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Trustworthy repositories: Audit and certification (TRAC) Cline Library internal audit, spring 2014
Get PDFoai:openknowledge.nau.edu:2Audit and Certification of Trustworthy Digital Repositories (TRAC) is a recommended practice developed by the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems. The TRAC international standard (ISO 16363:2012) provides institutions with guidelines for performing internal audits to evaluate the trustworthiness of digital repositories, and creates a structure to support external certification of repositories. TRAC establishes criteria, evidence, best practices and controls that digital repositories can use to assess their activities in the areas of organizational infrastructure, digital object management, and technical infrastructure and risk management. The Cline Library at Northern Arizona University has undertaken an internal audit based on TRAC in order to evaluate the policies, procedures and workflows of the existing digital archives and to prepare for the development and implementation of the proposed institutional repository. The following document provides an overview of the results and recommendations produced by this internal audit
Constraining the physical properties of near-Earth object 2009 Bd
Get PDFWe report on Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Array Camera observations of near-Earth object 2009 BD that were carried out in support of the NASA Asteroid Robotic Retrieval Mission concept. We did not detect 2009 BD in 25 hr of integration at 4.5 μm. Based on an upper-limit flux density determination from our data, we present a probabilistic derivation of the physical properties of this object. The analysis is based on the combination of a thermophysical model with an orbital model accounting for the non-gravitational forces acting upon the body. We find two physically possible solutions. The first solution shows 2009 BD as a 2.9 ± 0.3 m diameter rocky body (ρ = 2.9 ± 0.5 g cm–3) with an extremely high albedo of that is covered with regolith-like material, causing it to exhibit a low thermal inertia ( SI units). The second solution suggests 2009 BD to be a 4 ± 1 m diameter asteroid with that consists of a collection of individual bare rock slabs (Γ = 2000 ± 1000 SI units, g cm–3). We are unable to rule out either solution based on physical reasoning. 2009 BD is the smallest asteroid for which physical properties have been constrained, in this case using an indirect method and based on a detection limit, providing unique information on the physical properties of objects in the size range smaller than 10 m
Q fever epidemic in Hungary, April to July 2013
Get PDFWe investigated a Q fever outbreak with human patients showing high fever, respiratory tract symptoms, headache and retrosternal pain in southern Hungary in the spring and summer of 2013. Seventy human cases were confirmed by analysing their serum and blood samples with micro-immunofluorescence test and real-time PCR. The source of infection was a merino sheep flock of 450 ewes, in which 44.6% (25/56) seropositivity was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Coxiella burnetii DNA was detected by real-time PCR in the milk of four of 20 individuals and in two thirds (41/65) of the manure samples. The multispacer sequence typing examination of C. burnetii DNA revealed sequence type 18 in one human sample and two manure samples from the sheep flock. The multilocus variable-number tandem repeat analysis pattern of the sheep and human strains were also almost identical, 4/5-9-3-3-0-5 (Ms23-Ms24-Ms27-Ms28-Ms33-Ms34). It is hypothesised that dried manure and maternal fluid contaminated with C. burnetii was dispersed by the wind from the sheep farm towards the local inhabitants. The manure was eliminated in June and the farm was disinfected in July. The outbreak ended at the end of July 2013
Distribution of nucleosides in populations of Cordyceps cicadae
Get PDFA rapid HPLC method had been developed and used for the simultaneous determination of 10 nucleosides (uracil, uridine, 2'-deoxyuridine, inosine, guanosine, thymidine, adenine, adenosine, 2'-deoxyadenosine and cordycepin) in 10 populations of Cordyceps cicadae, in order to compare four populations of Ophicordyceps sinensis and one population of Cordyceps militaris. Statistical analysis system (SAS) 8.1 was used to analyze the nucleoside data. The pattern of nucleoside distribution was analyzed in the sampled populations of C. cicadae, O. sinensis and C. militaris, using descriptive statistical analysis, nested analysis and Q cluster analysis. The total amount of the 10 nucleosides in coremium was 1,463.89-5,678.21 mu g/g in 10 populations of C. cicadae, 1,369.80-3,941.64 mu g/g in sclerotium. The average contents of the 10 analytes were 4,392.37 mu g/g and 3,016.06 mu/g in coremium and sclerotium, respectively. The coefficient of variation (CV) of nucleosides ranged from 8.36% to 112.36% in coremium of C. cicadae, and from 10.77% to 155.87% in sclerotium of C. cicadae. The CV of the nucleosides was wide within C. cicadae populations. The nested variation analysis by the nine nucleosides' distribution indicated that about 42.29% of the nucleoside variability in coremium was attributable to the differentiation among populations, and the remaining 57.71% resided in the populations. It was also shown that about 28.94% of the variation in sclerotium was expressed between populations, while most of the variation (71.06%) corresponded to the populations
Fact Sheet: Stand Structure and Breeding Birds: Implications for Restoring Ponderosa Pine Forests.
Get PDFFire-adapted forests in the western United States have dramatically departed from historical reference condi-tions over the past century due to fire suppression, logging, grazing and other management practices. As a result, they are now susceptible to stand-replacing crown fires and ensuing damage to watersheds, wildlife habitat, and communities. Restoration treatments using mechanical thinning and prescribed fire have become the dominant management paradigm in this forest type. While many studies have examined wildlife responses to restoration treatments, single-species information is difficult for managers to synthesize and incorporate into management decisions made at large scales. Our specific objectives in this study were to determine associations between forest structural attributes and occupancy rates of (1) individual bird species and (2) bird species richness (total number of species) in ponderosa pine forests, in order to help guide restoration treatment design
Fact sheet: Estimating the effect of forest restoration on water resources in northern Arizona. ERI fact sheets.
Get PDFThe ponderosa pine ecosystem is a vital source of water resources. Though they cover just 20 percent of the watershed area, about 50 percent of the water in the Salt River originates from areas covered by ponderosa forest. It is possible that restoration treatments will increase the amount of streamflow coming from forests. By reducing forest density, thinning treatments reduce the amount of water used by trees, allowing more to run off into streams and recharge into aquifers. They also increase open spaces where snow accumulates and melts rather than being intercepted by tree canopies where a large fraction evaporates. When forest restoration is performed over large areas through the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI), which proposes to treat 1 million of the 2.4 million acres of ponderosa forest in northern and eastern Arizona, the effect on flow in major rivers may be detectable. The objective of our study was to estimate the increase in streamflow that can be expected following restoration
Fact Sheet: Sediment Yield After Severe Wildfire
Get PDFWildfires throughout the western U.S. have increased in size and severity as a result of 20th century land use practices including fire suppression, which has elevated risks to communities bordering and downstream of forested watersheds. High-severity wildfire (i.e., where most trees are killed) in the arid and semi-arid Southwest changes watershed response to precipitation, mainly by increasing runoff. This results in a high risk of flooding, sediment transport, and erosion, particularly on steep slopes (DeBano et al. 1998). Forest floor materials such as organic matter and dead leaves normally absorb most precipitation and limit runoff, but severe fire eliminates this forest floor cushion, leaving a slick, sometimes water resistant surface that deflects a significant amount of rain, or runoff. Slope stability is compromised by loss of herbaceous cover. The increased runoff combined with the reduced slope stability creates an optimal environment for sediment mobilization from hillslopes (also known as hillsides) and channels, erosion, and flooding. This fact sheet summarizes significant findings on sediment transport and erosion on burned landscapes in semi-arid systems with ponderosa pine and mixed conifer type vegetation
Looking into the hearts of native peoples: nation building as an institutional orientation for graduate education
Get PDFIn this article, we suggest that graduate programs in predominantly white institutions can and should be sites of self-education and tribal nation building. In arguing this, we examine how a particular graduate program and the participants of that program engaged tribal nation building, and then we suggest that graduate education writ large must also adopt an institutional orientation of nation building. We connect Guinier's notion of democratic merit to our discussion of nation building as a way to suggest a rethinking of "success" and "merit" in graduate education. We argue that higher education should be centrally concerned with capacity building and graduates who aim to serve their communities
The personal human oral microbiome obscures the effects of treatment on periodontal disease
Get PDFPeriodontitis is a progressive disease of the periodontium with a complex, polymicrobial etiology. Recent Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) studies of the microbial diversity associated with periodontitis have revealed strong, community-level differences in bacterial assemblages associated with healthy or diseased periodontal sites. In this study, we used NGS approaches to characterize changes in periodontal pocket bacterial diversity after standard periodontal treatment. Despite consistent changes in the abundance of certain taxa in individuals whose condition improved with treatment, post-treatment samples retained the highest similarity to pre-treatment samples from the same individual. Deeper phylogenetic analysis of periodontal pathogen-containing genera Prevotella and Fusobacterium found both unexpected diversity and differential treatment response among species. Our results highlight how understanding interpersonal variability among microbiomes is necessary for determining how polymicrobial diseases respond to treatment and disturbance
Widespread movement of invasive cattle fever ticks (Rhipicephalus microplus) in southern Texas leads to shared local infestations on cattle and deer
Get PDFBackground: Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus is a highly-invasive tick that transmits the cattle parasites (Babesia bovis and B. bigemina) that cause cattle fever. R. microplus and Babesia are endemic in Mexico and ticks persist in the United States inside a narrow tick eradication quarantine area (TEQA) along the Rio Grande. This containment area is threatened by unregulated movements of illegal cattle and wildlife like white-tailed deer (WTD; Odocoileus virginianus). Methods: Using 11 microsatellite loci we genotyped 1,247 R. microplus from 63 Texas collections, including outbreak infestations from outside the TEQA. We used population genetic analyses to test hypotheses about ecological persistence, tick movement, and impacts of the eradication program in southern Texas. We tested acaricide resistance with larval packet tests (LPTs) on 47 collections. Results: LPTs revealed acaricide resistance in 15/47 collections (32%); 11 were outside the TEQA and three were resistant to multiple acaricides. Some collections highly resistant to permethrin were found on cattle and WTD. Analysis of genetic differentiation over time at seven properties revealed local gene pools with very low levels of differentiation (F-ST 0.00-0.05), indicating persistence over timespans of up to 29 months. However, in one neighborhood differentiation varied greatly over a 12-month period (F-ST 0.03-0.13), suggesting recurring immigration from distinct sources as another persistence mechanism. Ticks collected from cattle and WTD at the same location are not differentiated (F-ST = 0), implicating ticks from WTD as a source of ticks on cattle (and vice versa) and emphasizing the importance of WTD to tick control strategies. We identified four major genetic groups (K = 4) using Bayesian population assignment, suggesting multiple introductions to Texas. Conclusions: Two dispersal mechanisms give rise to new tick infestations: 1) frequent short-distance dispersal from the TEQA; and 2) rare long-distance, human-mediated dispersal from populations outside our study area, probably Mexico. The threat of cattle fever tick transport into Texas is increased by acaricide resistance and the ability of R. microplus to utilize WTD as an alternate host. Population genetic analyses may provide a powerful tool for tracking invasions in other parts of the world where these ticks are established