The Age of the Universe and the Cosmological Constant Determined from Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy Measurements

If Omega_tot = 1 and structure formed from adiabatic initial conditions then the age of the Universe, as constrained by measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), is t_0=14.0 +/- 0.5 Gyr. The uncertainty is surprisingly small given that CMB data alone constrain neither h nor Omega_Lambda significantly. It is due to the tight (and accidental) correlation, in these models, of the age with the angle subtended by the sound horizon on the last--scattering surface and thus with the well-determined acoustic peak locations. If we assume either the HST Key Project result h = 0.72 \pm .08 or simply that h > 0.55, we find Omega_Lambda > 0.4 at 95% confidence--another argument for dark energy, independent of supernovae observations. Our analysis is greatly simplified by the Monte Carlo Markov chain approach to Bayesian inference combined with a fast method for calculating angular power spectra.Comment: 5 pages, including 2 figures and one table final published versio

Notes on Iowa Diatoms XI: A Study of the Genus Pinnularia from Dead Man\u27s Lake

Forty-three (43) taxa of Pinnularia collected from a Sphagnum bog in north central Iowa are added to the state records for this genus. The numbers of Pinnularia entities are generally much larger in this habitat than in other Iowa habitats. Furthermore, the size ranges of many taxa exceed those given in published descriptions. As of 1972, published records for the state number sixty-four (64) taxa in this genus

Notes on the Diatom Cylindrotheca gracilis (Breh. ex Kutz) Grun: Its Ecology and Distribution

The diatom Cylindrotheca gracilis (Breb. ex Kutz) Grun., considered by some as a Brackish water species, was found as a massive growth in isolated pools along Dugout Creek, Dickinson County, Iowa. Chemical analyses show the water to be high in S04, Mg., Ca., and low in Cl ions. Comparative data from other waters in the United States containing this species shows similar pattern of high conductivity suggesting that factors other than chlorides might be more critical for growth. United States distribution for this diatom includes: Maryland (brackish water), Ohio (fresh water) and Iowa (fresh water)

Notes on Autumn Collections of Diatoms from Brewer\u27s Creek, Hamilton County, Iowa

Biweekly diatom collections and chemical analyses were made in the autumn of 1970 from sites on Brewer\u27s Creek, a small central Iowa stream, and the Boone River. Eight diatom collection sites and five chemical analysis sites were used. Diatom population data and chemical data both indicate that this is a high alkaline, eutrophic stream. The creek water has a high conductivity which may, in part, explain why diatoms considered to be mesohalobous are present in the collections

Interface of the polarizable continuum model of solvation with semi-empirical methods in the GAMESS program

An interface between semi-empirical methods and the polarized continuum model (PCM) of solvation successfully implemented into GAMESS following the approach by Chudinov et al (Chem. Phys. 1992, 160, 41). The interface includes energy gradients and is parallelized. For large molecules such as ubiquitin a reasonable speedup (up to a factor of six) is observed for up to 16 cores. The SCF convergence is greatly improved by PCM for proteins compared to the gas phase

Parables

A collection of drawings by James C. Christensen, with paraphrased narratives written by Robert L. Millet.https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/pda/1009/thumbnail.jp

Repeats of Unusual Size in Plant Mitochondrial Genomes: Identification, Incidence and Evolution

Plant mitochondrial genomes have excessive size relative to coding capacity, a low mutation rate in genes and a high rearrangement rate. They also have abundant non-tandem repeats often including pairs of large repeats which cause isomerization of the genome by recombination, and numerous repeats of up to several hundred base pairs that recombine only when the genome is stressed by DNA damaging agents or mutations in DNA repair pathway genes. Early work on mitochondrial genomes led to the suggestion that repeats in the size range from several hundred to a few thousand base pair are underrepresented. The repeats themselves are not well-conserved between species, and are not always annotated in mitochondrial sequence assemblies. We systematically identified and compared these repeats, which are important clues to mechanisms of DNA maintenance in mitochondria. We developed a tool to find and curate non-tandem repeats larger than 50bp and analyzed the complete mitochondrial sequences from 157 plant species. We observed an interesting difference between taxa: the repeats are larger and more frequent in the vascular plants. Analysis of closely related species also shows that plant mitochondrial genomes evolve in dramatic bursts of breakage and rejoining, complete with DNA sequence gain and loss. We suggest an adaptive explanation for the existence of the repeats and their evolution

Design-only conceptual design report for pit disassembly and conversion facility. Rev 0

This design-only conceptual design report (DOCDR) was prepared to support a funding request by the Department of Energy (DOE)-Office of Fissile Material Disposition (OFMD) for engineering design of the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility (PDCF) Project No. 99-D-141. The PDCF will be used to disassemble the nation`s inventory of surplus nuclear weapons pits and convert the plutonium recovered from those pits into a form suitable for storage, international inspection, and final disposition. The PDCF is a complex consisting of a hardened building that will contain the plutonium processes in a safe and secure manner, and conventional buildings and structures that will house support personnel, systems, and equipment. The PDCF uses the Advanced Recovery and Integrated Extraction System (ARIES), a low waste, modular pyroprocessing system to convert pits to plutonium oxide. The PDCF project consists of engineering and design, and construction of the buildings and structures, and engineering and design, procurement, installation, testing and start-up of equipment to disassemble pits and convert plutonium in pits to oxide form. The facility is planned to operate for 10 years, averaging 3.5 metric tons (3.86 tons) of plutonium metal per year. On conclusion of operations, the PDCF will be decontaminated and decommissioned