57 research outputs found
Standards of Best Practices Environmental Education & Interpretation Professionals
This document provides guidelines about the knowledge and skills needed to provide effective Environmental Education and Interpretation (EE&I) experiences in the state of Nevada. Effective experiences not only further the mission of the organization but also inspire understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of Southern Nevadaâs environment.
Standards of Best Practices for Nevada Environmental Education & Interpretation (NEE&I) Professionals is a guide for providers working at public lands, nature centers, museums, zoos, aquaria, schools, and all nature and heritage-rich places. It is designed to help NEE&I providers develop and implement the highest quality experiences for all possible audiences. It is a tool for NEE&I providers to use as they develop new experiences, deliver programs, or evaluate the effectiveness of the experience. Because EE&I experiences come in many forms, not every part of this document will apply to every EE&I experience
Halevi's extension of the Euler-Drude model for plasmonic systems
The nonlocal response of plasmonic materials and nanostructures is usually
described within a hydrodynamic approach which is based on the Euler-Drude
equation. In this work, we reconsider this approach within linear response
theory and employ Halevi's extension to this standard hydrodynamic model. After
discussing the impact of this improved model, which we term the Halevi model,
on the propagation of longitudinal volume modes, we accordingly extend the
Mie-Ruppin theory. Specifically, we derive the dispersion relation of
cylindrical surface plasmons. This reveals a nonlocal, collisional damping term
which is related to earlier phenomenological considerations of
limited-mean-free-path effects and influences both, peak width and amplitude of
corresponding resonances in the extinction spectrum. In addition, we transfer
the Halevi model into the time-domain thereby revealing a novel, diffusive
contribution to the current which shares certain similarities with
Cattaneo-type currents and analyze the resulting hybrid, diffusive-wave-like
motion. Further, we discuss the relation of the Halevi model to other
approaches commonly used in the literature. Finally, we demonstrate how to
implement the Halevi model into the Discontinuous-Galerkin Time-Domain
finite-element Maxwell solver and are able to identify an oscillatory
contribution to the diffusive current. The Halevi model thus captures a number
of relevant features beyond the standard hydrodynamic model. Contrary to other
extensions of the standard hydrodynamic model, its use in time-domain Maxwell
solvers is straightforward -- especially due its affinity to a class of
descriptions that allow for a clear distinction between bulk and surface
response. This is of particular importance for applications in nano-plasmonics
where nano-gap structures and other nano-scale features have to be modeled
efficiently and accurately.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, 1 table
Efficient Luminescent Solar Concentrators Based on Environmentally Friendly CdâFree Ternary AIS/ZnS Quantum Dots
Luminescent solar concentrators (LSC) allow to obtain renewable energy from building integrated photovoltaic systems. As promising efficient and long-term stable LSC fluorophores semiconductor nanocrystals like quantum dots (QDs) with size and composition tunable optoelectronic properties have recently emerged. The most popular II/VI or IV/VI semiconductor QDs contain, however, potentially hazardous cadmium or lead ions, which is a bottleneck for commercial applications. A simple aqueous based, microwave-assisted synthesis for environmentally friendly and highly emissive AgInS2/ZnS QDs is developed using 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and glutathione (GSH) and their incorporation into polylaurylmethacrylate (PLMA) polymer slabs integrable in LSC devices (10.4 Ă 10.4 Ă 0.2 cm3, G = 12.98). With this simple approach, optical power efficiencies (OPE) of 3.8% and 3.6% and optical quantum efficiencies (OQE) of 24.1% and 27.4% are obtained, which are among the highest values yet reported.German Research CouncilEuropean Union's Horizon 2020Marie SklodowskaâCurieDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659Peer Reviewe
Architecture and utopia, 2015
No abstract available
Rheumatoid arthritis - treatment: 180. Utility of Body Weight Classified Low-Dose Leflunomide in Japanese Rheumatoid Arthritis
Background: In Japan, more than 20 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients died of interstitial pneumonia (IP) caused by leflunomide (LEF) were reported, but many of them were considered as the victims of opportunistic infection currently. In this paper, efficacy and safety of low-dose LEF classified by body weight (BW) were studied. Methods: Fifty-nine RA patients were started to administrate LEF from July 2007 to July 2009. Among them, 25 patients were excluded because of the combination with tacrolimus, and medication modification within 3 months before LEF. Remaining 34 RA patients administered 20 to 50âmg/week of LEF were followed up for 1 year and enrolled in this study. Dose of LEF was classified by BW (50âmg/week for over 50âkg, 40âmg/week for 40 to 50âkg and 20 to 30âmg/week for under 40âkg). The average age and RA duration of enrolled patients were 55.5 years old and 10.2 years. Prednisolone (PSL), methotrexate (MTX) and etanercept were used in 23, 28 and 2 patients, respectively. In case of insufficient response or adverse effect, dosage change or discontinuance of LEF were considered. Failure was defined as dosages up of PSL and MTX, or dosages down or discontinuance of LEF. Last observation carried forward method was used for the evaluation of failed patients at 1 year. Results: At 1 year after LEF start, good/ moderate/ no response assessed by the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response criteria using Disease Activity Score, including a 28-joint count (DAS28)-C reactive protein (CRP) were showed in 14/ 10/ 10 patients, respectively. The dosage changes of LEF at 1 year were dosage up: 10, same dosage: 5, dosage down: 8 and discontinuance: 11 patients. The survival rate of patients in this study was 23.5% (24 patients failed) but actual LEF continuous rate was 67.6% (11 patients discontinued) at 1 year. The major reason of failure was liver dysfunction, and pneumocystis pneumonia was occurred in 1 patient resulted in full recovery. One patient died of sepsis caused by decubitus ulcer infection. DAS28-CRP score was decreased from 3.9 to 2.7 significantly. Although CRP was decreased from 1.50 to 0.93âmg/dl, it wasn't significant. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 was decreased from 220.0 to 174.2âng/ml significantly. Glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) was increased from 19 to 35 U/l and number of leukocyte was decreased from 7832 to 6271 significantly. DAS28-CRP, CRP, and MMP-3 were improved significantly with MTX, although they weren't without MTX. Increase of GPT and leukopenia were seen significantly with MTX, although they weren't without MTX. Conclusions: It was reported that the risks of IP caused by LEF in Japanese RA patients were past IP history, loading dose administration and low BW. Addition of low-dose LEF is a potent safe alternative for the patients showing unsatisfactory response to current medicines, but need to pay attention for liver function and infection caused by leukopenia, especially with MTX. Disclosure statement: The authors have declared no conflicts of interes
Who approves fraudulence? Configurational causes of consumers' unethical judgments
Corrupt behavior presents major challenges for organizations in a wide range of settings. This article embraces a complexity theoretical perspective to elucidate the causal patterns of factors underlying consumersâ unethical judgments. This study examines how causal conditions of four distinct domains combine into conïŹgurational causes of unethical judgments of two frequent forms of corrupt consumer behavior: shoplifting and fare dodging. The ïŹndings of fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analyses indicate alternative, consistently sufïŹcient âârecipesââ for the outcomes of interest. This study extends prior work on the topic by offering new insights into the interplay and the interconnected structures of multiple causal factors and by describing conïŹgurational causes of consumersâ ethical evaluations of corrupt behaviors. This knowledge may support practitioners and policy makers to develop education and control approaches to thwart corrupt consumer behaviors
High Mileage Commuter Vehicle Project
In today\u27s world, high fuel costs and pollution levels have many people concerned. While several of the major automobile manufacturers are turning to hybrid technology to improve economy and reduce emissions, the technology they use adds cost to the vehicles that the technology is implemented on. The motivation behind this project was to show that a vehicle could be created, with the main purpose of commuting in mind, to combat these modem day concerns. Research was conducted on engine selection, drive train choices, chassis design, and suspension design to help achieve the mileage goal in a safe, cost effective, manufacturable manner. From this research, a three wheeled, two passenger, diesel powered vehicle was designed, built, and tested. One primary outcome of this project was to design and manufacture a vehicle to achieve a desired fuel economy of 100 miles per gallon. From the completion of this project, another goal was to give a solution to the fuel cost and pollution problems of today and to inspire others to seek out different alternatives for achieving high fuel economy and reducing emissions
Digital Human Modeling Requirements and Standardization.
This paper will initiate a discussion on automotive
industry requirements and associated standardization of
digital human modeling software (DHMS) as applied to
manufacturing operations. Industry benefits of
standardization are vast, making it difficult to identify and provide an exhaustive list. High value benefits will be
listed for the purpose of this discussion. Industry users
of DHMS will benefit by the standardization of an
application programming interface, classification of
anthropometry and simulation data translation. A list of
high value standardization goals will be provided for the
purpose of this discussion. Two examples of
standardization goals include 1) a reduction in the time
and cost required to integrate research results into
commercial software and 2) improved simulation data
transfer and linkages between DHMS to simplify the use
of multiple tools when analyzing a single problem. This
paper will provide an introduction to and proposal for
standardization of DHMS. It will introduce the concept of
a digital human modeling (DHM) architecture. It will also
include a proposal on areas of standardization for future
discussion
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