Pay attention now!

This article was originally published in The Prophet -- a journal created by and for the students at the Boston University School of Theology (BUSTH) to amplify the voices of STH students by promoting and sharing a range of perspectives on matters of concern including, but not limited to, spiritual practices, faith communities and society, the nature of theology, and current affairs. It serves as a platform for STH students to share their academic work, theological reflections, and life experiences with one another and the wider community."The African American Dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University from 1953-1965 was The Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman. He wrote the poem "I Will Light Candles This Christmas." Here is an excerpt: When the song of the angels is stilled, ... " [EXCERPT

Students Watching Stars Evolve

We describe a study of period changes in 59 RR Lyrae stars, using times of maximum brightness from the GEOS database. The work was carried out by outstanding senior high school students in the University of Toronto Mentorship Program. This paper is written in such a way that high school or undergraduate physics and astronomy students could use it as a guide and template for carrying out original research, by studying period changes in these and other types of variable stars

Isolation and Characterization of a Rhodobacter Capsulatus hemC Mutant.

Rhodobacter capsulatus, a purple, nonsulfur photosynthetic bacterium, uses the tetrapyrrole pathway to synthesize four end products: heme, bacteriochlorophyll, vitamin B12, and siroheme. This laboratory has focused on the regulation of the common pathway leading from aminolevulinate to protoporphyrin IX in R. capsulatus. The common portion of the pathway is regulated up to 100-fold by changes in oxygen tension. Research on the regulation of this pathway has been hampered due to a lack of mutants. Until now, the only mutants isolated which block heme production are hemA mutants, which lack aminolevulinate synthase. Since R. capsulatus lacks a cytochrome-independent growth mechanism, mutations later in the tetrapyrrole pathway would be lethal unless the mutant can use exogenous hemin or protoporphyrin. To overcome this lack of mutants, a method for isolating hem mutants has been devised. First, a growth medium was developed so that the hemA mutant, and presumably other hem mutants, grow well on exogenous hemin. We then took advantage of the recent cloning of several of the R. capsulatus hem genes to make a hem mutation in vitro and move it into R. capsulatus by conjugation. Thus, we were looking for a high probability recombination event rather than a much lower probability transposition event. This study describes the development of this medium as well as the isolation and characterization of a hemC mutant of R. capsulatus . This is the first hem mutant in a photosynthetic bacterium, after hemA, which has a complete block in the pathway. The mutant was constructed by inserting a kanamycin-resistance cartridge into a plasmid containing the R. capsulatus hemC gene. The mutated hemC gene was then recombined into the R. capsulatus chromosome. The resulting mutant requires heme for growth, lacks porphobilinogen deaminase activity and is unable to synthesize bacteriochlorophyll. This mutant was also used to provide direct evidence that the point of oxygen regulation in the tetrapyrrole pathway is located after the formation of porphobilinogen, most likely the usage of porphobilinogen

Corrosion-protective coatings from electrically conducting polymers

In a joint effort between NASA Kennedy and LANL, electrically conductive polymer coatings were developed as corrosion protective coatings for metal surfaces. At NASA Kennedy, the launch environment consist of marine, severe solar, and intermittent high acid and/or elevated temperature conditions. Electrically conductive polymer coatings were developed which impart corrosion resistance to mild steel when exposed to saline and acidic environments. Such coatings also seem to promote corrosion resistance in areas of mild steel where scratches exist in the protective coating. Such coatings appear promising for many commercial applications

Big Changes with Little ¢hange: How to Renovate on a Tight Budget

Public Libraries are often faced with the challenge of updating facilities to keep pace with customer preferences with limited funding. Based upon experience with bond funded renovations to multiple Richland Library locations from 2014-2020, this article shares strategies and case studies on how to make high impact changes while being sensitive to minimizing construction. Strategies include a customer experience design focus, reallocation of staff office space, use of color, selection of flexible furnishings, and integration of public art

Affordable Health Care Keeps Children and Families Healthy

The health of young children is negatively affected when parents have to forego health care for themselves or other adult members of the household or when parents have to forego payment of household expenses in order to pay for health care

Montana’s Mapviewer Web Application: Direct Access to 1.4 Million Animal Observations, Wetland and Land Cover Mapping, Land Management and Georeferenced Photos

The Montana Natural Heritage Program (MTNHP) was established by the Montana State Legislature in 1983 and charged with statutory responsibility for the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of information documenting Montana’s flora, fauna and biological communities (Montana Code Annotated 90-15). In order to track the distribution and status of species, MTNHP has developed databases containing nearly 1.5 million animal observation records and over 160,000 locations where a formally structured animal survey protocol has been followed.  This information is used to create a variety of other data products, including, range maps, species occurrence areas used in environmental review processes, and predicted distribution models. Agency biologists and resource managers have direct access to this information as well as more than 2.2 million acres of mapped wetland and riparian areas, statewide landcover mapping, land management information, and georeferenced photos on MTNHP’s new MAPVIEWER web application. MAPVIEWER is compatible with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome and will eventually be compatible with touch screen devices. Users can submit animal observations, search for a place names and map coordinates, get summaries of land cover and land management within preselected areas, select different wetland types for viewing, overlay a variety of information layers, create a variety of customized queries, and generate image, pdf, and excel reports through the application

Montana’s Mapviewer Web Application: Direct Access to 1.4 Million Animal Observations, Wetland and Land Cover Mapping, Land Management and Georeferenced Photos

The Montana Natural Heritage Program (MTNHP) was established by the Montana State Legislature in 1983 and charged with statutory responsibility for the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of information documenting Montana’s flora, fauna and biological communities (Montana Code Annotated 90-15). In order to track the distribution and status of species, MTNHP has developed databases containing nearly 1.5 million animal observation records and over 160,000 locations where a formally structured animal survey protocol has been followed. This information is used to create a variety of other data products, including, range maps, species occurrence areas used in environmental review processes, and predicted distribution models. Agency biologists and resource managers have direct access to this information as well as more than 2.2 million acres of mapped wetland and riparian areas, statewide landcover mapping, land management information, and georeferenced photos on MTNHP’s new MAPVIEWER web application. MAPVIEWER is compatible with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome and will eventually be compatible with touch screen devices. Users can submit animal observations, search for a place names and map coordinates, get summaries of land cover and land management within preselected areas, select different wetland types for viewing, overlay a variety of information layers, create a variety of customized queries, and generate image, pdf, and excel reports through the application