Study to determine dielectric properties of sandstone, shale, coal, and slate

Triplicate dielectric constant and loss tangent measurements on samples of sandstone, shale, coal, and slate were performed. Each of the three necessary configurations of the coal material was sampled to obtain measurements, with each sample machined parallel to the coal layering orientation. The coal samples were machined perpendicular to the coal layering and measured. They were conditioned at 100% humidity and at room temperature and remeasured; then conditioned in an elevated environment, and remeasured for dielectric properties. The coal data appear to remain relatively constant over the microwave frequency region. At the Ghz frequencies, the relative dielectric constant of coal is slightly higher for the E-field parallel to the layers than for the perpendicular case

Experiment Definition Using the Space Laboratory, Long Duration Exposure Facility, and Space Transportation System Shuttle

Candidate experiments designed for the space shuttle transportation system and the long duration exposure facility are summarized. The data format covers: experiment title, Experimenter, technical abstract, benefits/justification, technical discussion of experiment approach and objectives, related work and experience, experiment facts space properties used, environmental constraints, shielding requirements, if any, physical description, and sketch of major elements. Information was also included on experiment hardware, research required to develop experiment, special requirements, cost estimate, safety considerations, and interactions with spacecraft and other experiments

Capitalising the value of free schools : the impact of supply characteristics and uncertainty.

There has been a growing literature in both the US (for example Haurin and Brasington 1996, and Black 1999) and the UK (for example Gibbons & Machin, 2003) that estimates the way in which school quality is capitalised into house prices. Cheshire and Sheppard 1995 and 1999 estimated hedonic models in which the quality of the secondary school to which a household was assigned was a significant variable which provided evidence that secondary school quality was being capitalised into the price of houses. In contrast Gibbons and Machin concluded that primary schools were more significant. Each of these analyses is predicated on the assumption that the value of local schools should be reflected in the value of houses. We argue here that this is rather too simple. We should expect variation in the capitalised price of a given school quality at either primary or secondary level according to the elasticity of supply of ‘school quality’ in the local market, the certainty with which that quality can be expected to be maintained over time and the suitability of the dwelling to accommodate children. These factors will vary systematically between and perhaps within cities. This paper explores the sources and the impact of such variations as well as the impact of model specification. The results provide new evidence on the complex and subtle ways in which housing markets capitalise the value of local public goods such as school quality and perhaps most importantly suggest that this is highly non-linear: houses in the catchment areas of only the best state schools command substantial premiums but such capitalised values can be very substantial indeed.

Draft Genome Sequence of anEnterobacterSpecies Associated with Illnesses and Powdered Infant Formula

This is the first report of the draft genome sequence of an Enterobacter species that may have been transmitted from powdered infant formula (PIF) to infants, resulting in illness. Enterobacter spp. are currently permitted in PIF, but the transmission of this strain indicates that the microbiological criteria for PIF may need revision

Going for the Green: Social Equity in the Recreational Cannabis Industry

In the Summer of 2020 Americans marched in the streets to protest police brutality and the killing of George Floyd. Some activists point out that the disparate enforcement of the war on drugs frequently makes minorities a frequent target for police brutality. After decades of total war, the war on drugs is showing signs of drawing down as 11 states have legalized recreational cannabis. Nonetheless, as states legalize recreational cannabis rich white entrepreneurs enjoy a greater share of legalization’s economic benefits. Seeking to remedy this problem, six states have enacted cannabis social equity laws that encourage the participation of individuals disparately impacted by the war on drugs in the growing recreational cannabis industry. Unfortunately, these laws present problems on both Constitutional and effectiveness grounds. To combat these problems, the author proposes a statute that encourages the participation of people impacted by the war on the drugs in the burgeoning recreational cannabis industry

Structurally similar allosteric modulators of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors exhibit five distinct pharmacological effects.

Activation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) is associated with the binding of agonists such as acetylcholine to an extracellular site that is located at the interface between two adjacent receptor subunits. More recently, there has been considerable interest in compounds, such as positive and negative allosteric modulators (PAMs and NAMs), that are able to modulate nAChR function by binding to distinct allosteric sites. Here we examined a series of compounds differing only in methyl substitution of a single aromatic ring. This series of compounds includes a previously described α7-selective allosteric agonist, cis-cis-4-p-tolyl-3a,4,5,9b-tetrahydro-3H-cyclopenta[c]quinoline-8-sulfonamide (4MP-TQS), together with all other possible combinations of methyl substitution at a phenyl ring (18 additional compounds). Studies conducted with this series of compounds have revealed five distinct pharmacological effects on α7 nAChRs. These five effects can be summarized as: 1) nondesensitizing activation (allosteric agonists), 2) potentiation associated with minimal effects on receptor desensitization (type I PAMs), 3) potentiation associated with reduced desensitization (type II PAMs), 4) noncompetitive antagonism (NAMs), and 5) compounds that have no effect on orthosteric agonist responses but block allosteric modulation (silent allosteric modulators (SAMs)). Several lines of experimental evidence are consistent with all of these compounds acting at a common, transmembrane allosteric site. Notably, all of these chemically similar compounds that have been classified as nondesensitizing allosteric agonists or as nondesensitizing (type II) PAMs are cis-cis-diastereoisomers, whereas all of the NAMs, SAMs, and type I PAMs are cis-trans-diastereoisomers. Our data illustrate the remarkable pharmacological diversity of allosteric modulators acting on nAChRs