Laboratory activity to effectively teach introductory geomicrobiology concepts to non-geology majors

We have designed a three-week experiment that can complement any microbiology course, to teach main geomicrobiology concepts for non-geology majors. One of the most difficult concepts for non-geology majors to comprehend is how bacteria serve as a platform for different mineralization reactions. In our three-week laboratory practice, students learn the main principles and conditions required for an induced bacterial mineralization. Upon completion of the laboratory experience, students will: 1) learn how microbial-induced mineralization (such as calcium carbonate formation) is affected by differential media and growth conditions; 2) understand how bacterial physiology affects any induced in situ or in vitro mineralization; 3) comprehend how growing conditions and bacterial physiologies interrelate, resulting in differential crystal formation. The teaching-learning process was assessed using a pre-/posttest with an increase from 26% to 76% in the number of positive answers from the students. We also measured the students' proficiency while conducting specific technical tasks, revealing no major difficulties while conducting the experiments. A final questionnaire was provided with satisfactory evaluations from the students regarding the organization and content of the practices. 84-86% of the students agreed that the exercises improved their knowledge in geomicrobiology and would like to attend similar laboratories in the future. Such response is the best indicator that the laboratory practice can be implemented in any undergraduate/graduate microbiology course to effectively teach basic geomicrobiology concepts to non-geology majors

High-frequency Alfven waves in multi-ion coronal plasma : observational implications

We investigate the effects of high-frequency (of order ion gyrofrequency) Alfvén and ion-cyclotron waves on ion emission lines by studying the dispersion of these waves in a multi-ion coronal plasma. For this purpose we solve the dispersion relation of the linearized multifluid and Vlasov equations in a magnetized multi-ion plasma with coronal abundances of heavy ions. We also calculate the dispersion relation using nonlinear one-dimensional hybrid kinetic simulations of the multi-ion plasma. When heavy ions are present the dispersion relation of parallel propagating Alfvén cyclotron waves exhibits the following branches (in the positive Ω − k quadrant): right-hand polarized nonresonant and left-hand polarized resonant branch for protons and each ion. We calculate the ratio of ion to proton velocities perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic field for each wave modes for typical coronal parameters and find strong enhancement of the heavy ion perpendicular fluid velocity compared with proton perpendicular fluid velocity. The linear multifluid cold plasma results agree with linear warm plasma Vlasov results and with the nonlinear hybrid simulation model results. In view of our findings we discuss how the observed nonthermal line broadening of minor ions in coronal holes may relate to the high-frequency wave motions

The Kuznets curve of the rich

A long-standing interest in the relationship between inequality and sustainable growth continues to fascinate economists among other social scientists. It must be noted, however, that most empirical efforts have focussed on the income inequality–growth nexus, while studies on wealth inequality are much scarcer. This study attempts to fill such a gap in the literature by assessing the correspondence between the top 1 percent's wealth share and economic growth. Employing time series cointegration techniques, we study the experience of France and the United States from 1950 to 2014. Our estimates suggest that the output growth rate is an inverted-U-shaped function of the wealth share of the top 1 percent. The estimated relationship is robust to variations in control variables and estimation methods. We compute the local optimal wealth share, understood as the share of wealth compatible with the maximum growth rate, and show that France is growing close to its long-run potential, while the United States is significantly below its

Carbon dioxide system in the Canary region during October 1995

During the cruise F/S Poseidon 212/3 (September 30-October 8, 1995) determination of carbon system variables was carried out over the section of La Palma-La Graciosa and at the ESTOC station in the Canary Island area. Total alkalinity and pH in the total scale at 25 degreesC were determined at 24 stations from surface to bottom. In this area, the presence of different water masses can be traced by the carbon system variables. NACW is defined by a strong gradient of A(T) and pH from 150 to 750 m. MW is characterised by high values of A(T) and pH between 1000 to 1200 in and AAIW signals are found at around 900 in in the strait between Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura with low A(T), low pH and a maximum of fCO(2). Assuming an atmospheric mean value of fCO(2) of 360 mu atm and an average surface value of 393 +/-7 mu atm, we can conclude that during this cruise this oceanic area tends to release CO2 into the atmosphere, acting as a weak source with a carbon flux towards the atmosphere of +8.0 +/-1.8 mmol.m(-2)d(-1). The saturation levels in the Canary Island area have been found to be higher than 3600 m for calcite and 2700 in for aragonite. The inorganic carbon/organic carbon ratio (IC/OC) varies from 0.07 at 300 m to 0.5 at 3000 m. The IC/OC ratio shows that about a 34% increase in the C-T of the deep water is contributed by the inorganic CaCO3 dissolution. The IC at 300 in is around 7 mu mol kg(-1), increasing with depth to 37.5 mu mol kg(-1) at 3700 m

Application of Phase-Field Method to the Analysis of Phase Decomposition of Alloys

This chapter is focused on the application of the phase-field method to the analysis of phase decomposition during the isothermal aging of alloys. The phase-field method is based on a numerical solution of either the nonlinear Cahn-Hilliard equation or the Cahn-Allen equation. These partial differential equations can be solved using the finite difference method among other numerical methods. The phase-field method has been applied to analyze different types of phase transformations in alloys, such as phase decomposition, precipitation, recrystallization, grain growth, solidification of pure metals and alloys, martensitic transformation, ordering reactions, and so on. One of the main advantages of phase-field method is that this method permits to follow the microstructure evolution in two or three dimensions as the time of phase transformations progresses. Thus, the morphology, size, and size distribution could be determined to follow their corresponding growth kinetics. Additionally, the evolution of chemical composition can also be followed during the phase transformations. Furthermore, both Allen-Cahn and Cahn-Hilliard equations can be solved simultaneously to analyze the presence of ordered phases or magnetic domains in alloys

Life as a Parkland Pathways Student

This podcast is the result of an ethnography assignment for Anthropology 103 at Parkland College in Champaign, IL. Students interviewed other students involved with Parkland Pathways, a competitive program that guarantees admission to the University of Illinois through Parkland College transfer credits. Four students were interviewed to discover their likes and dislikes of the program

STEREO SECCHI COR1-A/B Intercalibration at 180 deg Separation

The twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft reached a separation angle of 180 degrees on 6 February 2011. This provided a unique opportunity to test the intercalibration between the Sun-Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI) telescopes on both spacecraft for areas above the limb. So long as the corona is optically thin, at 180 degree separation each spacecraft sees the same corona from opposite directions. Thus, the data should appear as mirror images of each other. We report here on the results of the comparison of the images taken by the inner coronagraph (COR1) on the STEREO Ahead and Behind spacecraft in the hours when the separation was close to 180 degrees. We find that the intensity values seen by the two telescopes agree with each other to a high degree of accuracy. This validates both the radiometric intercalibration between the COR1 telescopes, and the method used to remove instrumental background from the images. The relative error between COR1-A and COR1-B is found to be less than 10(exp -9) B/B solar over most of the field-of-view, growing to a few x 10(exp -9) B/B solar for the brighter pixels near the edge of the occulter. The primary source of error is the background determination. We also report on the analysis of star observations which show that the absolute radiometric calibration of either COR1 telescope has not changed significantly since launch

The extremal solution of a boundary reaction problem

We consider Delta u = 0 in Omega, partial derivative u/partial derivative v = lambda f(u) on Gamma(1), u= 0 on Gamma(2) where lambda > 0, f(u) = e(u) or f(u) = (1 + u)(p), Gamma(1), Gamma(2) is a partition of partial derivative Omega and Omega subset of R-N. We determine sharp conditions on the dimension N and p > 1 such that the extremal solution is bounded, where the extremal solution refers to the one associated to the largest lambda for which a solution exists.7479581

A cross-platform OpenVX library for FPGA accelerators

FPGAs are an excellent platform to implement computer vision applications, since these applications tend to offer a high level of parallelism with many data-independent operations. However, the freedom in the solution design space of FPGAs represents a problem because each solution must be individually designed, verified, and tuned. The emergence of High Level Synthesis (HLS) helps solving this problem and has allowed the implementation of open programming standards as OpenVX for computer vision applications on FPGAs, such as the HiF1ipVX library developed exclusively for Xilinx devices. Although with the HiF1ipVX library, designers can develop solutions efficiently on Xilinx, they do not have an approach to port and run their code on FPGAs from other manufacturers. This work extends the HiFlipVX capabilities in two significant ways: supporting Intel FPGA devices and enabling execution on discrete FPGA accelerators. To provide both without affecting user-facing code, the new carried out implementation combines two HLS programming models: C++, using Intel''s system of tasks, and OpenCL, which provides the CPU interoperability. Comparing with pure OpenCL implementations, this work reduces kernel dispatch resources, saving up to 24% of ALUT resources for each kernel in a graph, and improves performance 2.6 x and energy consumption 1.6 x on average for a set of representative applications, compared with state-of-the-art frameworks