Technology assessment of portable energy RDT and P

Results are presented of a workshop conducted to assess portable energy technology. The results were evaluated and areas for future research were considered. Several research categories were studied: increasing presently available fuel supplies, developing new fuel sources, utilization of new transportation fuels, improving conservation practices, and equitable distribution of fuel supplies. Several research projects were proposed, and work statements were constructed for those considered suitable

The Motive for Indirect Cost Control in Higher Education

Sciences de Gestion, n (65), 2008, 73-78.Colleges and universities throughout the world rely on different funding models to cover costs. Regardless of the model used, these institutions are experiencing intense pressure to control costs. However, controlling indirect costs in traditional not-for-profit institutions of higher learning is in direct conflict with a more powerful survival motive. We propose that actions required to attract and retain students lead to product proliferation in the form of increased programmatic offerings and to other forms of student support, which leads to higher costs. Cost containment is not a realistic priority given the prevailing institutional structures

The Mid-IR Spectral Effects of Darkening Agents and Porosity on the Silicate Surface Features of Airless Bodies

We systematically measured the mid-IR spectra of different mixtures of three silicates (antigorite, lizardite, and pure silica) with varying effective porosities and amounts of darkening agent (iron oxide and carbon). These spectra have broad implications for interpretation of current and future mission data for airless bodies, as well as for testing the capabilities of new instruments. Serpentines, such as antigorite and lizardite, are common to airless surfaces, and their mid-IR spectra in the presence of darkening agents and different surface porosities would be typical for those measured by spacecraft. Silica has only been measured in the plumes of Enceladus and presents exciting possibilities for other Saturn-system surfaces due to long range transport of E-ring material. Results show that the addition of the IR-transparent salt, KBr, to simulate surface porosity affected silicate spectra in ways that were not predictable from linear mixing models. The strengthening of silicate bands with increasing pore space, even when only trace amounts of KBr were added, indicates that spectral features of porous surfaces are more detectable in the mid-IR. Combining iron oxide with the pure silicates seemed to flatten most of the silicate features, but strengthened the reststrahlen band of the silica. Incorporating carbon with the silicates weakened all silicate features, but the silica bands were more resistant to being diminished, indicating silica may be more detectable in the mid-IR than the serpentines. We show how incorporating darkening agents and porosity provides a more complete explanation of the mid-IR spectral features previously reported on worlds such as Iapetus

Symmetry-breaking thermally induced collapse of dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates

We investigate a Bose-Einstein condensate with additional long-range dipolar interaction in a cylindrically symmetric trap within a variational framework. Compared to the ground state of this system, little attention has as yet been payed to its unstable excited states. For thermal excitations, however, the latter is of great interest, because it forms the "activated complex" that mediates the collapse of the condensate. For a certain value of the s-wave scatting length our investigations reveal a bifurcation in the transition state, leading to the emergence of two additional and symmetry-breaking excited states. Because these are of lower energy than their symmetric counterpart, we predict the occurrence of a symmetry-breaking thermally induced collapse of dipolar condensates. We show that its occurrence crucially depends on the trap geometry and calculate the thermal decay rates of the system within leading order transition state theory with the help of a uniform rate formula near the rank-2 saddle which allows to smoothly pass the bifurcation.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Human pancreatic cancer cell lines do not express receptors for somatostatin.

The in vivo administration of somatostatin (SS) or its analogues is capable of suppressing the growth of pancreatic cancer in experimental animals. We examined the effects of SS-14 and its analogue RC-160 on the in vitro growth of two human pancreatic cancer cell lines MiaPaCa-2 and Panc-1 stimulated with epidermal growth factor (EGF) or insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Neither SS-14 nor RC-160 inhibited the growth of either cell line. In contrast RC-160 did inhibit the EGF-stimulated growth of a rat pancreatic cancer cell line AR42J. Binding studies with 125I-Tyr11 somatostatin revealed the presence of a single class of high affinity binding sites with a Kd of 0.20 +/- 0.05 nM and a Bmax of 2.1 +/- 0.26 pmoles mg-1 protein on AR42J but not displaceable binding was observed on MiaPaCa-2 or Panc-1. We conclude that lack of receptors accounts for the failure of SS-14 and RC-160 to influence the growth of human pancreatic cancer in vitro. These results, taken together with other findings, lead us to question the therapeutic efficacy of somatostatin and its analogues as mono-therapy in the treatment of human pancreatic cancer

Nonadopters of Online Social Network Services: Is It Easy to Have Fun Yet?

Although online social network services (OSNS), e.g., Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, are enjoying rampant popularity, a subsection of the population (i.e., nonadopters) continues to forgo using them. Our study is one of the first to focus exclusively on what might motivate nonadopters to accept a widely adopted IT. By considering nonadopters’ inertia within the context of early stages of innovation diffusion and incorporating status quo bias theory into well-established technology acceptance model (TAM) relationships, this study uncovers the finding that people who report that they do not use OSNS would use them if they thought OSNS were easier and more enjoyable to use, and if they were persuaded by others to use them. Our findings suggest these nonadopters do not see the usefulness of OSNS, risks of sharing personal information publically, or the perceived amount of effort in using OSNS as factors that influence potential acceptance and use of the technology. This study contributes to research by offering an integrated theoretical framework that updates TAM with status quo bias theory to study nonadopters and offers IS practice guidelines for OSNS providers to attract nonadopters to accept and use the technology

A deterministic method for robust estimation of multivariate location and shape

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Overheating in Scotland : lessons from 26 monitored low energy homes

There is growing awareness in the UK that overheating is a significant problem and one that is likely to intensify with climate change, increasing urbanisation, an ageing population and the move towards ?low energy? buildings. Recent research suggested that while overheating may be an issue in the South of England, particularly in urban areas, it was not likely to be an issue for Scotland and the North of the UK in the medium term. This notion is reflected in the lack of awareness of the issue in Scotland. Monitoring of 26 new-build low energy and Passivhaus homes across Scotland over a two year period indicates overheating is prevalent in living areas and in particular in bedrooms where it is acknowledged that respite from high temperatures is important. This paper describes the quantitative and qualitative results, assesses relevant factors, comments on predictive tools used and seeks a robust series of measures to avoid overheating in future low energy homes in Scotland

BATF Regulates the Development and Function of IL-17 Producing iNKT Cells.

Background BATF plays important roles in the function of the immune system. Batf null mice are deficient in both CD4+ Th17 cells and T follicular helper cells and possess an intrinsic B cell defect that leads to the complete absence of class switched Ig. In this study, Tg mice overexpressing BATF in T cells were used together with Batf null mice to investigate how altering levels of BATF expression in T cells impacts the development and function of a recently characterized population of iNKT cells expressing IL-17 (iNKT-17). Results BATF has a direct impact on IL-17 expression by iNKT cells. However, in contrast to the Th17 lineage where BATF activates IL-17 expression and leads to the expansion of the lineage, BATF overexpression restricts overall iNKT cell numbers while skewing the compartment in vivo and in vitro toward an iNKT-17 phenotype. Conclusions This work is the first to demonstrate that BATF joins RORγt as the molecular signature for all IL-17 producing cells in vivo and identifies BATF as a component of the nuclear protein network that could be targeted to regulate IL-17-mediated disease. Interestingly, these studies also reveal that while the Il17a gene is a common target for BATF regulation in Th17 and iNKT-17 cells, this regulation is accompanied by opposite effects on the growth and expansion of these two cell lineages