Forest Products Society Midwest Section Annual Fall Meeting, 2001 & 2002

The Forest Products Society Midwest Section Annual Fall Meeting was held Sunday, November 5, 2002 at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin. Those in attendance from Iowa State University were: Dr. Mon-lin Kuo, Dr. Doug Stokke, Dr. Anbin Pu, Yi-lin Bian, Kevin Burds, Matt Boisen, Ben Haynes, Matt Curran, Jeff Ellsworth, Rich Schebler, and Josh Mahoney. ISU represented the largest portion of participants. Jeff Ellsworth also received the Forest Product Society Midwest Section Scholarship from Poo Chow who is the Chair of the Midwest Section for the Forest Products Society

The Auditor’s Road Map For Client Acceptance

Our case study focuses on developing the student’s understanding of the auditor’s evaluation of prospective audit clients. A comprehensive evaluation is uniquely important since the client acceptance decision can be the chief contributor to auditor business risk (engagement risk). Even so, guidance in the area of client acceptance is general in nature and not as extensive or prescriptive as other significant auditing promulgation. This student case study provides practical evaluation criteria for client acceptance that can also be used by accounting professionals to benchmark their client acceptance evaluation process. This student case study can be used in the accounting classroom as a descriptive benchmark of the evaluation of a prospective client

The affects of background features on far testing

Examined is whether or not the background features of the typical Pacific University examination room affect the patient\u27s visual behavior as shown in lateral phoria and duction tests performed at six meters. Far phoria and duction measurements were taken on 36 subjects under the following three conditions: 1) Cluttered Field - the unstructured normal exam room background; 2) Empty Field - a large, featureless screen obscuring that background; 3) Cluttered Field with Instructions - with instructions for the subject to be aware of the normal exam room background. Significant changes in phorias and ductions were found when the subjects were instructed to be aware of the several objects in the field

The Effects of Diffuse Ionized Gas and Spatial Resolution on Metallicity Gradients: TYPHOON Two-Dimensional Spectrophotometry of M83

We present a systematic study of the diffuse ionized gas (DIG) in M83 and its effects on the measurement of metallicity gradients at varying resolution scales. Using spectrophotometric data cubes of M83 obtained at the 2.5m duPont telescope at Las Campanas Observatory as part of the TYPHOON program, we separate the HII regions from the DIG using the [SII]/H$\alpha$ ratio, HIIphot (HII finding algorithm) and the H$\alpha$ surface brightness. We find that the contribution to the overall H$\alpha$ luminosity is approximately equal for the HII and DIG regions. The data is then rebinned to simulate low-resolution observations at varying resolution scales from 41 pc up to 1005 pc. Metallicity gradients are measured using five different metallicity diagnostics at each resolution. We find that all metallicity diagnostics used are affected by the inclusion of DIG to varying degrees. We discuss the reasons of why the metallicity gradients are significantly affected by DIG using the HII dominance and emission line ratio radial profiles. We find that applying the [SII]/H$\alpha$ cut will provide a closer estimate of the true metallicity gradient up to a resolution of 1005 pc for all metallicity diagnostics used in this study.Comment: 26 pages, 12 figures + Appendix/Supplementary Material, accepted for publication by MNRA

Starburst-AGN mixing: TYPHOON observations of NGC 1365, NGC 1068, and the effect of spatial resolution on the AGN fraction

We demonstrate a robust method of resolving the star-formation and AGN contributions to emission lines using two very well known AGN systems: NGC 1365, and NGC 1068, using the high spatial resolution data from the TYPHOON/PrISM survey. We expand the previous method of calculating the AGN fraction by using theoretical-based model grids rather than empirical points. The high spatial resolution of the TYPHOON/PrISM observations show evidence of both star formation and AGN activity occurring in the nuclei of the two galaxies. We rebin the data to the lower resolutions, typically found in other integral field spectroscopy surveys such as SAMI, MaNGA, and CALIFA. The results show that when rebinned from the native resolution of TYPHOON (< 200 pc/pixel) to 1 kpc/pixel, the effects include a roughly 3 kpc increase in the radius of measured AGN activity, and a factor of 2 to 7 increase in the detection of low surface brightness features such as shocks. All of this information is critical, because information on certain physical processes may be lost at varying resolutions. We make recommendations for analysing data at current IFU survey resolutions.Comment: 30 pages, 28 figures, accepted for publication by MNRA

The Carnegie Hubble Program: The Distance and Structure of the SMC as Revealed by Mid-infrared Observations of Cepheids

Using Spitzer observations of classical Cepheids we have measured the true average distance modulus of the SMC to be $18.96 \pm 0.01_{stat} \pm 0.03_{sys}$ mag (corresponding to $62 \pm 0.3$ kpc), which is $0.48 \pm 0.01$ mag more distant than the LMC. This is in agreement with previous results from Cepheid observations, as well as with measurements from other indicators such as RR Lyrae stars and the tip of the red giant branch. Utilizing the properties of the mid--infrared Leavitt Law we measured precise distances to individual Cepheids in the SMC, and have confirmed that the galaxy is tilted and elongated such that its eastern side is up to 20 kpc closer than its western side. This is in agreement with the results from red clump stars and dynamical simulations of the Magellanic Clouds and Stream.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 38 Pages, 11 figures. Figure 9 is interactive. Spitzer photometry for all Cepheids available as online tabl

Findings of the 2013 National Food Hub Survey

Food hubs are businesses or organizations that actively manage the aggregation, distribution and marketing of source-identified food products. Food hubs also operate within their own expressed value sets, and these values guide any additional activities that a food hub may undertake. In theory, food hubs may serve to provide much-needed, size-appropriate infrastructure and marketing functions for local food produced by small and midsized producers. However, the impact of food hubs has only recently been studied, and there is a lack of aggregated information on many of the characteristics of active food hubs. The 2013 National Food Hub Survey was conducted to collect this information from a broad sample of food hubs. Findings from the survey showed that food hubs across the country are growing to broaden the distribution infrastructure for local food. From the survey, 62% of food hubs began operations within the last five years, 31% of food hubs had $1,000,000 or more in annual revenue and the majority of food hubs were supporting their businesses with little or no grant assistance -- including food hubs that identified as nonprofits. Financially, the most successful food hubs tended to be for-profit and cooperative in structure, in operation for more than 10 years and working with a relatively large number of producers. The values-based nature of food hubs makes it hard to judge many of them solely on their level of financial success. The survey also revealed a number of persistent challenges and barriers to growth that even the most financially successful food hubs faced. For example, many food hubs indicated their needs for assistance in managing growth and identifying appropriate staffing levels for their hubs. They also often pointed to their need for capital and other resources to increase their trucking and warehousing capacity

Ariel - Volume 11 Number 2

Executive Editors Ellen Feldman Leonardo S. Nasca, Jr. Business .Managers Barbara L. Davies Martin B. Getzow News Editor Aaron D. Bleznak Features Editor Hugh A. Gelabert CAHS Editor Joan M. Greco Editorial Page Editor Samuel Markind Photography Editor Leonardo S. Nasca, Jr. Sports Editor Paul F. Mansfiel

Comparing Constant and Variable Rate Applications of Solid Cattle Manure on Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Dark Brown Chernozems

Non-Peer ReviewedAlthough field application of solid cattle manure (SCM) is an alternative, low-cost nitrogen (N) source to conventional synthetic fertilizers, gaseous losses of manure-N, occurring via volatilization and denitrification, are well documented. However, the effect of variable rate application of SCM on gaseous N emissions at a landscape-scale has received less attention. The objective of this study was to compare the nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane (CH4) fluxes from watershed basins within the same field, with and without the addition of fresh feedlot SCM applied at either constant blanket or variable landscape-adjusted rates. Gas samples were collected in 2019 and 2020 with gas sampling locations further classified according to their catchment area size. The non-manured watershed basins had low cumulative N2O and CO2 emissions, and were strong CH4 sinks compared to manured basins. Additionally, basins receiving the Variable Rate manure application had lower N2O emissions than those receiving the Constant Rate manure application. The low elevation, larger catchment area landscape positions contributed proportionally more to cumulative N2O and CO2 emissions, along with reduced CH4 consumption, compared to the smaller catchment areas higher in the landscape, due to greater soil moisture and organic matter content within those depressional soils

Use of positive selection methods for discovery and improvement of nitroreductase enzymes for cancer gene therapy

Bacterial nitroreductases are members of a diverse family of oxidoreductase enzymes that are capable of activating nitroaromatic compounds, including anticancer prodrugs such as CB 1954 and PR-104A. This capability is useful in the anti-cancer gene therapy strategy known as gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (GDEPT), which involves the killing of tumour cells through activation of an inert prodrug to its cytotoxic form, following selective delivery of a genetically encoded prodrug-converting enzyme to cancerous tissues. A key limitation in nitroreductase-based GDEPT has been the inability to rapidly and non-invasively determine vector localisation and gene delivery prior to systemic administration of prodrug. To address this we have developed dual-purpose nitroreductases that exhibit the ability to efficiently activate both GDEPT prodrugs and next-generation radioisotope-labelled PET imaging probes, in a manner that renders the probes temporarily cell-entrapped for detection using a PET scanner. This capability places greater control of the therapy in the hands of the clinician, and will facilitate clinical development of this treatment. One key focus has been the engineering of more efficient enzymes using both random and targeted mutagenesis strategies. A complementary strategy has been the discovery of novel nitroreductases through the screening of metagenomic fragments of DNA from the unculturable bacteria present in New Zealand soil. To enable efficient screening of these libraries, we have developed an array of genetic and biochemical tools for the rapid selection of active nitroreductases. Here we have investigated the effectiveness of these different approaches for improving nitroreductase activity, and demonstrate their utility in improving activity with specific target substrates including next- generation prodrugs and PET imaging probes