Development of a Miniature Electrostatic Accelerometer /MESA/ for low g applications Summary report

Design, fabrication, and testing of miniature digital electrostatic accelerometer for low gravity measurements in spac

Soil Survey of Iowa, Report No. 69—Pocahantas County Soils

Pocahontas County is located in the northwestern part of Iowa, in the third tier of counties south of the Minnesota state line and in the fourth tier east of the Missouri River. It lies entirely in the Wisconsin^ drift soil area, and the soils of the county, are, therefore, all of drift origin

Intra-tester and inter-tester reliability of the MicroFET 3 hand-held dynamometer.

Background: The reliability of the MicroFET 3 has not previously been reported in the literature. The aim of this study was to evaluate intra-tester and inter-tester reliability of the MicroFET3 hand-held dynamometer (HHD) in three lower limb muscle groups. Methods: Maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) of hip extension, knee extension and ankle plantar-flexion were measured in 38 healthy participants (males=18, females= 20) by two testers on separate days using the MicroFET3 HHD. The reliability analysis was carried out using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) to measure association and Band and Altman plots to demonstrate agreement. Results: The results showed that intra-tester reliability was moderate to excellent; with associations ranging from ICC 0.56 - 0.92 and higher agreement for knee and ankle than hip measurements was shown. Inter-tester reliability was lower, with hip and knee associations ranging from ICC 0.60 - 0.66. Ankle measurements intertester associations were particularly low (ICC 0.23 and 0.15). These values would not be considered acceptable for clinical use. Bland and Altman plots used to demonstrate agreement between testers displayed a considerable lack of agreement with discrepancies of up to 150N noted in measurements. Conclusion: The results suggest that the MicroFET3 HHD displayed moderate to excellent intra-tester reliability and poor to moderate inter-tester reliability and agreement with discrepancies noted between muscle groups. While use of this instrument can be recommended when consistently used by a single tester, further reliability analysis should be carried out before this instrument could be recommended for use by different testers in the clinical setting

Growth and wool production of Merino wethers after treatment with testosterone

The results were variable with there being no response to the testosterone treatment of the weaners in year 2 which were weaned onto dry feed. In the other two years, the weaners grazed at the lower stocking rates were heavier and there appeared to be a general increase in the weight of those injected with testosterone. However, the level of response was not consistent and in year 3 there was no response while the sheep grazed green feed for four months or so following weaning

Soil Survey of Iowa, Report No. 75—Guthrie County Soils

Guthrie County is located in the west central part of Iowa, in the fourth tier of counties north of the Missouri state line and in the fourth tier east of the Missouri River. It is partly in the Wisconsin drift soil area and partly in the Mississippi loess, the Missouri loess and the Southern Iowa loess soil areas. The soils are, therefore, partly of glacial origin and partly of loessial origin, loess types representing all three loess areas occurring in the county

Soil Survey of Iowa, Report No. 66—Lyon County Soils

Lyon County is located in the extreme northwestern corner of Iowa, bordering South Dakota on the west and South Dakota and Minnesota on the north. It lies entirely in the Missouri loess soil area and hence the soils in the county are chiefly loessial in character

Hacia un mejor entendimiento sobre los agricultores custodios y sus roles: percepciones de un estudio de caso en Cachilaya, Bolivia

Esta publicacion es el resultado de una investigacion colaborativa entre Bioversity International y la Fundacion para la Promocion e Investigacion de Productos Andinos (PROINPA). Se ocupa de las cuestiones relativas a la conservacion de la agrobiodiversidad en finca, un campo poco abordado por la investigacion, a pesar de su rol fundamental en el mantenimiento de la diversidad agrícola mundial. Actores estrategicos en la conservacion en las fincas son los agricultores que, por diversas razones, se distinguen de los demas por su contribucion a la conservacion de la diversidad de cultivos. Los llamamos ‘agricultores custodios’, a pesar de que la terminología pueda no ser adecuada para todos los contextos sociales. El entender quienes son los agricultores custodios, su presencia en el territorio, los tipos de cultivos que mantienen, el por que y como lo hacen, así como el adquirir conocimientos sobre los factores culturales, sociales y economicos detras de sus esfuerzos es, para los científicos, un paso muy importante en la elaboracion de estrategias efectivas de conservación en finca. Las entrevistas abiertas y la observacion participante son metodologías utiles para guiar futuros enfoques metodologicos y así avanzar en la comprension de como los roles de los agricultores custodios pueden ser mejor reconocidos, aprovechados y apoyados por la sociedad. Este trabajo ha sido realizado en el marco de un importante proyecto mundial de las Naciones Unidas apoyado por el FIDA y la Comision Europea, que se centra en el desarrollo de enfoques participativos e innovadores para la conservacion en finca de Especies Olvidadas y Subutilizadas (EOS)

Thermocapillary actuation of liquid flow on chemically patterned surfaces

We have investigated the thermocapillary flow of a Newtonian liquid on hydrophilic microstripes which are lithographically defined on a hydrophobic surface. The speed of the microstreams is studied as a function of the stripe width w, the applied thermal gradient |dT/dx| and the liquid volume V deposited on a connecting reservoir pad. Numerical solutions of the flow speed as a function of downstream position show excellent agreement with experiment. The only adjustable parameter is the inlet film height, which is controlled by the ratio of the reservoir pressure to the shear stress applied to the liquid stream. In the limiting cases where this ratio is either much smaller or much larger than unity, the rivulet speed shows a power law dependency on w, |dT/dx| and V. In this study we demonstrate that thermocapillary driven flow on chemically patterned surfaces can provide an elegant and tunable method for the transport of ultrasmall liquid volumes in emerging microfluidic technologies

Cost Shared Wildfire Risk Mitigation in Log Hill Mesa, Colorado: Survey Evidence on Participation and Willingness to Pay

Wildland–urban interface (WUI) homeowners who do not mitigate the wildfire risk on their properties impose a negative externality on society. To reduce the social costs of wildfire and incentivise homeowners to take action, cost sharing programs seek to reduce the barriers that impede wildfire risk mitigation. Using survey data from a WUI community in western Colorado and a two-stage decision framework, we examine residents’ willingness to participate in a cost sharing program for removing vegetation on their properties and the amount they are willing to contribute to the cost of that removal. Wefind that different factors motivate decisions about participation and about how much to pay. Willingness to participate correlates with both financial and non-monetary considerations, including informational barriers and wildfire risk perceptions, but not with concerns about effectiveness or visual impacts. Residents of properties with higher wildfire risk levels are less likely to participate in the cost sharing than those with lower levels of wildfire risk. We find widespread, positive willingness to pay for vegetation removal, with the amount associated negatively with property size and positively with respondent income. These results can inform the development of cost sharing programs to encourage wildfire risk mitigation on private property