Mass Loading Measurements in Amargosa Valley

This work will be conducted under Task DRI-FI-001, “Mass Loading Measurements in Amargosa Valley.” The objective of this task is to measure, with known accuracy, the levels of atmospheric mass loading (mass concentration of suspended particulates) accompanying soil surface disturbing activities in Amargosa Valley. Mass loading is used in the biosphere model to calculate inhalation exposure for the human receptor, the maximally reasonably exposed individual (RMEI). The mass loading currently used in the biosphere model is based on literature data from the analog sites rather than on site-specific conditions. This work is subject to the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE, previously UCCSN) QA program requirements

Dynamic remodeling of in-group bias during the 2008 Presidential election

People often favor members of their own group, while discriminating against members of other groups. Such in-group favoritism has been shown to play an important role in human cooperation. However, in the face of changing conflicts and shifting alliances, it is essential for group identities to be flexible. Using the dictator game from behavioral economics, we demonstrate the remodeling of group identities among supporters of Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. After Clinton's concession in June 2008, Democrats were more generous toward supporters of their own preferred candidate than to supporters of the other Democratic candidate. The bias observed in June persisted into August, and disappeared only in early September after the Democratic National Convention. We also observe a strong gender effect, with bias both appearing and subsiding among men only. This experimental study illustrates a dynamic change in bias, tracking the realignment of real world conflict lines and public efforts to reconstitute group identity. The change in salient group identity we describe here likely contributed to the victory of Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election

The Growth Cone Cytoskeleton in Axon Outgrowth and Guidance

Axon outgrowth and guidance to the proper target requires the coordination of filamentous (F)-actin and microtubules (MTs), the dynamic cytoskeletal polymers that promote shape change and locomotion. Over the past two decades, our knowledge of the many guidance cues, receptors, and downstream signaling cascades involved in neuronal outgrowth and guidance has increased dramatically. Less is known, however, about how those cascades of information converge and direct appropriate remodeling and interaction of cytoskeletal polymers, the ultimate effectors of movement and guidance. During development, much of the communication that occurs between environmental guidance cues and the cytoskeleton takes place at the growing tip of the axon, the neuronal growth cone. Several articles on this topic focus on the “input” to the growth cone, the myriad of receptor types, and their corresponding cognate ligands. Others investigate the signaling cascades initiated by receptors and propagated by second messenger pathways (i.e., kinases, phosphatases, GTPases). Ultimately, this plethora of information converges on proteins that associate directly with the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons. The role of these cytoskeletal-associated proteins, as well as the cytoskeleton itself in axon outgrowth and guidance, is the subject of this article

Constraining a Historical Black Carbon Emission Inventory of the United States for 1960–2000

We present an observationally constrained United States black carbon emission inventory with explicit representation of activity and technology between 1960 and 2000. We compare measured coefficient of haze data in California and New Jersey between 1965 and 2000 with predicted concentration trends and attribute discrepancies between observations and predicted concentrations among several sources based on seasonal and weekly patterns in observations. Emission factors for sources with distinct fuel trends are then estimated by comparing fuel and concentration trends and further substantiated by in‐depth examination of emission measurements. We recommend (1) increasing emission factors for preregulation vehicles by 80–250%; (2) increasing emission factors for residential heating stoves and boilers by 70% to 200% for 1980s and before; (3) explicitly representing naturally aspired off‐road engines for 1980s and before; and (4) explicitly representing certified wood stoves after 1985. We also evaluate other possible sources for discrepancy between model and measurement, including bias in modeled meteorology, subgrid spatial heterogeneity of concentrations, and inconsistencies in reported fuel consumption. The updated U.S. emissions are higher than the a priori estimate by 80% between 1960 and 1980, totaling 690 Gg/year in 1960 and 620 Gg/year in 1970 (excluding open burning). The revised inventory shows a strongly decreasing trend that was present in the observations but missing in the a priori inventory.Key PointsSystematic evaluation of long‐term U.S. black carbon observations identifies a small number of poorly estimated emission sourcesUpdated black carbon emission is higher than the previous estimate by 80% for 1960–1980, showing a decreasing trend as found in observationEmission factors for preregulation vehicles, off‐road engines, and residential heating stoves in 1980 and before should be increasedPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149266/1/jgrd55339_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149266/2/jgrd55339.pd

Literatur-Rundschau

Harald Pawlowski: Die Zukunft liegt in jedem Augenblick (Michael Schmolke)Ron Brinitzer: Religion - eine institutionenökonomische Analyse (Steffen W. Hillebrecht)Willern Marie Speelmann: Liturgie in beeld: Over de identiteit van de rooms-katholieke liturgie in de elektronische media (Martin Gertler)Mirko Marr: Internetzugang und politische Informiertheit (Michael Harnischmacher)Peter Overbeck (Hg.): Musikjournalismus (Liane Rothenberger)Martin Sabrow/Ralph Jessen/Klaus Große Kracht (Hg.): Zeitgeschichte als Streitgeschichte (Michael Schmolke)Inge Kloepfer: Friede Springer (Ute Stenert)

Gender Differences in Russian Colour Naming

In the present study we explored Russian colour naming in a web-based psycholinguistic experiment (http://www.colournaming.com). Colour singletons representing the Munsell Color Solid (N=600 in total) were presented on a computer monitor and named using an unconstrained colour-naming method. Respondents were Russian speakers (N=713). For gender-split equal-size samples (NF=333, NM=333) we estimated and compared (i) location of centroids of 12 Russian basic colour terms (BCTs); (ii) the number of words in colour descriptors; (iii) occurrences of BCTs most frequent non-BCTs. We found a close correspondence between females’ and males’ BCT centroids. Among individual BCTs, the highest inter-gender agreement was for seryj ‘grey’ and goluboj ‘light blue’, while the lowest was for sinij ‘dark blue’ and krasnyj ‘red’. Females revealed a significantly richer repertory of distinct colour descriptors, with great variety of monolexemic non-BCTs and “fancy” colour names; in comparison, males offered relatively more BCTs or their compounds. Along with these measures, we gauged denotata of most frequent CTs, reflected by linguistic segmentation of colour space, by employing a synthetic observer trained by gender-specific responses. This psycholinguistic representation revealed females’ more refined linguistic segmentation, compared to males, with higher linguistic density predominantly along the redgreen axis of colour space

The economic and innovation contribution of universities: a regional perspective

Universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs) have come to be regarded as key sources of knowledge utilisable in the pursuit of economic growth. Although there have been numerous studies assessing the economic and innovation impact of HEIs, there has been little systematic analysis of differences in the relative contribution of HEIs across regions. This paper provides an exploration of some of these differences in the context of the UK’s regions. Significant differences are found in the wealth generated by universities according to regional location and type of institution. Universities in more competitive regions are generally more productive than those located in less competitive regions. Also, traditional universities are generally more productive than their newer counterparts, with university productivity positively related to knowledge commercialisation capabilities. Weaker regions tend to be more dependent on their universities for income and innovation, but often these universities under-perform in comparison to counterpart institutions in more competitive regions. It is argued that uncompetitive regions lack the additional knowledge infrastructure, besides universities, that are more commonly a feature of more competitive regions