Use and Implementation of the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) on high altitude payloads.

Once a weather balloon enters the uncontrollable realm of nature upon release it is subject to a high degree of freedom and flight path options. Passive tracking methods become essential to physically follow the trajectory, the balloon, and its payload. The Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) provides an ideal platform for tracking high-altitude and low earth orbit instrumentation because at zenith there is no radio horizon. Demonstrated aboard the International Space Station, this simple system provides the maximum tracking range at very low power and cost with very high accuracy, by utilizing existing federally funded infrastructure. An amateur radio license is required to utilize the APRS network, and additionally provides a reliable mean of communication with ground/team personal. Both APRS and very high frequency (VHF) radio communications were critically utilized during the August 2017 Solar Eclipse balloon launch by both the College of Charleston and Universidad Interamericana (Puerto Rico) High Altitude Balloon Teams, providing all tracking data above 110,000 feet after the primary Iridium tracking system failed. This poster is intended to demonstrate the benefits of incorporating APRS and to advocate its use for future launches

Water budgets of the two Olentangy River experimental wetlands in 2005

The University Archives has determined that this item is of continuing value to OSU's history

Timing of Pleistocene glaciations in the High Atlas, Morocco: new 10Be and 36Cl exposure ages

This paper presents data from 42 new samples yielding Late Pleistocene cosmogenic 10Be and 36Cl exposure ages of moraine boulders across a series of glaciated valleys in the Toubkal Massif (4167 m a.s.l.), High Atlas, Morocco. This represents the first comprehensive Pleistocene glacial chronology in North Africa and one of the largest datasets from the Mediterranean region. The timing of these glacier advances has major implications for understanding the influence of Atlantic depressions on moisture supply to North Africa and the Mediterranean basin during the Pleistocene. The oldest and lowest moraines which span elevations from ∼1900 to 2400 m a.s.l. indicate that the maximum glacier advance occurred from MIS 5 to 3 with a combined mean 10Be and 36Cl age of 50.2 ± 19.5 ka (1 SD; n = 12, 7 outliers). The next moraine units up-valley at higher elevations (∼2200–2600 m a.s.l.) yielded exposure ages close to the global Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) with a combined mean 10Be and 36Cl age of 22.0 ± 4.9 ka (1 SD; n = 9, 7 outliers). The youngest exposure ages are from moraines that were emplaced during the Younger Dryas with a combined mean 10Be and 36Cl age of 12.3 ± 0.9 ka (1 SD; n = 7, no outliers) and are found in cirques at the highest elevations ranging from ∼2900 to 3300 m a.s.l. From moraines predating the Younger Dryas, a large number of young outliers are spread evenly between 6 and 13 ka suggesting a continuing process of exhumation or repositioning of boulders during the early to mid-Holocene. This attests to active seismic processes and possibly intense erosion during this period

Presenting features and long-term effects of growth hormone treatment of children with optic nerve hypoplasia/septo-optic dysplasia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH) with/or without septo-optic dysplasia (SOD) is a known concomitant of congenital growth hormone deficiency (CGHD).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Demographic and longitudinal data from KIGS, the Pfizer International Growth Database, were compared between 395 subjects with ONH/SOD and CGHD and 158 controls with CGHD without midline pathology.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>ONH/SOD subjects had higher birth length/weight, and mid-parental height SDS. At GH start, height, weight, and BMI SDS were higher in the ONH/SOD group. After 1 year of GH, both groups showed similar changes in height SDS, while weight and BMI SDS remained higher in the ONH/SOD group. The initial height responses of the two groups were similar to those predicted using the KIGS-derived prediction model for children with idiopathic GHD. At near-adult height, ONH/SOD and controls had similar height, weight, and BMI SDS.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Compared to children with CGHD without midline defects, those with ONH/SOD presented with greater height, weight, and BMI SDS. These differences persisted at 1 year of GH therapy, but appeared to be overcome by long-term GH treatment.</p

White-tailed deer site use affects vegetation structure, composition, and biodiversity in Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee

Herbivores have been known to exert powerful forces on vegetation structures in many plant communities. In particular, selective herbivores, those who choose specific plants to forage on, can greatly impact community structure by inhibiting the growth of species that contribute to the diversity within plant communities. Primarily, studies in the northeastern United States have shown the cascading effects white-tailed deer have in regions that have slow growing climatic conditions. The question remains of how white-tailed deer herbivory might affect vegetation structure and diversity in the southeastern United States, where the climate allows for faster growth of vegetation. Therefore, our research focused on delineating how white-tailed deer affect the plant community and diversity at Chestnut Mountain in Sparta, Tennessee. We measured vegetation abundance, visual obstruction, and diversity at six 50-meter plots throughout Chestnut Mountain and correlated daily numbers of deer photographed in the area by remote cameras. Deer herbivory did not inhibit vegetation growth of unpreferred grass or fern species, but preferred shrubs and vining species had decreased in relation to deer presence. Our study demonstrates that white-tailed deer might not have as powerful as an effect in the southeast as they do in the northeast except when in relation with shrub and vining species. Our results are preliminary but suggest that more extensive examination of deer herbivory and its affect on vegetation communities in warmer climates may be warranted

Use and Implementation of the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) on high altitude payloads.

Once a weather balloon enters the uncontrollable realm of nature upon release it is subject to a high degree of freedom and flight path options. Passive tracking methods become essential to physically follow the trajectory, the balloon, and its payload. The Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) provides an ideal platform for tracking high-altitude and low earth orbit instrumentation because at zenith there is no radio horizon. Demonstrated aboard the International Space Station, this simple system provides the maximum tracking range at very low power and cost with very high accuracy, by utilizing existing federally funded infrastructure. An amateur radio license is required to utilize the APRS network, and additionally provides a reliable mean of communication with ground/team personal. Both APRS and very high frequency (VHF) radio communications were critically utilized during the August 2017 Solar Eclipse balloon launch by both the College of Charleston and Universidad Interamericana (Puerto Rico) High Altitude Balloon Teams, providing all tracking data above 110,000 feet after the primary Iridium tracking system failed. This poster is intended to demonstrate the benefits of incorporating APRS and to advocate its use for future launches

Conformational Behavior and Aggregation of α-synuclein in Organic Solvents: Modeling The Effects of Membranes†

Intracellular proteinaceous inclusions (Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites) of α-synuclein are pathological hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson\u27s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and multiple systemic atrophy. The molecular mechanisms underlying the aggregation of α-synuclein into such filamentous inclusions remain unknown, although many factors have been implicated, including interactions with lipid membranes. To model the effects of membrane fields on α-synuclein, we analyzed the structural and fibrillation properties of this protein in mixtures of water with simple and fluorinated alcohols. All solvents that were studied induced folding of α-synuclein, with the common first stage being formation of a partially folded intermediate with an enhanced propensity to fibrillate. Protein fibrillation was completely inhibited due to formation of β-structure-enriched oligomers with high concentrations of methanol, ethanol, and propanol and moderate concentrations of trifluoroethanol (TFE), or because of the appearance of a highly α-helical conformation at high TFE and hexafluoro-2-propanol concentrations. At least to some extent, these conformational effects mimic those observed in the presence of phospholipid vesicles, and can explain some of the observed effects of membranes on α-synuclein fibrillation