Common Tools for Tracking the Use of New Library Space

As attentive as we were in gathering information for the design of our knowledge/learning/information commons, it is important that we subsequently assess how these spaces are being used. During the 2008 ARL Library Assessment Conference, 12 easy-to-use techniques were identified to help libraries gather information which could inform design. This program examines how extensively these techniques were used and how successfully they have been applied in post-construction assessments. This workshop will review the results of a survey of approximately 100 libraries with recently completed projects. The survey gathered information on: Which of the 12 techniques, if any, were used in the design phase and/or in post-construction assessment? Which techniques have been easier to implement? *Which techniques yielded useful information for design and for assessment? What barriers, if any, were experienced in these pre- and post-construction data collection efforts? What plans, if any, have been made to disseminate the results of these assessments

A study of pollution abatement from the F-15 jet engine test stand

The pollutants emitted from jet engine test stands are carbon particles, unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and the oxides of nitrogen. This work is a study of various ways of removing these pollutants from the test stand exhaust. The methods investigated include absorption, adsorption, electrostatic precipitation, filtration, catalytic reduction and oxidation, and thermal oxidation. For abatement of nitrogen oxides, none of the present methods is considered to provide adequate technical reliability to proceed with an installation at this time. Each of the methods for removal of nitrogen oxides has high capital and operating cost; and, in many cases, secondary pollution problems are created. It is recommended that action on NOx emissions be deferred until the technology is further advanced. Of the methods, or combinations of methods, available for removal of particulates, hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide, only the thermal reactor will remove all three pollutants. The thermal reactor also has the lowest capital cost of all the other alternatives and has a comparable operating cost. Furthermore, the thermal reactor does not create secondary pollution problems and could be readily integrated with the noise suppressor design. The primary disadvantage with the thermal reactor is the high fuel requirement to heat the exhaust gases to temperatures where thermal oxidation can occur. An additional 3 to 7 million gallons of fuel per year would be required for this purpose. The expenditure of this amount of energy in solving a minor pollution problem is deemed unjustifiable. Since the other methods of control has excessive capital costs and the same or higher operating costs, no action is recommended at this time on reducing emissions from the jet engine test stands --Abstract, pages ii- iii

Genotype by environment interactions for growth and stayability in US red Angus

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on October 26, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. William R. LambersonIncludes bibliographical references.Vita.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2012."July 2012"Genotype by environment interactions (GxE) may reduce accuracy of sire selection. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the presence of GxE by comparing reaction norms of bulls for birth weight, weaning weight, gain and stayability. Environments were defined as nine regions within the United States with similar temperature humidity index. The environmental mean was determined and a weighted regression was used to determine the progeny mean. Reaction norms were calculated by regressing the progeny mean on the environmental mean. A logit model was used to determine the heritability of stayability on the underlying scale. The heritabilities of BW and WW reaction norms were 0.40 and 0.39, respectively. Heritabilities of stayabaility were 0.34, 0.18, 0.19, 0.08, 0.09, 0.28, 0.30, 0.31 and 0.40 for regions C, D, G, L, M, N, P, S and U, respectively and 0.18 for the national dataset. The percentages of females that calved at age four, given that they had calved at age two were 56.7, 39.9, 32.9, 51.1, 56.1, 57.0, 51.4, 47.8 and 58.8 for regions C, D, G, L, M, N, P, S and U, respectively and 55.0% for the national dataset. The comparisons of regions illustrate the northern regions are more similar to each other compared to the southern regions and the southern regions are not only different from the northern regions but different from each other. Reaction norms are heritable and there is sufficient variation for effective selection. Further research is warranted in the proper division of environments and the most economical and effective method to employ reaction norms to end-users.Includes bibliographical reference

Writing to inspire : determining which stories prompt a hierarchy of social activism response

Professional project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Journalism from the School of Journalism, University of Missouri--Columbia.Journalists have for many years used narrative tools to write impactful news stories. Men like new journalism pioneer Tom Wolfe may not have been surprised that a narrative-style feature story made the majority of research participants in this small study--intended to show which types of news stories garner the greatest level of social action from readers--report feeling more desire to be socially active in aiding disaster recovery efforts on The Participant Index's Social Actions Scale. As hypothesized through the research premise, narrative elements implemented in the story played a major role in many of the participant's positive reactions toward the story, as compared to institutional and economic stories that implemented these writing techniques to lesser degrees. The feature story didn't include much context around the story it told, but it offered a perceivable scene for the readers to relate to and detailed characters for them to empathize with. Although the story was able to prompt a desire to be socially active and aid in the situation, it did not offer enough information for the participants to feel prepared to help. For a news story to have true impact in the world outside of a reader's mind, it needs to offer an outlet for the emotional reactions it creates by answering questions, such as how readers can participate in relief efforts, both immediately and in the future

Genotype by environment interactions for growth in Red Angus

Citation: Fennewald, D. J., Weaber, R. L., & Lamberson, W. R. (2017). Genotype by environment interactions for growth in Red Angus. Journal of Animal Science, 95(2), 538-544. doi:10.2527/jas2016.0846Accuracy of sire selection is limited by how well animals are characterized for their environment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the presence of genotype x environment interactions (GxE) for birth weight (BiW) and weaning weight (WW) for Red Angus in the United States. Adjusted weights were provided by the Red Angus Association of America. Environments were defined as 9 regions within the continental United States with similar temperature-humidity indices. Mean weights of calves were determined for each region and for each sire's progeny within each region. A reaction norm (RN) for each bull was estimated by regressing the sire means on the region means weighted for the number of progeny of each sire. The range for BiW and WW RN was -1.3 to 4.0 and -1.7 to 2.8, respectively. The heritabilities of BiW and WW RN were 0.40 and 0.39, respectively. Phenotypic and genetic correlations between BiW and WW RN were 0.19 and 0.54, respectively. The phenotypic correlation of the progeny mean to the RN was -0.20 (P < 0.05) and suggests that sires with higher means are more stable in progeny performance across environments. Weights in different regions were considered separate traits and genetic correlations were estimated between all pairs of regions as another method to determine GxE. Genetic correlations < 0.80 indicate GxE at a level for concern, but existed for only 2 of 36 estimates for BiW and 12 of 36 estimates for WW. Genetic correlations between different regions ranged from 0.74 to 0.96 for BiW and 0.62 to 0.99 for WW and indicate that sires tend to rank similarly across environments for these traits

Energy From Biochemical Sources

As available energy reserves decline, renewable sources must be utilized. Organic matter, grown agriculturally, represents a renewable energy source, which is readily available. This paper reviews the methods by which organic matter can be converted to energy sources by biochemical processes. The economics of conversion of agricultural crops and byproducts to alcohols by fermentation and conversion of these agricultural materials to methane by anaerobic digestion are examined. Projections of the potential of this energy source are quite promising

Flipping an Agricultural Teaching Methods Course at a Non-Land Grant University

The purpose of this study was to analyze undergraduate students’ perceptions of experiencing a flipped classroom in a teaching methods course at a Non-Land Grant Public Institution. The flipped classroom moves lectures and online videos outside of the classroom and uses class time for learning activities that promote problem-solving and discussion. Basic qualitative methods were used to provide flexibility, rich description, and the emergence of common patterns and themes. Participants reported the online lectures were beneficial and provided order and structure to the learning process. Personal responsibility emerged as a subtheme with mixed responses. Some participants felt it was the responsibility of the students to watch the videos and make sure they understood, while others felt it was too much responsibility on the students. All participants acknowledged that online lectures were a valuable tool for delivering content knowledge. All participants reported the online lectures, combined with the learning activities during class meetings, deepened their knowledge of teaching and learning application and skill development. Overall, participants felt the flipped classroom approach was a confidence booster due to the use of class time to practice their teaching skills. Participants recognized the flipped classroom as an effective teaching approach

Mindergie: A pervasive learning game for pro-environmental behaviour at the workplace

This chapter reports about a pervasive learning game to increase the environmental awareness and pro-environmental behaviour at the workplace. Based on a discussion of the theoretical background and related work we introduce the game design and game elements. Results of a formative evaluation study are presented and discussed. Results show that incentive mechanisms are less important than challenging game components that involve employees in proposing solutions for energy conservation at the workplace. Conclusions are drawn for future games and energy conservation activities at the workplace.This project has been partially funded by a SURFnet innovation grant for sustainable ICT solutions and partially by the Welten Institute – Research Centre for Learning, Teaching and Technology of the Open University of the Netherlands

Pichinde virus induces microvascular endothelial cell permeability through the production of nitric oxide

This report is the first to demonstrate infection of human endothelial cells by Pichinde virus (PIC). PIC infection induces an upregulation of the inducible nitric oxide synthase gene; as well as an increase in detectable nitric oxide (NO). PIC induces an increase in permeability in endothelial cell monolayers which can be abrogated at all measured timepoints with the addition of a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, indicating a role for NO in the alteration of endothelial barrier function. Because NO has shown antiviral activity against some viruses, viral titer was measured after addition of the NO synthase inhibitor and found to have no effect in altering virus load in infected EC. The NO synthase inhibition also has no effect on levels of activated caspases induced by PIC infection. Taken together, these data indicate NO production induced by Pichinde virus infection has a pathogenic effect on endothelial cell monolayer permeability

Ribosomal frameshifting and transcriptional slippage: From genetic steganography and cryptography to adventitious use.

Genetic decoding is not 'frozen' as was earlier thought, but dynamic. One facet of this is frameshifting that often results in synthesis of a C-terminal region encoded by a new frame. Ribosomal frameshifting is utilized for the synthesis of additional products, for regulatory purposes and for translational 'correction' of problem or 'savior' indels. Utilization for synthesis of additional products occurs prominently in the decoding of mobile chromosomal element and viral genomes. One class of regulatory frameshifting of stable chromosomal genes governs cellular polyamine levels from yeasts to humans. In many cases of productively utilized frameshifting, the proportion of ribosomes that frameshift at a shift-prone site is enhanced by specific nascent peptide or mRNA context features. Such mRNA signals, which can be 5' or 3' of the shift site or both, can act by pairing with ribosomal RNA or as stem loops or pseudoknots even with one component being 4 kb 3' from the shift site. Transcriptional realignment at slippage-prone sequences also generates productively utilized products encoded trans-frame with respect to the genomic sequence. This too can be enhanced by nucleic acid structure. Together with dynamic codon redefinition, frameshifting is one of the forms of recoding that enriches gene expression.This work was supported by grants from Science Foundation Ireland [12/IP/1492 and 13/1A/1853 to J.F.A; 12/IA/1335 to P.V.B.], US. National Institutes of Health [RO3 MH098688 to J.F.A.], the Wellcome Trust [106207 to A.E.F and 094423 to P.V.B.] and the European Research Council (ERC) grant No. 646891 to A.E.F.]This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Oxford University Press via https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkw53