Public Libraries and the Internet 2006

Examines the capability of public libraries to provide and sustain public access Internet services and resources that meet community needs, including serving as the first choice for content, resources, services, and technology infrastructure

The digital environmental humanities (DEH) in the anthropocene: Challenges and opportunities in an era of ecological precarity

Researchers in the complementary fields of the digital humanities and the environmental humanities have begun to collaborate under the auspices of the digital environmental humanities (DEH). The overarching aim of this emerging field is to leverage digital technologies in understanding and addressing the urgencies of the Anthropocene. Emphasizing DEH’s focus on natural and cultural vitality, this article begins with a historical overview of the field. Crafting an account of the field’s emergence, we argue that the present momentum toward DEH exhibits four broad thematic strains including perennial eco-archiving; Anthropocene narratives of loss; citizen ecohumanities; and human-plant-environment relations. Within each of the four areas, the article identifies how DEH ideas have been implemented in significant projects that engage with, envision, re-imagine, and devise communities for environmental action and transformation. We conclude with suggestions for further bolstering DEH by democratizing environmental knowledge through open, community-engaged methods

Recent results from MICE on multiple coulomb scattering and energy loss

Multiple coulomb scattering and energy loss are well known phenomena experienced by charged particles as they traverse a material. However, from recent measurements by the MuScat collaboration, it is known that the available simulation codes (GEANT4, for example) overestimate the scattering of muons in low Z materials. This is of particular interest to the Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) collaboration which has the goal of measuring the reduction of the emittance of a muon beam induced by energy loss in low Z absorbers. MICE took data without magnetic field suitable for multiple scattering measurements in the spring of 2016 using a lithium hydride absorber. The scattering data are compared with the predictions of various models, in- cluding the default GEANT4 model

Path Planning for Simple Robots using Soft Subdivision Search

The concept of resolution-exact path planning is a theoretically sound alternative to the standard exact algorithms, and provides much stronger guarantees than probabilistic or sampling algorithms. It opens the way for the introduction of soft predicates in the context of subdivision algorithm. Taking a leaf from the great success of the Probabilistic Road Map (PRM) framework, we formulate an analogous framework for subdivision, called Soft Subdivision Search (SSS). In this video, we illustrate the SSS framework for a trio of simple planar robots: disc, triangle and 2-links. These robots have, respectively, 2, 3 and 4 degrees of freedom. Our 2-link robot can also avoid self-crossing. These algorithms operate in realtime and are relatively easy to implement

Emergence of a Dynamic Super-Structural Order Integrating Antiferroelectric and Antiferrodistortive Competing Instabilities in EuTiO3

Microscopic structural instabilities of EuTiO3 single crystal were investigated by synchrotron x-ray diffraction. Antiferrodistortive (AFD) oxygen octahedral rotational order was observed alongside Ti derived antiferroelectric (AFE) distortions. The competition between the two instabilities is reconciled through a cooperatively modulated structure allowing both to coexist. The electric and magnetic field effect on the modulated AFD order shows that the origin of large magnetoelectric coupling is based upon the dynamic equilibrium between the AFD - antiferromagnetic interactions versus the electric polarization - ferromagnetic interactions

Integrin Signaling in Oligodendrocytes and Its Importance in CNS Myelination

Multiple sclerosis is characterized by repeated demyelinating attacks of the central nervous system (CNS) white matter tracts. To tailor novel therapeutics to halt or reverse disease process, we require a better understanding of oligodendrocyte biology and of the molecular mechanisms that initiate myelination. Cell extrinsic mechanisms regulate CNS myelination through the interaction of extracellular matrix proteins and their transmembrane receptors. The engagement of one such receptor family, the integrins, initiates intracellular signaling cascades that lead to changes in cell phenotype. Oligodendrocytes express a diverse array of integrins, and the expression of these receptors is developmentally regulated. Integrin-mediated signaling is crucial to the proliferation, survival, and maturation of oligodendrocytes through the activation of downstream signaling pathways involved in cytoskeletal remodeling. Here, we review the current understanding of this important signaling axis and its role in oligodendrocyte biology and ultimately in the myelination of axons within the CNS

Effect of glucose on the suppression and post-suppression rebound of stereotypes.

The suppression of unwanted thoughts is an effortful process. An ironic effect of this process is that the unwanted thoughts can become hyper-accessibility after a period of their suppression, known as “post-suppression rebound”. In the present study the impact of providing energy (through a glucose drink) on post-suppression rebound was investigated. One hundred and twenty participants participated in the main study, and another 30 participants served as a baseline group. Half of the participants in the main study were given a drink containing glucose and the other half was given a placebo drink containing an artificial sweetener. All participants wrote a passage about a “day in the life” of a gay male, with half the participants directed to avoid using stereotypes. A subsequent lexical decision task measured activation of stereotypes. Finally, a measure of prejudice was given to account for individual differences. Neither the direction to avoid using stereotypes nor the glucose resulted in lower stereotypicality of the “day in life” passages. Furthermore, response times during the lexical decision task did not differ between any of the main conditions or the baseline condition. However, the combination of both glucose and directed suppression did result in more positive passages, suggesting that the combination assists in reducing negative stereotype usage. Results are discussed in terms of stereotype usage and suppression and prejudice level