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Comparative Economic Analysis of Herbaceous Energy Crop Production in the Southeastern USA
No full textThe U.S. Department of Energy in the multi-year program plan has set goals focusing on identifying, developing, demonstrating, and validating efficient and economical systems for harvest and collection, storage, handling, transportation, and preprocessing raw biomass from a variety of herbaceous and woody crops. Transformation of renewable and abundant biomass resources into a cost-competitive, high-performance biofuel can reduce dependence on fossil fuels and enhance energy security. The overall goal of the research was to develop data that will allow a comprehensive assessment of where economically and environmentally sustainable biomass sorghum and energy cane production can occur within the southeastern U.S. Management information including site-specific input applications and associated input costs for biomass sorghum were collected from field experiments. Site-specific enterprise budgets were prepared to analyze production costs in biomass sorghum production. Based on the input cost variations, a distribution of costs for the region was performed. Using pert distribution, potential ranges for biomass yield and dry matter were created. The Monte Carlo simulation was performed to analyze the potential distribution of net return for biomass sorghum and energy cane. The expected mean net return from producing biomass sorghum was 78 - 337 acre/year with a 90% probability of generating a net return of 546 acre/year. The simulation results show that there is potential for profit from growing both feedstocks in the region
An Ethnographic Study of Keyboarding Instruction and Standardized Assessment
No full textThe purpose of this ethnographic study was to examine the relationship between focused keyboarding instruction and the required standardized assessments mandated by Federal and State authorities. Initial mandates required that the first assessment to be administered online would be the Writing Assessment by year 2014. The assessment given in school year 2012-2013 could have been given to students either online or continue for one more year in handwritten form. As of school year 2022-2023 all standardized assessments will be administered online. Keyboarding instruction in Tennessee had been part of the middle school curriculum in previous years but had for all intents and purposes been omitted when physical education, music, Spanish, and art classes were mandated to be added or increased. A Middle Tennessee school system made the decision to add a focused keyboarding instruction segment in some shape or form along with the decision to administer the writing assessment online. This decision was due to the realization that without some level of typing skill students might not display their actual writing ability otherwise. This study examined whether keyboarding skills affected online standardized assessments, i.e., does typing skill free students’ cognitive skills to produce a higher quality product on an assessment. It also examined whether focused keyboarding instruction needs to be included in a curriculum and at what age, developmental level, and grade level. Further research was recommended concerning whether advancements in rapidly development technology will replace the need for keyboarding skills entirely, and whether keyboarding skill will replace the need for handwriting in the future
Interaction Studies of the Peptide G23 with Membrane-Mimetic Systems
No full textThe prevalence of cancers and neurodegenerative diseases in high-income countries is devastating to the healthcare system. Many curative drugs exist but cannot get to the site of diseases. Cell penetrating peptides have the ability to cross the cell membrane alone or with a cargo molecule. These could be a potential drug delivery system. Although their entry mechanism into cells remains unclear, the CPP G23 displays cell penetrating properties. Few studies have been devoted to its activity as a potential drug delivering CPP. The objective of this project is to perform a detailed analysis of the interaction between G23 and mammalian membranes and the blood-brain barrier using biophysical techniques. Prior entry mechanism studies of CPPs used a single lipid to represent a model membrane with limited success. We hypothesize that the use of advanced model membranes comprised of a mixture of lipids will provide new insights regarding the mechanism of entry of G23. The techniques utilized are Fourier Transform Infrared, fluorescence spectroscopy, and SEM. Fluorescence data show that G23 crosses the cancer and BBB model cells while remaining at the surface of the normal model cell. FTIR data reveals the peptide changes its conformation in the presence of model membranes. Infrared data shows G23 interacts with normal model cell using hydrogen bonds through N-H groups, and G23 crosses the BBB and cancer model cells using a conformation change. SEM shows G23 interacts strongly with all the three model membranes. All data techniques suggest G23 is a good drug delivery system candidate
Developing a Mathematics Common Assessment System: Using Data to Drive Instruction
Get PDFThere is an ongoing demand for school and district based educators to connect curriculum, instruction and assessment practices to monitor and increase student achievement. This paper describes the development of a Common Assessment system that connects curriculum, instruction and assessment. It can be implemented from a school based (teacher) or district based perspective. This model addresses the role of curriculum guides, instructional pacing, assessment system selection, test types, professional development and issues related to data disaggregation and dissemination. This model has implications for curriculum development, professional development, instruction and policy articulation
Transforming the Instructional Leadership Professional Development Landscape Utilizing National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) Resources
Get PDFIncreasing measurable student achievement is a primary goal for K-12 institutions worldwide. To this end, Instructional Leaders must be knowledgeable concerning instructional best practices, technology, and current research in education. This paper examines professional development for Instructional Leaders utilizing an accomplished teaching model that employs National Board for Professional Teaching Standards resources as the basis for instruction. Within the context of this paper, Instructional Leaders are defined as administrators that spend 50% or more of their time in direct delivery of instructional services to the following: teachers, principals, and/or other educators in administrative or supervisory positions
Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Assess the Needs of HIV-Related Services for Infected Individuals in Rural Communities
Get PDFHIV/AIDS remains a significant health concern in rural communities, which may also experience many disparate issues including reduced access to health services (Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). Community efforts should be increased to improve services to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), especially in rural communities. In the state of Tennessee, using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, a needs assessment was conducted to identify gaps, barriers, and strategies for improving HIV-related comprehensive care services for people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 26 rural counties. The paper describes the CBPR partnership and the needs assessment project that was conducted and how the results may support community leaders and health care providers in planning and allocating resources for non-medical services of PLWHA in rural communities, and thus maximizing both individual and community benefit
Influence of Rainfall-Induced Erosion on the Stability of Sandy Slopes Treated by MICP
Get PDFAs an environmentally friendly technology, microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) is widely used to improve the engineering properties of soil. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of rainfall-induced erosion on the stability of sandy slopes which were treated by MICP technology. The observation of the erosion pattern of low concentration (0.25 M Ca) and high concentration (0.5 M Ca) of MICP-treated slopes, the mechanical behaviors of MICP-treated and cement-treated samples, and the effects of rainfall-induced erosion on the roughness of 0.5 M Ca MICP-treated and 10% cement-treated slope were studied through visual observation, unconfined compressive tests, and roughness tests. For the 0.25 M Ca MICP-treated sample, surface erosion was found to occur soon after the start of the rainfall erosion test, while for the 0.5 M Ca MICP-treated sample, the slope surface remained intact after exposing to the rainfall for 24 hours. Through unconfined compressive tests, it can be concluded that the 0.5 M Ca MICP treatment achieved a high strength, which was similar to 10% cement-treated sand. The roughness test results showed that the surface of 0.5 M Ca MICP-treated slope looked smoother than the uneroded surface after 24-h rainfall-induced erosion. On the contrary, the surface of the 10% cement-treated slope became rougher after 24-h rainfall-induced erosion. These results indicated that the MICP-treated sandy slope had lower resistance against rainfall-induced erosion compared to the cement-treated sandy slope
Effects of Environmental Contaminant Exposures on Translational Regulatory Proteins in Human Immune Cells
No full textEnvironmental contaminant exposures occur due to the widespread use of synthetic chemicals. TBT and PCP are used in antifouling paints while DBT is used in plastic stabilizers. Due to the multiple uses of TBT, DBT, and PCP, they have been found in human blood and tissue at measurable levels. Inflammatory cytokines are important mediators of the response to injury or infection. However, if their levels are increased in the absence of a needed immune response, chronic inflammation can occur. Chronic inflammation is associated with a number of pathologies including cancer. These environmental toxins appear to use the ERK 1/2 and/or p38 MAPK pathways to stimulate pro-inflammatory cytokine production by immune cells. MAPK pathways have the capacity to regulate translation including processes leading to the phosphorylation of (eIF4E), eIF4B, and S6 ribosomal subunit. The current study observes the levels of eIF4E, eIF4B and S6 after 10-minute, 1-hour, 6-hour, and 24-hour exposures to TBT, DBT, and PCP in PBMCs. Results indicate that all toxins, at several concentrations and varying exposure times, caused a significant increase in the intracellular levels of P-eIF4B (S406) and P-S6 in immune cells. Most increases were observed in 6-hour exposures. P-eIF4E intracellular levels increased the least in comparison to other protein. These results suggest that TBT, DBT, and PCP are capable of elevating the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines in immune cells by their ability to activate translation in one or more key translational factors and more-specifically, that activation of translation may be occurring in a cap-independent manner
Design and Fabrication of a Surface Acoustic Wave Device for Bio/Chemical Applications
No full textIn this work, we report on the design and fabrication of a surface acoustic wave device, SAW sensors use piezoelectric materials to generate acoustic waves. With the help of the interdigitated transducers on the piezoelectric material, applying a voltage at the input IDT causes an acoustic wave that propagates through the substrate and at the output is converted to an electrical signal which is readable. To actualize a SAW sensor for bio/chemical sensing applications the following were studied and developed: i) Detection of stable and sensitive sensing materials, ii) Integration of sensing layers and gas testing using a dual QCM sensor, iii) Testing the fabricated SAW device. The synthesis and performance evaluation of electrosprayed multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) sensing layers for gas detection of volatile organic compounds were carried out. MWCNTs are characterized by a hollow structure, large surface area, and several unique properties that make them potentially excellent for gas sensing.However, to improve the sensitivity, stability, and reproducibility effects of the carbon nanotubes, they were doped with PVDF polymer in a minimal concentration such that it utilizes its strong binding effect with interconnected nanotubes and the substrate. We further ensured that the inclusion of the polymer as a binder does not affect the dominance of the MWCNTs on the surface as observed from SEM characterization. The electrospray deposition technique, combined with sonication, was used to ensure the MWCNT was dispersed evenly in the polymer matrix, as MWCNTs tend to aggregate due to their strong Van der Waals forces. The synthesized MWCNT and MWCNT/PVDF films were coated onto a Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) sensor as a chemically interactive sensing material. The QCM sensors are widely used acoustic sensors for practical applications due to their ease of measurement and high sensitivity. The sensing mechanism and the kinetic adsorption of gases on the sensors were studied and the experimental result shows that MWCNT-OH/PVDF sensor revealed a larger sensitivity than that of the MWCNT-OH sensor to tested volatile organic compounds at room temperature