The Scientific Basis of Climate Change: Understanding the Past to Present and Implications for the Future

We will discuss the current state of the science of climate, its variations and change especially since preindustrial times (part of Anthropocene era). Developing mathematical models of the Earth\u27s climate system and utilizing observations, we investigate the forcing of the climate system which includes natural and human causes; processes and interactions that govern the sensitivity of the system; and impacts ranging from globe-wide to regional spatial scales. The use of model simulations and observational evidence of the past-to-present changes leads to attribution and identification of the mechanisms, including traceability to human-induced activities. The climate system perturbations extend across Earth\u27s physical, biogeochemical and ecosystem domains. Understanding of the past climate and scenarios of mankind\u27s development leads to numerical projections of future climate states, including expectations of changes in extremes of societal concern. Challenges on the science side include improving confidence measures in the outcomes which can then provide improved guidance to technical solutions for adaptation and mitigation. The steady progress in the understanding of the nonstationary climate system has led to reliable science-based inputs for policy decision-making

Proposal For Supply Chain Concentration In The Traditional MBA Program

The purpose of this proposal is to develop and implement a concentration in Supply Chain Management in the existing traditional MBA program effective fall 2012. Houston is the hub for many multinational oil and energy companies, large healthcare systems, wholesale/retail businesses, engineering and construction companies, and is a major city along the transportation artery of NAFTA. The program is designed to provide SCM expertise to students in the existing traditional MBA program. The environment for this proposal is the School of Business at Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas 77004

Technological Change, Automation and Employment: A Short Review of Theory and Evidence

A selective survey of recent papers in the area of technological change, automation and employment is presented. The objective is to convey analytical ideas and the empirical evidence that have informed studies in this area of contemporary policy relevance. Automation occurs when a machine does work that might previously have been done by a person. How robots and automation affect the availability of jobs for labor force? There are very few emerging studies that address the issue with detailed data on robots usage and employment in different sectors of the economy. Based on our review of available studies and empirical evidence the following statements can be made: (1) Increasing automation and robots adoption do not seem to cause loss of employment in the aggregate (2) Low skilled workers in routine jobs are more likely to suffer job losses. (3) There will be demand for new types of skilled workers or new specializations within occupations. Prospective automation intensifies the degree of uncertainty in labor markets across countries

Structure and Rheology of the Defect-gel States of Pure and Particle-dispersed Lyotropic Lamellar Phases

We present important new results from light-microscopy and rheometry on a moderately concentrated lyotropic smectic, with and without particulate additives. Shear-treatment aligns the phase rapidly, except for a striking network of oily-streak defects, which anneals out much more slowly. If spherical particles several microns in diameter are dispersed in the lamellar medium, part of the defect network persists under shear-treatment, its nodes anchored on the particles. The sample as prepared has substantial storage and loss moduli, both of which decrease steadily under shear-treatment. Adding particles enhances the moduli and retards their decay under shear. The data for the frequency-dependent storage modulus after various durations of shear-treatment can be scaled to collapse onto a single curve. The elasticity and dissipation in these samples thus arises mainly from the defect network, not directly from the smectic elasticity and hydrodynamics.Comment: 19 pages inclusive of 12 PostScript figures, uses revtex, psfrag and epsfig. Revised version, accepted for publication in Euro. Phys. J. B, with improved images of defect structure and theoretical estimates of network elasticity and scalin

A Constitutive Model for the Inelastic Multiaxial Cyclic Response of a Nickel Base Superalloy Rene 80

The objective was to develop unified constitutive equations which can model a variety of nonlinear material phenomena observed in Rene 80 at elevated temperatures. A constitutive model was developed based on back stress and drag stress. The tensorial back stress was used to model directional effects; whereas, the scalar drag stress was used to model isotropic effects and cyclic hardening or softening. A flow equation and evolution equations for the state variables were developed in multiaxial form. Procedures were developed to generate the material parameters. The model predicted very well the monotonic tensile, cyclic, creep, and stress relaxation behavior of Rene 80 at 982 C. The model was then extended to 871, 760, and 538 C. It was shown that strain rate dependent behavior at high temperatures and strain rate independent behavior at the lower temperatures could be predicted very well. A large number of monotonic tensile, creep, stress relation, and cyclic experiments were predicted. The multiaxial capabilities of the model were verified extensively for combined tension/torsion experiments. The prediction of the model agreed very well for proportional, nonproportional, and pure shear cyclic loading conditions at 982 and 871 C

Constitutive modeling for isotropic materials

The unified constitutive theories for application to typical isotropic cast nickel base supperalloys used for air-cooled turbine blades were evaluated. The specific modeling aspects evaluated were: uniaxial, monotonic, cyclic, creep, relaxation, multiaxial, notch, and thermomechanical behavior. Further development of the constitutive theories to model thermal history effects, refinement of the material test procedures, evaluation of coating effects, and verification of the models in an alternate material will be accomplished in a follow-on for this base program

Structure based de novo design of IspD inhibitors as anti-tubercular agents

Tuberculosis is one of the leading contagious diseases, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Despite improvements in anti-tubercular agents, it remains one of the most prevalent infectious diseases worldwide, responsible for a total of 1.6 million deaths annually. The emergence of multidrug resistant strains highlighted the need of discovering novel drug targets for the development of anti-tubercular agents. 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate cytidyltransferase (IspD) is an enzyme involved in MEP pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis, which is considered an attractive target for the discovery of novel antibiotics for its essentiality in bacteria and absence in mammals. In the present study, we have employed structure based drug design approach to develop novel and potent inhibitors for IspD receptor. To explore binding affinity and hydrogen bond interaction between the ligand and active site of IspD receptor, docking studies were performed. ADMET and synthetic accessibility filters were used to screen designed molecules. Finally, ten compounds were selected and subsequently submitted for the synthesis and in vitro studies as IspD inhibitors