Field-based Research Experience in Earth Science Teacher Education

This is an overview of a field-based research experience in Earth Science teacher education program that was conducted for secondary science teachers from Prince George's County, Maryland. The goal of the program was to produce well-prepared, scientifically and technologically literate Earth Science teachers through a teaching- and research-oriented partnership between in-service teachers and a university scientist-educator. Program participants were exposed to a broad background in field-based instruction in physical, historical, and environmental aspects of Earth Science content and teaching methods, followed by participation in an authentic, technology-rich field research project. Although attrition rates were high, program participants indicated that they were more confident in their Earth Science content knowledge and teaching ability than they had been initially. All respondents also indicated that they were currently using methods, strategies, and activities they had learned in the program within their own classrooms. Educational levels: Graduate or professional

The impact of urbanization and agricultural development on vultures in El Salvador

Turkey and Black vulture ranges are expanding in the Americas despite environmental change, while Old World vulture populations are declining in Eurasia and Africa. The distribution of vultures is under-researched in El Salvador, arguably the most environmentally degraded Latin American nation. This article tests the hypothesis that Turkey and Black vulture adaptation to extremely modified landcover, recorded elsewhere, ensures their survival in El Salvador. The methodology uses point count surveys of vulture species density along an urban to forest gradient (dense downtown areas, suburbs, rural villages and farms, mixed uninhabited savanna, open and closed forests). The very common Black Vulture and the slightly less common Turkey Vulture were most often recorded in downtown areas, followed successively by suburban, fallow, savanna and forests. Only downtown and suburban areas, and to a much lesser extent farm fallow, recorded significantly more vultures than the other landcover categories, despite reduced vulture numbers along the gradient towards the forest. The much rarer Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture was most often recorded in farm/grass mosaics and the rarer King Vulture was recorded in forest. Turkey and Black vultures have adapted strongly to extreme environmental change in El Salvador. This result is important as an indicator study for assessing the ecology of these vulture species in less degraded areas.Keywords: vulture, urbanization, environmental change, El Salvador, conservatio

Measurements of adiabatic effectiveness from full coverage film cooling on a scaled turbine vane with laidback fanshaped holes

This study was focused on measurements of adiabatic effectiveness on a scaled turbine vane which made use of a contoured endwall to match engine conditions. The vane model featured a full coverage film-cooling configuration with five rows of cylindrical holes in the showerhead and ten rows of laidback fanshaped holes distributed on the pressure and suction sides. The vane model was tested across a wide range of blowing ratios in several different coolant configurations including: individual rows on the pressure and suction side, full coverage tests with and without showerhead cooling, and full coverage tests at low and high mainstream turbulence levels. Comparisons between these configurations were made in order to assess the effects of local curvature, showerhead cooling, and mainstream turbulence levels. Single row tests measured in areas of high convex curvature tended to have an improved performance relative to flat plate predictions, while the opposite was true for rows in areas of concave curvature. Overall, showerhead cooling did not provide any significant improvements in effectiveness far downstream on both the pressure and suction side. Increasing mainstream turbulence levels tended to diminish the film cooling effectiveness. The negative effect of higher mainstream turbulence was most significant at low blowing ratios, but became negligible at higher flow rates.Mechanical Engineerin

Staff Consistency of the Implementation of a Token Economy in a Juvenile Detention Center

Approximately 318,000 juveniles are admitted to juvenile detention facilities each year. The future of these juveniles may be greatly influences by staff behavior. The purpose of this research was to develop a consistent method of implementation of a token economy in a Juvenile Detention Center (JDC). Five Juvenile Correctional Officers (JCOs) participated in the study. The primary researcher recorded data in vivo. The JDC administrative staff previously had developed a token system with monetary ranges for fines and points that were to be given to the youth by the JCOs. The primary researcher observed the JCOs’ administration of the token system and scored each JCO’s administration as “within range,” “out of range,” or “unspecified” as determined by the pre-established monetary ranges. To further improve staff consistency and ease of implementation, the primary researcher and the JDC administrative staff developed new guidelines featuring more uniform monetary ranges; these guidelines were given to all JCOs. A token economy manual was then given to JCOs using a multiple baseline across participants design. Results indicated the intervention may have simplified the token economy program leading some participants to improve in consistency; however, some participants showed little, if any, change

Disinfection of Spacecraft Potable Water Systems by Photocatalytic Oxidation Using UV-A Light Emitting Diodes

Ultraviolet (UV) light has long been used in terrestrial water treatment systems for photodisinfection and the removal of organic compounds by several processes including photoadsorption, photolysis, and photocatalytic oxidation/reduction. Despite its effectiveness for water treatment, UV has not been explored for spacecraft applications because of concerns about the safety and reliability of mercury-containing UV lamps. However, recent advances in ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UV LEDs) have enabled the utilization of nanomaterials that possess the appropriate optical properties for the manufacture of LEDs capable of producing monochromatic light at germicidal wavelengths. This report describes the testing of a commercial-off-the-shelf, high power Nichia UV-A LED (250mW A365nnJ for the excitation of titanium dioxide as a point-of-use (POD) disinfection device in a potable water system. The combination of an immobilized, high surface area photocatalyst with a UV-A LED is promising for potable water system disinfection since toxic chemicals and resupply requirements are reduced. No additional consumables like chemical biocides, absorption columns, or filters are required to disinfect and/or remove potentially toxic disinfectants from the potable water prior to use. Experiments were conducted in a static test stand consisting of a polypropylene microtiter plate containing 3mm glass balls coated with titanium dioxide. Wells filled with water were exposed to ultraviolet light from an actively-cooled UV-A LED positioned above each well and inoculated with six individual challenge microorganisms recovered from the International Space Station (ISS): Burkholderia cepacia, Cupriavidus metallidurans, Methylobacterium fujisawaense, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Sphingomonas paucimobilis and Wautersia basilensis. Exposure to the Nichia UV-A LED with photocatalytic oxidation resulted in a complete (>7-log) reduction of each challenge bacteria population in <180 minutes of contact time. With continued advances in the design and manufacture of UV-A LEDs and semi-conducting photocatalysts, LED activated photochemical process technology promises to extend its application to spacecraft environmental systems

The NF-κB Inhibitor Curcumin Blocks Sepsis-Induced Muscle Proteolysis

We tested the hypothesis that treatment of rats with curcumin prevents sepsis-induced muscle protein degradation. In addition, we determined the influence of curcumin on different proteolytic pathways that are activated in septic muscle (i.e., ubiquitin-proteasome-, calpain-, and cathepsin L-dependent proteolysis) and examined the role of NF-κB and p38/MAP kinase inactivation in curcumin-induced inhibition of muscle protein breakdown. Rats were made septic by cecal ligation and puncture or were sham-operated. Groups of rats were treated with three intraperitoneal doses (600 mg/kg) of curcumin or corresponding volumes of solvent. Protein breakdown rates were measured as release of tyrosine from incubated extensor digitorum longus muscles. Treatment with curcumin prevented sepsis-induced increase in muscle protein breakdown. Surprisingly, the upregulated expression of the ubiquitin ligases atrogin-1 and MuRF1 was not influenced by curcumin. When muscles from septic rats were treated with curcumin in vitro, proteasome-, calpain-, and cathepsin L-dependent protein breakdown rates were reduced, and nuclear NF-κB/p65 expression and activity as well as levels of phosphorylated (activated) p38 were decreased. Results suggest that sepsis-induced muscle proteolysis can be blocked by curcumin and that this effect may, at least in part, be caused by inhibited NF-κB and p38 activities. The results also suggest that there is not an absolute correlation between changes in muscle protein breakdown rates and changes in atrogin-1 and MuRF1 expression during treatment of muscle wasting

Meconium ileus in cystic fibrosis is not linked to central repetitive region length variation in MUC1, MUC2, and MUC5AC

Mucins are excellent candidates for contributing to the presence of meconium ileus (MI) in cystic fibrosis (CF) due to their extensive genetic variation and known function in intestinal physiology. The length of variants in mucin central repetitive regions has not been explored as “risk” factors for MI in CF

Jnk2 Effects on Tumor Development, Genetic Instability and Replicative Stress in an Oncogene-Driven Mouse Mammary Tumor Model

Oncogenes induce cell proliferation leading to replicative stress, DNA damage and genomic instability. A wide variety of cellular stresses activate c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) proteins, but few studies have directly addressed the roles of JNK isoforms in tumor development. Herein, we show that jnk2 knockout mice expressing the Polyoma Middle T Antigen transgene developed mammary tumors earlier and experienced higher tumor multiplicity compared to jnk2 wildtype mice. Lack of jnk2 expression was associated with higher tumor aneuploidy and reduced DNA damage response, as marked by fewer pH2AX and 53BP1 nuclear foci. Comparative genomic hybridization further confirmed increased genomic instability in PyV MT/jnk2−/− tumors. In vitro, PyV MT/jnk2−/− cells underwent replicative stress and cell death as evidenced by lower BrdU incorporation, and sustained chromatin licensing and DNA replication factor 1 (CDT1) and p21Waf1 protein expression, and phosphorylation of Chk1 after serum stimulation, but this response was not associated with phosphorylation of p53 Ser15. Adenoviral overexpression of CDT1 led to similar differences between jnk2 wildtype and knockout cells. In normal mammary cells undergoing UV induced single stranded DNA breaks, JNK2 localized to RPA (Replication Protein A) coated strands indicating that JNK2 responds early to single stranded DNA damage and is critical for subsequent recruitment of DNA repair proteins. Together, these data support that JNK2 prevents replicative stress by coordinating cell cycle progression and DNA damage repair mechanisms

Ets homologous factor regulates pathways controlling response to injury in airway epithelial cells

Ets homologous factor (EHF) is an Ets family transcription factor expressed in many epithelial cell types including those lining the respiratory system. Disruption of the airway epithelium is central to many lung diseases, and a network of transcription factors coordinates its normal function. EHF can act as a transcriptional activator or a repressor, though its targets in lung epithelial cells are largely uncharacterized. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by deep sequencing (ChIP-seq), showed that the majority of EHF binding sites in lung epithelial cells are intergenic or intronic and coincide with putative enhancers, marked by specific histone modifications. EHF occupies many genomic sites that are close to genes involved in intercellular and cell–matrix adhesion. RNA-seq after EHF depletion or overexpression showed significant alterations in the expression of genes involved in response to wounding. EHF knockdown also targeted genes in pathways of epithelial development and differentiation and locomotory behavior. These changes in gene expression coincided with alterations in cellular phenotype including slowed wound closure and increased transepithelial resistance. Our data suggest that EHF regulates gene pathways critical for epithelial response to injury, including those involved in maintenance of barrier function, inflammation and efficient wound repair