Microcosm study of arsenic fate in Mahomet Aquifer sediment and groundwater

Includes bibliographical references"Final Report March 29, 2006.""MTAC Publication TR06-08.

Consumption Correlatedness and Risk Measurement in Economies with Non trade Assets and Heterogeneous Information

The consumption beta theorem of Breeden makes the expected return on any asset a function only of its covariance with changes in aggregate consumption. It is shown that the theorem is more robust than was indicated by Breeden. The theorem obtains even if one deletes Breeden's assumptions that (a) all risky assets are tradable, (b) investors have homogeneous beliefs, (c) other assets can be traded without transactions costs and (d) that all assets have returns which are Ito processes.

A study of the quality of public welfare administration in one district in Massachusetts

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University, 1946. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

RNA polymerase II from mutant and wild type strains of Caenorhabditis elegans

Includes vita.Studies of transcription in Caenorhabditis elegans, a model organism for the study of developmental genetics, should contribute to an understanding of the developmental process in metazoans. This research describes preliminary characterization of RNA polymerase II, the enzyme that transcribes messenger RNA. RNA polymerase I, II, and III from C. elegans were isolated, and their sensitivities to the fungal toxin O-amanitin measured. Sensitivities of these enzymes to amanitin were similar to those of the coresponding RNA polymerases from vertebrates. RNA polymerase II from the nematode was 50% inhibited by 7 [mu]g/ml of the amatoxin and RNA polymerase III by 80 [mu]g/ml, whereas RNA polymerase I was insensitive to 500 [mu]g/ml of the toxin. Mutants of C. elegans were isolated which can grow and reproduce in concentrations of amanitin which arrest development of wild type worms. One of these mutant strains (DR432) was shown to contain an altered RNA polymerase II which when purified was 150 times less sensitive to the amatoxin than wild type enzyme. The mutation in DR432, ama-l(ml30), is dominant and located on linkage group IV. RNA polymerase II isolated from ama-l/+ heterozygotes contains equal proportions of two components, corresponding in amanitin sensitivity to the enzymes from DR432 and wild type. Thus, ama-1 appears to affect a subunit of RNA polymerase II. A procedure was desinged for obtaining highly purified RNA polymerase II from C. elegans. The structure of the enzyme was examined by denaturing gel electrophoresis and found to consist of two large subunits ([greater than] 100 kd), and eight smaller subunits ([less than] 50 kd). The structure of the nematode RNA polymerase II closely resembles that of the corresponding enzyme from other animals. Polyclonal antibodies against C, elegans and Drosophila RNA polymerase II were shown to bind to several subunits of the C. elegans RNA polymerase II in protein blots.Includes bibliographical references

Estimating the Continuous Time Consumption Based Asset Pricing Model

The consumption based asset pricing model predicts that excess yields are determined in a fairly simple way by the market's degree of relative risk aversion and by the pattern of covariances between percapita consumption growth and asset returns. Estimation and testingis complicated by the fact that the model's predictions relate to the instantaneous flow of consumption and point-in-time asset values, but only data on the integral or unit average of the consumption flow is available. In our paper, we show how to estimate the parameters of interest consistently from the available data by maximum likelihood. We estimate the market's degree of relative risk aversion and the instantaneous covariances of asset yields and consumption using six different data sets. We also test the model's overidentifying restrictions.

Grain Size Reconnaissance of the Virginia-North Carolina Inner Shelf Analysis by Settling Technique

The 2-fold purpose of this study is to calibrate a Rapid Sediment Analyzer and to use it to aid in the determination of the genesis of sediment on the inner continental shelf between Cape Henry and Cape Hatteras. Rapid Sediment Analyzer calibration was conducted by comparison of sieving and settling results of similar sands. The study area was divided into sediment provinces by both a qualitative procedure (grain size and topography) and a quantitatively procedure (factor-vector analysis). Qualitative provinces are beach and surf, upper shore face, lower shore face, sea floor, and terminal shoals. The berm fines from each terminal cape toward the centrally located False Cape with an anomalous, coarse sector in the area of Nags Head. This berm pattern is thought to be partly inherited from the Pleistocene substrate and partly due to the modern hydraulic regime. Seaward of the breakers the shore ac fines southward probably through increased winnowing of fines as wave height increases. In general, the wave-driven fractionation processes on the shore face are very officiant since all measured parameters vary systematically with depth. On the sea floor a south and centrally located coarse sand is thought to be an unburied Pleistocene deposition. From Cape Henry to False Cape, the sea floor is coarse and well sorted and is probably due to a former hydraulic regime and land mass. The northern terminal shoal off Cape Henry consists of medium-grained sand, and the southern terminal shoal (Diamond Shoals) consists of fine, well-sorted sand. In both cases the modern hydraulic regime is considered to be the cause of deposition

Investigation of the Cape Rosier Zinc-Copper-Lead Mine, Hancock County, Maine

From the introduction: The Bureau of Mines has been investigating deposits of critical and essential minerals in the United Sates and Alaska since 1939. During the fall of 1942, the Bureau of Mines put down nine diamond-drill holes at the Cape Rosier zinc-copper-lead mine in Hancock County, Maine, that aggregated 2,883 feet of bore... This report describes the work done by the Bureau of Mines and presents the data obtained in the two periods of drilling. Report of Investigations no. 4344 (R. I. 4344)

A new look at an old virus: patterns of mutation accumulation in the human H1N1 influenza virus since 1918

BACKGROUND: The H1N1 influenza A virus has been circulating in the human population for over 95 years, first manifesting itself in the pandemic of 1917–1918. Initial mortality was extremely high, but dropped exponentially over time. Influenza viruses have high mutation rates, and H1N1 has undergone significant genetic changes since 1918. The exact nature of H1N1 mutation accumulation over time has not been fully explored. METHODS: We have made a comprehensive historical analysis of mutational changes within H1N1 by examining over 4100 fully-sequenced H1N1 genomes. This has allowed us to examine the genetic changes arising within H1N1 from 1918 to the present. RESULTS: We document multiple extinction events, including the previously known extinction of the human H1N1 lineage in the 1950s, and an apparent second extinction of the human H1N1 lineage in 2009. These extinctions appear to be due to a continuous accumulation of mutations. At the time of its disappearance in 2009, the human H1N1 lineage had accumulated over 1400 point mutations (more than 10% of the genome), including approximately 330 non-synonymous changes (7.4% of all codons). The accumulation of both point mutations and non-synonymous amino acid changes occurred at constant rates (μ = 14.4 and 2.4 new mutations/year, respectively), and mutations accumulated uniformly across the entire influenza genome. We observed a continuous erosion over time of codon-specificity in H1N1, including a shift away from host (human, swine, and bird [duck]) codon preference patterns. CONCLUSIONS: While there have been numerous adaptations within the H1N1 genome, most of the genetic changes we document here appear to be non-adaptive, and much of the change appears to be degenerative. We suggest H1N1 has been undergoing natural genetic attenuation, and that significant attenuation may even occur during a single pandemic. This process may play a role in natural pandemic cessation and has apparently contributed to the exponential decline in mortality rates over time, as seen in all major human influenza strains. These findings may be relevant to the development of strategies for managing influenza pandemics and strain evolution

Injecting New Workforce Leaders in Tourism, Hospitality and Environmental Science: A Community-Engaged Learning and Immersion Class

Tourism, especially nature-based tourism, is a major and growing industry in Maine. Therefore, it is important that colleges and universities graduate leaders into the Maine workforce with specific knowledge of the tourism and hospitality industry and with a connection to the environment in which it is flourishing. To graduate these potential leaders, schools must do a better job at retaining and graduating students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Community-engaged learning, including immersion classes, are a key strategy to increase student persistence in some programs at the University of Southern Maine (USM). Two academic units at USM, the Program in Tourism and Hospitality and the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, collaborate in delivering a colocated intensive immersion class for all new majors. This engagement early in their college career fosters a sense of community among the students and with the industry in which they will work. We argue that this community engagement is a factor contributing to student retention and success in these programs and will help create the creative, resilient, locally active leaders needed to guide sustainable tourism development in Maine