Evaluating Non-Price Water Demand Policies During Severe Droughts

Western states and provinces live under constant drought threat. When and how to time restrictions on outdoor watering are crucial management issues. The effectiveness of various policies is assessed using experience from Colorado during a severe drought.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Explorations and Collaborations on Two Under-Recognized Native American Food Crops: Southwest Peach (\u3ci\u3ePrunus persica\u3c/i\u3e) and Navajo Spinach (\u3ci\u3eCleome serrulata\u3c/i\u3e)

Agricultural production among the Native American populations of the Southwest declined significantly during the twentieth century. Corn, beans and squash, the three most recognized traditional food crops, remains widespread, but knowledge regarding the traditional management of these crops was lost. The loss of traditional knowledge for Southwest Indigenous Nations was more pronounced for the Southwest peach (Prunus persica) and Navajo spinach (Cleome serrulata Pursh). The Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni Nations are all seeking to increase the availability of traditional crops for their original uses, such as for food and wool dye. In order to revitalize traditional agriculture for these tribes, information regarding these crops was gathered, including: variety characterization, the horticultural basis for traditional management practices, and cultural uses and significance. Southwest peach orchards were located for seed and plant material collections to characterize their genotype and relate them to modern peach cultivars. Traditional farmers were interviewed on management practices and irrigation strategies to correlate to dendrochronology (tree-ring analysis) techniques. Dendrochronology samples included tree stumps or cores to evaluate ring growth variability, age, and life span of the orchard trees. Navajo spinach seed was collected from Chinle, Arizona for germination studies on overcoming seed dormancy. Information on both Southwest peach and Navajo spinach will be useful to encourage culturally important traditional crop management

A Solution to Workplace Injuries and Accidents

Workplace injuries and accidents are occurring every day and causing problematic situations for both employees and the employer. To achieve a safety culture, and therefore reduce the number of injuries and accidents, employee competency must be achieved. During on-board training it is crucial to embed safety practices within procedural training, to have a seamless transition with completing a task, and doing it safely. During my study I compared the workplace practices I observed during my internship as NASA and contrasted those practices with safety norms within general industry. Many workplace injuries and accidents occur when employees are unaware, they’re committing a safety violation. By training employees in competency, injury and accidents rates will be lower, and a safety culture will be strengthened. Throughout this paper you will learn how to achieve employee competency while also training employees on OSHA violations and meet required training variables mandated by federal OSHA

Detailed analysis of radiation data from the Gemini 4 and Gemini 7 proton-electron spectrometer experiments Final report, 13 Jun. 1967 - 30 Dec. 1968

Detailed analysis of radiation data from Gemini 4 and 7 proton-electron spectrometer experiment

Identifying gene locus associations with promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies using immuno-TRAP.

Important insights into nuclear function would arise if gene loci physically interacting with particular subnuclear domains could be readily identified. Immunofluorescence microscopy combined with fluorescence in situ hybridization (immuno-FISH), the method that would typically be used in such a study, is limited by spatial resolution and requires prior assumptions for selecting genes to probe. Our new technique, immuno-TRAP, overcomes these limitations. Using promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies (PML NBs) as a model, we used immuno-TRAP to determine if specific genes localize within molecular dimensions with these bodies. Although we confirmed a TP53 gene-PML NB association, immuno-TRAP allowed us to uncover novel locus-PML NB associations, including the ABCA7 and TFF1 loci and, most surprisingly, the PML locus itself. These associations were cell type specific and reflected the cell's physiological state. Combined with microarrays or deep sequencing, immuno-TRAP provides powerful opportunities for identifying gene locus associations with potentially any nuclear subcompartment

Materials Science Research Rack Onboard the International Space Station

The Materials Science Research Rack (MSRR) is a research facility developed under a cooperative research agreement between NASA and ESA for materials science investigations on the International Space Station (ISS). MSRR was launched on STS-128 in August 2009 and currently resides in the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module. Since that time, MSRR has logged more than 1000 hours of operating time. The MSRR accommodates advanced investigations in the microgravity environment on the ISS for basic materials science research in areas such as solidification of metals and alloys. The purpose is to advance the scientific understanding of materials processing as affected by microgravity and to gain insight into the physical behavior of materials processing. MSRR allows for the study of a variety of materials, including metals, ceramics, semiconductor crystals, and glasses. Materials science research benefits from the microgravity environment of space, where the researcher can better isolate chemical and thermal properties of materials from the effects of gravity. With this knowledge, reliable predictions can be made about the conditions required on Earth to achieve improved materials. MSRR is a highly automated facility with a modular design capable of supporting multiple types of investigations. The NASA-provided Rack Support Subsystem provides services (power, thermal control, vacuum access, and command and data handling) to the ESA-developed Materials Science Laboratory (MSL) that accommodates interchangeable Furnace Inserts (FI). Two ESA-developed FIs are presently available on the ISS: the Low Gradient Furnace (LGF) and the Solidification and Quenching Furnace (SQF). Sample Cartridge Assemblies (SCAs), each containing one or more material samples, are installed in the FI by the crew and can be processed at temperatures up to 1400C. ESA continues to develop samples with 14 planned for launch and processing in the near future. Additionally NASA has begun developing SCAs to support US PIs and their partners. The first of these Flight SCAs are being developed for investigations to support research in the areas of crystal growth and liquid phase sintering. Subsequent investigations are in various stages of development. US investigations will include a ground test program in order to distinguish the particular effects of the absence of gravity

Characterization of a mutant strain of \u3ci\u3eSaccharomyces cerevisiae\u3c/i\u3e with a deletion of the RAD27 gene, a structural homolog of the RAD2 nucleotide excision repair gene

We have constructed a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with a deletion of the YKL510 open reading frame, which was initially identified in chromosome XI as a homolog of the RAD2 nucleotide excision repair gene (A. Jacquier, P. Legrain, and B. Dujon, Yeast 8:121–132, 1992). The mutant strain exhibits increased sensitivity to UV light and to the alkylating agent methylmethane sulfonate but not to ionizing radiation. We have renamed the YKL510 open reading frame the RAD27 gene, in keeping with the accepted nomenclature for radiationsensitive yeast mutants. Epistasis analysis indicates that the gene is in the RAD6 group of genes, which are involved in DNA damage tolerance. The mutant strain also exhibits increased plasmid loss, increased spontaneous mutagenesis, and a temperature-sensitive lethality whose phenotype suggests a defect in DNA replication. Levels of the RAD27 gene transcript are cell cycle regulated in a manner similar to those for several other genes whose products are known to be involved in DNA replication. We discuss the possible role of Rad27 protein in DNA repair and replication

Materials Science Research Rack Onboard the International Space Station

The Materials Science Research Rack (MSRR) is a highly automated facility developed in a joint venture/partnership between NASA and ESA center dot Allows for the study of a variety of materials including metals, ceramics, semiconductor crystals, and glasses onboard the International Space Station (ISS) center dot Multi-user facility for high temperature materials science research center dot Launched on STS-128 in August 2009, and is currently installed in the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module Research goals center dot Provide means of studying materials processing in space to develop a better understanding of the chemical and physical mechanisms involved center dot Benefit materials science research via the microgravity environment of space where the researcher can better isolate the effects of gravity during solidification on the properties of materials center dot Use the knowledge gained from experiments to make reliable predictions about conditions required on Earth to achieve improved material

Interactions involving the human RNA polymerase II transcription/nucleotide excision repair complex TFIIH, the nucleotide excision repair protein XPG, and Cockayne syndrome group B (CSB) protein

The human basal transcription factor TFIIH plays a central role in two distinct processes. TFIIH is an obligatory component of the RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) transcription initiation complex. Additionally, it is believed to be the core structure around which some if not all the components of the nucleotide excision repair (NER) machinery assemble to constitute a nucleotide excision repairosome. At least two of the subunits of TFIIH (XPB and XPD proteins) are implicated in the disease xeroderma pigmentosum (XP). We have exploited the availability of the cloned XPB, XPD, p62, p44, and p34 genes (all of which encode polypeptide subunits of TFIIH) to examine interactions between in vitro-translated polypeptides by co-immunoprecipitation. Additionally we have examined interactions between TFIIH components, the human NER protein XPG, and the CSB protein which is implicated in Cockayne syndrome (CS). Our analyses demonstrate that the XPB, XPD, p44, and p62 proteins interact with each other. XPG protein interacts with multiple subunits of TFIIH and with CSB protein