Visual slant misperception and the Black-Hole landing situation

A theory which explains the tendency for dangerously low approaches during night landing situations is presented. The two dimensional information at the pilot's eye contains sufficient information for the visual system to extract the angle of slant of the runway relative to the approach path. The analysis is depends upon perspective information which is available at a certain distance out from the aimpoint, to either side of the runway edgelights. Under black hole landing conditions, however, this information is not available, and it is proposed that the visual system use instead the only available information, the perspective gradient of the runway edgelights. An equation is developed which predicts the perceived approach angle when this incorrect parameter is used. The predictions are in close agreement with existing experimental data

THE VALUE OF THE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS: ACADEMIC FREEDOM IN THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

This dissertation surveys several landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases of academic freedom in the 20th and 21st century to argue for the value of a tolerant and liberal interpretation of unrestricted academic freedom. Central to its argument is a defense of Oliver Wendell Holmes 1919 ruling in Abrams that society is best served where all expressions are tested in a “marketplace of ideas,” a term first used by John Stuart Mill in his 1859 essay, “On Liberty.” In an era of increasing casualization of academic labor (the adjunct labor force) and political paranoia about terror, I conclude that the continual defense and affirmation of academic freedom as a concept is particularly necessary to counterbalance repressive forces on academic knowledge production. I argue that the idea of academic freedom in America, expressed in the American Association of University Professor\u27s 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, has been greatly limited by social and political developments in the 20th and 21st centuries. The consequence of the erosion of academic freedom within the American academy is that generations of future students will not question or challenge the status quo. By looking at the erosion of academic freedom, I will argue that the philosophical basis of academic freedom must reside in the “marketplace of ideas,” and that contemporary labor practices threaten to extinguish academic freedom as it has been defined for over 100 years

Community College FEMA Citizen Preparedness Training Initiative

This 45 Minute presentation will highlight College opportunities through a recent joint Federal Grant Program (Department of Homeland Security- FEMA) entitled: The Community College Citizen Preparedness Program (3CP2). The presentation will be from one of the lead community colleges and include the training material development, expansion of the program via community resources and related homeland security programs and resources available to colleges. The program is now available in an online format and colleges and communities are free to use it via the web link for their students, faculty and the general population. The 3CP2 program is a 2 hour program designed to train students, faculty, staff and others on how to be prepared for up to 72 hours of a natural or artificial disaster. The course is entirely free. At the conclusion of the presentation, attendees will be provided with the information on how to participate in the program and join a tremendous forum for collaboration among colleges/communities. This program can easily transition into a College or Community CERT Program. The presentation includes an online demo of the program

Community College FEMA Citizen Preparedness Training Initiative

This 45 Minute presentation will highlight College opportunities through a recent joint Federal Grant Program (Department of Homeland Security- FEMA) entitled: The Community College Citizen Preparedness Program (3CP2). The presentation will be from one of the lead community colleges and include the training material development, expansion of the program via community resources and related homeland security programs and resources available to colleges. The program is now available in an online format and colleges and communities are free to use it via the web link for their students, faculty and the general population. The 3CP2 program is a 2 hour program designed to train students, faculty, staff and others on how to be prepared for up to 72 hours of a natural or artificial disaster. The course is entirely free. At the conclusion of the presentation, attendees will be provided with the information on how to participate in the program and join a tremendous forum for collaboration among colleges/communities. This program can easily transition into a College or Community CERT Program. The presentation includes an online demo of the program

Response to Comment on `Undamped electrostatic plasma waves' [Phys. Plasmas 19, 092103 (2012)]

Numerical and experimental evidence is given for the occurrence of the plateau states and concomitant corner modes proposed in \cite{valentini12}. It is argued that these states provide a better description of reality for small amplitude off-dispersion disturbances than the conventional Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal or cnoidal states such as those proposed in \cite{comment

Fluorescence and Hybrid Detection Aperture of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The aperture of the Fluorescence Detector (FD) of the Pierre Auger Observatory is evaluated from simulated events using different detector configurations: mono, stereo, 3-FD and 4-FD. The trigger efficiency has been modeled using shower profiles with ground impacts in the field of view of a single telescope and studying the trigger response (at the different levels) by that telescope and by its neighbours. In addition, analysis cuts imposed by event reconstruction have been applied. The hybrid aperture is then derived for the Auger final extension. Taking into account the actual Surface Detector (SD) array configuration and its trigger response, the aperture is also calculated for a typical configuration of the present phase.Comment: contribution to the 29th International Cosmic Ray Conference, Pune, India, 3-10 August 200

Molecular Mechanisms of Drug-Induced Plasticity

Substance-use disorders (SUDs) are a significant societal burden. Like many other conditions, SUDs are characterized by chronic relapse after periods without symptoms. Alterations in synaptic plasticity have been documented after acute and addiction-related behavioral exposures to drugs of abuse. These synaptic alterations are persistent and similar to the chronic relapse state of patients with SUDs, suggesting that reversing these synaptic alterations may prevent relapse. Additionally, many of these synaptic features of addiction mirror those found in other forms of learning and memory. These features suggest that the etiology of this disorder stems from persistent modifications in corticolimbic synaptic plasticity mediated by drug-induced alterations in addiction-related gene (ARG) expression. Understanding the regulation of addiction-related genes and their impact on synaptic plasticity and behavior may inform new pharmacological treatments that reverse these aberrant drug-evoked forms of plasticity in favor of remission

Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs): Biochemistry, Signaling, Analytical Methods, and Epigenetic Effects

The advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are organic molecules formed in any living organisms with a great variety of structural and functional properties. They are considered organic markers of the glycation process. Due to their great heterogeneity, there is no specific test for their operational measurement. In this review, we have updated the most common chromatographic, colorimetric, spectroscopic, mass spectrometric, and serological methods, typically used for the determination of AGEs in biological samples. We have described their signaling and signal transduction mechanisms and cell epigenetic effects. Although mass spectrometric analysis is not widespread in the detection of AGEs at the clinical level, this technique is highly promising for the early diagnosis and therapeutics of diseases caused by AGEs. Protocols are available for high-resolution mass spectrometry of glycated proteins although they are characterized by complex machine management. Simpler procedures are available although much less precise than mass spectrometry. Among them, immunochemical tests are very common since they are able to detect AGEs in a simple and immediate way. In these years, new methodologies have been developed using an in vivo novel and noninvasive spectroscopic methods. These methods are based on the measurement of autofluorescence of AGEs. Another method consists of detecting AGEs in the human skin to detect chronic exposure, without the inconvenience of invasive methods. The aim of this review is to compare the different approaches of measuring AGEs at a clinical perspective due to their strict association with oxidative stress and inflammation

NEA TDBIV project : preparation of a state-of-the-art report on thermodynamic data for cement

The program of work of the fourth phase of the OECD NEA Thermochemical Database Project (TDB-IV) contemplates a line of activity on the preparation of a state of the art report on cements. The present work aims at presenting the project, its aims and its limits