Survey of Material for an Infrared-Opaque Coating

More than 40 reflectance spectra in the range from 20 to 500 microns have been obtained for a variety of coatings, binders, and additives to identify promising components of an infrared-opaque coating for the Space Infrared Telescope Facility. Certain combinations of materials showed a specular reflectance below 0.1 throughout the spectral range measured. In addition to estimating the optical constants of several combination coatings, this survey also supports three qualitative conclusions: (1) promising off-the-shelf binders of different additives are Chemglaze Z-306, ECP-2200, and De Soto Black; (2) carbon black is very effective in reducing far-infrared reflectance; (3) the far-infrared reflectance from coatings containing 80 SiC grit is consistently lower than that from similar coatings containing TiBr powder

Beyond Katrina: Improving Disaster Response Capabilities

As Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma successively lashed the Gulf Coast starting in late August 2005, nature’s fury exposed serious weaknesses in the United States’s emergency response capabilities. These problems were not simply the failure of particular places or leaders to be ready for disaster but rather an indication of more fundamental issues. These must be addressed if the country is to be ready for serious challenges that may lay ahead, whether severe natural disasters, outbreaks of emergent infectious disease, or renewed terrorist attacks

The Ubiquitin Ligase Adaptor NDFIP1 Selectively Enforces a CD8⁺ T Cell Tolerance Checkpoint to High-Dose Antigen

Escape from peripheral tolerance checkpoints that control cytotoxic CD8+ T cells is important for cancer immunotherapy and autoimmunity, but pathways enforcing these checkpoints are mostly uncharted. We reveal that the HECT-type ubiquitin ligase activator, NDFIP1, enforces a cell-intrinsic CD8+ T cell checkpoint that desensitizes TCR signaling during in vivo exposure to high antigen levels. Ndfip1-deficient OT-I CD8+ T cells responding to high exogenous tolerogenic antigen doses that normally induce anergy aberrantly expanded and differentiated into effector cells that could precipitate autoimmune diabetes in RIP-OVAhi mice. In contrast, NDFIP1 was dispensable for peripheral deletion to low-dose exogenous or pancreatic islet-derived antigen and had little impact upon effector responses to Listeria or acute LCMV infection. These data provide evidence that NDFIP1 mediates a CD8+ T cell tolerance checkpoint, with a different mechanism to CD4+ T cells, and indicates that CD8+ T cell deletion and anergy are molecularly separable checkpoints.This work was funded by NIH grant U19-AI100627, by an Australian Government Research Training Program Domestic Scholarship (to M.V.W.), by a Sydney Parker Smith Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the Cancer Council of Victoria (to J.M.M.), and by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) through Program Grants 1016953, 1113904, and 1054925, Australia Fellowship 585490 (to C.C.G.), Senior Principal Research Fellowship 1081858 (to C.C.G.), CJ Martin Early Career Fellowship 585518 (to I.A.P.), and Independent Research Institutes Infrastructure Support Scheme Grant 361646. Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and WEHI acknowledge the strong support from the Victorian Government and in particular funding from the Operational Infrastructure Support Grant

A spatially distributed hydroeconomic model to assess the effects of drought on land use, farm profits, and agricultural employment.

In this paper a high-resolution linked hydroeconomic model is demonstrated for drought conditions in a Brazilian river basin.Doi: 10.1029/2008WR00753

Establishing the values for patient engagement (PE) in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) research: an international, multiple-stakeholder perspective

PurposeActive patient engagement is increasingly viewed as essential to ensuring that patient-driven perspectives are considered throughout the research process. However, guidance for patient engagement (PE) in HRQoL research does not exist, the evidence-base for practice is limited, and we know relatively little about underpinning values that can impact on PE practice. This is the first study to explore the values that should underpin PE in contemporary HRQoL research to help inform future good practice guidance. MethodsA modified ‘World Café’ was hosted as a collaborative activity between patient partners, clinicians and researchers: self-nominated conference delegates participated in group discussions to explore values associated with the conduct and consequences of PE. Values were captured via post-it notes and by nominated note-takers. Data were thematically analysed: emergent themes were coded and agreement checked. Association between emergent themes, values and the Public Involvement Impact Assessment Framework were explored. ResultsEighty participants, including 12 patient partners, participated in the 90-min event. Three core values were defined: (1) building relationships; (2) improving research quality and impact; and (3) developing best practice. Participants valued the importance of building genuine, collaborative and deliberative relationships—underpinned by honesty, respect, co-learning and equity—and the impact of effective PE on research quality and relevance. Conclusions An explicit statement of values seeks to align all stakeholders on the purpose, practice and credibility of PE activities. An innovative, flexible and transparent research environment was valued as essential to developing a trustworthy evidence-base with which to underpin future guidance for good PE practice.Peer reviewe

Assessing agriculture-water links at the basin scale: hydrologic and economic models of the São Francisco River Basin, Brazil.

This article uses a basin-wide hydrologic model to assess the hydrologic and economic effects of expanding agriculture in the São Francisco River Basin, Brazil

Reflections on Modern Macroeconomics: Can We Travel Along a Safer Road?

In this paper we sketch some reflections on the pitfalls and inconsistencies of the research program - currently dominant among the profession - aimed at providing microfoundations to macroeconomics along a Walrasian perspective. We argue that such a methodological approach constitutes an unsatisfactory answer to a well-posed research question, and that alternative promising routes have been long mapped out but only recently explored. In particular, we discuss a recent agent-based, truly non-Walrasian macroeconomic model, and we use it to envisage new challenges for future research.Comment: Latex2e v1.6; 17 pages with 4 figures; for inclusion in the APFA5 Proceeding