A coral reef as an analogical model to promote collaborative learning on cultural and ethnic diversity in science

An exercise designed to engage students in critical thinking and active conversation about gender, diversity, and ethnicity in science is described. First semester college science students frequently do not realize that individual scholarship is an integral component of global scholarship and that scientific progress stems from the scholarly contributions of numerous individuals. The described exercise initially uses a collage of a coral reef—chosen both for its visual impact and because it is an excellent model of diversity—highlighting various aspects of life on a reef. This is followed by a trawl of library resources to enable the development of a chronology of significant contributions and practices in the field of medicine and the identification of historical and contemporary scholars and practitioners by race, cultural heritage, and gender

Fiber-reinforced plastic grids for the structural reinforcement of concrete beams

The research presented in this dissertation evaluates the performance of simply supported concrete beams reinforced with a 2 dimensional Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP) grid. The non-corrosive, high strength properties characteristic of FRP materials make them a desirable structural reinforcement for concrete in environments where high concentrations of chloride ions are present. The FRP grid under investigation is called NEFMAC and it is manufactured by Turay Industries of Tokyo Japan. NEFMAC is dimensionally fabricated as orthogonally intersecting longitudinal and transverse bars. The bars are continuous at the intersection points and, as such, there exists no preferred or strong direction within the grid. Tensile strengths of the material used to reinforce test beams range from 99 ksi to 178 ksi and modulus values range from 6000 ksi to 12300 ksi. These properties suggest that substituting NEFMAC for steel on an equal area basis will result in significantly higher deflections and correspondingly greater flexural capacity. As a consequence, deflection limitations will be an important component in design considerations. Test data from 31 beams reinforced with NEFMAC is presented in detail. Comparison of test results and current ACI strength predictions conclude that flexural strength is accurately quantified but shear strength is being significantly overestimated. A modification to the code shear strength prediction is proposed for design with NEFMAC. Deflection compatibility between test results and theoretical predictions employing the Branson equation for calculating the cracked-section effective moment of inertia was dependent upon the percentage of reinforcement provided. For sections reinforced greater than 2 times a balanced design, deflection prediction was good for the duration of the test. For section below this level deflection was significantly underestimated. Unlike steel, FRP material behave nearly linearly elastically to ultimate, at which point a brittle failure occurs. As such, application of an ACI flexural design criterion that is founded upon the yield capabilities in the reinforcement is not appropriate for FRP. Knowing that FRP reinforced beams can only experience brittle failure, a design criterion that considers energy reserve as a measure of safety is proposed. The result is low working stress levels in the reinforcement providing a high degree of reserve strength and acceptable compliance with deflection criteria

Mapping Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Requirements

A map of fertilizer phosphorus requirements for the island of Hawaii is discussed. It shows the amount of P fertilizer required per gram of dry soil to establish 0.02 microgram P per milliliter of soil solution, a level that is capable of producing near-maximum yields of many agronomic crops

The perceived size of afterimages in two-dimensional pictorial arrays

Call number: LD2668 .T4 PSYH 1987 Y67Master of SciencePsychological Science

Theoretical investigations of the electronic processes in organic photovoltaics

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemistry, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 273-311).The design of more efficient organic photovoltaics starts with an increase in understanding of the fundamental processes related to organic photovoltaics, such as the charge separation processes at the organic/organic interface, which can only be remedied by a combined theoretical and experimental effort. In this thesis we use a variety of computational techniques to address current questions in the field or organic photovoltaics. Applying the [delta]SCF method to a test set of conjugated organic molecules we find it has an error of +/-0.3 eV, and by using the [delta]SCF wavefunctions for a multi-reference basis we construct a new perturb then diagonalize multi-reference perturbation theory method that performs well for both ground and excited state potential energy surfaces, called [delta]SCF(2). Our computed singlet fission rates are in near quantitative agreement with experimental measurements in a variety of pentacene derivatives, and we find that the singlet fission mechanism proceeds through a non-adiabatic to adiabatic transition. By combining ab initio rate constants and Kinetic Monti-Carlo we get an accurate prediction of triplet diffusion and show that only a small decrease occurs when the crystal becomes highly disordered, and no significant traps exist. Our models of the organic/organic interface reveals that the the simple picture of constant HOMO and LUMO levels throughout an organic photovoltaic device is only qualitatively accurate at best. At the organic/organic interface effects such as change in the dielectric constant, decreased packing efficiency, and molecular multipole moments all can contribute to changing the HOMO and LUMO levels at the interface by over 0.2 eV, which is large enough to drive apart thermally relaxed charge transfer states at the interface. The work in this thesis provides insight into how to achieve better exciton diffusion and charge separation in organic photovoltaics, as well as insight into a number of electronic processes relevant to organic photovoltaics.by Shane Robert Yost.Ph.D

Laplace Transform in Commutative Banach Algebras

After a brief review of the general theory of commutative complex Banach algebras in Section I, Section II introduces and discusses some important facts about the generalized Laplace-Stieltjes integral. Section III consists of an investigation of the regions of ordinary and absolute convergence of the Laplace-Stieltjes integral, and is followed by specializations to Dirichlet and power series in Section IV. Section V contains a consideration of the analyticity of functions defined by Laplace-Stieltjes integrals, while Section VI concludes the thesis with some remarks on the existence and distribution of singularities of such functions

Beat frequency ultrasonic microsphere contrast agent detection system

A system for and method of detecting and measuring concentrations of an ultrasonically-reflective microsphere contrast agent involving detecting non-linear sum and difference beat frequencies produced by the microspheres when two impinging signals with non-identical frequencies are combined by mixing. These beat frequencies can be used for a variety of applications such as detecting the presence of and measuring the flow rates of biological fluids and industrial liquids, including determining the concentration level of microspheres in the myocardium

The Ursinus Weekly, January 7, 1952

Students asked to submit roster choices • Twelve outstanding seniors elected as members of college Who\u27s Who • Schedule presented for Ruby pictures • Y news • Alpha Psi Omega greets new members • Music Club concert to be given Thursday • Trip canceled • Sigma Nu, Beta Sig entertain children • I. R. C. hears Rudloff; Ann Knauer to speak • Visual aid lecture listed for future teachers • Forum speaker lists topic for Wednesday night • Navy recruiter plans interviews for seniors • Editorials: There\u27s still time; New Year topic is war • Engagements • Idea for Student Union at Ursinus gets impetus • Delaware favored in court race • PMC downs Bears in league opener • Schedule announced for badminton season • Grapplers open campaign with win over Mules • Pharmacy hands Bears third loss, 70-53https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1531/thumbnail.jp

Renal Cyst Fluid From Human Polycystic Kidney Disease Patients Stimulates Cl- Transport: Active Factor and Cl- Channels

poster abstractAutosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is characterized by the slow growth of fluid-filled cysts predominately in the kidney and in liver bile ducts. The factors involved in modifying the rate of cyst growth through epithelial proliferation or secretion are critical to understanding the progression of the disease. In addition, elucidation of mechanisms that potentiate the normal progression to renal failure will provide the basis for therapeutic intervention. Of note are the observations that the decline in renal function in middle age is precipitous and that renal injury results in an exacerbation of cyst growth. Using electrophysiological and biochemical techniques, we identified LPA (lysophosphatic acid) as a component of cyst fluid that stimulates secretory Cl- transport via two anion channels, CFTR and TMEM16a, in the mpkCCDcl4 model of renal principal cells. The LPA effect is manifested through receptors located on the basolateral membrane of polarized renal cells resulting in stimulation of channel activity in the apical membrane. Concentrations of LPA measured in ADPKD cyst fluid and in normal serum are sufficient to maximally stimulate ion transport. Thus, cyst fluid seepage into the interstitial space and/or leakage of vascular LPA are capable of stimulating epithelial cell secretion resulting in cyst enlargement. Research Support: IUPUI Membrane Biosciences Signature Center Gran