American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) FEMP Technical Assistance - United States Pacific Command (PACOM) Guam, Task 3.3: Building Retuning Training

Document describes an onsite workshop and building retuning training conducted in Guam in August 2010. Document reports on issues identified during an audit of several buildings and recommendations to save energy throughout the site. During the workshop, it became apparent that as site personnel maintain the facilities at Guam, the following retuning efforts and strategies should be prioritized: (1) Controlling the mechanical systems operational hours and zone temperature set points appeared to present the best opportunities for savings; (2) Zone temperature set points in some buildings are excessively low, especially at night, when the zone temperatures are so cold that they approached the dewpoint; and (3) Manually-set outside air dampers are providing excessive outside air, especially for spaces that are unoccupied. Two of the larger schools, one on the Naval Base and one on Anderson AFB, are in need of a significant recommissioning effort. These facilities are relatively new, with direct digital controls (DDC) but are significantly out of balance. The pressure in one school is extremely negative, which is pulling humid air through the facility each time a door is opened. The draft can be felt several feet down the halls. The pressure in the other school is extremely positive relative to the outside, and you can stand 20-feet outside and still feel cool drafts of air exiting the building. It is recommended that humidity sensors be installed in all new projects and retrofitted into exist facilities. In this humid climate, control of humidity is very important. There are significant periods of time when the mechanical systems in many buildings can be unloaded and dehumidification is not required. The use of CO{sub 2} sensors should also be considered in representative areas. CO{sub 2} sensors determine whether spaces are occupied so that fresh air is only brought into the space when needed. By reducing the amount of outside air brought into the space, the humidity load is also substantially reduced. CO{sub 2} and humidity sensors, combined with outside air sensors, can be used to predict whether conditions are amenable to mold growth and to automatically adjust systems to help prevent mold without using extra energy. The goal of this training is to give the building operators the knowledge needed to make positive changes in the operation of building systems. As class participants apply this knowledge, building systems will run more efficiently, occupant comfort should improve, while saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Impact of flipper-banding on breeding success of African penguins Spheniscus demersus at Robben Island: comparisons among silicone rubber bands, stainless-steel bands and no bands

From 2001 to 2006, two new designs of flipper bands made from silicone rubbers were tested on African penguins Spheniscus demersus at 365 nests on Robben Island, South Africa. We compared, over six years, the breeding success, from hatching to fledging, of three different groups of penguins: those with rubber bands (117 nests), with conventional stainless-steel bands (103 nests) and without bands (145 nests). There were no significant differences in breeding success between the three groups, suggesting that neither the currently used steel bands, nor either of the new rubber-band designs, were harmful during the seasons investigated. The rubber bands caused less wear of feathers and less drag on a model penguin than the steel bands. In captivity, the behaviours of African penguins fitted with rubber bands were not noticeably different to those of unbanded birds

Estimating Be Star Disk Radii using H-alpha Emission Equivalent Widths

We present numerical models of the circumstellar disks of Be stars, and we describe the resulting synthetic H-alpha emission lines and maps of the wavelength-integrated emission flux projected onto the sky. We demonstrate that there are monotonic relationships between the emission line equivalent width and the ratio of the angular half-width at half maximum of the projected disk major axis to the radius of the star. These relationships depend mainly upon the temperatures of the disk and star, the inclination of the disk normal to the line of sight, and the adopted outer boundary for the disk radius. We show that the predicted H-alpha disk radii are consistent with those observed directly through long baseline interferometry of nearby Be stars (especially once allowance is made for disk truncation in binaries and for dilution of the observed H-alpha equivalent width by continuum disk flux in the V-band).Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, ApJL in pres

Amphetamine Modulates Excitatory Neurotransmission through Endocytosis of the Glutamate Transporter EAAT3 in Dopamine Neurons

SummaryAmphetamines modify the brain and alter behavior through mechanisms generally attributed to their ability to regulate extracellular dopamine concentrations. However, the actions of amphetamine are also linked to adaptations in glutamatergic signaling. We report here that when amphetamine enters dopamine neurons through the dopamine transporter, it stimulates endocytosis of an excitatory amino acid transporter, EAAT3, in dopamine neurons. Consistent with this decrease in surface EAAT3, amphetamine potentiates excitatory synaptic responses in dopamine neurons. We also show that the process of internalization is dynamin- and Rho-mediated and requires a unique sequence in the cytosolic C terminus of EAAT3. Introduction of a peptide based on this motif into dopamine neurons blocks the effects of amphetamine on EAAT3 internalization and its action on excitatory responses. These data indicate that the internalization of EAAT3 triggered by amphetamine increases glutamatergic signaling and thus contributes to the effects of amphetamine on neurotransmission

Determining the Physical Properties of the B Stars I. Methodology and First Results

We describe a new approach to fitting the UV-to-optical spectra of B stars to model atmospheres and present initial results. Using a sample of lightly reddened stars, we demonstrate that the Kurucz model atmospheres can produce excellent fits to either combined low dispersion IUE and optical photometry or HST FOS spectrophotometry, as long as the following conditions are fulfilled: 1) an extended grid of Kurucz models is employed, 2) the IUE NEWSIPS data are placed on the FOS absolute flux system using the Massa & Fitzpatrick (1999) transformation, and 3) all of the model parameters and the effects of interstellar extinction are solved for simultaneously. When these steps are taken, the temperatures, gravities, abundances and microturbulence velocities of lightly reddened B0-A0 V stars are determined to high precision. We also demonstrate that the same procedure can be used to fit the energy distributions of stars which are reddened by any UV extinction curve which can be expressed by the Fitzpatrick & Massa (1990) parameterization scheme. We present an initial set of results and verify our approach through comparisons with angular diameter measurements and the parameters derived for an eclipsing B star binary. We demonstrate that the metallicity derived from the ATLAS 9 fits to main sequence B stars is essentially the Fe abundance. We find that a near zero microturbulence velocity provides the best-fit to all but the hottest or most luminous stars (where it may become a surrogate for atmospheric expansion), and that the use of white dwarfs to calibrate UV spectrophotometry is valid.Comment: 17 pages, including 2 pages of Tables and 6 pages of Figures. Astrophysical Jounral, in pres

Narrative-based computational modelling of the Gp130/JAK/STAT signalling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Appropriately formulated quantitative computational models can support researchers in understanding the dynamic behaviour of biological pathways and support hypothesis formulation and selection by "in silico" experimentation. An obstacle to widespread adoption of this approach is the requirement to formulate a biological pathway as machine executable computer code. We have recently proposed a novel, biologically intuitive, narrative-style modelling language for biologists to formulate the pathway which is then automatically translated into an executable format and is, thus, usable for analysis via existing simulation techniques. RESULTS: Here we use a high-level narrative language in designing a computational model of the gp130/JAK/STAT signalling pathway and show that the model reproduces the dynamic behaviour of the pathway derived by biological observation. We then "experiment" on the model by simulation and sensitivity analysis to define those parameters which dominate the dynamic behaviour of the pathway. The model predicts that nuclear compartmentalisation and phosphorylation status of STAT are key determinants of the pathway and that alternative mechanisms of signal attenuation exert their influence on different timescales. CONCLUSION: The described narrative model of the gp130/JAK/STAT pathway represents an interesting case study showing how, by using this approach, researchers can model biological systems without explicitly dealing with formal notations and mathematical expressions (typically used for biochemical modelling), nevertheless being able to obtain simulation and analysis results. We present the model and the sensitivity analysis results we have obtained, that allow us to identify the parameters which are most sensitive to perturbations. The results, which are shown to be in agreement with existing mathematical models of the gp130/JAK/STAT pathway, serve us as a form of validation of the model and of the approach itself

Mass-Loss Rate Determination for the Massive Binary V444 Cyg using 3-D Monte-Carlo Simulations of Line and Polarization Variability

A newly developed 3-D Monte Carlo model is used, in conjunction with a multi-line non-LTE radiative transfer model, to determine the mass-loss rate of the Wolf-Rayet (W-R) star in the massive binary \object{V444 Cyg} (WN5+O6). This independent estimate of mass-loss rate is attained by fitting the observed \HeI (5876) \AA and \HeII (5412) \AA line profiles, and the continuum light curves of three Stokes parameters ((I, Q, U)) in the (V) band simultaneously. The high accuracy of our determination arises from the use of many observational constraints, and the sensitivity of the continuum polarization to the mass-loss rate. Our best fit model suggests that the mass-loss rate of the system is (\dot{M}_{\WR}=0.6(\pm 0.2) \times 10^{-5} M_{\sun} \mathrm{yr}^{-1} ), and is independent of the assumed distance to \object{V444 Cyg}. The fits did not allow a unique value for the radius of the W-R star to be derived. The range of the volume filling factor for the W-R star atmosphere is estimated to be in the range of 0.050 (for R_{\WR}=5.0 R_{\sun}) to 0.075 (for R_{\WR}=2.5 R_{\sun}). We also found that the blue-side of \HeI (5876 ) \AA and \HeII (5412) \AA lines at phase 0.8 is relatively unaffected by the emission from the wind-wind interaction zone and the absorption by the O-star atmosphere; hence, the profiles at this phase are suitable for spectral line fittings using a spherical radiative transfer model.Comment: 18 pages, 17 figures: Accepeted for publication in A&

Properties of the H-alpha-emitting Circumstellar Regions of Be Stars

Long-baseline interferometric observations obtained with the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer of the H-alpha-emitting envelopes of the Be stars eta Tauri and beta Canis Minoris are presented. For compatibility with the previously published interferometric results in the literature of other Be stars, circularly symmetric and elliptical Gaussian models were fitted to the calibrated H-alpha observations. The models are sufficient in characterizing the angular distribution of the H-alpha-emitting circumstellar material associated with these Be stars. To study the correlations between the various model parameters and the stellar properties, the model parameters for eta Tau and beta CMi were combined with data for other Be stars from the literature. After accounting for the different distances to the sources and stellar continuum flux levels, it was possible to study the relationship between the net H-alpha emission and the physical extent of the H-alpha-emitting circumstellar region. A clear dependence of the net H-alpha emission on the linear size of the emitting region is demonstrated and these results are consistent with an optically thick line emission that is directly proportional to the effective area of the emitting disk. Within the small sample of stars considered in this analysis, no clear dependence on the spectral type or stellar rotation is found, although the results do suggest that hotter stars might have more extended H-alpha-emitting regions.Comment: 24 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in Ap