Good Night Dearie : Song

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/1533/thumbnail.jp

Indianola : Instrumental Novelty and Fox Trot

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-ps/2400/thumbnail.jp

Re-evaluating the Cu K pre-edge XAS transition in complexes with covalent metal–ligand interactions

Three [Me2NN]Cu(h2 -L2) complexes (Me2NN ¼ HC[C(Me)NAr]2; L2 ¼ PhNO (2), ArF 2N2 (3), PhCH]CH2 (4); Ar ¼ 2,6-Me2-C6H3; ArF ¼ 3,5-(CF3)2-C6H3) have been studied by Cu K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy, as well as single- and multi-reference computational methods (DFT, TD-DFT, CASSCF, MRCI, and OVB). The study was extended to a range of both known and theoretical compounds bearing 2p-element donors as a means of deriving a consistent view of how the pre-edge transition energy responds in systems with significant ground state covalency. The ground state electronic structures of many of the compounds under investigation were found to be strongly influenced by correlation effects, resulting in ground state descriptions with majority contributions from a configuration comprised of a Cu(II) metal center anti-ferromagentically coupled to radical anion O2, PhNO, and ArF 2N2 ligands. In contrast, the styrene complex 4, which displays a Cu K pre-edge transition despite its formal d10 electron configuration, exhibits what can best be described as a Cu(I):(styrene)0 ground state with strong pbackbonding. The Cu K pre-edge features for these complexes increase in energy from 1 to 4, a trend that was tracked to the percent Cu(II)-character in the ground state. The unexpected shift to higher preedge transition energies with decreasing charge on copper (QCu) contributed to an assignment of the pre-edge features for these species as arising from metal-to-ligand charge transfer instead of the traditional Cu1s / Cu3d designation

Measurements of the light-absorbing material inside cloud droplets and its effect on cloud albedo

Most of the measurements of light-absorbing aerosol particles made previously have been in non-cloudy air and therefore provide no insight into aerosol effects on cloud properties. Here, researchers describe an experiment designed to measure light absorption exclusively due to substances inside cloud droplets, compare the results to related light absorption measurements, and evaluate possible effects on the albedo of clouds. The results of this study validate those of Twomey and Cocks and show that the measured levels of light-absorbing material are negligible for the radiative properties of realistic clouds. For the measured clouds, which appear to have been moderately polluted, the amount of elemental carbon (EC) present was insufficient to affect albedo. Much higher contaminant levels or much larger droplets than those measured would be necessary to significantly alter the radiative properties. The effect of the concentrations of EC actually measured on the albedo of snow, however, would be much more pronounced since, in contrast to clouds, snowpacks are usually optically semi-infinite and have large particle sizes

Briefing: UK Ministry of Defence Force Protection Engineering Programme

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory sponsored, QinetiQ-led Force Protection Engineering Research Programme has two main strands, applied and underpinning research. The underpinning strand is led by Blastech Ltd. One focus of this research is into the response of geomaterials to threat loading. The programme on locally won fill is split into four main characterisation strands: high-stress (GPa) static pressure–volume; medium-rate pressure–volume (split Hopkinson bar); high-rate (flyer plate) pressure–volume; and unifying modelling research at the University of Sheffield, which has focused on developing a high-quality dataset for locally won fill in low and medium strain rates. With the test apparatus at Sheffield well-controlled tests can be conducted at both high strain rate and pseudo-static rates up to stress levels of 1 GPa. The University of Cambridge has focused on using one-dimensional shock experiments to examine high-rate pressure–volume relationships. Both establishments are examining the effect of moisture content and starting density on emergent rate effects. Blastech Ltd has been undertaking carefully controlled fragment impact experiments, within the dataspace developed by the Universities of Sheffield and Cambridge. The data from experiments are unified by the QinetiQ-led modelling team, to predict material behaviour and to derive a scalable locally won fill model for use in any situation

The Fate of Local Food Systems in the Global Industrialization Market: Food and Social Justice in the Rural South

This paper investigates the connection between local food systems, health disparities, and social justice in the rural South. It begins with the relationship between food insecurity and health disparities that disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minority populations, and non-minority women and children. First, we discuss the concept of health disparities within the context of bioethics and public health ethics in order to explore the link between the food system and health as a social justice issue. Second, we define health disparities and discuss how they have historically plagued and disadvantaged racial minority populations. Third, we examine these disparities within the context of the structure of the food system and the related social justice issues. We conclude that food insecurity in the rural south is ethically unacceptable because it harms the disadvantaged populations living in these areas. It worsens their vulnerability, truncates their flourishing, and makes their optimal health a mirage

Elucidation of the anaerobic pathway for the corrin component of cobalamin (vitamin B12)

It has been known for the past 20 years that two pathways exist in nature for the de novo biosynthesis of the coenzyme form of vitamin B12, adenosylcobalamin, representing aerobic and anaerobic routes. In contrast to the aerobic pathway, the anaerobic route has remained enigmatic because many of its intermediates have proven technically challenging to isolate, because of their inherent instability. However, by studying the anaerobic cobalamin biosynthetic pathway in Bacillus megaterium and using homologously overproduced enzymes, it has been possible to isolate all of the intermediates between uroporphyrinogen III and cobyrinic acid. Consequently, it has been possible to detail the activities of purified cobinamide biosynthesis (Cbi) proteins CbiF, CbiG, CbiD, CbiJ, CbiET, and CbiC, as well as show the direct in vitro conversion of 5-aminolevulinic acid into cobyrinic acid using a mixture of 14 purified enzymes. This approach has resulted in the isolation of the long sought intermediates, cobalt-precorrin-6A and -6B and cobalt-precorrin-8. EPR, in particular, has proven an effective technique in following these transformations with the cobalt(II) paramagnetic electron in the dyz orbital, rather than the typical dz2. This result has allowed us to speculate that the metal ion plays an unexpected role in assisting the interconversion of pathway intermediates. By determining a function for all of the pathway enzymes, we complete the tool set for cobalamin biosynthesis and pave the way for not only enhancing cobalamin production, but also design of cobalamin derivatives through their combinatorial use and modification

Retrievals of thick cloud optical depth from the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) by calibration of solar background signal

Laser beams emitted from the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS), as well as other spaceborne laser instruments, can only penetrate clouds to a limit of a few optical depths. As a result, only optical depths of thinner clouds (< about 3 for GLAS) are retrieved from the reflected lidar signal. This paper presents a comprehensive study of possible retrievals of optical depth of thick clouds using solar background light and treating GLAS as a solar radiometer. To do so one must first calibrate the reflected solar radiation received by the photon-counting detectors of the GLAS 532-nm channel, the primary channel for atmospheric products. Solar background radiation is regarded as a noise to be subtracted in the retrieval process of the lidar products. However, once calibrated, it becomes a signal that can be used in studying the properties of optically thick clouds. In this paper, three calibration methods are presented: (i) calibration with coincident airborne and GLAS observations, (ii) calibration with coincident Geostationary Opera- tional Environmental Satellite (GOES) and GLAS observations of deep convective clouds, and (iii) cali- bration from first principles using optical depth of thin water clouds over ocean retrieved by GLAS active remote sensing. Results from the three methods agree well with each other. Cloud optical depth (COD) is retrieved from the calibrated solar background signal using a one-channel retrieval. Comparison with COD retrieved from GOES during GLAS overpasses shows that the average difference between the two retriev- als is 24%. As an example, the COD values retrieved from GLAS solar background are illustrated for a marine stratocumulus cloud field that is too thick to be penetrated by the GLAS laser. Based on this study, optical depths for thick clouds will be provided as a supplementary product to the existing operational GLAS cloud products in future GLAS data releases