Orbital operation for large automated satellites

Orbital operations concepts for the shuttle launched Large Automated Satellites (LAS) are discussed. It includes the orbital operations elements and the major options for accomplishing each element. This study is based on the preliminary payload information available in Level I and II documents and on orbital operations methods used on past programs, both manned and unmanned. It includes a definition of detailed trade studies which need to be performed as satellite design details and organization responsibilities are defined. The major objectives of this study were to define operational methods and requirements for the long duration LAS missions which are effective and primarily economical to implement

Defect Engineering: Graphene Gets Designer Defects

An extended one-dimensional defect that has the potential to act as a conducting wire has been embedded in another perfect graphene sheet.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figur

The Value of Genetic Information to Bull Buyers: A Combined Revealed, Stated Preference Approach

Livestock Production/Industries,

Economic Assessment of FMDv Releases from the National Bio and Agro Defense Facility

Citation: Pendell, D. L., Marsh, T. L., Coble, K. H., Lusk, J. L., & Szmania, S. C. (2015). Economic Assessment of FMDv Releases from the National Bio and Agro Defense Facility. Plos One, 10(6), 22. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0129134This study evaluates the economic consequences of hypothetical foot-and-mouth disease releases from the future National Bio and Agro Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kansas. Using an economic framework that estimates the impacts to agricultural firms and consumers, quantifies costs to non-agricultural activities in the epidemiologically impacted region, and assesses costs of response to the government, we find the distribution of economic impacts to be very significant. Furthermore, agricultural firms and consumers bear most of the impacts followed by the government and the regional non-agricultural firms

Neurofunctional Correlates of Ethical, Food-Related Decision-Making

Citation: Cherry, J. B. C., Bruce, J. M., Lusk, J. L., Crespi, J. M., Lim, S. L., & Bruce, A. S. (2015). Neurofunctional Correlates of Ethical, Food-Related Decision-Making. Plos One, 10(4), 16. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0120541For consumers today, the perceived ethicality of a food's production method can be as important a purchasing consideration as its price. Still, few studies have examined how, neurofunctionally, consumers are making ethical, food-related decisions. We examined how consumers' ethical concern about a food's production method may relate to how, neurofunctionally, they make decisions whether to purchase that food. Forty-six participants completed a measure of the extent to which they took ethical concern into consideration when making food-related decisions. They then underwent a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans while performing a food-related decision-making (FRDM) task. During this task, they made 56 decisions whether to purchase a food based on either its price (i.e., high or low, the "price condition") or production method (i.e., with or without the use of cages, the "production method condition"), but not both. For 23 randomly selected participants, we performed an exploratory, whole-brain correlation between ethical concern and differential neurofunctional activity in the price and production method conditions. Ethical concern correlated negatively and significantly with differential neurofunctional activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). For the remaining 23 participants, we performed a confirmatory, region-of-interest (ROI) correlation between the same variables, using an 8-mm3 volume situated in the left dlPFC. Again, the variables correlated negatively and significantly. This suggests, when making ethical, food-related decisions, the more consumers take ethical concern into consideration, the less they may rely on neurofunctional activity in the left dlPFC, possibly because making these decisions is more routine for them, and therefore a more perfunctory process requiring fewer cognitive resources

Neurofunctional Correlates of Ethical, Food-Related Decision-Making

Citation: Cherry, J. B. C., Bruce, J. M., Lusk, J. L., Crespi, J. M., Lim, S. L., & Bruce, A. S. (2015). Neurofunctional Correlates of Ethical, Food-Related Decision-Making. Plos One, 10(4), 16. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0120541For consumers today, the perceived ethicality of a food's production method can be as important a purchasing consideration as its price. Still, few studies have examined how, neurofunctionally, consumers are making ethical, food-related decisions. We examined how consumers' ethical concern about a food's production method may relate to how, neurofunctionally, they make decisions whether to purchase that food. Forty-six participants completed a measure of the extent to which they took ethical concern into consideration when making food-related decisions. They then underwent a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans while performing a food-related decision-making (FRDM) task. During this task, they made 56 decisions whether to purchase a food based on either its price (i.e., high or low, the "price condition") or production method (i.e., with or without the use of cages, the "production method condition"), but not both. For 23 randomly selected participants, we performed an exploratory, whole-brain correlation between ethical concern and differential neurofunctional activity in the price and production method conditions. Ethical concern correlated negatively and significantly with differential neurofunctional activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). For the remaining 23 participants, we performed a confirmatory, region-of-interest (ROI) correlation between the same variables, using an 8-mm3 volume situated in the left dlPFC. Again, the variables correlated negatively and significantly. This suggests, when making ethical, food-related decisions, the more consumers take ethical concern into consideration, the less they may rely on neurofunctional activity in the left dlPFC, possibly because making these decisions is more routine for them, and therefore a more perfunctory process requiring fewer cognitive resources

Can Neural Activation in Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Predict Responsiveness to Information? An Application to Egg Production Systems and Campaign Advertising

Citation: McFadden, B. R., Lusk, J. L., Crespi, J. M., Cherry, J. B. C., Martin, L. E., Aupperle, R. L., & Bruce, A. S. (2015). Can Neural Activation in Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Predict Responsiveness to Information? An Application to Egg Production Systems and Campaign Advertising. Plos One, 10(5), 15. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0125243Consumers prefer to pay low prices and increase animal welfare; however consumers are typically forced to make tradeoffs between price and animal welfare. Campaign advertising (i.e., advertising used during the 2008 vote on Proposition 2 in California) may affect how consumers make tradeoffs between price and animal welfare. Neuroimaging data was used to determine the effects of brain activation in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) on choices making a tradeoff between price and animal welfare and responsiveness to campaign advertising. Results indicated that activation in the dlPFC was greater when making choices that forced a tradeoff between price and animal welfare, compared to choices that varied only by price or animal welfare. Furthermore, greater activation differences in right dlPFC between choices that forced a tradeoff and choices that did not, indicated greater responsiveness to campaign advertising

Public Access for Pheasant Hunters: Understanding an Emerging Need

Ring‐necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus; i.e., pheasant) hunting participation is declining across North America, reflecting a larger downward trend in American hunting participation and threatening benefits to grassland conservation and rural economies. To stabilize and expand the pheasant hunting population, we must first identify factors that influence pheasant hunter participation. We used an extensive in‐person hunter survey to test the hypothesis that hunter demographics interact with social‐ecological traits of hunting locations to affect hunter decisions, outcomes, and perceptions. We built a series of Bayesian mixed effects models to parse variation in demographics, perceptions, and hunt outcomes of pheasant hunters interviewed at public access hunting sites across 3 regions in Nebraska, USA, that varied in pheasant abundance and proximity to urban population centers. Among pheasant hunters in Nebraska, access to private lands was negatively related to the human population density of a pheasant hunter’s home ZIP code and the distance a hunter had traveled to reach a hunting location. Pheasant hunters interviewed closer to metropolitan areas tended to be more urban and travel shorter distances, and their parties were more likely to include youth but less likely to include dogs. Hunter satisfaction was positively associated with seeing and harvesting pheasants and hunting with youth. Whereas youth participation and the number of pheasants seen varied by study region, hunter satisfaction did not differ across regions, suggesting that hunters may calibrate their expectations and build their parties based on where they plan to hunt. The variation in hunter demographics across hunting locations and disconnects between social and ecological correlates of hunter satisfaction suggests that diverse pheasant hunting constituencies will be best served by diverse pheasant hunting opportunities

Consumer Practices and Risk Factors that Predispose to Premature Browning in Cooked Ground Beef

Premature browning is a condition in which cooked ground beef patties turn brown before the USDA recommended temperature of 71°C. This presents a potential food safety concern, as consumers may be eating undercooked meat. Although various intrinsic and extrinsic factors contribute to premature browning, the current knowledge indicates that the myoglobin form present within the interior of patties has a significant influence on cooked color. The objective of the study was to determine the consumer practices of cooking, methods to determine doneness, and type of packaging of their purchased ground beef. The data utilized in this study came from Food Demand Survey (FooDS), which tracks consumer preferences, food expenditures, price expectations, and awareness and concern for a variety of food issues. The sample size of FooDS on-line survey for this study was 1,030. The survey questions consisted of doneness of patties, cooking time, and packaging type of patties. Pictures of different packaging types such as a tray, vacuum package, film wrapped, butcher wrapped paper, frozen patties, and chub were also included. Approximately 67% of respondents indicated that they determine the doneness of ground beef patties by visual observation, 18% identify the doneness by a certain length of time for cooking, and 13.5% use a meat thermometer. Interestingly, 69% of respondents noted that they like a brown interior color of cooked patties. If the patties were prone to premature browning, the chances of consuming undercooked patties are higher. Only 5.7% of people bought patties packaged in a vacuum, while 60% of respondents bought patties packaged in film wrapped or in a tray. Even after 20 yr of attempt by the USDA to educate consumers about safe cooking, the current practices increase the likelihood of premature browning and food safety concerns