Controlled Ecological Life Support System: Use of Higher Plants

Results of two workshops concerning the use of higher plants in Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems (CELSS) are summarized. Criteria for plant selection were identified from these categories: food production, nutrition, oxygen production and carbon dioxide utilization, water recycling, waste recycling, and other morphological and physiological considerations. Types of plant species suitable for use in CELSS, growing procedures, and research priorities were recommended. Also included are productivity values for selected plant species

Post-Conviction Access to DNA Testing: Why Massachusetts’s 278A Statute Should Be the Model for the Future

With the recent rise of the Innocence Movement, many traditional police tools for evaluating forensic evidence have been called into question. Increasingly, science has proven that certain outdated forensic analyses are unreliable or invalid, shedding light on how these faulty analyses have contributed to numerous unjust convictions of innocent people. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) technology, a subset of forensic analysis, has performed the counterpoint to this trend by exonerating many wrongfully convicted individuals. Access to DNA testing, however, is inconsistent from state to state. Massachusetts’s new 278A motion is a strong model for the correct implementation of a statute providing post-conviction access to DNA testing. States such as Pennsylvania, which has a plethora of barriers to post-conviction relief through DNA testing, should look to Massachusetts’s 278A statute as an example on which to base updated post-conviction statutes in order to provide the necessary justice to those who have been wrongfully convicted

Educational technologies and learning objectives

Technologies such as online tools, simulations, and remote labs are often used in learning and training environments, both academic and vocational, to deliver content in an accessible manner. They promise efficiencies of scale, flexibility of delivery, and face validity for a generation brought up on electronic devices. However, learning outcomes are not the same in all circumstances and sometimes contextual and cultural factors can lead to the failure of a technology which has been successful elsewhere. This paper draws on studies of the use of simulators and simulations within the vocational environment of the rail industry and uses Realistic Evaluation to assess and specify what works for whom in what circumstances. It is postulated that this evaluation framework could be a useful tool in the assessment of educational technologies used in engineering education. © Tibbits et. al., 201

An Empirical Investigation of Women Small Business Owner

Most of the studies in the existing literature are studies done in the United State, a few in U.K. and very less from developing countries. Women are starting business at a rate nearly four times that of men in U.S. (Kaplan, 1988) and three times that of men both in Australia (ABS, 1991). and in Canada (Belcourt, 1990). Australia has got 692,700 small businesses which from 96.3% of a number of total businesses (ABS, 1990). In Australia, though women business owners are more than one third of the total small business owners, research on female entrepreneurs is still in its infancy

STEM materials: a new frontier for an intelligent sustainable world

Materials are addressed as possible enablers for solutions to many global societal challenges. A foresight exercise has been conducted to identify research paths to design, with a new approach, a generation of materials which can provide multi-functionalities. These material systems have been named ???stem???, in analogy to living cells where a base of primitive units can be designed and assembled for self-reacting to external inputs. These materials will embed a concept of ???internet in things???, where their processing capacity will enable the systems to interact with the environment and express diverse functionalities. Stem materials do not exist yet, but many clues from diferent theoretical and experimental results suggest they can be developed, and because living organisms exist. This article aims at launching this new approach and promoting the structuring of a multi-disciplinary community to fll the research gaps

Gene Structure Evolution of the Na+-Ca2+ Exchanger (NCX) Family

Abstract Background The Na+-Ca2+ exchanger (NCX) is an important regulator of cytosolic Ca2+ levels. Many of its structural features are highly conserved across a wide range of species. Invertebrates have a single NCX gene, whereas vertebrate species have multiple NCX genes as a result of at least two duplication events. To examine the molecular evolution of NCX genes and understand the role of duplicated genes in the evolution of the vertebrate NCX gene family, we carried out phylogenetic analyses of NCX genes and compared NCX gene structures from sequenced genomes and individual clones. Results A single NCX in invertebrates and the protochordate Ciona, and the presence of at least four NCX genes in the genomes of teleosts, an amphibian, and a reptile suggest that a four member gene family arose in a basal vertebrate. Extensive examination of mammalian and avian genomes and synteny analysis argue that NCX4 may be lost in these lineages. Duplicates for NCX1, NCX2, and NCX4 were found in all sequenced teleost genomes. The presence of seven genes encoding NCX homologs may provide teleosts with the functional specialization analogous to the alternate splicing strategy seen with the three NCX mammalian homologs. Conclusion We have demonstrated that NCX4 is present in teleost, amphibian and reptilian species but has been secondarily and independently lost in mammals and birds. Comparative studies on conserved vertebrate homologs have provided a possible evolutionary route taken by gene duplicates subfunctionalization by minimizing homolog number.</p

How Diet Choices and Weight Change Person Perception

Previous studies have explored how overweight targets are perceived and the physical and psychological characteristics commonly used to describe them. The current study experimentally investigated the relationship between a target?s weight and his or her diet choices, and the characteristics used to describe him or her. The participants were exposed to one of four situations (overweight/unhealthy diet, overweight/healthy diet, average-weight/unhealthy diet, average-weight/ healthy diet) where they were shown a picture and a short description of the target. It is likely that overweight and unhealthy diet targets were rated lower on questions pertaining to physical health. Regardless of weight, healthy diet targets will likely be rated higher than unhealthy diet targets for positive psychological attributes. Overall, overweight/unhealthy diet targets will likely be rated the lowest in all three categories (positive psychological attributes, negative psychological attributes, and physical attributes)