. Analyses of the Chlamydomonas genome advance our understanding of the ancestral eukaryotic cell, reveal previously unknown genes associated with photosynthetic and flagellar functions, and establish links between ciliopathy and the composition and function of flagella