Color Vision in the Bovine

Eight heifers were trained using operant conditioning to press a plate to receive a feed reward. Different wavelengths of light were presented as correct and incorrect stimuli. Positive and negative responses to the stimuli were registered electronically. Daily sessions of 17 minutes were conducted in a chamber with external light being excluded. The duration of the stimulus was fixed at 17 seconds after which stimuli were randomly presented. Only presses on the plate when the correct stimulus was presented were reinforced with feed. A 75% correct choice was the criterion used as acceptable discrimination. Ratios of correct to incorrect responses were computed. A stability of response was judged to occur when the median of these ratios over 5 days did not differ by more than .05 from the median of the ratios from the previous 5 sessions. Three colors i.e. green {535nm), red {610nm), and blue {450nm) were compared pairwise during 8 trials. Trial 7 was a repeat trial of green vs red and trial 8 was a comparison of green vs green. Heifers gave random response to green vs green. Red was distinguished from blue by five of the heifers: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 at 76%, 91%, 78%, 88%, and 81% correct choice respectively. Blue was distinguished from green by three of the heifers: 1, 2, and 5 at 89%, 88%, and 85% correct choice respectively. Green was distinguished from red by three of the heifers: 1, 5, and 7 at 90%, 84%, and 85% correct choice respectively. These last discriminations we r e made in the repeat trial of green vs red after heifers failed to do so in the first trial of green vs red. Color discrimination and discrimination learning have been demonstrated by these results

On The Removal of Agricultural Price Bands in Chile: A General Equilibrium Analysis

Chile has supported its agriculture with the use of price bands on selected commodities namely wheat, vegetable oils and fats, and sugar. In this paper we consider agricultural reform and how urban unemployment, and rural-urban migration, may alter the expected welfare effects of agricultural reform. We utilize a new CGE model of the Chilean economy based on the Harris-Todaro ramework, incorporating imperfect labor mobility, and consider both price band removal and more extensive agricultural reform that eliminates all tariffs on agricultural and food commodities in Chile. Results show that if trade reforms damage the rural economy in Chile, potential gains in welfare from lower agricultural prices are offset by increased urban unemployment and lower rural wages resulting in net welfare loss from trade reform.

Air Force Eastern Test Range Central Telemetry Station (TEL-IV)

We have had a vast increase in the amount and rate of data telemetered back to the Eastern Test Range from both missiles and manned and unmanned space vehicles over the past few years. In 1961, as a major part of the Eastern Test Range Telemetry Modernization Program, development of a new Central Telemetry Station at Kennedy Space Center was initiated. It was designated Telemetry Station IV (TEL-IV), The objectives of the new Central Telemetry Station (TEL-IV) have been established as: 1. Provide simultaneous multiple mission capability for both pre-launch and launch support. 2. Serve as a central telemetry station for receiving , processing, and distributing the telemetered data from remote mobile and landbased stations. 3. Provide minimum turn around time between mission setups and permit rapid equipment changes in the event of failures. 4. Provide real time and non - real time capability to meet all program requirements. In order to achieve these objectives, the integrated systems design departed from the traditional ground station concept of hard wire or manual patching. Instead, the station was designed .and based on a central control technique. The system setup and equipment assignment for a given mission\u27s support is accomplished automatically by a launch coordinator through a special purpose , wired-program digital data processor and a cross-bar switching network

Rapid coastal deoxygenation due to ocean circulation shift in the NW Atlantic.

Global observations show that the ocean lost approximately 2% of its oxygen inventory over the last five decades 1-3, with important implications for marine ecosystems 4, 5. The rate of change varies with northwest Atlantic coastal waters showing a long-term drop 6, 7 that vastly outpaces the global and North Atlantic basin mean deoxygenation rates 5, 8. However, past work has been unable to resolve mechanisms of large-scale climate forcing from local processes. Here, we use hydrographic evidence to show a Labrador Current retreat is playing a key role in the deoxygenation on the northwest Atlantic shelf. A high-resolution global coupled climate-biogeochemistry model 9 reproduces the observed decline of saturation oxygen concentrations in the region, driven by a retreat of the equatorward-flowing Labrador Current and an associated shift toward more oxygen-poor subtropical waters on the shelf. The dynamical changes underlying the shift in shelf water properties are correlated with a slowdown in the simulated Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation 10. Our results provide strong evidence that a major, centennial-scale change of the Labrador Current is underway, and highlight the potential for ocean dynamics to impact coastal deoxygenation over the coming century

Flow Separation Side Loads Excitation of Rocket Nozzle FEM

Modern rocket nozzles are designed to operate over a wide range of altitudes, and are also built with large aspect ratios to enable high efficiencies. Nozzles designed to operate over specific regions of a trajectory are being replaced in modern launch vehicles by those that are designed to operate from earth to orbit. This is happening in parallel with modern manufacturing and wall cooling techniques allowing for larger aspect ratio nozzles to be produced. Such nozzles, though operating over a large range of altitudes and ambient pressures, are typically designed for one specific altitude. Above that altitude the nozzle flow is 'underexpanded' and below that altitude, the nozzle flow is 'overexpanded'. In both conditions the nozzle produces less than the maximum possible thrust at that altitude. Usually the nozzle design altitude is well above sea level, leaving the nozzle flow in an overexpanded state for its start up as well as for its ground testing where, if it is a reusable nozzle such as the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), the nozzle will operate for the majority of its life. Overexpansion in a rocket nozzle presents the critical, and sometimes design driving, problem of flow separation induced side loads. To increase their understanding of nozzle side loads, engineers at MSFC began an investigation in 2000 into the phenomenon through a task entitled "Characterization and Accurate Modeling of Rocket Engine Nozzle Side Loads", led by A. Brown. The stated objective of this study was to develop a methodology to accurately predict the character and magnitude of nozzle side loads. The study included further hot-fire testing of the MC-l engine, cold flow testing of subscale nozzles, CFD analyses of both hot-fire and cold flow nozzle testing, and finite element (fe.) analysis of the MC-1 engine and cold flow tested nozzles. A follow on task included an effort to formulate a simplified methodology for modeling a side load during a two nodal diameter fluid/structure interaction for a single moment in time

ASU Formula Lightning Race Vehicle Report Prepared for Ohio Aerospace Institute

This report describes the drive system in the Arizona State University Formula Lightning electric race car when it participated in the 1994 Cleveland Electric Formula Classic on 9 July 1994. In addition, the telemetry system used to monitor the car's performance and plans for improving the car's performance are described

Sociology of low expectations: Recalibration as innovation work in biomedicine

"This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm). "Social scientists have drawn attention to the role of hype and optimistic visions of the future in providing momentum to biomedical innovation projects by encouraging innovation alliances. In this article, we show how less optimistic, uncertain, and modest visions of the future can also provide innovation projects with momentum. Scholars have highlighted the need for clinicians to carefully manage the expectations of their prospective patients. Using the example of a pioneering clinical team providing deep brain stimulation to children and young people with movement disorders, we show how clinicians confront this requirement by drawing on their professional knowledge and clinical expertise to construct visions of the future with their prospective patients; visions which are personalized, modest, and tainted with uncertainty. We refer to this vision-constructing work as recalibration, and we argue that recalibration enables clinicians to manage the tension between the highly optimistic and hyped visions of the future that surround novel biomedical interventions, and the exigencies of delivering those interventions in a clinical setting. Drawing on work from science and technology studies, we suggest that recalibration enrolls patients in an innovation alliance by creating a shared understanding of how the “effectiveness” of an innovation shall be judged.This project was funded by the Wellcome Trust (Wellcome Trust Biomedical Strategic Award 086034)

Improving Underrepresented Minority Student Persistence in STEM.

Members of the Joint Working Group on Improving Underrepresented Minorities (URMs) Persistence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-convened by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute-review current data and propose deliberation about why the academic "pathways" leak more for URM than white or Asian STEM students. They suggest expanding to include a stronger focus on the institutional barriers that need to be removed and the types of interventions that "lift" students' interests, commitment, and ability to persist in STEM fields. Using Kurt Lewin's planned approach to change, the committee describes five recommendations to increase URM persistence in STEM at the undergraduate level. These recommendations capitalize on known successes, recognize the need for accountability, and are framed to facilitate greater progress in the future. The impact of these recommendations rests upon enacting the first recommendation: to track successes and failures at the institutional level and collect data that help explain the existing trends