Fighting Shutdowns in Sunny California

[Excerpt] Contrary to the belief that only the Northeast is suffering as the sun-belt expands, California is being wracked by severe economic upheavals. High levels of unemployment persist in many areas of the state, fed by a constant stream of closures and layoffs in all sectors of the economy. Between 1981 and 1983 over 1,000 California firms closed permanently, and more than 165,000 jobs were lost. Another 414,000 workers lost their jobs as the ripple effect hit suppliers and small businesses. In response to the growing number of plant closings, local coalitions have formed throughout California, including major industrial unions, churches, and diverse community organizations. These coalitions have developed a variety of responses to closures: organizing to force corporate responsibility in dealing with workers; finding ways to keep plants open by using worker buyouts or product diversification; pushing for legislation; promoting military conversion, and increasing labor-community input into economic planning. Whether in a legislative fight or a local response to save jobs in one plant, the California coalitions demonstrate that workers faced with plant closures are not helpless, that workers, unions and communities can fight the economic upheavals they face

Steal this Show

Discussion portion of Lost in the Stacks, episode 525. Joined by guest co-host Alison Reynolds, Archivist at the Georgia Tech Library. The panel discusses rare book theft and why it happens

Inter-laboratory variation of in vitro cumulative gas production profiles of feeds using manual and automated methods

A study was conducted to estimate variation among laboratories and between manual and automated techniques of measuring pressure on the resulting gas production profiles (GPP). Eight feeds (molassed sugarbeet feed, grass silage, maize silage, soyabean hulls, maize gluten feed, whole crop wheat silage, wheat, glucose) were milled to pass a I mm screen and sent to three laboratories (ADAS Nutritional Sciences Research Unit, UK; Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER), UK; Wageningen University, The Netherlands). Each laboratory measured GPP over 144 h using standardised procedures with manual pressure transducers (MPT) and automated pressure systems (APS). The APS at ADAS used a pressure transducer and bottles in a shaking water bath, while the APS at Wageningen and IGER used a pressure sensor and bottles held in a stationary rack. Apparent dry matter degradability (ADDM) was estimated at the end of the incubation. GPP were fitted to a modified Michaelis-Menten model assuming a single phase of gas production, and GPP were described in terms of the asymptotic volume of gas produced (A), the time to half A (B), the time of maximum gas production rate (t(RM) (gas)) and maximum gas production rate (R-M (gas)). There were effects (P<0.001) of substrate on all parameters. However, MPT produced more (P<0.001) gas, but with longer (P<0.001) B and t(RM gas) (P<0.05) and lower (P<0.001) R-M gas compared to APS. There was no difference between apparatus in ADDM estimates. Interactions occurred between substrate and apparatus, substrate and laboratory, and laboratory and apparatus. However, when mean values for MPT were regressed from the individual laboratories, relationships were good (i.e., adjusted R-2 = 0.827 or higher). Good relationships were also observed with APS, although they were weaker than for MPT (i.e., adjusted R-2 = 0.723 or higher). The relationships between mean MPT and mean APS data were also good (i.e., adjusted R 2 = 0. 844 or higher). Data suggest that, although laboratory and method of measuring pressure are sources of variation in GPP estimation, it should be possible using appropriate mathematical models to standardise data among laboratories so that data from one laboratory could be extrapolated to others. This would allow development of a database of GPP data from many diverse feeds. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V

Empathy Bytes VIP

Interview portion of Lost in the Stacks, episode 487. Features LITS hosts Amanda Pellerin and Alison Valk interviewing students from the Empathy Bytes Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) class at Georgia Tech

ChemCam on Curiosity: Probing an Ancient Martian Lake using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

Was there ever life on mars? Investigating signs of water on Mars helps us assess the past habitability of the planet. The NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission’s Curiosity rover, launched in 2011, carries a suite of instruments to help us better understand the Martian environment. One instrument in particular, ChemCam measures the composition of the rocks and soils using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and Remote Micro-Imaging (RMI). We will discuss the usefulness of LIBS in gathering evidence for past water on Mars with chemical and physical measurements such as the detection of hydrogen, detection of minerals such as manganese oxides, and the determination of grain size in rocks

Physical activity and dietary behaviour in a population-based sample of British 10-year old children: the SPEEDY study (Sport, Physical activity and Eating behaviour: Environmental Determinants in Young people)

Background The SPEEDY study was set up to quantify levels of physical activity (PA) and dietary habits and the association with potential correlates in 9–10 year old British school children. We present here the analyses of the PA, dietary and anthropometry data. Methods In a cross-sectional study of 2064 children (926 boys, 1138 girls) in Norfolk, England, we collected anthropometry data at school using standardised procedures. Body mass index (BMI) was used to define obesity status. PA was assessed with the Actigraph accelerometer over 7 days. A cut-off of = 2000 activity counts was used to define minutes of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). Dietary habits were assessed using the Health Behaviour in School Children food questionnaire. Weight status was defined using published international cut-offs (Cole, 2000). Differences between groups were assessed using independent t-tests for continuous data and chi-squared tests for categorical data. Results Valid PA data (>500 minutes per day on = 3 days) was available for 1888 children. Mean (± SD) activity counts per minute among boys and girls were 716.5 ± 220.2 and 635.6 ± 210.6, respectively (p < 0.001). Boys spent an average of 84.1 ± 25.9 minutes in MVPA per day compared to 66.1 ± 20.8 among girls (p < 0.001), with an average of 69.1% of children accumulating 60 minutes each day. The proportion of children classified as overweight and obese was 15.0% and 4.1% for boys and 19.3% and 6.6% for girls, respectively (p = 0.001). Daily consumption of at least one portion of fruit and of vegetables was 56.8% and 49.9% respectively, with higher daily consumption in girls than boys and in children from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. Conclusion Results indicate that almost 70% of children meet national PA guidelines, indicating that a prevention of decline, rather than increasing physical activity levels, might be an appropriate intervention target. Promotion of daily fruit and vegetable intake in this age group is also warranted, possibly focussing on children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds

Public COAPI Toolkit of Open Access Policy Resources

The Coalition of Open Access Policy Institutions (COAPI, https://sparcopen.org/coapi ) is committed to sharing information and resources to assist in the development and implementation of institutional Open Access (OA) policies. The COAPI Toolkit includes a diverse collection of resources that COAPI members have developed in the course of their OA policy initiatives. These resources are openly accessible and published here under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licenses, unless otherwise noted on the resources themselves