Digital processing of mesoscale analysis and space sensor data

The mesoscale analysis and space sensor (MASS) data management and analysis system on the research computer system is presented. The MASS data base management and analysis system was implemented on the research computer system which provides a wide range of capabilities for processing and displaying large volumes of conventional and satellite derived meteorological data. The research computer system consists of three primary computers (HP-1000F, Harris/6, and Perkin-Elmer 3250), each of which performs a specific function according to its unique capabilities. The overall tasks performed concerning the software, data base management and display capabilities of the research computer system in terms of providing a very effective interactive research tool for the digital processing of mesoscale analysis and space sensor data is described

System enhancements of Mesoscale Analysis and Space Sensor (MASS) computer system

The interactive information processing for the mesoscale analysis and space sensor (MASS) program is reported. The development and implementation of new spaceborne remote sensing technology to observe and measure atmospheric processes is described. The space measurements and conventional observational data are processed together to gain an improved understanding of the mesoscale structure and dynamical evolution of the atmosphere relative to cloud development and precipitation processes. A Research Computer System consisting of three primary computers was developed (HP-1000F, Perkin-Elmer 3250, and Harris/6) which provides a wide range of capabilities for processing and displaying interactively large volumes of remote sensing data. The development of a MASS data base management and analysis system on the HP-1000F computer and extending these capabilities by integration with the Perkin-Elmer and Harris/6 computers using the MSFC's Apple III microcomputer workstations is described. The objectives are: to design hardware enhancements for computer integration and to provide data conversion and transfer between machines

Hormone replacement therapy

Martha Hickey, Jane Elliott, Sonia Louise Daviso

A Review of How Bioinformatics and Genome Sequencing are Affecting Precision Medicine

Advancement in genomic sequencing and bioinformatics methods have been affecting biomedical research through precision medicine, especially in the area of cancer. Vaccine therapies can be developed using neoantigens that target specific mutations in tumors. The goals of this research are to identify mutations that lead to cancer and then define subpopulations in which patients can easily be identified. The future goal is to have targeted vaccines that are specific to each subpopulation ready to be used in treatment of their cancer. Limitations to reaching these goals have been due to tumor heterogeneity, cancer location, and difficulty in creating neoantigens for vaccines successfully. A literature review was conducted to better understand the current research being done to address the cancer epidemic through bioinformatics analysis and precision medicine. It was found that TP53, CLDN6, and IDH1 were crucial mutations leading to the development of multiple types of cancer, and more sophisticated, streamlined technology is needed to rapidly develop targeted vaccines to attack ever evolving cancers

After Dark: Reading Canadian Literature in a Light-Polluted Age

A threat to nocturnal ecosystems and human health alike, light pollution is an unnecessary problem that comes at an enormous cost. The International Dark-Sky Association has recently estimated that the energy expended on light scatter alone is responsible for no less than twelve million tons of carbon dioxide and costs municipal governments at least $1 billion annually (“Economic Issues” 2). Emerging research also suggests that excessive artificial light at night may compromise melatonin production, a hormone that has been linked to the suppression of certain cancers (Stevens 28; Haim 32). As scotobiologists seek to solidify the connection between the disruption of circadian rhythms and compromised states of physical and mental well-being, the impetus to study the cultural and literary meaning of the night sky becomes all the more pressing. Drawing on a range of affect theorists, the findings of nocturnal ecologists, and ecocriticism’s call to memory and mindfulness, this dissertation assembles a diverse crew to consider the ways in which Canadian writers have chronicled the shift from natural darkness to artificial light. Too easily dismissed as nostalgic or sentimental, the desire to see the night sky make its return has never mattered more. To live in a time and a place where night never fully arrives is to know that the stars in a given volume of poetry may well outnumber those that remain visible in the sky. Literature itself has now drifted into an era of post-darkness, the world’s obsession with artificial light having ushered in a historical period that is, quite literally, after dark. For this reason, stories and poems that are rich in celestial allusions are worth studying because they place personal reflection, cosmological awareness, and empathetic witness in a century that has otherwise failed to appreciate the necessity of nocturnal environments the world over. Favouring lyrical persistence over nocturnal lament, the Nova Scotian poet Kenneth Leslie once set sail to “stubborn stars,” his imagination desiring those truths that only take shape in a sea of dark (1). Seventy-five years later, his finest sonnet still invites us to follow – headlong into the passages we find in search of better light to read by

Departing for the Ends of the Earth to do My Humble Part: The Life of William A. Rich, Volunteer Ambulance Driver for the American Field Service, 1942-1945- A Study of War Letters

From the years 1942 to 1945, William A. Rich, a volunteer ambulance driver with the American Field Service, wrote a vast collection of letters home; he served in the Middle East, North Africa, Italy, France, Germany and India. Rich corresponded with his family and girlfriend biweekly about his experiences and opinions, resulting in a collection of more than 300 letters. From these letters, supplemented by additional archival sources, a fascinating narrative emerges. Rich\u27s story explains the complexity of life on the frontlines as a non-combatant of a total war. From the fall of Tunis to the horrors of the relief of Belsen Concentration Camp, the letters provide an unmediated perspective on World War Two through the eyes of a twenty-year old. My thesis seeks to examine whether these letters, and whether war letters in general, are valuable historical documents

Spin-orbit coupled j=1/2 iridium moments on the geometrically frustrated fcc lattice

Motivated by experiments on the double perovskites La2ZnIrO6 and La2MgIrO6, we study the magnetism of spin-orbit coupled j=1/2 iridium moments on the three-dimensional, geometrically frustrated, face-centered cubic lattice. The symmetry-allowed nearest-neighbor interaction includes Heisenberg, Kitaev, and symmetric off-diagonal exchange. A Luttinger-Tisza analysis shows a rich variety of orders, including collinear A-type antiferromagnetism, stripe order with moments along the [111]-direction, and incommensurate non-coplanar spirals, and we use Monte Carlo simulations to determine their magnetic ordering temperatures. We argue that existing thermodynamic data on these iridates underscores the presence of a dominant Kitaev exchange, and also suggest a resolution to the puzzle of why La2ZnIrO6 exhibits `weak' ferromagnetism, but La2MgIrO6 does not.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figs, significantly revised to address referee comments, to appear in PRB Rapid Com

Research study: STS-1 Orbiter Descent

The conversion of STS-1 orbiter descent data from AVE-SESAME contact programs to the REEDA system and the reduction of raw radiosonde data is summarized. A first difference program, contact data program, plot data program, and 30 second data program were developed. Six radiosonde soundings were taken. An example of the outputs of each of the programs is presented