The Success of Project Mercury through the Persona of the Mercury Seven

There has been no shortage of literature written on the Mercury Space Program, focusing on many different aspects ranging from the personnel, technology, politics, and achievements of the program. The prevailing discussion of the space program focuses on the astronauts themselves as they gained celebrity status long before they had done anything to merit it. The vast body of scholarship on the topic takes the popularity of the Mercury Seven astronauts as matter-of-fact rather than viewing it as manufactured by NASA in order to bolster support for a largely unproven space program. By emphasizing the “everyman” aspect of the astronauts, the high-stakes element of the Cold War, and the image of the American ideal embodied by the program, the individual efforts of NASA and the press directed the attention of the public to the astronauts rather than the volatile technological performance. While the Mercury Seven would eventually earn the popularity they received from the beginning, NASA’s projection of the astronauts served to reassure the American public that their investment in the program would be fruitful

Examination of Beam Propagation in Misaligned Holographic Gratings and Comparison with the Acousto-optic Transfer Function Model for Profiled Beams

A transfer function formalism developed earlier for the propagation of profiled optical beams through acousto-optic Bragg cells is revisited and applied to a thick holographic grating. The results based on the holographic coupled wave model and the acousto-optic multiple scattering model are shown to be compatible, and equivalent parameters such as the Q and grating strength are defined for the two systems. Results for a Gaussian spatial profile are numerically computed and compared. For the holographic grating, a profiled beam may be interpreted as an angular misalignment or Bragg-angle mismatch problem. The case of Bragg-wavelength mismatch is also investigated for the case of a polychromatic READ beam with a uniform and a Gaussian amplitude spectrum. The resulting spatial amplitude distribution of the scattered order at the grating output is plotted as a function of the departure from the correct Bragg directio

Estimating Operational Validity Under Incidental Range Restriction: Some Important but Neglected Issues

Operational validities are important to personnel selection research because they estimate how well a predictor in practical use correlates with a criterion construct, if the criterion measure were purged of measurement error variance. Because range restriction on a predictor or predictor composite creates incidental range restriction on the criterion, existing methodologies offer limited information and guidance for estimating operational validities. Although these effects of range restriction and criterion unreliability could be corrected with existing equations in a sequential fashion, proper use of sequential correction equations is not always as straightforward as it appears. This research reviews the existing equations for correcting validities, outlines the appropriate method for correcting validity coefficients via sequential equations, and proposes a new equation that performs a combined correction for the effects of incidental range restriction and criterion unreliability

Estimating Operational Validity Under Incidental Range Restriction: Some Important but Neglected Issues

Operational validities are important to personnel selection research because they estimate how well a predictor in practical use correlates with a criterion construct, if the criterion measure were purged of measurement error variance. Because range restriction on a predictor or predictor composite creates incidental range restriction on the criterion, existing methodologies offer limited information and guidance for estimating operational validities. Although these effects of range restriction and criterion unreliability could be corrected with existing equations in a sequential fashion, proper use of sequential correction equations is not always as straightforward as it appears. This research reviews the existing equations for correcting validities, outlines the appropriate method for correcting validity coefficients via sequential equations, and proposes a new equation that performs a combined correction for the effects of incidental range restriction and criterion unreliability. Accessed 1,910 times on https://pareonline.net from August 06, 2017 to December 31, 2019. For downloads from January 1, 2020 forward, please click on the PlumX Metrics link to the right

GAL4 disrupts a repressing nucleosome during activation of GAL1 transcription in vivo

Photofootprinting in vivo of GALl reveals an activation- dependent pattern between the UASG and the TATA box, in a sequence not required for transcriptional activation by GAL4. The pattern results from a nucleosome whose position depends on sequences within the UASG. In the wild-type gene, activation by GAL4 and derivatives disrupts this nucleosome. This activity is independent of interactions with DNA-bound core transcription factors and is proportional to the strength of the activator. Presence of the nucleosome correlates with low basal transcription levels under various conditions, suggesting a role in limiting basal expression. We propose a role for the GAL4 activation domain in displacing a nucleosome and suggest that this is part of the mechanism by which GAL4 activates transcription in vivo

Investigating the accuracy of parallel analysis in underextraction conditions: A monte carlo study

One of the most important decisions to make when performing an exploratory factor analysis regards the number of factors to retain. Parallel analysis is considered to be the best course of action in these circumstances as it consistently outperforms other factor extraction methods (Zwick & Velicer, 1986). Even so, parallel analysis requires further research and refinement to improve its accuracy. Characteristics such as factor loadings, correlations between factors, and number of variables per factor all have been shown to adversely impact the effectiveness of parallel analysis as a means of identifying the number of factors. Critically, even the choice of criteria on which to evaluate factors such as the eigenvalue at the 50th or 95th percentile can have deleterious effects on the number of factors extracted. One area of parallel analysis yet to be researched is the magnitude of the difference between the actual eigenvalue and the random data-based eigenvalue. Currently, even if the margin between the actual eigenvalue and the random data-based eigenvalue is nominal, the factor is considered to be meaningful. As such, it may behoove researchers to enforce a higher standard, such as a greater margin between the two eigenvalues than just an absolute difference. Accordingly, the purpose of this study will be to evaluate the efficacy of a 10 percent margin criterion as compared to an absolute margin. These margins will specifically be evaluated in conjunction with the 50th, 90th, 95th, and 99th percentile eigenvalue criteria on a population correlation matrix which engenders underextraction. Previous research (Matsumoto & Brown, 2017) explored the same conditions on a population correlation matrix designed to cause overextraction. They found that the most stringent standard (99th percentile eigenvalue plus 10 percent margin) was the most accurate. For the present study however, we hypothesize that the most accurate results will be obtained from a standard less stringent than the 99th percentile eigenvalue plus 10 percent margin. This research has important implications for the scientific and practical application of psychometrics

Simple Synchronous Detector for Spectroscopic Studies

Lock-in-amplifiers are used in many applications for signal processing and offer the ability to discriminate high levels of noise. While these instruments are very powerful and offer many features, they are not portable and are expensive. An economical and easy to use alternative circuit is presented which incorporates pre-amplification, reference, and synchronous detection on one circuit board. The design can be used in laboratory or process control situations where its small size and low cost are advantageous. The circuit was successfully applied to moderate and high level signals as seen in flame infrared emission detection and in a portable radiometer for rocket plume studies

Parenting capacities of primary caregivers of children with disorders of sexual development

Atypical development of chromosomal, gonadal or anatomic sex (a disorder known as DSD) is announced at or shortly after birth and can put great stress on caregivers who are responsible for medical decision making, aftercare, and promoting future adjustment for children with this disorder. Consensus statements have recognized the stress associated with DSD for patients and their parents, however, much remains to be learned concerning parental characteristics and psychological outcomes among primary caregivers of children with DSD. Existing data and results of parenting studies of caregivers of children with chronic illness are presented as well as the limited findings within the DSD population. Psychological outcomes among parents of children diagnosed with DSD are discussed and future directions are offered

Colchicine Reversibly Inhibits Electrical Activity in Arthropod Mechanoreceptors

Dendrites of cockroach tibial spine mechanoreceptors contain hundreds of free microtubules, which may have some relation to the generation of electrical activity. Deflection of a spine produces a train of action potentials. Continuous perfusion over a period of 4 hours results in no response decrement. Perfusion with 10mM colchicine reversibly inhibits the response within 5-7 minutes. Irreversible inhibition is produced by perfusion with 1mM vinblastine sulfate in perfusion solution containing 1% dimethyl sulfoxide. Deuterium oxide does not inhibit at concentrations less than 50%, nor does it counteract inhibition by 10mM colchicine. Colchicine may be affecting (1) intracellular microtubules, (2) membraneous tubulin, (3) other membrane components, or (4) axoplasmic transport of essential materials to the sensory dendrites

Gene regulatory networks elucidating huanglongbing disease mechanisms.

Next-generation sequencing was exploited to gain deeper insight into the response to infection by Candidatus liberibacter asiaticus (CaLas), especially the immune disregulation and metabolic dysfunction caused by source-sink disruption. Previous fruit transcriptome data were compared with additional RNA-Seq data in three tissues: immature fruit, and young and mature leaves. Four categories of orchard trees were studied: symptomatic, asymptomatic, apparently healthy, and healthy. Principal component analysis found distinct expression patterns between immature and mature fruits and leaf samples for all four categories of trees. A predicted protein - protein interaction network identified HLB-regulated genes for sugar transporters playing key roles in the overall plant responses. Gene set and pathway enrichment analyses highlight the role of sucrose and starch metabolism in disease symptom development in all tissues. HLB-regulated genes (glucose-phosphate-transporter, invertase, starch-related genes) would likely determine the source-sink relationship disruption. In infected leaves, transcriptomic changes were observed for light reactions genes (downregulation), sucrose metabolism (upregulation), and starch biosynthesis (upregulation). In parallel, symptomatic fruits over-expressed genes involved in photosynthesis, sucrose and raffinose metabolism, and downregulated starch biosynthesis. We visualized gene networks between tissues inducing a source-sink shift. CaLas alters the hormone crosstalk, resulting in weak and ineffective tissue-specific plant immune responses necessary for bacterial clearance. Accordingly, expression of WRKYs (including WRKY70) was higher in fruits than in leaves. Systemic acquired responses were inadequately activated in young leaves, generally considered the sites where most new infections occur