Use Retrospective Surveys to Obtain Complete Data Sets and Measure Impact in Extension Programs

The increasing emphasis on evaluation suggests that Extension programs should use the most effective tools to measure impact. The project reported here used a retrospective survey to: compare the retrospective survey and pre/post survey in the number of incomplete responses and monitor participant changes in nutrition, food safety, and resource management behaviors in a Food Stamp Nutrition Education (FSNE) program. Results indicated that the pre-post survey yielded incomplete data, with 16% of questions unanswered, while 100% of questions were answered on the retrospective survey. All self-reported nutrition, food safety, and resource management behaviors significantly increased

Big Bluestem and Indiangrass from Remnant Prairies: Plant Biomass and Adaptation

Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) and indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans L.) were collected from remnant Midwestern prairies and evaluated as individual prairie accessions in replicated space-transplanted nurseries near Mead, NE, Ames, IA, and West Lafayette, IN. The objective was to determine the extent of differences among the accessions for plant biomass (g plant−1) and biomass quality, the extent of strain x location interactions, and the relationship between geographical locations of collection sites and evaluation locations for plant biomass production. Plant biomass has been used previously as a measure of plant adaptation and fitness. Big bluestem and indiangrass accessions differed significantly (P \u3c 0.05) for plant biomass at all locations. Strain mean squares for plant biomass were 10´ greater than strain x location effects for big bluestem and were not significant for indiangrass, indicating a general lack of specific adaptation across the Midwest. Accessions were identified that had high plant biomass at all three locations. These accessions should have value in breeding programs and for use in revegetation. Regression analyses were used to test the effect of north-to-south, east-to-west, and direct distances between the collection sites and the evaluation locations on plant biomass. The most important distance effects were the north-to-south effects, which were significant for plant biomass for big bluestem at all locations and for indiangrass at West Lafayette. Moving northern big bluestem accessions south resulted in reduced plant biomass, with the opposite effect when southern accessions were moved north. Results support the regional adaptation of the best accessions and cultivars for these grasses

ABO Incompatible Liver Transplantation as a Bridge to Treat HELLP Syndrome

The following is a case report of a primiparous woman who developed fulminant liver failure in the setting of HELLP syndrome complicated by hepatic rupture. It is unique in that a timely ABO compatible liver donor was unavailable, necessitating the transplantation of an ABO incompatible organ. Despite aggressive therapy, severe reperfusion injury and humoral rejection dictated retransplantation with an ABO compatible organ on postoperative day 15, resulting in rapid clinical recovery

IMECE2002-NCA-33051 ACTIVE CONTROL OF GEAR NOISE USING MAGNETIC BEARINGS FOR ACTUATION

ABSTRACT This paper investigates experimentally the active control of gear noise and vibration using magnetic bearing actuators in a feedforward active control scheme. The dynamic forces caused by gear meshing can produce large noise and vibration signatures that can cause annoyance and also fatigue mechanical components. In this work active magnetic bearings were used as actuators to introduce control forces very close to the source of the disturbance i.e. directly onto the rotating shaft. The proximity of the actuators to the source ensures that substantial control can be achieved using a small number of actuators. A four-square gear rig was constructed in order to test the control methodology experimentally. A proximity sensor placed near the gear teeth was used as a reference sensor and used to drive the two magnetic bearing actuators through a time domain filtered X-LMS control system to minimize the outputs from both vibration and pressure error sensors. At one microphone over 20 dB of reduction in acoustic levels was achieved at the gear mesh frequency and an overall reduction of 6 dB was demonstrated at four microphones. It is also shown that gear mesh noise and sideband frequencies can be simultaneously controlled

IMECE2004-61205 WEIGHT OPTIMIZED STRUCTURAL AND ACOUSTIC ACTUATORS FOR THE CONTROL OF SOUND TRANSMISSION INTO ROCKET PAYLOAD COMPARTMENTS

ABSTRACT The reduction of sound transmission into rocket payload compartments is a challenging application for active control due to the broadband nature of the disturbance, the large structural and acoustic space and the very high acoustic levels required. The exterior acoustic field that drives the payload fairing at liftoff is typically in the order of 145dB and the active control system must be able to counteract this high drive level using lightweight actuators. This paper is concerned with the development of structural and acoustic actuators for this application with the emphasis on maximum output level in the 60-200Hz bandwidth for a given actuator weight. The electromagnetic structural actuators are based on powerful rare earth magnets in a two degree of freedom arrangement. It is shown that a two degree of freedom arrangement allows the output in the bandwidth of interest to be increased over a simple one degree of freedom arrangement. The design is termed a distributed active vibration absorber or DAVA as the second degree of freedom is provided by a light and distributed foam element that allows easy attachment and low stress concentration on the structure. The two degree of freedom arrangement also acts as a natural low pass filter to naturally remove unwanted spillover at higher frequencies. The acoustic component is also based on powerful rare earth magnets, however the two degree of freedom arrangement used for the structural actuator is no longer of interest. The main concern is in the reduction of the speaker and cabinet weight. It is shown that careful design of the speaker and cabinet can lead to large reductions in weight without loss of performance. Data taken from an active control experiment on a large composite cylinder, coupled with data from the characterization of the actuators will be used to determine the total actuator weight needed for control in a typical launch environment

Effects of transition metal substitutions on the incommensurability and spin fluctuations in BaFe2As2 by elastic and inelastic neutron scattering

The spin fluctuation spectra from nonsuperconducting Cu-substituted, and superconducting Co-substituted, BaFe2As2 are compared quantitatively by inelastic neutron scattering measurements and are found to be indis- tinguishable. Whereas diffraction studies show the appearance of incommensurate spin-density wave order in Co and Ni substituted samples, the magnetic phase diagram for Cu substitution does not display incommensu- rate order, demonstrating that simple electron counting based on rigid-band concepts is invalid. These results, supported by theoretical calculations, suggest that substitutional impurity effects in the Fe plane play a signifi- cant role in controlling magnetism and the appearance of superconductivity, with Cu distinguished by enhanced impurity scattering and split-band behavior.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Major change in the manuscrip

Streambed Flux Measurement Informed by Distributed Temperature Sensing Leads to a Significantly Different Characterization of Groundwater Discharge

Groundwater discharge though streambeds is often focused toward discrete zones, indicating that preliminary reconnaissance may be useful for capturing the full spectrum of groundwater discharge rates using point-scale quantitative methods. However, many direct-contact reconnaissance techniques can be time-consuming, and remote sensing (e.g., thermal infrared) typically does not penetrate the water column to locate submerged seepages. In this study, we tested whether dozens of groundwater discharge measurements made at “uninformed” (i.e., selected without knowledge on high-resolution temperature variations at the streambed) point locations along a reach would yield significantly dierent Darcy-based groundwater discharge rates when compared with “informed” measurements, focused at streambed thermal anomalies that were identified a priori using fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing (FO-DTS). A non-parametric U-test showed a significant difference between median discharge rates for uninformed (0.05 m day 1; n = 30) and informed (0.17 m day 1; n = 20) measurement locations. Mean values followed a similar pattern (0.12 versus 0.27 m day 1), and frequency distributions for uninformed and informed measurements were also significantly different based on a Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. Results suggest that even using a quick “snapshot-in-time” field analysis of FO-DTS data can be useful in streambeds with groundwater discharge rate

The geobiological nitrogen cycle : from microbes to the mantle

Nitrogen forms an integral part of the main building blocks of life, including DNA, RNA, and proteins. N2 is the dominant gas in Earth’s atmosphere, and nitrogen is stored in all of Earth’s geological reservoirs, including the crust, the mantle, and the core. As such, nitrogen geochemistry is fundamental to the evolution of planet Earth and the life it supports. Despite the importance of nitrogen in the Earth system, large gaps remain in our knowledge of how the surface and deep nitrogen cycles have evolved over geologic time. Here we discuss the current understanding (or lack thereof) for how the unique interaction of biological innovation, geodynamics, and mantle petrology has acted to regulate Earth’s nitrogen cycle over geologic timescales. In particular, we explore how temporal variations in the external (biosphere and atmosphere) and internal (crust and mantle) nitrogen cycles could have regulated atmospheric pN2. We consider three potential scenarios for the evolution of the geobiological nitrogen cycle over Earth’s history: two in which atmospheric pN2 has changed unidirectionally (increased or decreased) over geologic time; and one in which pN2 could have taken a dramatic deflection following the Great Oxidation Event. It is impossible to discriminate between these scenarios with the currently available models and datasets. However, we are optimistic that this problem can be solved, following a sustained, open-minded, and multidisciplinary effort between surface and deep Earth communities.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Uncovering Tropical Eiversity: Six Sympatric Cryptic Species of Blepharoneura (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Flowers of Gurania spinulosa (Cucurbitaceae) in Eastern Ecuador

Diversification of phytophagous insects is often associated with changes in the use of host taxa and host parts. We focus on a group of newly discovered Neotropical tephritids in the genus Blepharoneura, and report the discovery of an extraordinary number of sympatric, morphologically cryptic species, all feeding as larvae on calyces of flowers of a single functionally dioecious and highly sexually dimorphic host species (Gurania spinulosa) in eastern Ecuador. Molecular analyses of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase-I gene from flies reared from flowers of G. spinulosa reveal six distinct haplotype groups that differ by 7.2-10.1% bp (uncorrected pairwise distances; N = 624 bp). Haplotype groups correspond to six distinct and well-supported clades. Members of five clades specialize on the calyces of flowers of a particular sex: three clades comprise male flower specialists; two clades comprise female flower specialists; the sixth clade comprises generalists reared from male and female flowers. The six clades occupy significantly different morphological spaces defined by wing pigmentation patterns; however, diagnostic morphological characters were not discovered. Behavioural observations suggest specific courtship behaviours may play a role in maintaining reproductive isolation among sympatric species