Earthshine as an Illumination Source at the Moon

Earthshine is the dominant source of natural illumination on the surface of the Moon during lunar night, and at locations within permanently shadowed regions that never receive direct sunlight. As such, earthshine may enable the exploration of areas of the Moon that are hidden from solar illumination. The heat flux from earthshine may also influence the transport and cold trapping of volatiles present in the very coldest areas. In this study, Earth's spectral radiance at the Moon is examined using a suite of Earth spectral models created using the Virtual Planetary Laboratory (VPL) three dimensional modeling capability. At the Moon, the broadband, hemispherical irradiance from Earth near 0 phase is approximately 0.15 watts per square meter, with comparable contributions from solar reflectance and thermal emission. Over the simulation timeframe, spanning two lunations, Earth's thermal irradiance changes less than a few mW per square meter as a result of cloud variability and the south-to-north motion of sub-observer position. In solar band, Earth's diurnally averaged light curve at phase angles < 60 degrees is well fit using a Henyey Greenstein integral phase function. At wavelengths > 0.7 microns, near the well known vegetation "red edge", Earth's reflected solar radiance shows significant diurnal modulation as a result of the longitudinal asymmetry in projected landmass, as well as from the distribution of clouds. A simple formulation with adjustable coefficients is presented for estimating Earth's hemispherical irradiance at the Moon as a function of wavelength, phase angle and sub-observer coordinates. It is demonstrated that earthshine is sufficiently bright to serve as a natural illumination source for optical measurements from the lunar surface.Comment: 27 pages, 15 figures, 1 tabl

Simulation of refrigeration by electron emission across nanometer-scale gaps

Nanoscale transport processes offer new possibilities for direct refrigeration by electron emission at room temperature. Because the energy of emitted electrons may be higher or lower than that of their replacement counterparts, a heating or cooling effect, known as the Nottingham effect, can occur at the emitter. Prior theoretical studies indicate the possibility of very large (\u3e100 W/cm(2)) cooling rates for emitters with low work functions; however, ultrasmall emission gaps are necessary to produce a device with a reasonably high coefficient of performance. In this regime of low work function and narrow emission gap, the traditional approach used to model electron transmission, which is based on the WKB approximation, is not suitable. In this study, a nonequilibrium Green\u27s function method is employed to simulate the energy exchange attending electron emission for a range of emitter work functions and vacuum gap distances, yielding important insights into the thermodynamics associated with electron emission across ultrasmall vacuum gaps. Cooling density and efficiency curves depending on the vacuum gap distance and applied electric field are presented for flat-plate electrodes with work functions ranging from 0.4 to 1.7 eV, and the results indicate that a practical emission device will require that the electrode work function and vacuum gap separation be reduced to approximately 0.4 eV and 20 nm, respectively

Learning To Do in Vivo Neural Responses in Mice

Timothy Mogan, Tyler Erker, Riley Faulhammer and Justin Wobser were the target students for this stereotaxic neurosurgery and electrophysiology lab experience. They are Pre-Nursing, Pre-Neuroscience (Pyschology) or Pre-Med majors. This richly educational and hands-on investigation significantly enhanced their confidence and experience in RODENT HANDLING, ANESTHESIA, ELECTROPHSYIOLOGY, PERFUSION, BRAIN REMOVAL and GENERAL LAB SKILLS. An animal use protocol was created for the project under the guidance of the Mentors and the students followed it competently. Students completed CITI online animal research training and animal handling training was provided by Lou Turchyn, DVM. Animals for the research were generously donated by Dr. Turchyn and other animal investigators at CSU so that this investigation did not require any additional research animals. A poster presentation of the first stages of the study covering background and significance, data collection methods and specimen preservation was academically instructive. Next, the molecular biology analysis of the specimens is expected to generate a proof of concept for methods necessary to conduct ongoing research in cochlear (inner ear) dysfunction ostensibly caused by dynorphins released during acoustic over-stimulation stress by Drs. Tony Sahley, David Anderson, Michael Hammonds and Karthik Chandu.https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/u_poster_2018/1048/thumbnail.jp

Learning To Do in Vivo Neural Responses in Mice

Timothy Mogan, Tyler Erker, Riley Faulhammer and Justin Wobser were the target students for this stereotaxic neurosurgery and electrophysiology lab experience. They are Pre-Nursing, Pre-Neuroscience (Pyschology) or Pre-Med majors. This richly educational and hands-on investigation significantly enhanced their confidence and experience in RODENT HANDLING, ANESTHESIA, ELECTROPHSYIOLOGY, PERFUSION, BRAIN REMOVAL and GENERAL LAB SKILLS. An animal use protocol was created for the project under the guidance of the Mentors and the students followed it competently. Students completed CITI online animal research training and animal handling training was provided by Lou Turchyn, DVM. Animals for the research were generously donated by Dr. Turchyn and other animal investigators at CSU so that this investigation did not require any additional research animals. A poster presentation of the first stages of the study covering background and significance, data collection methods and specimen preservation was academically instructive. Next, the molecular biology analysis of the specimens is expected to generate a proof of concept for methods necessary to conduct ongoing research in cochlear (inner ear) dysfunction ostensibly caused by dynorphins released during acoustic over-stimulation stress by Drs. Tony Sahley, David Anderson, Michael Hammonds and Karthik Chandu.https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/u_poster_2018/1048/thumbnail.jp

Inflammation and enhanced nociceptive responses to bladder distension produced by intravesical zymosan in the rat

BACKGROUND: Mycotic infections of the bladder produce pain and inflammatory changes. The present study examined the inflammatory and nociceptive effects of the yeast cell wall component, zymosan, when admininstered into the urinary bladder in order to characterize this form of bladder sensitization. METHODS: Parametric analyses of the time-course (0–48 hr) and concentration (0–2% solutions) variables associated with intravesical zymosan-induced bladder inflammation were performed in female rats. Plasma extravasation of Evan's Blue dye was used as a measure of tissue inflammation. Cardiovascular and visceromotor responses to urinary bladder distension were used as measures of nociception. RESULTS: Zymosan-induced bladder inflammation, as indexed by plasma extravasation of Evan's Blue, was significantly greater in rats treated with either 1 or 2% solutions as compared to either 0.1 or 0.5% zymosan solutions. In time-course studies (1 – 48 hr post-treatment), 1% zymosan-induced inflammation progressively increased with time following administration, was greatest at 24 hr and began to normalize by 48 hr. In the studies of inflammation-induced changes in nociception, arterial blood pressure (ABP) and visceromotor responses to graded distension of the urinary bladder were significantly increased relative to controls 24 hr after zymosan administration. CONCLUSION: These studies provide important time-course and solution concentration parameters for studies of zymosan-induced inflammation of the bladder and suggest utility of this model for the study of bladder-related pain

An Autonomous Discord Bot to Improve Online Course Experience and Engagement: Lessons Learned Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed many educational institutions to adopt online learning models for most or all of their courses. As a result, the effectiveness of remote learning is more important now than ever before. In this paper, we report on work that was conducted in the Spring of 2021 at Utah Valley University. We explored the use of Discord as a delivery mechanism for online course content during the 2020-2021 school year. We also developed a Discord bot to autonomously track attendance. Based on our experience to date, the Discord bot appears to enhance remote learning. We describe the design, implementation, and deployment of our bot. We also discuss what worked well, as well as areas for improvement. In future semesters we plan to collect data by which we may begin to answer fundamental questions about the impact of such bots on remote learning