High-resolution Satellite Imaging of the 2004 Transit of Venus and Asymmetries in the Cytherean Atmosphere

This paper presents the only space-borne optical-imaging observations of the 2004 June 8 transit of Venus, the first such transit visible from Earth since AD 1882. The high-resolution, high-cadence satellite images we arranged from NASA's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) reveal the onset of visibility of Venus's atmosphere and give further information about the black-drop effect, whose causes we previously demonstrated from TRACE observations of a transit of Mercury. The atmosphere is gradually revealed before second contact and after third contact, resulting from the changing depth of atmospheric layers refracting the photospheric surface into the observer's direction. We use Venus Express observations to relate the atmospheric arcs seen during the transit to the atmospheric structure of Venus. Finally, we relate the transit images to current and future exoplanet observations, providing a sort of ground truth showing an analog in our solar system to effects observable only with light curves in other solar systems with the Kepler and CoRoT missions and ground-based exoplanet-transit observations

Use of near infrared correlation spectroscopy for quantitation of surface iron, absorbed water and stored electronic energy in a suite of Mars soil analog materials

A number of questions concerning the surface mineralogy and the history of water on Mars remain unresolved using the Viking analyses and Earth-based telescopic data. Identification and quantitation of iron-bearing clays on Mars would elucidate these outstanding issues. Near infrared correlation analysis, a method typically applied to qualitative and quantitative analysis of individual constituents of multicomponent mixtures, is adapted here to selection of distinctive features of a small, highly homologous series of Fe/Ca-exchanged montmorillonites and several kalinites. Independently determined measures of surface iron, relative humidity and stored electronic energy were used as constituent data for linear regression of the constituent vs. reflectance data throughout the spectral region 0.68 to 2.5 micrometers. High correlations were found in appropriate regions for all three constituents, though that with stored energy is still considered tenuous. Quantitation was improved using 1st and 2nd derivative spectra. High resolution data over a broad spectral range would be required to quantitatively identify iron-bearing clays by remotely sensed reflectance

Worker Impact on the Change Process in a Food Processing Plant

239 leaves. Advisor: S. Pike HallThe problem. Quality management consultants and change experts generally agree that change must come from the top of an organization. This viewpoint may constitute a fatal flaw in attempts at workplace reorganization in America. This study views the process from a management and worker perspective, looking for evidence that change may be a worker initiated and sustained process. Methodology. This study is a naturalistic inquiry into the change process at a food processing plant in the Midwestern United States. The enterprise is attempting to reorganize production processes in order to improve the quality of finished products. The researcher is engaged in facilitating, documenting, and analyzing the change process. Findings. The researcher engaged in a facilitated, interactive change process with the union and management at the study site, observing, participating, and documenting a wide variety of activities which surfaced claims, concerns, and issues, and which resulted in an integrated statement of understanding regarding the change process and actions associated with that process. Conclusion. This study confirmed that the use of hermeneutic circles is an effective method of surfacing differences in perspective, experience, motivation, and commitment to a change process. This method was expanded by a storytelling process which surfaced similarities and common ground allowing participants to engage in the development of joint constructions, which led to shared planning and action. The researcher's human instrument, based on a Rogerian counseling approach, created an environment which allowed both union and management to develop new constructions of their relationship

Central City-Suburban Political Preference: The Case of Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa

88 leaves. Advisor: Dr. William AngrickThe thesis is that there is no difference in political preference of city or suburban residents without a concomitant difference in social status. The Presidential electoral returns for 1972 and 1976 were correlated with socioeconomic information from the 1970 census of population for Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa. The statistical analysis was done by computer. The findings support the thesis. In addition, the findings indicate that lower socioeconomic status registered voters reside in the east side of Des Moines and the contiguous suburban townships and tend to vote Democrat; that the higher socioeconomic status registered voters reside in the west side of Des Moines and the contiguous suburban townships, and tend to vote Republican; that lower and higher socioeconomic status voters tend to participate proportionately in the actual voting process, once they are registered; and that suburban residents tend to be in a higher socioeconomic status than city residents

Vicarages and Deaconess Internships 2023

Call Day 2023 Vicarage Placements and Deaconess Internships on Wednesday April 26th at Concordia Seminary St. Louis.https://scholar.csl.edu/callday/1097/thumbnail.jp

Factors affecting B/Ca ratios in synthetic aragonite

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2015. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Chemical Geology 437 (2016): 67-76, doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.05.007.Measurements of B/Ca ratios in marine carbonates have been suggested to record seawater carbonate chemistry, however experimental calibration of such proxies based on inorganic partitioning remains limited. Here we conducted a series of synthetic aragonite precipitation experiments to evaluate the factors influencing the partitioning of B/Ca between aragonite and seawater. Our results indicate that the B/Ca ratio of synthetic aragonites depends primarily on the relative concentrations of borate and carbonate ions in the solution from which the aragonite precipitates; not on bicarbonate concentration as has been previously suggested. The influence of temperature was not significant over the range investigated (20 – 40°C), however, partitioning may be influenced by saturation state (and/or growth rate). Based on our experimental results, we suggest that aragonite B/Ca ratios can be utilized as a proxy of [CO32-]. Boron isotopic composition (δ11B) is an established pH proxy, thus B/Ca and δ11B together allow the full carbonate chemistry of the solution from which the aragonite precipitated to be calculated. To the extent that aragonite precipitation by marine organisms is affected by seawater chemistry, B/Ca may also prove useful in reconstructing seawater chemistry. A simplified boron purification protocol based on amberlite resin and the organic buffer TRIS is also described.This work was supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Research conducted at WHOI was supported by NSF grant OCE-1338320. M.H. was supported by an ARC Super Science Fellowship and an NSF International Postdoctoral Fellowship. T.D. was supported by a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. M.M. was supported by a Western Australian Premiers Fellowship and an ARC Laureate Fellowship

An early secretory pathway mediated by GNOM-LIKE 1 and GNOM is essential for basal polarity establishment in Arabidopsis thaliana

Spatial regulation of the plant hormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA, or auxin) is essential for plant development. Auxin gradient establishment is mediated by polarly localized auxin transporters, including PIN-FORMED (PIN) proteins. Their localization and abundance at the plasma membrane are tightly regulated by endo-membrane machinery, especially the endocytic and recycling pathways mediated by the ADP ribosylation factor guanine nucleotide exchange factor (ARF-GEF) GNOM. We assessed the role of the early secretory pathway in establishing PIN1 polarity in Arabidopsis thaliana by pharmacological and genetic approaches. We identified the compound endosidin 8 (ES8), which selectively interferes with PIN1 basal polarity without altering the polarity of apical proteins. ES8 alters the auxin distribution pattern in the root and induces a strong developmental phenotype, including reduced root length. The ARF-GEF-defective mutants gnom-like 1 (gnl1-1) and gnom (van7) are significantly resistant to ES8. The compound does not affect recycling or vacuolar trafficking of PIN1 but leads to its intracellular accumulation, resulting in loss of PIN1 basal polarity at the plasma membrane. Our data confirm a role for GNOM in endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-Golgi trafficking and reveal that a GNL1/GNOM-mediated early secretory pathway selectively regulates PIN1 basal polarity establishment in a manner essential for normal plant development