Analysis of U.S. Senate Web Sites For Disability Accessibility

U.S. federal government web sites have increased significantly the level of services and information offered to various internal and external stakeholders. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 amended Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which complemented the intent and aims of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As a result, federal agencies and departments were mandated to provide disabled stakeholders with access to key information from federal web sites. However, since this enactment, some federal web sites still do not meet fully the legal requirements to accommodate users with disabilities. Additionally, web sites of members of the U.S. Congress technically do not fall under regulation. Without regulation, non-adherence to accessibility standards by congressional web sites may result in poor or ineffective utilization by citizen consumers or other stakeholders with disabilities. The purpose of this study is to examine the accessibility statistics for a pseudo-random sample of 50 web sites of U.S. Senators. The main web page of each site was evaluated with an online web site analysis software tool – Truwex. Three factors were used to gauge the level of accessibility: criteria based on Section 508, WCAG 1.0 standards, and WCAG 2.0 standards. Results suggest that the vast majority of the U.S. Senate web sites do not meet the federal legal guidelines that otherwise are imposed on other U.S. governmental agencies and departments. Many of the sites contain consistent patterns of non-compliance, and some minor changes could result in increased accessibility for disabled stakeholders

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Here we present a formal description of Biremis panamae Barka, Witkowski et Weisenborn sp. nov., which was isolated from the marine littoral environment of the Pacific Ocean coast of Panama. The description is based on morphology (light and electron microscopy) and the rbcL, psbC and SSU sequences of one clone of this species. The new species is included in Biremis due to its morphological features; i.e. two marginal rows of foramina, chambered striae, and girdle composed of numerous punctate copulae. The new species also possesses a striated valve face which is not seen in most known representatives of marine littoral Biremis species. In this study we also present the relationship of Biremis to other taxa using morphology, DNA sequence data and observations of auxosporulation. Our results based on these three sources point to an evolutionary relationship between Biremis, Neidium and Scoliopleura. The unusual silicified incunabular caps present in them are known otherwise only in Muelleria, which is probably related to the Neidiaceae and Scoliotropidaceae. We also discuss the relationship between Biremis and the recently described Labellicula and Olifantiella

Gas field planning tool

Gas Field Planning Tool (GFPT) was developed in 1990 by the Shell Group of Companies to fill the need for a tool for gas field planning and development using deterministic subsurface and surface models. Main initiators were Shell Canada, NAM (the Netherlands), Shell Expro (UK) and BSP (Shell Brunei),as these companies are major gas producers. Shell Companies now have several years experience with using the GFPT. Application ranges from simple single field models to corporate-level models with a large number of gas reservoirs and wells. Shell companies now using GFPT models are Shell Expro (UK), BSP (Brunei), SSB (Malaysia), Shell Canada, SPDC (Nigeria), SDA (Australia),Woodside (Australia), PDO (Oman), NAM (the Netherlands), New Business Development (e.g.Lunar Project) and in future also Shell Egypt. NAM currently has a GFPT model for the Anjum field in Friesland and for the Ten Arlo field in the north of Holland. GFPT is currently being migrated to an HFPT (Hydrocarbon Field Planning Tool), which can also be used for planning ofcondensate, oil and water developments and for control of hydrocarbon compositions in the network using PVT de-lumping at the well head (e.g.for LNG plants) and optimisation techniques (linear,non-linear or based on bean-back lists)

Gas field planning tool

Gas Field Planning Tool (GFPT) was developed in 1990 by the Shell Group of Companies to fill the need for a tool for gas field planning and development using deterministic subsurface and surface models. Main initiators were Shell Canada, NAM (the Netherlands), Shell Expro (UK) and BSP (Shell Brunei),as these companies are major gas producers. Shell Companies now have several years experience with using the GFPT. Application ranges from simple single field models to corporate-level models with a large number of gas reservoirs and wells. Shell companies now using GFPT models are Shell Expro (UK), BSP (Brunei), SSB (Malaysia), Shell Canada, SPDC (Nigeria), SDA (Australia),Woodside (Australia), PDO (Oman), NAM (the Netherlands), New Business Development (e.g.Lunar Project) and in future also Shell Egypt. NAM currently has a GFPT model for the Anjum field in Friesland and for the Ten Arlo field in the north of Holland. GFPT is currently being migrated to an HFPT (Hydrocarbon Field Planning Tool), which can also be used for planning ofcondensate, oil and water developments and for control of hydrocarbon compositions in the network using PVT de-lumping at the well head (e.g.for LNG plants) and optimisation techniques (linear,non-linear or based on bean-back lists)

Location of the sampling site on the coast of Panama.

<p>Location of the sampling site on the coast of Panama.</p

Maximum likelihood phylogeny (with bootstrap values at nodes) inferred from a concatenated alignment of <i>rbc</i>L, <i>psb</i>C and SSU markers.

<p><i>Neidium</i> sp. NEI323TM, <i>Neidium</i> sp. NEI 44, <i>Neidium</i> sp. NEI428T and <i>Neidium</i> sp. NEI Balk482 represent previously unpublished <i>rbc</i>L gene sequences from different <i>Neidium</i> species. <i>Biremis</i> sp. represents a <i>rbc</i>L gene sequence from an unpublished <i>Biremis</i> sp. The tree is rooted with the pennate araphid taxa <i>Ctenophora pulchella</i> and <i>Tabularia</i> cf. <i>tabulata</i>. Support values lower than 50% were not included in the tree. The GenBank <i>Achnanthidium coarctatum</i> name has been changed to <i>Achnanthes coarctata</i>.</p

Bayesian Inference phylogeny inferred from a concatenated alignment of <i>rbc</i>L, <i>psb</i>C and SSU markers.

<p>Posterior probabilities are shown at the nodes. The tree is rooted with the araphid pennate taxa <i>Ctenophora pulchella</i> and <i>Tabularia</i> cf. <i>tabulata</i>.</p

<i>Biremis panamae</i> sp. nov., TEM. A.

<p>A whole valve in valve view. <b>B.</b> A whole specimen observed from the valve interior. <b>C, D.</b> Close ups of a specimen illustrated in Fig. 5A; note the finely porous areolae occlusions, arrowhead in Fig. 5D.</p

Vegetative cells and auxosporulation in <i>Biremis</i> sp. A, B.

<p>Two focuses of a vegetative cell in girdle view. Each cell contains two chloroplasts either side of the centre, each of which comprises two plates (one is shown for each chloroplast in Fig. 7A, the other being out of focus beneath, on the opposite side of the cell) connected by a narrow bridge containing the pyrenoid (e.g. p). <b>C, D.</b> Two paired gametangia, each containing two rounded, rearranged gametes. The gametangia were paired with their girdles adjacent, the cell shown in Fig. 7D lying immediately below that in Fig. 7C. <b>E</b>. Two paired gametangia, unusual in being in contact only via their valves. Each gametangium contains a single subspherical zygote. Two nuclei are visible in the left-hand cell (arrows) and two of the four chloroplasts in the right-hand cell. <b>F, G.</b> Two focuses of a gametangium containing a zygote on the point of transformation into an auxospore. Note the slight central inflection of the zygote's outline, marking the deposition of the primary transverse perizonial band (cf. Fig. 7H, arrowhead). The two rows of foramina on the valves can be seen in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0114508#pone-0114508-g002" target="_blank">Fig. 2G</a> (arrowheads). <b>H</b>. Expanded auxospore containing the initial epivalve (in section at arrow). The auxospore is encased in a well developed perizonium, containing a primary transverse band flanked by several secondary bands (see in section: see also Figs 7I, J). <b>I.</b> Peripheral focus of an expanded auxospore containing the initial epivalve. The two rows of foramina on one of the gametangium valves can be seen (arrowheads). The end of the auxospore is covered by a siliceous cap (arrow). <b>J.</b> Expanded auxospore containing a completed initial cell. The initial hypovalve (in section at h) lies at a distance from the perizonium, as a result of a strong contraction of the protoplast immediately before its formation; the initial epivalve lies opposite, directly moulded by the interior of the perizonium. The auxospore casing can be seen to consist of a perizonium of transverse bands (e.g. at white arrows) and two silicified hemispherical caps (e.g. at black arrow). [Scale bar 10 µm].</p