Utah State University Big Bands Tribute to Pepper Adams

Join us for Utah State University Big Bands tribute to Pepper Adams, featuring Jason Marshall.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/music_programs/1101/thumbnail.jp

Structure of a bacterial cell surface decaheme electron conduit

Some bacterial species are able to utilize extracellular mineral forms of iron and manganese as respiratory electron acceptors. In Shewanella oneidensis this involves decaheme cytochromes that are located on the bacterial cell surface at the termini of trans-outer-membrane electron transfer conduits. The cell surface cytochromes can potentially play multiple roles in mediating electron transfer directly to insoluble electron sinks, catalyzing electron exchange with flavin electron shuttles or participating in extracellular intercytochrome electron exchange along “nanowire” appendages. We present a 3.2-Å crystal structure of one of these decaheme cytochromes, MtrF, that allows the spatial organization of the 10 hemes to be visualized for the first time. The hemes are organized across four domains in a unique crossed conformation, in which a staggered 65-Å octaheme chain transects the length of the protein and is bisected by a planar 45-Å tetraheme chain that connects two extended Greek key split ß-barrel domains. The structure provides molecular insight into how reduction of insoluble substrate (e.g., minerals), soluble substrates (e.g., flavins), and cytochrome redox partners might be possible in tandem at different termini of a trifurcated electron transport chain on the cell surface

Project Management in the Oil & Gas Industry - A Bayesian Approach

A reliable ‘Estimate at Completion’ from the early stage of project execution is essential in order to enable efficient and proactive project management. The non-repetitive and uncertain nature of projects and the involvement of multiple stakeholders require the use and integration of multiple informative sources in order to provide accurate forecasts. Moreover, in the Oil&Gas industry projects are characterized by a high level of complexity and financial impact. The paper aims at multiple objectives: introducing the need for the identification and utilization of all the available knowledge in order to improve the forecasting process; developing a Bayesian approach in order to integrate the diverse knowledge sources; exploring the integration of data records and experts’ judgment related to the ongoing project; exploring the integration of data records related to projects completed in the past and to the ongoing project and finally developing a Bayesian model capable of using three different knowledge sources: data records and experts’ judgments related to the ongoing project and data records related to similar projects completed in the past. The model has been tested in a set of large and complex projects in the Oil&Gas industry, in order to forecast the final duration and the final cost. The results show a higher forecasting accuracy of the Bayesian model compared to the traditional Earned Value Management (EVM) methodology

Understanding collaborative working in a facilitated interdisciplinary environment

Purpose: This paper reports on the trial of a new form of project insurance in UK construction designed to improve collaborative working among project participants by enhancing their joint responsibility for project outcomes. Its purpose is to examine the interprofessional collaborative endeavour under these new insurance arrangements, drawing on a structuration model of interdisciplinary collaboration developed in the field of healthcare studies. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research involved a longitudinal, action research approach with participant observation over the period of the trial project. A novel element included a project facilitator as part of the action research team. In addition, qualitative and quantitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews with project participants and close scrutiny of the documented project record. Findings: The study findings are in line with other social practice-based studies of collaboration in construction in which collaborators socialise the collaborative endeavour, developing their interpretation of what collaboration means and their own modus operandi. However, project structure emerges as a more important element in the collaboration process than is typically recognised in practice-based studies. More significantly, the analysis reveals that it is the interplay of structure, the socialising processes of the participants, and facilitation that helps develop interdependence among project participants and provides a basis for understanding collaboration on the trial project. Research limitations/implications: The case study project provides a unique context for the examination of collaboration under the new project insurance arrangements. But the results have implications for the study of collaboration in highlighting the important relationship between project structure, collaboration and facilitation. Practical implications: Understanding the importance of how interdependency is developed through structure, the socialising processes of collaborators, and facilitation has important implications for those concerned with designing project arrangements and managing collaborative processes. Originality/value: The trial project is the first full trial of the new project insurance arrangements in the UK, and provides a unique context for the study of collaboration. By highlighting the significance of project structure, and the interplay between structure, the collaborators’ emerging practices and facilitation, the paper departs from other work in this area to suggest fruitful avenues for further enquiry, and for practice

Event layers in the Japanese Lake Suigetsu 'SG06' sediment core:Description, interpretation and climatic implications

Event layers in lake sediments are indicators of past extreme events, mostly the results of floods or earthquakes. Detailed characterisation of the layers allows the discrimination of the sedimentation processes involved, such as surface runoff, landslides or subaqueous slope failures. These processes can then be interpreted in terms of their triggering mechanisms. Here we present a 40 ka event layer chronology from Lake Suigetsu, Japan. The event layers were characterised using a multi-proxy approach, employing light microscopy and μXRF for microfacies analysis. The vast majority of event layers in Lake Suigetsu was produced by flood events (362 out of 369), allowing the construction of the first long-term, quantitative (with respect to recurrence) and well dated flood chronology from the region. The flood layer frequency shows a high variability over the last 40 ka, and it appears that extreme precipitation events were decoupled from the average long-term precipitation. For instance, the flood layer frequency is highest in the Glacial at around 25 ka BP, at which time Japan was experiencing a generally cold and dry climate. Other cold episodes, such as Heinrich Event 1 or the Late Glacial stadial, show a low flood layer frequency. Both observations together exclude a simple, straightforward relationship with average precipitation and temperature. We argue that, especially during Glacial times, changes in typhoon genesis/typhoon tracks are the most likely control on the flood layer frequency, rather than changes in the monsoon front or snow melts. Spectral analysis of the flood chronology revealed periodic variations on centennial and millennial time scales, with 220 yr, 450 yr and a 2000 yr cyclicity most pronounced. However, the flood layer frequency appears to have not only been influenced by climate changes, but also by changes in erosion rates due to, for instance, earthquakes

New 14C Determinations from Lake Suigetsu, Japan:12,000 to 0 Cal BP

Calibration is a fundamental stage of the radiocarbon (14C) dating process if one is to derive meaningful calendar ages from samples’ 14C measurements. For the first time, the IntCal09 calibration curve (Reimer et al. 2009) provided an internationally ratified calibration data set across almost the complete range (0 to 50,000 cal BP) of the 14C timescale. However, only the last 12,550 cal yr of this record are composed of terrestrial data, leaving approximately three quarters of the 14C timescale necessarily calibrated via less secure, marine records (incorporating assumptions pertaining to the temporally variable “marine reservoir effect”). The predominantly annually laminated (varved) sediment profile of Lake Suigetsu, central Japan, offers an ideal opportunity to derive an extended terrestrial record of atmospheric 14C across the entire range of the method, through pairing of 14C measurements of terrestrial plant macrofossil samples (extracted from the sediment) with the independent chronology provided through counting of its annual laminations. This paper presents new data (182 14C determinations) from the upper (largely non-varved) 15 m of the Lake Suigetsu (SG06) sediment strata. These measurements provide evidence of excellent coherence between the Suigetsu 14C data and the IntCal09 calibration curve across the last ~12,000 cal yr (i.e. the portion of IntCal based entirely on terrestrial data). Such agreement demonstrates that terrestrial plant material picked from the Lake Suigetsu sediment provides a reliable archive of atmospheric 14C, and therefore supports the site as being capable of providing a high-resolution extension to the “wholly terrestrial” (i.e. non-reservoir-corrected) calibration curve beyond its present 12,550 cal BP limit

‘Is every YouTuber going to make a coming out video eventually?’: YouTube celebrity video bloggers and lesbian and gay identity

A significant number of YouTube celebrity video bloggers (vloggers) have used the platform to come out publicly as lesbian or gay. This article interrogates the cultural work of YouTube celebrity coming outs, through the case studies of two of the most prominent gay vloggers: Ingrid Nilsen and Connor Franta. This article explores how the coming out moments of these vloggers, as articulated in their coming out vlogs and the wider media discourses surrounding these, make legible a normative gay youth subject position which is shaped by the specific tropes, conventions and commercial rationale of YouTube fame itself. I define this subject position as 'proto-homonormative.' It positions a "successful" gay adulthood, defined through the neoliberal ideals of authenticity, self-branding and individual enterprise bound to the phenomenon of YouTube celebrity, as contingent upon a particular personal relationship with one's non-normative sexuality. I interrogate how the emotional contours of Nilsen and Franta’s coming out narratives, their represented abilities to channel their non-normative sexualities into lucrative celebrity brands, and their construction as gay and lesbian ‘role models’ by the mainstream media, delineates a journey into "acceptance" and "pride" in one's gay sexuality as the expected narrative of contemporary gay life. This narrative, I argue, cements the default normativity of heterosexuality in mainstream culture, and produces a narrow framework of “acceptable” gay youth subjectivity which is aligned with the ideals of neoliberalism embodied in the figure of the YouTube celebrity vlogger

The role of non-governmental organisations in the management of separated and unaccompanied children, following disasters in Iran

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Following disasters, separated and unaccompanied children are among the most vulnerable, therefore international organisations have formed guidelines regarding the management of these children. Guidelines include recommendations for identifying and registering children, tracing family members, reunification and arrangements for interim and durable care. There is a lack of experiential evidence on how these principles are put into practice at operational levels, and whether existing policies were useful. There is a particular lack of empirical evidence from the disaster prone country of Iran. The aim of this study was to describe the role of Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the management of separated and unaccompanied children, following disasters in Iran in order to plan for and provision of future disasters.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>The Iranian Red Crescent Organisation, Committee Emdad Imam Khomeini (a national organisation unique to Iran that is protected by the government and supported by public contributions) and Behzisti (the government welfare organisation in Iran) are the main figures involved in the management of separated and unaccompanied children, following disasters in Iran. NGOs are rarely responsible for caring for unaccompanied children, however they provide valuable support including financial assistance, arrangement of educational and extra-curricular activities and psychosocial support. Following the initial chaos after the Bam earthquake, international guidelines on separated and unaccompanied children were largely followed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Systems for managing separated and unaccompanied children following disasters in Iran, involving NGOs, are emerging. However, most are yet to be formalised.</p