Usability Study of a Library’s Mobile Website: An Example from Portland State University

To discover how a newly developed library mobile website performed across a variety of devices, the authors used a hybrid field and laboratory methodology to conduct a usability test of the website. Twelve student participants were recruited and selected according to phone type. Results revealed a wide array of errors attributed to site design, wireless network connections, as well as phone hardware and software. This study provides an example methodology for testing library mobile websites, identifies issues associated with mobile websites, and provides recommendations for improving the user experience

How the Dark Horse Came in: Portland State University Library Acquires Dark Horse Comics Archive

The article reports on the acquisition made by the Portland State University (PSU) on the archives of Dark Horse Comics Inc. The acquisition is done after PSU alumnus and founder of Dark Horse Comics Mark Richardson donated multiple copies of the past issues of their publication and succeeding copies of the publication. The donation is also for the purpose of preserving the publication in the university library. The donated publication is also expected to be used by researchers as a destination resource in popular culture, gender studies, and sequential art. Donating copies to the library, Richardson also expects to create an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals as well as a sense of ownership for Dark Horse creators

Denitrification potential of the eastern oyster microbiome using a 16S rRNA gene based metabolic inference approach

The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is a foundation species providing significant ecosystem services. However, the roles of oyster microbiomes have not been integrated into any of the services, particularly nitrogen removal through denitrification. We investigated the composition and denitrification potential of oyster microbiomes with an approach that combined 16S rRNA gene analysis, metabolic inference, qPCR of the nitrous oxide reductase gene (nosZ), and N-2 flux measurements. Microbiomes of the oyster digestive gland, the oyster shell, and sediments adjacent to the oyster reef were examined based on next generation sequencing (NGS) of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. Denitrification potentials of the microbiomes were determined by metabolic inferences using a customized denitrification gene and genome database with the paprica (PAthway PRediction by phylogenetIC plAcement) bioinformatics pipeline. Denitrification genes examined included nitrite reductase (nirS and nirK) and nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ), which was further subdivided by genotype into clade I (nosZI) or clade II (nosZII). Continuous flow through experiments measuring N-2 fluxes were conducted with the oysters, shells, and sediments to compare denitrification activities. Paprica properly classified the composition of microbiomes, showing similar classification results from Silva, Greengenes and RDP databases. Microbiomes of the oyster digestive glands and shells were quite different from each other and from the sediments. The relative abundance of denitrifying bacteria inferred by paprica was higher in oysters and shells than in sediments suggesting that oysters act as hotspots for denitrification in the marine environment. Similarly, the inferred nosZI gene abundances were also higher in the oyster and shell microbiomes than in the sediment microbiome. Gene abundances for nosZI were verified with qPCR of nosZI genes, which showed a significant positive correlation (F-1,F-7 = 14.7, p = 6.0x10(-3), R-2 = 0.68). N-2 flux rates were significantly higher in the oyster (364.4 +/- 23.5 mu mol N-N-2 m(-2) h(-1)) and oyster shell (355.3 +/- 6.4 mu mol N-N-2 m(-2) h(-1)) compared to the sediment (270.5 +/- 20.1 mu mol N-N-2 m(-2) h(-1)). Thus, bacteria carrying nosZI genes were found to be an important denitrifier, facilitating nitrogen removal in oyster reefs. In addition, this is the first study to validate the use of 16S gene based metabolic inference as a method for determining microbiome function, such as denitrification, by comparing inference results with qPCR gene quantification and rate measurements

Hadronic Parity Violation: a New View through the Looking Glass

Studies of the strangeness changing hadronic weak interaction have produced a number of puzzles that have so far evaded a complete explanation within the Standard Model. Their origin may lie either in dynamics peculiar to weak interactions involving strange quarks or in more general aspects of the interplay between strong and weak interactions. In principle, studies of the strangeness conserving hadronic weak interaction using parity violating hadronic and nuclear observables provide a complementary window on this question. However, progress in this direction has been hampered by the lack of a suitable theoretical framework for interpreting hadronic parity violation measurements in a model-independent way. Recent work involving effective field theory ideas has led to the formulation of such a framework while motivating the development of a number of new hadronic parity violation experiments in few-body systems. In this article, we review these recent developments and discuss the prospects and opportunities for further experimental and theoretical progress.Comment: Manuscript submitted to Annual Reviews of Nuclear and Particle Scienc

Kepler Presearch Data Conditioning II - A Bayesian Approach to Systematic Error Correction

With the unprecedented photometric precision of the Kepler Spacecraft, significant systematic and stochastic errors on transit signal levels are observable in the Kepler photometric data. These errors, which include discontinuities, outliers, systematic trends and other instrumental signatures, obscure astrophysical signals. The Presearch Data Conditioning (PDC) module of the Kepler data analysis pipeline tries to remove these errors while preserving planet transits and other astrophysically interesting signals. The completely new noise and stellar variability regime observed in Kepler data poses a significant problem to standard cotrending methods such as SYSREM and TFA. Variable stars are often of particular astrophysical interest so the preservation of their signals is of significant importance to the astrophysical community. We present a Bayesian Maximum A Posteriori (MAP) approach where a subset of highly correlated and quiet stars is used to generate a cotrending basis vector set which is in turn used to establish a range of "reasonable" robust fit parameters. These robust fit parameters are then used to generate a Bayesian Prior and a Bayesian Posterior Probability Distribution Function (PDF) which when maximized finds the best fit that simultaneously removes systematic effects while reducing the signal distortion and noise injection which commonly afflicts simple least-squares (LS) fitting. A numerical and empirical approach is taken where the Bayesian Prior PDFs are generated from fits to the light curve distributions themselves.Comment: 43 pages, 21 figures, Submitted for publication in PASP. Also see companion paper "Kepler Presearch Data Conditioning I - Architecture and Algorithms for Error Correction in Kepler Light Curves" by Martin C. Stumpe, et a

Bioconversion of Pelletized Big Bluestem, Switchgrass, and Low-Diversity Grass Mixtures Into Sugars and Bioethanol

Three crops of warm-season grasses are being developed for biomass production on northern rain-fed marginal farmland: big bluestem (BBS), switchgrass (SG), and a low diversity mixture of grasses (LDM). In this study, biomass harvested from established fields were compared for pelletization and subsequent conversion to sugars and ethanol. Each biomass was successfully pelletized to similar bulk densities without adding a binder at a commercial feed operation. Pelletizing increased the bulk density by 407% on average and was equally effective on all three biomass samples (528–554 kg/m3). Chemical analysis of the samples indicated that glucan and xylan contents were slightly reduced during pelletizing (by 23 and 16 g/kg, respectively), as well as theoretical ethanol yields, which are based upon total carbohydrate contents. Pellets and milled straws were pre-treated with either liquid hot-water or low-moisture ammonium hydroxide (LMA) and subsequently hydrolyzed with cellulases. Glucose and total sugar yields were similar for non-pellets and pellets using either pre-treatment; carbohydrates present in pellets were more efficiently recovered compared to non-pellets. LMA pretreated samples were separately hydrolyzed and fermented to ethanol using Scheffersomyces stipitis yeast. Hydrolysis recovered 69.7–76.8% of the glucose and 66.5–73.3% of the xylose across all samples. Glucose yields were 251–279 g/kg, db and were significantly lower for SG as compared to the other biomass samples. Recovered sugars were fermented to ethanol at 77.7–86.7% of theoretical yield. Final ethanol yields (245.9–275.5 L/Mg, db) were similar for all of the grasses and estimated to equate to production levels for BBS, LDM, and SG of 1,952, 2,586, and 2,636 l of ethanol per ha, respectively

Bioconversion of Pelletized Big Bluestem, Switchgrass, and Low-Diversity Grass Mixtures Into Sugars and Bioethanol

Three crops of warm-season grasses are being developed for biomass production on northern rain-fed marginal farmland: big bluestem (BBS), switchgrass (SG), and a low diversity mixture of grasses (LDM). In this study, biomass harvested from established fields were compared for pelletization and subsequent conversion to sugars and ethanol. Each biomass was successfully pelletized to similar bulk densities without adding a binder at a commercial feed operation. Pelletizing increased the bulk density by 407% on average and was equally effective on all three biomass samples (528–554 kg/m3). Chemical analysis of the samples indicated that glucan and xylan contents were slightly reduced during pelletizing (by 23 and 16 g/kg, respectively), as well as theoretical ethanol yields, which are based upon total carbohydrate contents. Pellets and milled straws were pre-treated with either liquid hot-water or low-moisture ammonium hydroxide (LMA) and subsequently hydrolyzed with cellulases. Glucose and total sugar yields were similar for non-pellets and pellets using either pre-treatment; carbohydrates present in pellets were more efficiently recovered compared to non-pellets. LMA pretreated samples were separately hydrolyzed and fermented to ethanol using Scheffersomyces stipitis yeast. Hydrolysis recovered 69.7–76.8% of the glucose and 66.5–73.3% of the xylose across all samples. Glucose yields were 251–279 g/kg, db and were significantly lower for SG as compared to the other biomass samples. Recovered sugars were fermented to ethanol at 77.7–86.7% of theoretical yield. Final ethanol yields (245.9–275.5 L/Mg, db) were similar for all of the grasses and estimated to equate to production levels for BBS, LDM, and SG of 1,952, 2,586, and 2,636 l of ethanol per ha, respectively