Project SPACE: Solar Panel Automated Cleaning Environment

The goal of Project SPACE is to create an automated solar panel cleaner that will address the adverse impact of soiling on commercial photovoltaic cells. Specifically, we hoped to create a device that increases the maximum power output of a soiled panel by 10% (recovering the amount of power lost) while still costing under $500 and operating for up to 7.0 years. A successful design should operate without the use of water. This will help solar panel arrays achieve a production output closer to their maximum potential and save companies on costs associated energy generation. The current apparatus utilizes a brush cleaning system that cleans on set cleaning cycles. The device uses the combination of a gear train (with 48 pitch Delrin gears) and a 12V DC motor to spin both a 5.00 foot long, 0.25 inch diameter vacuum brush shaft and drive two sets of two wheels. The power source for the drive train is a 12V deep cycle lead-acid battery. Our light weight design eliminates water usage during cleaning and reduces the potential dangers stemming from manual labor. Our design’s retail price was estimated to be around$700 with a payback period of less than 3.5 years. To date, we have created a device that improves the efficiency of soiled solar panels by 3.5% after two runs over the solar panel. We hope that our final design will continue to expand the growth of solar energy globally

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals\u27 Perceptions of Communication with Hearing Colleagues in Small Groups

This survey-based study investigated the the perception of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) individuals’ perceived need for technologies that may facilitate communication when meeting in small groups with hearing colleagues. Participants were 108 DHH postsecondary students who participated in co-op (internship) and capstone experiences at workplaces with hearing employees within the past two years. Participants’ responses to a survey indicated that they were generally not satisfied with their current strategies and technologies for communicating with hearing persons in small groups

Modelling the cooling effects of urban canals

We investigate the effects of canals on urban air temperatures, performing a national-scale analysis of urban canals in the UK and Ireland. Using canal characteristics and high-temporal resolution weather data, we model variability in water temperatures for 2022 at 15-minute intervals and use these data to analyse the effects on surrounding air temperatures. In addition, we incorporate the effects of shading by buildings, which can play a key role in water energy balance. In turn, this has implications for the effectiveness of canals in offsetting temperature extremes as well as the management and regulation of adjacent urban areas

High-contrast imager for Complex Aperture Telescopes (HiCAT): 1. Testbed design

Searching for nearby habitable worlds with direct imaging and spectroscopy will require a telescope large enough to provide angular resolution and sensitivity to planets around a significant sample of stars. Segmented telescopes are a compelling option to obtain such large apertures. However, these telescope designs have a complex geometry (central obstruction, support structures, segmentation) that makes high-contrast imaging more challenging. We are developing a new high-contrast imaging testbed at STScI to provide an integrated solution for wavefront control and starlight suppression on complex aperture geometries. We present our approach for the testbed optical design, which defines the surface requirements for each mirror to minimize the amplitude-induced errors from the propagation of out-of-pupil surfaces. Our approach guarantees that the testbed will not be limited by these Fresnel propagation effects, but only by the aperture geometry. This approach involves iterations between classical ray-tracing optical design optimization, and end-to-end Fresnel propagation with wavefront control (e.g. Electric Field Conjugation / Stroke Minimization). The construction of the testbed is planned to start in late Fall 2013.Comment: Proc. of the SPIE 8864, 10 pages, 3 figures, Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets V

Abilene Christian University: Faculty Open Access Policy

The University Library Committee (ULC) has drafted and approved the following policy in consultation with ACU Library leadership

An integrated strain improvement and process development program for the production of UK-2A, the precursor of the fungicide InatreqTM active

Secondary metabolites produced by Actinobacteria serve a variety of functions including molecules having agricultural applications. Streptomyces sp. 517-02 produces a novel fungicidal compound called UK-2A, which through a single step chemical reaction is converted to Inatreq™ active. Inatreq utilizes a unique target site of action, ubiquinone reductase Qi site (inner side of membrane), and is intended for use in cereals and banana markets with strong residual protectant and curative activity in wheat against Zymoseptoria tritici, with additional activity on rust and other diseases. To achieve a commercially viable process an integrated multidiscipline approach was applied in parallel including mutagenesis, high-throughput (HTP) screening, fermentation process optimization, and targeted genetic engineering. The presentation will review how the integrated approach contributed to a rapid acceleration in productivity gains resulting in a 75% improvement in titer over a one-year period, more than a 2 fold improvement in 4 years and successful scale-up to the final commercial production plant. Examples of topics to be discussed: Development, deployment, and optimization of the mutagenesis and high-throughput screening process for the selection of improved strains. Deployment of targeted genetic engineering to alleviate biosynthesis bottlenecks identified using approaches such as biosynthetic gene overexpression and precursor feeding. Use of “omics” tools to identify native promoters which permit temporal gene expression suitable for enhanced precursor production and increased UK-2A production. Vetting of new strains and fermentation process improvements both in bioreactors at multiple scales and in the downstream process for product recovery. Use of experimental results from across the integrated program to guide prioritization of strain and process improvement targets. Incorporation of final product design and performance requirements into the program with a line of sight to manufacturing process constraints. ™ Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company ( Dow ) or an affiliated company of Do

Diversity of woody-host infecting Phytophthora species in public parks and botanic gardens as revealed by metabarcoding, and opportunities for mitigation through best practice

The diversity of Phytophthora species in soils collected from 14 highly disturbed sites in northern Britain, including botanic gardens, arboreta, public parks and other amenity woodland sites, was analysed using a molecular technique known as DNA metabarcoding. This technique enables the identification of multiple species present in a single environmental sample based on a DNA ‘barcode’ unique to each species. The genus Phytophthora was targeted in this study due to its increasing impact on Britain’s forests and woodlands over thelast 20 years. The introduction and spread of new Phytophthora species into Britain has been strongly associated with the movement of traded containerised plants, with a number of Phytophthora outbreaks reported on host trees located in public gardens and parks that had recently undergone planting or landscape regeneration schemes. This study was undertaken to assess the extent to which these highly disturbed sites with extensive planting regimes act as harbours for woody-host infecting Phytophthora species. A total of 23 Phytophthora species, the majority of which are known to be pathogens of woody hosts, were detected across the 14 sites sampled. These included four quarantine-regulated pathogens and four species notpreviously recorded in Britain. Also detected were three as-yet undescribed Phytophthora species and nine oomycete sequences with no clear match to any known genus. There was no effect of geographical location, elevation, underlying soil type, host family or host health status on the Phytophthora assemblages at each site, suggesting that the Phytophthora communities detected are likely to comprise introduced species associated with planting programmes. P. austrocedri and P. pseudosyringae were two of the most abundant Phytophthoraspecies detected, both of which cause serious damage to trees and are regarded as fairly recent introductions to Britain. The practical implications of the findings in terms of mitigating Phytophthora introduction, spread and impact at botanic gardens, arboreta and urban parks are discussed

ACU Faculty Library Committee Open Access Policy

All of the Authors were made up of individuals chosen by the Abilene Christian University Provost

Report on the STECF Expert Working Group 17-12 Fisheries Dependent Information: ‘New-FDI’

The STECF expert working group (EWG) on Fisheries Dependant Information (FDI) took place in JRC, Ispra from 23 to 27 October 2017 to review the data transmitted by Member States under a new data call (‘New-FDI’). The new data call specification was designed with three broad aims in mind i) Compatibility between the New-FDI data and the data held in the Fleet Economic database. ii) Ability to encompass all EU registered vessels including those from the Mediterranean, Black Sea and external waters fleets. iii) Ability to assess effects of management measures. The main purpose of the EWG was to judge if the call specification was appropriate to accomplish the above aims and to consider any difficulties encountered by member states in fulfilling the data call. Two terms of reference also allowed trial analyses to be conducted of a type relevant to the third broad aim. The EWG addressed all Terms of Reference during the meeting and drew conclusions on the modifications required for the New-FDI data call going forwards. Prior to the EWG it had been agreed by STECF Bureau that the report of the meeting would not be presented to STECF for approval as an STECF report but published separately (as a JRC technical report). This report therefore presents the data, methods observations and findings of an EWG of the STECF but the findings presented in this report do not necessarily constitute the opinion of the STECF or reflect the views of the European Commission and in no way anticipate the Commission’s future policy in this area.JRC.D.2-Water and Marine Resource