Ain\u27t No Sunshine When It\u27s Gone: The Future of the LouisianaSolar Initiative After the Demise of the Solar Energy Income TaxCredit

The article focuses on the impact of demise of the solar energy income tax credit in the U.S. on the future of the Louisiana solar initiative, and includes Louisiana\u27s solar panel incentive structure; solar incentive legislation; and Louisiana\u27s contribution to greenhouse gas emission

The Inner Experience Of Older Individuals

Older individuals are susceptible to the development of numerous age-related neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s Disease and Vascular Dementia. This is continuing to become a more serious social, financial, medical, and psychological problem as the average life span continues to increase across the world. Nevertheless, very little is known about the inner experience of older individuals. This study used Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES) to investigate the inner experience of twelve older individuals with and without cognitive impairment. Five of six unimpaired individuals were able to engage successfully in DES compared to only one individual with cognitive impairment. The findings suggest that DES is extremely sensitive to cognitive impairment and older individuals may lack certain aspects of inner experience

The Land of Opportunity: Human Return to Meridiani Planum

Meridiani Planum is a broad expanse of Martian real estate possessing extremely safe landing characteristics and extensive areas with high trafficability, with compelling science motivations to decipher the climatic and hydrologic evolution of Mars and potential for resource extraction. We propose southwestern Meridiani Planum as a potential landing site for human exploration of Mars. Figure 1 shows our proposed exploration zone (EZ) and several potential science regions of interest (ROIs

Pigment Content of D1-D2-Cytochrome b559 Reaction Center Preparations after Removal of CP47 Contamination: An Immunological Study

5 pages, figures, and tables statistics.Isolated D1 -D2-cytochrome b559 photosystem I1 reaction center preparations with pigment stoichiometry higher than 4 chlorophylls per 2 pheophytins can be contaminated with CP47 proximal antenna complex. Reaction centers prepared by a modification of the Nanba-Satoh procedure and containing about 6 chlorophylls per 2 pheophytins showed immuno-cross-reactivity when probed with a monoclonal antibody raised against the CP47 polypeptide. Furthermore, they could be fractionated successfully by Superose- 12 sieve chromatography into two different populations. The first few fractions off the column contained a more definitive 435 nm shoulder corresponding to increased chlorophyll content, and showed strong immuno-cross-reactivity with the CP47 antibody. The peak fractions off the column displayed a less prominent 435 nm shoulder, and did not cross-react with the antibody. Moreover, when a 6-chlorophyll preparation was mixed with Sepharose beads coupled to CP47 antibody, the eluted material corresponded to a preparation of about 4 chlorophylls per 2 pheophytins and did not show any crossreaction with the antibody against CP47. The amount of CP47 protein in the 6-chlorophyll preparation as quantitated using Coomassie Blue staining or from gel blots was sufficient to account for most of the extra 2 chlorophylls. We conclude that D 1 -D2-cytochrome b559 preparations containing more than 4 chlorophylls per 2 pheophytins can be contaminated with small amounts of CP47-D1 -D2-Cyt b559 complex and that native photosystem I1 reaction centers contain 4 core chlorophylls per 2 pheophytins.Peer reviewe

Spectral Density on the Lattice

Spectral density in the pseudoscalar and vector channels is extracted from the SU(2) lattice quenched data. It is shown to consist of three sharp poles within the energy range accessible on the lattice.Comment: 38 pages, uuencoded tar-compressed ps-fil

Examination of Triacylglycerol Biosynthetic Pathways via De Novo Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses in an Unsequenced Microalga

Biofuels derived from algal lipids represent an opportunity to dramatically impact the global energy demand for transportation fuels. Systems biology analyses of oleaginous algae could greatly accelerate the commercialization of algal-derived biofuels by elucidating the key components involved in lipid productivity and leading to the initiation of hypothesis-driven strain-improvement strategies. However, higher-level systems biology analyses, such as transcriptomics and proteomics, are highly dependent upon available genomic sequence data, and the lack of these data has hindered the pursuit of such analyses for many oleaginous microalgae. In order to examine the triacylglycerol biosynthetic pathway in the unsequenced oleaginous microalga, Chlorella vulgaris, we have established a strategy with which to bypass the necessity for genomic sequence information by using the transcriptome as a guide. Our results indicate an upregulation of both fatty acid and triacylglycerol biosynthetic machinery under oil-accumulating conditions, and demonstrate the utility of a de novo assembled transcriptome as a search model for proteomic analysis of an unsequenced microalga

The Space Density of Extended Ultraviolet (XUV) Disks in the Local Universe and Implications for Gas Accretion on to Galaxies

We present results of the first unbiased search for extended UV (XUV)-disk galaxies undertaken to determine the space density of such galaxies. Our sample contains 561 local (0.001 < z < 0.05) galaxies that lie in the intersection of available GALEX deep imaging (exposure time > 1.5 x 10^4 s) and SDSS DR7 footprints. We explore modifications to the standard classification scheme for our sample that includes both disk- and bulge-dominated galaxies. Visual classification of each galaxy in the sample reveals an XUV-disk frequency of up to 20% for the most nearby portion of our sample. On average over the entire sample (out to z=0.05) the frequency ranges from a hard limit of 4% to 14%. The GALEX imaging allows us to detect XUV-disks beyond 100 Mpc. The XUV regions around XUV-disk galaxies are consistently bluer than the main bodies. We find a surprisingly high frequency of XUV emission around luminous red (NUV-r > 5) and green valley (3 < NUV-r < 5) galaxies. The XUV-disk space density in the local universe is > 1.5-4.2 x 10^-3 Mpc^-3. Using the XUV emission as an indicator of recent gas accretion, we estimate that the cold gas accretion rate onto these galaxies is > 1.7-4.6 x 10^-3 Msun Mpc^-3 yr^-1. The number of XUV-disks in the green valley and the estimated accretion rate onto such galaxies points to the intriguing possibility that 7%-18% of galaxies in this population are transitioning away from the red sequence.Comment: 19 pages, 24 figures, ApJ in Pres

Qualitative soil moisture assessment in semi-arid Africa – the role of experience and training on inter-rater reliability

This research article published by Copernicus Publications, Volume 19, issue 8, 2015Soil and water management is particularly relevant in semi-arid regions to enhance agricultural productivity. During periods of water scarcity, soil moisture differences are important indicators of the soil water deficit and are traditionally used for allocating water resources among farmers of a village community. Here we present a simple, inexpensive soil wetness classification scheme based on qualitative indicators which one can see or touch on the soil surface. It incorporates the local farmers' knowledge on the best soil moisture conditions for seeding and brick making in the semi-arid environment of the study site near Arusha, Tanzania. The scheme was tested twice in 2014 with farmers, students and experts (April: 40 persons, June: 25 persons) for inter-rater reliability, bias of individuals and functional relation between qualitative and quantitative soil moisture values. During the test in April farmers assigned the same wetness class in 46 % of all cases, while students and experts agreed on about 60 % of all cases. Students who had been trained in how to apply the method gained higher inter-rater reliability than their colleagues with only a basic introduction. When repeating the test in June, participants were given improved instructions, organized in small subgroups, which resulted in a higher inter-rater reliability among farmers. In 66 % of all classifications, farmers assigned the same wetness class and the spread of class assignments was smaller. This study demonstrates that a wetness classification scheme based on qualitative indicators is a robust tool and can be applied successfully regardless of experience in crop growing and education level when an in-depth introduction and training is provided. The use of a simple and clear layout of the assessment form is important for reliable wetness class assignments

Beef empire carcass merit days index system

Kansas State University, in cooperation with the Beef Empire Days committee, developed a new beef carcass index system for 1991, incorporating yield and quality traits as indicators of carcass merit. Development of the system considered current industry and consumer demands in a critical evaluation of final carcass ranking. The index starts from 100 points and applies positive and negative adjustments for hot carcass weight; ribeye area; adjusted 12th rib fat thickness; percent kidney, pelvic, and heart fat; and quality grade. The index was first used in 1991