Canoeing

On April 28th, eleven determined canoeists set out from Adel, Iowa on the North Raccoon River for a Saturday of relaxation. A leisurely pace was set in order to make the short trip to Van Meter as long as possible. The day was relatively uneventful until our crew stopped on a sandbar about one-hour north of Van Meter for a mass clam hunt

FOREST RETURNS: An Interactive Computer System for Economic Analysis of Alternative Forest Land Uses

FOREST RETURNS is an interactive computer program developed at Iowa State University and designed to aid landowners in making economic comparisons of land use alternatives. The program calculates benefit-cost ratio, present net worth, realizable rate of return, and cash-flow listing of the cost-revenue stream of four land use types: timber, Christmas trees, row crop, and pasture. Each land use type is analyzed by a separate section of the program which asks the user for information on the estimated costs and revenues specific to the land use being analyzed. Currently, FOREST RETURNS is written in Apple Business BASIC V 1.1 for Apple III computers, but the program could be adapted for use with several similar microcomputer systems. This report describes the logic and operations of FOREST RETURNS

Conceptual design study of a coal gasification combined-cycle powerplant for industrial cogeneration

A conceptual design study was conducted to assess technical feasibility, environmental characteristics, and economics of coal gasification. The feasibility of a coal gasification combined cycle cogeneration powerplant was examined in response to energy needs and to national policy aimed at decreasing dependence on oil and natural gas. The powerplant provides the steam heating and baseload electrical requirements while serving as a prototype for industrial cogeneration and a modular building block for utility applications. The following topics are discussed: (1) screening of candidate gasification, sulfur removal and power conversion components; (2) definition of a reference system; (3) quantification of plant emissions and waste streams; (4) estimates of capital and operating costs; and (5) a procurement and construction schedule. It is concluded that the proposed powerplant is technically feasible and environmentally superior

The controlled ecological life support system Antarctic analog project: Analysis of wastewater from the South Pole Station, Antarctica, volume 1

The Controlled Ecological Life Support system (CELSS) Antarctic Analog Project (CAAP) is a joint National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA project for the development, deployment and operation of CELSS technologies at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. NASA goals are operational testing of CELSS technologies and the conduct of scientific studies to facilitate technology selection and system design. The NSF goals are that the food production, water purification, and waste treatment capabilities which will be provided by CAAP will improve the quality of life for the South Pole inhabitants, reduce logistics dependence, and minimize environmental impacts associated with human presence on the polar plateau. This report presents an analysis of wastewater samples taken from the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica. The purpose of the work is to develop a quantitative understanding of the characteristics of domestic sewage streams at the South Pole Station. This information will contribute to the design of a proposed plant growth/waste treatment system which is part of the CELSS Antarctic Analog Project (CAAP)

Embedding Four-directional Paths on Convex Point Sets

A directed path whose edges are assigned labels "up", "down", "right", or "left" is called \emph{four-directional}, and \emph{three-directional} if at most three out of the four labels are used. A \emph{direction-consistent embedding} of an \mbox{$n$-vertex} four-directional path $P$ on a set $S$ of $n$ points in the plane is a straight-line drawing of $P$ where each vertex of $P$ is mapped to a distinct point of $S$ and every edge points to the direction specified by its label. We study planar direction-consistent embeddings of three- and four-directional paths and provide a complete picture of the problem for convex point sets.Comment: 11 pages, full conference version including all proof

A molecule-based 1 : 2 digital demultiplexer

A trichromophoric molecule consisting of a porphyrin linked to both a dihydropyrene and a dihydroindolizine-type photochrome, in combination with a third harmonic generating crystal, functions as a 1:2 digital demultiplexer with photonic inputs and outputs. Each of the two photochromes may be cycled independently between two metastable forms, leading to four photoisomers, three of which are used in the demultiplexer. These isomers interact photochemically with the porphyrin in order to yield the demultiplexer function. With the address input (1064-nm light) turned off, one Output of the device (porphyrin fluorescence) tracks the state of the data input (532-nm light). When the address input is turned on, the second output (absorbance at 572 nm) tracks the state of the data input, while the first output remains off. The demultiplexer does not require chemical or electrical inputs, and can cycle through its operational sequences multiple times

Nuclear rocket simulator tests, flow initiation with no turbine gas tank pressure, 35 PSIA Run 1

Nuclear reactor simulator test - liquid hydrogen run, instrumentation and data acquisition system operational procedure checkou

Switching of a photochromic molecule on gold electrodes: single-molecule measurements

We have studied the electronic changes caused by light-induced isomerization of a photochromic molecule between an open state (that absorbs in the UV to become closed) and a closed state (that absorbs in the visible to become open). Data obtained using a newly developed repetitive break junction method are interpreted in terms of single-molecule resistances of 526 +/- 90 M Omega in the open form and 4 +/- 1 M Omega in the closed form when the molecule is bound between two gold contacts via dithiol linkages. The corresponding ratio of open to closed resistance is in close agreement with the results of ab initio calculations, though the measured resistances are about half of the calculated values. Optical spectroscopy indicates that the photoisomerization occurs in both directions on small gold particles, evaporated thin gold films, and in the break junction experiments

Candida albicans repetitive elements display epigenetic diversity and plasticity

Transcriptionally silent heterochromatin is associated with repetitive DNA. It is poorly understood whether and how heterochromatin differs between different organisms and whether its structure can be remodelled in response to environmental signals. Here, we address this question by analysing the chromatin state associated with DNA repeats in the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Our analyses indicate that, contrary to model systems, each type of repetitive element is assembled into a distinct chromatin state. Classical Sir2-dependent hypoacetylated and hypomethylated chromatin is associated with the rDNA locus while telomeric regions are assembled into a weak heterochromatin that is only mildly hypoacetylated and hypomethylated. Major Repeat Sequences, a class of tandem repeats, are assembled into an intermediate chromatin state bearing features of both euchromatin and heterochromatin. Marker gene silencing assays and genome-wide RNA sequencing reveals that C. albicans heterochromatin represses expression of repeat-associated coding and non-coding RNAs. We find that telomeric heterochromatin is dynamic and remodelled upon an environmental change. Weak heterochromatin is associated with telomeres at 30?°C, while robust heterochromatin is assembled over these regions at 39?°C, a temperature mimicking moderate fever in the host. Thus in C. albicans, differential chromatin states controls gene expression and epigenetic plasticity is linked to adaptation

The Ctf18 RFC-like complex positions yeast telomeres but does not specify their replication time

Peer reviewedPreprin