Incubation of curing brines for the production of ready-to-eat uncured ham

The effect of salt level, vegetable juice powder (VJP) and temperature were investigated in a preliminary study to determine optimum conditions needed during the incubation of curing brines including VJP and a starter culture containing Staphylococcus carnosus for the production of uncured no nitrate/nitrite-added meat products. Subsequently, incubated curing brines were utilized to produce no-nitrate/nitrite-added ham in which quality characteristics and residual nitrite concentrations were measured. Two ham treatments (SC: VJP and starter culture containing Staphylococcus carnosus; PC: pre-converted VJP) and a nitrite-added control (C) were used for the study. No differences (P\u3e0.05) were found between treatments and control for CIE L* or TBARS values. Residual nitrite concentration was greater (P\u3c0.05) in the control hams during the first week of storage. Although nitrite in the control remained at relatively greater concentration throughout storage, the difference was not statistically significant after the first week. At day 42 of storage, the control (C) treatment retained significantly (P\u3c0.05) greater a* (redness) values than either the SC or PC treatments

ISS Local Environment Spectrometers (ISLES)

In order to study the complex interactions between the space environment surrounding the ISS and the ISS surface materials, we propose to use lowcost, high-TRL plasma sensors on the ISS robotic arm to probe the ISS space environment. During many years of ISS operation, we have been able to condut effective (but not perfect) extravehicular activities (both human and robotic) within the perturbed local ISS space environment. Because of the complexity of the interaction between the ISS and the LEO space environment, there remain important questions, such as differential charging at solar panel junctions (the so-called "triple point" between conductor, dielectric, and space plasma), increased chemical contamination due to ISS surface charging and/or thruster activation, water dumps, etc, and "bootstrap" charging of insulating surfaces. Some compelling questions could synergistically draw upon a common sensor suite, which also leverages previous and current MSFC investments. Specific questions address ISS surface charging, plasma contactor plume expansion in a magnetized drifting plasma, and possible localized contamination effects across the ISS

Assessing Student Learning Outcomes in Physical Education K-12 Teaching: A Whole-Program Revision to Meet New Standards and Institutional Learning Outcomes

The purpose of this project was to evaluate, revise, and align program-level assessments for the Physical Education K-12 Teaching program. Major goals for the project included (a) construction of a program-wide course matrix with SLOs, state and national educator standards, UNC Institutional Learning Outcomes, and course assessments; (b) construction/revision of assessment methods and criteria; and (c) integration of a tagging system within Canvas/LiveText to monitor outcome achievements. This presentation will describe an overview of the process, major updates and changes to the program, and future steps for implementation

What skills pay more? The changing demand and return to skills for professional workers

Technology is disrupting labor markets. We analyze the demand and reward for skills at occupation and state level across two time periods using job postings. First, we use principal components analysis to derive nine skills groups: ‘collaborative leader’, ‘interpersonal & organized’, ‘big data’, ‘cloud computing’, ‘programming’, ‘machine learning’, ‘research’, ‘math’ and ‘analytical’. Second, we comment on changes in the price and demand for skills over time. Third, we analyze non-linear returns to all skills groups and their interactions. We find that ‘collaborative leader’ skills become significant over time and that legacy data skills are replaced over time by innovative ones

”Tænke? Abstrakt? Red sig, hvem der kan!”: om abstraktion og professioner

Nærværende tekst undersøger spørgsmålet om, hvorvidt og hvordan abstraktioner har en plads i det praktiske og professionelle arbejde. Vi argumenterer for, abstraktioner er uomgængelige, og at vi altid allerede er i gang med at bruge abstraktioner, begreber og kategorier, når vi handler. Samtidig beskriver vi brugen af en særlig type abstraktioner, de såkaldt ”lokkende abstraktioner”, som vi hævder, er animerende for praksis. Første del af teksten, ”Abstraktioner i praksis”, tager udgangspunkt i forholdet mellem det filosofiske og begrebslige over for det praktiske. Denne del knytter an til den tyske filosof G.W.F. Hegels klassiske lille tekst ”Hvem tænker abstrakt?” Spørgsmålet om det abstrakte bringes i kontakt med professionernes diskussioner af forholdet mellem teori og praksis, ligesom det sættes ind i en idéhistorisk ramme. Anden del af teksten, ”Praktiske abstraktioner”, tager udgangspunkt i den belgiske videnskabsteoretiker Isabelle Stengers og hendes behandling af abstraktioner og det, de gør for os i både hverdagslige og videnskabelige erkendelsesprocesser. Denne del af teksten formulerer, hvad man skal forstå ved lokkende abstraktioner, og bringer i særlig grad disse i diskussion med det herskende professionelle vidensideal om anvendelighed

”Tænke? Abstrakt? Red sig, hvem der kan!”

Nærværende tekst undersøger spørgsmålet om, hvorvidt og hvordan abstraktioner har en plads i det praktiske og professionelle arbejde. Vi argumenterer for, abstraktioner er uomgængelige, og at vi altid allerede er i gang med at bruge abstraktioner, begreber og kategorier, når vi handler. Samtidig beskriver vi brugen af en særlig type abstraktioner, de såkaldt ”lokkende abstraktioner”, som vi hævder, er animerende for praksis. Første del af teksten, ”Abstraktioner i praksis”, tager udgangspunkt i forholdet mellem det filosofiske og begrebslige over for det praktiske. Denne del knytter an til den tyske filosof G.W.F. Hegels klassiske lille tekst ”Hvem tænker abstrakt?” Spørgsmålet om det abstrakte bringes i kontakt med professionernes diskussioner af forholdet mellem teori og praksis, ligesom det sættes ind i en idéhistorisk ramme. Anden del af teksten, ”Praktiske abstraktioner”, tager udgangspunkt i den belgiske videnskabsteoretiker Isabelle Stengers og hendes behandling af abstraktioner og det, de gør for os i både hverdagslige og videnskabelige erkendelsesprocesser. Denne del af teksten formulerer, hvad man skal forstå ved lokkende abstraktioner, og bringer i særlig grad disse i diskussion med det herskende professionelle vidensideal om anvendelighed

Invadolysin: a novel, conserved metalloprotease links mitotic structural rearrangements with cell migration

The cell cycle is widely known to be regulated by networks of phosphorylation and ubiquitin-directed proteolysis. Here, we describe IX-14/invadolysin, a novel metalloprotease present only in metazoa, whose activity appears to be essential for mitotic progression. Mitotic neuroblasts of Drosophila melanogaster IX-14 mutant larvae exhibit increased levels of nuclear envelope proteins, monopolar and asymmetric spindles, and chromosomes that appear hypercondensed in length with a surrounding halo of loosely condensed chromatin. Zymography reveals that a protease activity, present in wild-type larval brains, is missing from homozygous tissue, and we show that IX-14/invadolysin cleaves lamin in vitro. The IX-14/invadolysin protein is predominantly found in cytoplasmic structures resembling invadopodia in fly and human cells, but is dramatically relocalized to the leading edge of migrating cells. Strikingly, we find that the directed migration of germ cells is affected in Drosophila IX-14 mutant embryos. Thus, invadolysin identifies a new family of conserved metalloproteases whose activity appears to be essential for the coordination of mitotic progression, but which also plays an unexpected role in cell migration

Electrical, mechanical, and glass transition behavior of polycarbonate-based nanocomposites with different multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Five commercially available multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), with different characteristics, were melt mixed with polycarbonate (PC) in a twin-screw micro compounder to obtain nanocomposites containing 0.25-3.0 wt.% MWNT. The electrical properties of the composites were assessed using bulk electrical conductivity measurements, the mechanical properties of the composites were evaluated using tensile tests and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and the thermal properties of the composites were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Electrical percolation thresholds (pcs) were observed between 0.28 wt.% and 0.60 wt.%, which are comparable with other well-dispersed melt mixed materials. Based on measurements of diameter and length distributions of unprocessed tubes it was found that nanotubes with high aspect ratios exhibited lower pcs, although one sample did show higher pc than expected (based on aspect ratio) which was attributed to poorer dispersion achieved during mixing. The stress-strain behavior of the composites is only slightly altered with CNT addition; however, the strain at break is decreased even at low loadings. DMA tests suggest the formation of a combined polymer-CNT continuous network evidenced by measurable storage moduli at temperatures above the glass transition temperature (T g), consistent with a mild reinforcement effect. The composites showed lower glass transition temperatures than that of pure PC. Lowering of the height of the tanδ peak from DMA and reductions in the heat capacity change at the glass transition from DSC indicate that MWNTs reduced the amount of polymer material that participates in the glass transition of the composites, consistent with immobilization of polymer at the nanotube interface. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved