Mechanism of impact and potential recovery of pigeon guillemots (Cepphus columba) after the Exxon Valdez oil spill

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2000The abundance of pigeon guillemots in oiled areas of Prince William Sound, Alaska, failed to increase after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Population growth may be constrained by the physiological effects of oil exposure, food availability, and nest predation." The author "conducted a comparative study among unoiled, oiled, and pre-spill data sets, to provide insight on factors limiting population recovery in oiled areas. Blood samples from chicks in oiled and unoiled areas provided little evidence of physiological effects of exposure to oil. Pigeon guillemot diet, productivity, growth rates, and fledging weights in unoiled areas of southwestern Prince William Sound from 1994 to 1998 indicate oiled areas had a lower proportion of high-lipid fish in the chick diet and lower fledging weights, compared to unoiled and pre-spill studies. These results suggest that the lack of recovery in oiled areas is associated with a prey base that results in lower fledging weights, which may reduce juvenile survival

Examining Employee Use Of Family-friendly Benefits With The Theory Of Planned Behavior

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the factors that may be related to employees\u27 decisions to use the family-friendly benefits (e.g., maternity/paternity leave, flexible work schedule) that are offered to them by their employers. Research has shown that both employees and organizations benefit when employees use family-friendly benefits. However, research has also shown that many employees do not take advantage of such benefits. Studies examining this issue are limited, and much of the research that has been conducted is anecdotal and atheoretical. The present study overcame this problem by empirically examining the use of family-friendly benefits within the theoretical context of Ajzen\u27s (1991) theory of planned behavior. The results of this study support the theory of planned behavior. Specifically, the results indicated that whether an individual perceived he/she had control over the use of family-friendly benefits was the most predictive of whether he/she intended to use them. Whether the individual perceived that others would approve of these behaviors was also predictive of intention to perform the behaviors. In addition, an individual\u27s intention to take leave or use a flexible work schedule was the most predictive of whether he or she actually engaged in the behaviors. Implications for practice as well as future research directions are also discussed

Women in Law Enforcement: The Impacts and Obstacles They Face in a Hispanic- and Male-Dominated Culture

Despite a lack of female law enforcement representation in police departments across the country and especially in the Border Patrol, there have been minimal studies performed that focus on the obstacles women face in these professions. The purpose of this study was to attempt to understand the lived experiences of female law enforcement officers/border patrol agents in this male-dominated profession, but also adding the aspect of them working in a Hispanic-dominated culture. The findings revealed these women in law enforcement working in a Hispanic area face many of the same obstacles as women in other parts of the country - including sexual harassment, perceptions of women in this male-dominated field and family obligations. While not all obstacles mentioned could be linked with the Hispanic culture, there were certainly connections related to Machismo and how women are treated by the public and fellow officers in this culture. While women continue to integrate into various law enforcement agencies, the percentage of women in this field is relatively stagnant and has been for many years. These findings could be used to educate current and future law enforcement leaders as to the obstacles women face with hopes to make changes to the way women are viewed in the law enforcement profession and in a Machismo culture

The Krampus in Austria: A Case of Booming Identity Politics

In Austria, the Krampus has recently witnessed an unprecedented boom. Since the early 2000s, the number of troupes and organized events has skyrocketed. Most of these can be termed ‘invented traditions’ in Hobsbawm’s sense, as there are only a handful of places with a history of the practice from before the mid-twentieth century. Despite the vast differences between regions, young men in all of them dress up in masks that invoke associations with the devil or demons, wear long fur suits and roam the streets scaring and attacking onlookers with the switches they carry. Investigating contemporary Krampus practices in rural Austria, we argue that they serve as important sources of identity making, at the centre of which are relations between men and women, as well as between ethnic Austrians and immigrants. Through an engagement with anthropological discussions on identity, our article will suggest that the recent Krampus boom is indicative of new forms of white identit

The Krampus in Austria: a case of booming identity politics

In Austria, the Krampus has recently witnessed an unprecedented boom. Since the early 2000s, the number of troupes and organized events has skyrocketed. Most of these can be termed "invented traditions" in Hobsbawm’s sense, as there are only a handful of places with a history of the practice from before the mid-twentieth century. Despite the vast differences between regions, young men in all of them dress up in masks that invoke associations with the devil or demons, wear long fur suits and roam the streets scaring and attacking onlookers with the switches they carry. Investigating contemporary Krampus practices in rural Austria, we argue that they serve as important sources of identity making, at the centre of which are relations between men and women, as well as between ethnic Austrians and immigrants. Through an engagement with anthropological discussions on identity, our article will suggest that the recent Krampus boom is indicative of new forms of white identity

Syntheses and Biological Activity of the HDAC Class I Inhibitor Largazole

Histone deacetylase inhibitors are an emerging class of antiproliferative agents that have the potential to combat cancer on an epigenetic level. The recently reported marine natural product largazole has been recently isolated in trace amounts from cyanobacteria and displays a very potent and selective antiproliferative activity towards a number of cell lines. Several lines of evidence suggested it might act as a histone deacetylase inhibitor. These compelling properties have generated considerable interest in the synthetic community which resulted in several total syntheses of largazole. The present review offers a brief overview of the synthetic routes and some early structure–activity relationships

A Model for Enveloping Space Station Logistics Requirements

Since the inception of the Space Station customer Logistics study, it became apparent that a modeling process was needed to provide insight into the many sensitivities and relationships which exist among the numerous variables which impact Space Station Customer Accommodations and Logistics Support Requirements with regard to their associated design requirements. such a model would provide the necessary and timely support to the Space Station designers and planners during the program\u27s early development. This paper will address the current design and operations of the Space Station in particular the Manufacturing and Technology Laboratory (MTL) which is the primary focus of the study and the model. Typical experiments planned for the MTL will be addressed as well as their on-orbit operational and logistical requirements. A detailed description of the model developed under the study along with some of its many applications for scoping Space Station Logistics Requirements will be presented

Technology Development Missions Concept Definition Study TDMX 2066 Large Inflatable/ Rigidized Structures

The advent of the Space Station will require the development and advancement of many new technologies. One of which is the development of Inflatable/ Rigidized Structures. This paper addresses the concept definition, feasibility and requirements for a Large Inflatable/Rigidized Hangar for Payload Servicing on the Space Station. Inflatable/Rigidized Structure Technology has existed for .many years, but applications of this technology to Space Based Elements has only begun during the past decade. Inflatable/Rigidized Structures offer a variety of benefits and applications to the Space Station, key of which is their low weight and volume requirements for transfer to the Station. A 60X40 foot foam hangar can be packaged and shipped in a specialized container approximately 46 m3 and will provide 3200 m3 of usable working/storage space. Previous studies have produced tremendous success in the area of design, fabrication and development of such Inflatable/Rigidized Structures as: a Spacelab transfer tunnel, module airlocks, platforms, large storage hangars, interconnect tunnels, and lunar habitation modules. This paper will address the technology issues/advancements which must be meet, the requirements for accommodations on the Space Station, such as crew and equipment requirements to assemble the hangar at the Station. Pre-launch ground requirements will also be addresses, which include new advanced packaging techniques for Rigidized structures. Typical Ground and On-orbit scenarios will be provided. Finally a preliminary evolutionary plan will be presented which indicates the major experiment development phases from ground based prototypes to full scale Stat-ion deployment

Wirklichkeit zwischen Lebenswelt und objektiver Wissenschaft

Die vorliegende Arbeit „Wirklichkeit zwischen Lebenswelt und objektiver Wissenschaft“ behandelt die Frage, ob objektive Wissenschaft das ganze Spektrum der Wirklichkeit einfangen kann und ob sie ein Leitmotiv für Wirklichkeit darstellen kann. Sie beschäftigt sich hauptsächlich mit der von Edmund Husserl proklamierten „Krisis“ der neuzeitlichen Wissenschaften. Der Ausgangspunkt für diese Arbeit ist, dass es historisch gesehen verschiedene Zugänge zu Wirklichkeit und auch zur wissenschaftlichen Methode gibt. Das neuzeitliche Projekt der Welterklärung konzentriert sich auf die naturwissenschaftlich-empirische. Diese fußt auf Hypothesen und nimmt eine mathematische Seinsweise der Welt an, die Husserl das „Ideenkleid“ nannte. Objektivität hat einen hohen Stellenwert und Wissenschaft orientiert sich an ihr um zu Aussagen über die Welt zu gelangen, die von jedem Menschen nachzuvollziehen sind. Die zentralen Fragen sind nun: Wie weit kann diese Objektivität gehen in einer Wirklichkeitskonstruktion, wenn nur empirische Daten herangezogen werden können? Welche Rolle hat die Subjektivität? Und gehen tatsächlich Wirklichkeiten verloren, wie Gerhard Fasching in seinem Aufsatz „Verlorene Wirklichkeiten“ schrieb? Um diese Fragen aufzuarbeiten wurde die Wissenschaftsgeschichte der Neuzeit rekonstruiert und nachempfunden, welches Bild von Wirklichkeit dadurch kommuniziert wird und welches Spannungsfeld dieses aufbaut. Zwei Seiten wurden beleuchtet: 1) die Lebenswelt, im Sinne des vorwissenschaftlichen Wissens 2) das Konzept dieser neuzeitlichen Wissenschaft, die stark von einer platonischen Prämisse geprägt ist. Wie Lorraine Daston in ihrem Buch „Objektivität“ herausgearbeitet hat, stellt diese Prämisse Objektivität mit Wahrheit gleich und hat dadurch, in der Wissenschaft selbst, eine metaphysische Instanz wiedereingeführt, die sie eigentlich in totum verwerfen wollte. Ihre Argumentation wurde nachgezeichnet, die Objektivität selbst in ihren historischen Kontext gestellt und hinterfragt. Denn mit einer metaphysischen Erhöhung von Objektivität kann Wissenschaft als Religion gelebt werden und dies wurde zum Beispiel mit Hilfe von Friedrich Nietzsche kritisiert, der schon seinerzeit erkannte, dass für viele Menschen Wissenschaft als Religionsersatz fungiert. Die Diskrepanz, die sich nämlich aus der, als Religion gelebten Wissenschaft ergibt, ist, dass sie reduktionistisch agiert und „nicht Messbares“ nicht anerkennt, beziehungsweise in ihrer harten Version sogar negiert. Dies führt im Weiteren zu Edmund Husserl, der in seinem Letztwerk „Krisis der europäischen Wissenschaft und die transzendentale Phänomenologie“ eine Krise der Wissenschaften erkannte. Diese Krise betrifft die großen Fragen der Menschheit, die in der Wissenschaft keinen Platz finden und per definitionem aus der Wissenschaft ausgeschlossen wurden. Denn dadurch kommt die Frage auf, warum Wissenschaft betrieben wird, wenn nicht aus dem Antrieb Antworten auf die großen Fragen zu finden. Das ist der Grund, warum Husserl in der Geschichte zurückgeht und nach der „Urstiftung“ der Wissenschaften fragt. Denn nur wenn die Urstiftung klar herausgestellt wird, kann auch über eine Endstiftung spekuliert werden. Es wurde versucht hier Husserl in einen modernen Kontext zu setzen und die Frage gestellt, ob Husserl immer noch aktuell ist.This diploma thesis “Wirklichkeit zwischen Lebenswelt und objektiver Wissenschaft” (Reality between living world and objective science) deals with the concept of reality and alludes to what Edmund Husserl describes as a crisis of the modern sciences. The origin for this thesis was, that reality can be approached in different ways. The modern project of explaining the world concentrates on an empiric approximation. This approach bases on a number of hypothesis and assumes a mathematical world, which Husserl called the “dress of ideas”. Objectivity is a high value in science. This is to come to assumptions about the world, which can be retraced by everyone. The central questions are: Till what extend can objectivity be accepted in a construction of reality, if only empirical data can be used? What is the new role of subjectivity? Do alternative Realities disappear, like Gerhard Fasching wrote in his article “Verlorene Wirklichkeiten”? In order to deal with this problem modern science history has been reconstructed and from a phenomenological perspective discussed, what concept of reality results out of this development. Two aspects have been analysed: 1) The concept of living world, in the sense of knowledge we have before we use scientific methods 2) the concept of modern science, which is strongly affected by a platonic assumption. As Lorraine Daston elaborates in her book “Objectivity”, this premiss identifies “objectivity” as “truth”. This leads to the reintroduction of a metaphysical claim into science, one that it originally wanted to nullify. The structure of her argument has been retraced and the historical context of the concept of objectivity has been critically scrutinised. This issue leads to Edmund Husserl, who recognized a crisis of science. This crisis is that science does not attempt to answer the major questions of mankind, that the big questions (the meaning of life, metaphysical questions about truth, ethics, and so on) are being excluded from science per definitionem. As a result, we are forced to ask why science is being pursued, if not out of a drive to find answers to our biggest questions. This is why Husserl goes back in history and asks about the origin of science. Because only once the origin has been thoroughly examined, can one speculate about a final aim. This thesis is an attempt to place Husserl in a modern context and point out the question whether Husserl is still relevant in this setting