How a Hurricane Affected the Residential Interior Design of Mississippi’s Gulf Coast

This study analyzes the interior design choices made by homeowners of Mississippi’s Gulf Coast who rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina, in order to determine how the natural disaster of the hurricane affected residential interior design aesthetics. The aim of the study was to determine if there was a correlation between homeowner’s disaster experiences and their interior design choices following the disaster. Survey results were collected from 128 homeowners of the Mississippi Gulf Coast whose homes were affected by Hurricane Katrina. The data was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively, with little significance found during cross-analyses. Overall, the most prominent design changes were more a testimony to maintenance of materials than to aesthetic choice. The results of this study did not support the hypotheses that interior design is affected by a major regional change such as a natural disaster and that homeowners with similar disaster experiences would also choose similar design changes to their home. Instead, the results indicate that the aesthetic choices of a home are a personal reflection and rely on each individual’s tastes, rather than relying on generalized information

Phylogeny and biogeography of Croton alabamensis (Euphorbiaceae), a rare shrub from Texas and Alabama, using DNA sequence and AFLP data

Croton alabamensis (Euphorbiaceae s.s. ) is a rare plant species known from several populations in Texas and Alabama that have been assigned to var. texensis and var. alabamensis , respectively. We performed maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian analyses of DNA sequences from the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 5.8S regions and chloroplast trn L- trn F regions from collections of the two varieties of C. alabamensis and from outgroup taxa. C. alabamensis emerges alone on a long branch that is sister to Croton section Corylocroton and the Cuban endemic genus Moacroton . Molecular clock analysis estimates the split of C. alabamensis from its closest relatives in sect. Corylocroton at 41 million years ago, whereas the split of the two varieties of C. alabamensis occurred sometime in the Quaternary. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analyses were performed using two selective primer pairs on a larger sampling of accessions (22 from Texas, 17 from Alabama) to further discriminate phylogenetic structure and quantify genetic diversity. Using both neighbour joining and minimum evolution, the populations from the Cahaba and Black Warrior watersheds in Alabama form two well-separated groups, and in Texas, geographically distinct populations are recovered from Fort Hood, Balcones Canyonlands, and Pace Bend Park. Most of the molecular variance is accounted for by variance within populations. Approximately equal variance is found among populations within states and between states (varieties). Genetic distance between the Texas populations is significantly less than genetic distance between the Alabama populations. Both sequence and AFLP data support the same relationships between the varieties of C. alabamensis and their outgroup, while the AFLP data provide better resolution among the different geographical regions where C. alabamensis occurs. The conservation implications of these findings are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72311/1/j.1365-294X.2006.02970.x.pd

Proyecto de Extensión: gestión de los residuos sólidos urbanos generados en el Departamento de Hidráulica

Este proyecto de extensión surge como resultado de una serie de actividades que la UIDD Gestión Ambiental inicia en el año 2008 con relación a la gestión interna de los residuos sólidos urbanos (RSU) generados en su ámbito de trabajo, mediante reducción, reutilización y disposición inicial diferenciada de los mismos.Facultad de Ingenierí

Cosmological vacuum selection and metastable susy breaking

We study gauge mediation in a wide class of O'Raifeartaigh type models where supersymmetry breaking metastable vacuum is created by gravity and/or quantum corrections. We examine their thermal evolution in the early universe and the conditions under which the susy breaking vacuum can be selected. It is demonstrated that thermalization typically makes the metastable supersymmetry breaking cosmologically disfavoured but this is not always the case. Initial conditions with the spurion displaced from the symmetric thermal minimum and a small coupling to the messenger sector can result in the realization of the susy breaking vacuum even if the reheating temperature is high. We show that this can be achieved without jeopardizing the low energy phenomenology. In addition, we have found that deforming the models by a supersymmetric mass term for messengers in such a way that the susy breaking minimum and the susy preserving minima are all far away from the origin does not change the conclusions. The basic observations are expected to hold also in the case of models with an anomalous U(1) group.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figures, plain Latex, journal versio

La dimensión ambiental en las carreras de Ingeniería

A partir del año 1999, la Facultad de Ingeniería de la UNLP incorpora contenidos sobre Gestión Ambiental de Proyectos en las carreras de Ingeniería Hidráulica, Civil y Agrimensura. Dichos contenidos se formalizaron de manera concentrada en una asignatura denominada inicialmente Ecología y posteriormente Gestión Ambiental, que se imparte en el 10° y último semestre de las carreras de Ingeniería Hidráulica y Civil y en el quinto semestre de Agrimensura. La asignatura se dicta en ambos semestres para todas las carreras en un mismo curso. La implementación realizada a partir del año 1999 hasta la actualidad, motorizó un debate permanente en el seno de la cátedra en particular y de la facultad en general, con varios ejes temáticos, entre los que cabe destacar los siguientes: • ¿Por qué la inclusión de la dimensión ambiental en las carreras de Ingeniería? • ¿Cuál es la mejor forma de vincular los contenidos de la asignatura Gestión Ambiental con las materias de proyecto, y cual es la mejor ubicación temporal de la misma en el plan de estudios? En definitiva los ejes del debate delinean: la justificación de la inclusión de la dimensión ambiental en el ámbito de la Ingeniería y la ubicación temporal de estos contenidos para relacionarlos con otras asignaturas, fundamentalmente las que abordan el desarrollo de proyectos de Ingeniería. El presente artículo expone y analiza una experiencia que, desde el año 1999 hasta la actualidad, ha sido desarrollada en la Facultad de Ingeniería de la UNLP, y sobre la base de dicha experiencia plantea conclusiones y realiza propuestas a futuro.As of 1999, the School of Engineering of the National University of La Plata is including the study of Enviromental Management as part of its courses of Hydraulic and Civil Engineering and Land Surveying. Such contents were formalized intensively in a subject formerly called Ecology and later called Environmental Management, which is taught during the tenth and last semester of the courses of the Hydraulic and Civil Engineering, and during the fifth semester of Land Surveying. The subject is taught in both semesters for all the courses in the same class. The implementation carried out from 1999 until now, sparked a permanent debate at the heart of the professorship in particular, and of the School in general, with diverse subject-matters, among which the following can be highlighted: • What is the reason for including the environmental dimension in the courses of Engineering? • Which is the best way of linking the contents of Environmental Management with the Project courses, and which is its best temporal location in the syllabus? In short, the cores of the debate outline: The justification of including the environmental dimension in the engineering field and the temporal location of these contents so as to relate them with other subjects, basically the ones which tackle the development of Engineering projects. The present article puts forward and analizes an experiment that, since 1999, has been developed in the School of Engineering of the National University of La Plata; and, on the basis of such experiment, poses conclusions and makes future proposals.Facultad de Ingenierí

La dimensión ambiental en las carreras de Ingeniería

A partir del año 1999, la Facultad de Ingeniería de la UNLP incorpora contenidos sobre Gestión Ambiental de Proyectos en las carreras de Ingeniería Hidráulica, Civil y Agrimensura. Dichos contenidos se formalizaron de manera concentrada en una asignatura denominada inicialmente Ecología y posteriormente Gestión Ambiental, que se imparte en el 10° y último semestre de las carreras de Ingeniería Hidráulica y Civil y en el quinto semestre de Agrimensura. La asignatura se dicta en ambos semestres para todas las carreras en un mismo curso. La implementación realizada a partir del año 1999 hasta la actualidad, motorizó un debate permanente en el seno de la cátedra en particular y de la facultad en general, con varios ejes temáticos, entre los que cabe destacar los siguientes: • ¿Por qué la inclusión de la dimensión ambiental en las carreras de Ingeniería? • ¿Cuál es la mejor forma de vincular los contenidos de la asignatura Gestión Ambiental con las materias de proyecto, y cual es la mejor ubicación temporal de la misma en el plan de estudios? En definitiva los ejes del debate delinean: la justificación de la inclusión de la dimensión ambiental en el ámbito de la Ingeniería y la ubicación temporal de estos contenidos para relacionarlos con otras asignaturas, fundamentalmente las que abordan el desarrollo de proyectos de Ingeniería. El presente artículo expone y analiza una experiencia que, desde el año 1999 hasta la actualidad, ha sido desarrollada en la Facultad de Ingeniería de la UNLP, y sobre la base de dicha experiencia plantea conclusiones y realiza propuestas a futuro.As of 1999, the School of Engineering of the National University of La Plata is including the study of Enviromental Management as part of its courses of Hydraulic and Civil Engineering and Land Surveying. Such contents were formalized intensively in a subject formerly called Ecology and later called Environmental Management, which is taught during the tenth and last semester of the courses of the Hydraulic and Civil Engineering, and during the fifth semester of Land Surveying. The subject is taught in both semesters for all the courses in the same class. The implementation carried out from 1999 until now, sparked a permanent debate at the heart of the professorship in particular, and of the School in general, with diverse subject-matters, among which the following can be highlighted: • What is the reason for including the environmental dimension in the courses of Engineering? • Which is the best way of linking the contents of Environmental Management with the Project courses, and which is its best temporal location in the syllabus? In short, the cores of the debate outline: The justification of including the environmental dimension in the engineering field and the temporal location of these contents so as to relate them with other subjects, basically the ones which tackle the development of Engineering projects. The present article puts forward and analizes an experiment that, since 1999, has been developed in the School of Engineering of the National University of La Plata; and, on the basis of such experiment, poses conclusions and makes future proposals.Facultad de Ingenierí

La dimensión ambiental en las carreras de Ingeniería

As of 1999, the School of Engineering of the National University of La Plata is including the study of Enviromental Management as part of its courses of Hydraulic and Civil Engineering and Land Surveying. Such contents were formalized intensively in a subject formerly called Ecology and later called Environmental Management, which is taught during the tenth and last semester of the courses of the Hydraulic and Civil Engineering, and during the fifth semester of Land Surveying. The subject is taught in both semesters for all the courses in the same class.\nThe implementation carried out from 1999 until now, sparked a permanent debate at the heart of the professorship in particular, and of the School in general, with diverse subject-matters, among which the following can be highlighted: \n• What is the reason for including the environmental dimension in the courses of Engineering? \n• Which is the best way of linking the contents of Environmental Management with the Project courses, and which is its best temporal location in the syllabus?\nIn short, the cores of the debate outline: The justification of including the environmental dimension in the engineering field and the temporal location of these contents so as to relate them with other subjects, basically the ones which tackle the development of Engineering projects.\nThe present article puts forward and analizes an experiment that, since 1999, has been developed in the School of Engineering of the National University of La Plata; and, on the basis of such experiment, poses conclusions and makes future proposals.A partir del año 1999, la Facultad de Ingeniería de la UNLP incorpora contenidos sobre Gestión Ambiental de Proyectos en las carreras de Ingeniería Hidráulica, Civil y Agrimensura. Dichos contenidos se formalizaron de manera concentrada en una asignatura denominada inicialmente Ecología y posteriormente Gestión Ambiental, que se imparte en el 10° y último semestre de las carreras de Ingeniería Hidráulica y Civil y en el quinto semestre de Agrimensura. La asignatura se dicta en ambos semestres para todas las carreras en un mismo curso.\nLa implementación realizada a partir del año 1999 hasta la actualidad, motorizó un debate permanente en el seno de la cátedra en particular y de la facultad en general, con varios ejes temáticos, entre los que cabe destacar los siguientes: \n• ¿Por qué la inclusión de la dimensión ambiental en las carreras de Ingeniería? \n• ¿Cuál es la mejor forma de vincular los contenidos de la asignatura Gestión Ambiental con las materias de proyecto, y cual es la mejor ubicación temporal de la misma en el plan de estudios?\nEn definitiva los ejes del debate delinean: la justificación de la inclusión de la dimensión ambiental en el ámbito de la Ingeniería y la ubicación temporal de estos contenidos para relacionarlos con otras asignaturas, fundamentalmente las que abordan el desarrollo de proyectos de Ingeniería.\nEl presente artículo expone y analiza una experiencia que, desde el año 1999 hasta la actualidad, ha sido desarrollada en la Facultad de Ingeniería de la UNLP, y sobre la base de dicha experiencia plantea conclusiones y realiza propuestas a futuro

General Gauge Mediation at the Weak Scale

We completely characterize General Gauge Mediation (GGM) at the weak scale by solving all IR constraints over the full parameter space. This is made possible through a combination of numerical and analytical methods, based on a set of algebraic relations among the IR soft masses derived from the GGM boundary conditions in the UV. We show how tensions between just a few constraints determine the boundaries of the parameter space: electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB), the Higgs mass, slepton tachyons, and left-handed stop/sbottom tachyons. While these constraints allow the left-handed squarks to be arbitrarily light, they place strong lower bounds on all of the right-handed squarks. Meanwhile, light EW superpartners are generic throughout much of the parameter space. This is especially the case at lower messenger scales, where a positive threshold correction to $m_h$ coming from light Higgsinos and winos is essential in order to satisfy the Higgs mass constraint.Comment: 43 pages, 20 figures, mathematica package included in the sourc