Study of ballistic mode comet Encke mission opportunities

An analysis was conducted of the space mission to intercept the comet Encke. The two basic types of flight geometry considered for the mission are described. The primary interactions between time-of-flight and performance characteristics are displayed. The representative spacecraft characteristics for the Titan 3/Centaur launch vehicle are tabulated. The navigation analyses for the two missions are developed to show: (1) assessment of the navigation feasibility of the missions, (2) determination of the total velocity budget for the trim maneuvers, and (3) evaluation of dispersions at comet encounter

The Gold Inlay

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Leading the evaluation of institutional online learning environments for quality enhancement in times of change

This paper reports on findings from a nationally funded project which aims to design and implement a quality management framework for online learning environments (OLEs). Evaluation is a key component of any quality management system and it is this aspect of the framework that is the focus of this paper. In developing the framework initial focus groups were conducted at the five participating institutions. These revealed that, although regarded as important, there did not appear to be a shared understanding of the nature and purpose of evaluation. A second series of focus groups revealed there were multiple perspectives arising from those with a vested interest in online learning. These perspectives will be outlined. Overall, how evaluation was undertaken was highly variable within and across the five institutions reflecting where they were at in relation to the development of their OLE

Ozone effects on blood biomarkers of systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, endothelial function, and thrombosis: The Multicenter Ozone Study in oldEr Subjects (MOSES).

The evidence that exposure to ozone air pollution causes acute cardiovascular effects is mixed. We postulated that exposure to ambient levels of ozone would increase blood markers of systemic inflammation, prothrombotic state, oxidative stress, and vascular dysfunction in healthy older subjects, and that absence of the glutathione S-transferase Mu 1 (GSTM1) gene would confer increased susceptibility. This double-blind, randomized, crossover study of 87 healthy volunteers 55-70 years of age was conducted at three sites using a common protocol. Subjects were exposed for 3 h in random order to 0 parts per billion (ppb) (filtered air), 70 ppb, and 120 ppb ozone, alternating 15 min of moderate exercise and rest. Blood was obtained the day before, approximately 4 h after, and approximately 22 h after each exposure. Linear mixed effect and logistic regression models evaluated the impact of exposure to ozone on pre-specified primary and secondary outcomes. The definition of statistical significance was p<0.01. There were no effects of ozone on the three primary markers of systemic inflammation and a prothrombotic state: C-reactive protein, monocyte-platelet conjugates, and microparticle-associated tissue factor activity. However, among the secondary endpoints, endothelin-1, a potent vasoconstrictor, increased from pre- to post-exposure with ozone concentration (120 vs 0 ppb: 0.07 pg/mL, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.01, 0.14; 70 vs 0 ppb: -0.03 pg/mL, CI -0.09, 0.04; p = 0.008). Nitrotyrosine, a marker of oxidative and nitrosative stress, decreased with increasing ozone concentrations, with marginal significance (120 vs 0 ppb: -41.5, CI -70.1, -12.8; 70 vs 0 ppb: -14.2, CI -42.7, 14.2; p = 0.017). GSTM1 status did not modify the effect of ozone exposure on any of the outcomes. These findings from healthy older adults fail to identify any mechanistic basis for the epidemiologically described cardiovascular effects of exposure to ozone. The findings, however, may not be applicable to adults with cardiovascular disease

Zelnate on Arrival Could Decrease the Likelihood of Subsequent Pulls in Suspect Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex Cases

Antimicrobial metaphylaxis is an important tool used for the prevention of Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex; a disease with a large economic impact that typically affects newly-weaned beef calves that are marketed and transported a distance from their origin. There are questions involving the potential benefit of Zelnate, a novel non-antibiotic technology designed to activate an animal’s natural immunity to fight Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex, being used either solely or in combination with metaphylaxis at the time of initial processing of high risk calves. More knowledge is also needed regarding the possible effects of repeated use of Zelnate when subsequent therapy is required in individual Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex cases. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Zelnate when used as part of an antimicrobial metaphylaxis treatment or when used in combination with an antibiotic when a calf is diagnosed with Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex

Influence of Breedtype on Adrenal Responsiveness to ACTH in Beef Steers

Last updated: 6/12/200

High Energy Digestible Fiber-based Diets Improve Efficiency in Growing Heifers

An inherent challenge of long hauled, highly stressed calves is decreased feed intake upon destination arrival. Highly stressed, newly received stocker calves not consuming adequate amounts of energy are prone to a variety of disorders such as Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex and decreased performance throughout the feeding period. One mechanism that can be used to increase energy intake upon arrival is to make the diet more energy dense. Often times, this is accomplished by the addition of cereal grains high in fermentable carbohydrate including starch. Unfortunately, this has also been linked to increasing morbidity due to metabolic disorders. The goal of this study was to analyze the effects of limit-fed diets containing increasing amounts of energy from highly digestible fiber in by-product feeds on health and performance of newly received stocker calves

Non-western contexts: the invisible half

Like many other disciplines within the broad area of social sciences (e.g., anthropology, gender studies, psychology, sociology, etc.), consumer research is also highly navigated by scholars from Western countries. This, however, does not mean, by any means, that consumer research is devoted to studying Western contexts only. As evident from the ever-increasing number of regional conferences (e.g., Asia-Pacific and Latin American conferences of the Association for Consumer Research) and non-Western students' enrolment in doctoral programs at Western universities, there are many more researchers (from non-Western countries) who are entering the field and enriching it by their colourful contributions. Yet, given the low number of publications on consumer research in non-Western contexts, it seems that our current knowledge in these societies has a long way to go to flourish. More specifically, and in the domain of consumption culture research, this gap is even further widened by the fact that the culture of consumption in such contexts is largely interpreted with reference to the 'grand narratives' of Western scholars (e.g., Foucault, Mafessoli, Bourdieu, Deleuze, Baudrillard, Nietzsche, Durkheim, Derrida, etc.). Therefore, from an ontological perspective, it seems that our existing knowledge about non-Western societies lies heavily on the 'theoretical structures' that are 'constructed' by Western philosophy as a set of ideas, beliefs, and practices (Said, 1978). As Belk (1995) reminds us, consumption culture always existed in all human societies. What makes contemporary societies different from that of our predecessors' is not the fact that consumption culture did not exist in those societies, but that consumption culture has become a prevailing feature in modern society (Slater, 1997; Lury, 1996; Fırat and Venkatesh, 1995; McCracken, 1988). Therefore, the nature and dynamics of consumption culture in each society should be studied not only against the sociocultural, historical, and economic background of a given context (Western or non-Western) but also with reference to the philosophical and epistemological viewpoints that analyse and interpret cultural practices of that society from within that culture. Addressing such issues, this paper discusses some of the key reasons for lack of theory development in the field from non-western contexts. The paper invites scholars in non-Western contexts to introduce the less articulated, and sometime hidden, body of knowledge from their own contexts into the field of marketing in general and consumer research in particular

Relationship Between Net Feed Intake, Performance Traits and Ultrasound Measures of Composition in Beef Steers

Last updated: 6/12/200

ParticleStats: open source software for the analysis of particle motility and cytoskeletal polarity

The study of dynamic cellular processes in living cells is central to biology and is particularly powerful when the motility characteristics of individual objects within cells can be determined and analysed statistically. However, commercial programs only offer a limited range of inflexible analysis modules and there are currently no open source programs for extensive analysis of particle motility. Here, we describe ParticleStats (http://www.ParticleStats.com), a web server and open source programs, which input the X,Y coordinate positions of objects in time, and output novel analyses, graphical plots and statistics for motile objects. ParticleStats comprises three separate analysis programs. First, ParticleStats:Directionality for the global analysis of polarity, for example microtubule plus end growth in Drosophila oocytes. Second, ParticleStats:Compare for the analysis of saltatory movement in terms of runs and pauses. This can be applied to chromosome segregation and molecular motor-based movements. Thirdly ParticleStats:Kymographs for the analysis of kymograph images, for example as applied to separation of chromosomes in mitosis. These analyses have provided key insights into molecular mechanisms that are not possible from qualitative analysis alone and are widely applicable to many other cell biology problems