Specialized Human Capital Investment, Growth and Convergence

No abstract.

K Giants in Baade's Window. II. The Abundance Distribution

This is the second in a series of papers in which we analyze spectra of over 400 K and M giants in Baade's Window, including most of the stars with proper motions measured by Spaenhauer et al. [AJ, 103, 297 (1992)]. In our first paper, we measured line--strength indices of Fe, Mg, CN and H$\beta$ and calibrated them on the system of Faber et al. [ApJS, 57, 711 (1985)]. Here, we use the $\langle{\rm Fe}\rangle$ index to derive an abundance distribution in [Fe/H] for 322 stars with effective temperatures between 3900 K and 5160 K. Our derived values of [Fe/H] agree well with those measured from high--resolution echelle spectra (e.g., McWilliam \& Rich [ApJS, 91, 749 (1994)]) for the small number of stars in common. We find a mean abundance $\langle{\rm [Fe/H]}\rangle = -0.11 \pm 0.04$ for our sample of Baade's Window K giants. More than half the sample lie in the range $-0.4 <$ \feh\ $<+0.3$. We estimate line--of--sight distances for individual stars in our sample and confirm that, in Baade's Window, most K giants with $V < 15.5$ are foreground disk stars, but the great majority (more than 80\%) with $V > 16$ belong to the bulge. We also compare the metallicities derived from the CN and Mg$_2$ indices to those from iron. Most of the metal--rich stars in our sample appear to be CN--weak, in contrast to the situation in metal--rich globular clusters and elliptical galaxies. The metal--poor half of our sample ([Fe/H] $< 0$) shows evidence for a mild Mg overenhancement ([Mg/Fe] $\sim +0.2$); but this is not seen in the more metal--rich stars ([Fe/H] $\geq$ 0). The K giants in Baade's Window therefore share some, but not all, of the characteristics of stars in elliptical galaxies as inferred from their integrated light.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal, tentatively scheduled for July, 1996. LaTex source which generates 40 pages of text (no figures or tables). Complete (text + 15 figs + 5 tables) preprint in gzip/tar format is also available at ftp://bessel.mps.ohio-state.edu/pub/terndrup/kg2.tar.gz (227 kbyte

Characterization of insertion sequence IS605 in halanaerobium hydrogeniformans

Insertion sequences are the smallest prokaryotic transposable elements. These genes play a significant evolutionary role by promoting genome plasticity. Insertion sequences are highly diverse elements that have largely been uncharacterized. As such, the ability to accurately identify, annotate, and infer genomic impact of insertion sequences is lacking. The study of new insertion sequences contributes knowledge to their annotation and evolution. Halanaerobium hydrogeniformans is a unique organism with an abnormally high number of insertion sequences. A family of insertion sequences, IS200/605, showed several interesting distinctions from other elements in the genome, including severe open reading frame degradation, and was characterized in detail. This research uses bioinformatics tools to present an in depth characterization of a single insertion sequence family in H. hydrogeniformans. From these results insertion sequence activity can be inferred, including transposition capability, element interaction, and insertion sequence evolution --Abstract, page iii

Integral Field spectroscopy of two HI rich E+A galaxies

Approximately half of the nearby E+A galaxies followed up with 21-cm observations have detectable HI emission. The optical spectra of these galaxies show strong post-starburst stellar populations but no optical emission lines implying star-formation is not ongoing despite the presence of significant gas reservoirs. We have obtained integral field spectroscopic follow up observations of the two brightest, and nearest, of the six E+A galaxies with HI 21-cm emission in the recent sample of Zwaan et al. (2013). In the central regions of both galaxies the observations are consistent with a post-starburst population with little emission. However, outside the central regions both galaxies have strong optical emission lines, with a clumpy or knot-like distribution, indicating ongoing star-formation. We conclude that in these two cases the presence of optical spectra lacking evidence for star-formation while a large gas mass is present can be explained by an aperture effect in selecting the nearby E+A galaxies using single-fibre spectroscopy that probes only the galaxy core.Comment: Accepted to MNRAS, 7 pages, 2 figure

Environment and the Epigenetic Transgenerational Inheritance of Disease

Environmental factors can lead to transgenerational epigenetic changes in generations originating from ancestors exposed to environmental insults such as toxicants, abnormal nutrition or stress. These epigenetic germline changes can in turn increase disease susceptibility in offspring of exposed ancestors. The focus of this chapter is on environmentally induced epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of disease. The molecular mechanisms that allow these inherited epimutations to increase disease susceptibility will be reviewed. Environmental exposure specificity and exposure-specific disease development are also discussed

Application of Probabilistic Ranking Systems on Women’s Junior Division Beach Volleyball

Women’s beach volleyball is one of the fastest growing collegiate sports today. The increase in popularity has come with an increase in valuable scholarship opportunities across the country. With thousands of athletes to sort through, college scouts depend on websites that aggregate tournament results and rank players nationally. This project partnered with the company Volleyball Life, who is the current market leader in the ranking space of junior beach volleyball players. Utilizing the tournament information provided by Volleyball Life, this study explored replacements to the current ranking systems, which are designed to aggregate player points from recent tournament placements. Three probabilistic/modern ranking techniques were tested, specifically an Elo variant, TrueSkill, and a random walker graph network. This study found that Elo could predict match outcomes with a 13% higher accuracy than the preexisting systems and TrueSkill with an 11% higher accuracy

Characterization of the IS200/IS605 Insertion Sequence Family in Halanaerobium Hydrogeniformans

Mobile DNA elements play a significant evolutionary role by promoting genome plasticity. Insertion sequences are the smallest prokaryotic transposable elements. They are highly diverse elements, and the ability to accurately identify, annotate, and infer the full genomic impact of insertion sequences is lacking. Halanaerobium hydrogeniformans is a haloalkaliphilic bacterium with an abnormally high number of insertion sequences. One family, IS200/IS605, showed several interesting features distinct from other elements in this genome. Twenty-three loci harbor elements of this family in varying stages of decay, from nearly intact to an ends-only sequence. The loci were characterized with respect to two divergent open reading frames (ORF), tnpA and tnpB, and left and right ends of the elements. The tnpB ORF contains two nearly identical insert sequences that suggest recombination between tnpB ORF is occurring. From these results, insertion sequence activity can be inferred, including transposition capability and element interaction

Photo-induced pyridine substitution in cis-[Ru(bpy)(2)(py)(2)]Cl-2 : a snapshot by time-resolved X-ray solution scattering

Determination of transient structures in light-induced processes is a challenging goal for time-resolved techniques. Such techniques are becoming successful in detecting ultrafast structural changes in molecules and do not require the presence of probe-like groups. Here, we demonstrate that TR-WAXS (Time-Resolved Wide Angle X-ray Scattering) can be successfully employed to study the photochemistry of cis-[Ru(bpy)(2)(py)(2)]Cl-2, a mononuclear ruthenium complex of interest in the field of photoactivatable anticancer agents. TR-WAXS is able to detect the release of a pyridine ligand and the coordination of a solvent molecule on a faster timescale than 800 ns of laser excitation. The direct measurement of the photodissociation of pyridine is a major advance in the field of time-resolved techniques allowing detection, for the first time, of the release of a multiatomic ligand formed by low Z atoms. These data demonstrate that TR-WAXS is a powerful technique for studying rapid ligand substitution processes involving photoactive metal complexes of biological interest

An economic impact comparative analysis of farmers’ markets in Michigan and Ontario

Farmers\u27 markets play a vital role in local economic development by providing a site for local and small business incubation, creating an economic multiplier effect to neighboring businesses, and recycling customer dollars within the community. While several studies have evaluated characteristics of farmers\u27 markets within single metropolitan areas, few have compared the impact of multiple markets in socioeconomically contrasting regions. This research compares shopping habits and economic impacts of customers at farmers\u27 markets in two North American cities: Flint, Michigan, and London, Ontario. Overall, 895 market visitors completed surveys. We conducted statistical and spatial analyses to identify differences between these markets. Though geographically proximate and similar in metropolitan size, the two cities differ greatly in recent economic development, social vitality, and public health indicators. The objectives of this article are to quantify the impact that each market has on its local economy and contextualize these impacts in light of the place-specific attributes of each market. Results indicate that customers come from a mix of urban and suburban locations, but that key urban areas do not draw a substantial share of customers. Marketing efforts in nearby disadvantaged neighborhoods, therefore, might yield new customers and increase multiplier effects within the neighborhoods. The London market drew slightly younger customers who shopped less frequently, while the Flint market drew an older crowd that attended more regularly. This may be attributable to the relative age of the markets, and certainly reflects the marketing push of each market\u27s managers. Given the opportunity to compare similarities and differences, much can be learned from each market in terms of opportunities for marketing, local economic development, and increased community vitality