1,563 research outputs found
The value of returning a sample of the Martian atmosphere
No full textThe elemental and isotopic abundances of major species in the Martian atmosphere have been determined, but analyses often lack sufficient precision, and those of minor and trace species are frequently not well known. Many important questions about the evolution and current state of Mars require the kind of knowledge that can be gained from analysis of a returned sample of the Martian atmosphere. Key target species include the noble gases, nitrogen, and various species containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, such as methane. More detailed analyses will no doubt provide measurements of other species that will allow insights of their own. These volatiles can constrain the origin of the Martian atmosphere, exchange of volatiles between the surface and interior, polar processes, and (in the case of methane) the possibility of extant biology on Mars
Abundance of He-3 and other solar-wind-derived volatiles in lunar soil
No full textVolatiles implanted into the lunar regolith by the solar wind are potentially important lunar resources. Wittenberg et al. (1986) have proposed that lunar He-3 could be used as a fuel for terrestrial nuclear fusion reactors. They argue that a fusion scheme involving D and He-3 would be cleaner and more efficient than currently-proposed schemes involving D and T. However, since the terrestrial inventory of He-3 is so small, they suggest that the lunar regolith, with concentrations of the order of parts per billion (by mass) would be an economical source of He-3. Solar-wind implantation is also the primary source of H, C, and N in lunar soil. These elements could also be important, particularly for life support and for propellant production. In a SERC study of the feasibility of obtaining the necessary amount of He-3, Swindle et al. (1990) concluded that the available amount is sufficient for early reactors, at least, but that the mining problems, while not necessarily insurmountable, are prodigious. The volatiles H, C, and N, on the other hand, come in parts per million level abundances. The differences in abundances mean that (1) a comparable amount of H, C, and/or N could be extracted with orders of magnitude smaller operations than required for He-3, and (2) if He-3 extraction ever becomes important, huge quantities of H, C, and N will be produced as by-products
Dataset supporting the University of Southampton Doctoral Thesis "Development of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) electrospun membranes for incorporation into 3-D co-culture models of the airway-blood barrier"
No full textDataset supporting the University of Southampton Doctoral Thesis "Development of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) electrospun membranes for incorporation into 3-D co-culture models of the airway-blood barrier"
This dataset contains raw data and associated graphs and statistics in GraphPad Prism (version 10.2.0) files. Separate files are included for each results chapter.
Thesis_R1 - data for figures in the first results chapter, thesis chapter 3 - Development of an Electrospinning System and the Generation of PLGA Membranes
THesis_R2 - data for figures in the second results chapter, thesis chapter 4 - Biological characterisation of Epithelial Barrier Formation on Electrospun PLGA Membranes
Thesis_R3 - data for figures in the third results chapter, thesis chapter 5 - Development of a 3-D Co-culture Model using Electrospun Membrane
Data collection as described in associated thesis. Statistics are included with the data entry.
Software required to open filed: Graphpad Prism v10.2.0 (392)
The data is embargoed until 20/01/2025.
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Scholarly Communication and Publishing Lunch and Learn Talk #11: The ULS Open Access Author Fee Fund
No full textAt the May 2014 talk, you will learn about the ULS Open Access Author Fee Fund--what it is, why we do it, how it works, and how the program is going so far
Narrative threads: ethnographic tourism, Romani tourist tales, and fiber art
No full textThis thesis examines the need for the ethnographer to process their own emotions and experiences as part of the ethnographic experience. Specifically, it argues for the credibility of artistic expression resulting from fieldwork.
Drawing on the author’s experience during the 2012 inaugural "Romani Music, Culture, and Human Rights" study abroad program at the University of Pittsburgh, this thesis offers an analysis of five works of fiber art. Originally perceived by the author as separate from the thesis writing process, they became an integral part of thesis once they were recognized as the non-verbal processing of the my emotional response to events abroad and, therefore, essential components of the research process.
I argue that emotional processing is an integral part of writing an ethnography, for as the ethnographer works through their experiences, their understanding of the events changes, and this in turn impacts the ways in which the ethnographic is perceived and analyzed
Scientific Value of Including an Atmospheric Sample as part of Mars Sample Return
No full textThe Perseverance rover is meant to collect samples of the martian surface for eventual return to Earth. The headspace gas present over the solid samples within the sample tubes will be of significant scientific interest for what it reveals about the interactions of the solid samples with the trapped atmosphere and for what it will reveal about the martian atmosphere itself. However, establishing the composition of the martian atmosphere will require other dedicated samples. The headspace gas as the sole atmospheric sample is problematic for many reasons. The quantity of gas present within the sample tube volume is insufficient for many investigations, and there will be exchange between solid samples, headspace gas, and tube walls. Importantly, the sample tube materials and preparation were not designed for optimal Mars atmospheric gas collection and storage as they were not sent to Mars in a degassed evacuated state and have been exposed to both Earth’s and Mars’ atmospheres. Additionally, there is a risk of unconstrained seal leakage in transit back to Earth, which would allow fractionation of the sample (leak-out) and contamination (leak-in). The science return can be improved significantly (and, in some cases, dramatically) by adding one or more of several strategies listed here in increasing order of effectiveness and difficulty of implementation: (1) Having Perseverance collect a gas sample in an empty sample tube, (2) Collecting gas in a newly-designed, valved, sample-tube-sized vessel that is flown on either the Sample Fetch Rover (SFR) or the Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL), (3) Adding a larger (50-100 cc) dedicated gas sampling volume to the Orbiting Sample container (OS), (4) Adding a larger (50-100 cc) dedicated gas sampling volume to the OS that can be filled with compressed martian atmosphere
Evaluating Research Impact through Open Access to Scholarly Communication
No full textScientific research is a competitive business – in order to secure funding, promotion and tenure researchers must demonstrate their work has impact in their field. To maximise impact researchers undertake high priority research, aim to get results first, and publish in the highest impact journals. The Internet now presents a new opportunity to the scholarly author seeking higher impact: s/he can now make their work instantly accessible on the Web through author self-archiving. This growing body of open access literature (coupled with new publishing models that make journals available for-free to the reader) maximises research impact by maximising the number of people who can read it, and making it available sooner. Open access also provides a new opportunity for bibliometric research. This thesis describes the relatively recent phenomenon of open access to research literature, tools that were built to collect and analyse that literature, and the results of analyses of the effect of open access and its effect on author behaviour. It shows that articles self-archived by authors receive between 50-250% more citations, that rapid pre-printing on the Web has dramatically reduced the peak citation rate from over a year to virtually instant and how citation-impact – now widely used for evaluation – can be expanded to include a new web metric of download impact
A new breed of publisher: towards open global sharing
No full textThis presentation was given at the Publishing in Libraries Conference at the College at Brockport, State University of New York on March 20, 2015 as part of a panel discussion entitled 'The repository as publisher: opportunities and challenges in a dual role', with Benjamin Hockenberry, Jessica Clemons, and Timothy Deliyannides. The presentation gives an overview of the evolution of the publishing program at the University of Pittsburgh beginning with the dissemination of new scholarly content through author self-archiving repositories and leading to the publication of scholarly peer-reviewed journals with partners located around the world. Pitt's journal publishing program is detailed. The presentation highlights the library's unique perspective, values, and commitment to openly sharing scholarly research in all its forms worldwide
Towards new modes of publishing and information-sharing among researchers at Pitt and internationally
No full textThe Office of Scholarly Communication and Publishing (OSCP) at the University of Pittsburgh Library System is engaged in a wide range of activities to support scholarly communication for researchers at Pitt, with special emphasis on promoting open access to research for the global community of scholars. In this talk, an overview of the activities of OSCP will be shown. In particular, the library’s extensive journal publishing program, D-scholarship@Pitt (publishing via institutional repository), the open access author fee fund, and innovations in measuring the scholarly impact of researchers at Pitt will be described. Additionally, the talk will explore the underlying philosophy and policies behind these activities, and explain the strategic goals of Pitt’s University Library System to demonstrate leadership in scholarly communications, publishing, and information sharing
Marker-Based Paternity Test in Polycross Breeding of Timothy
No full textAlthough the polycross is a useful and cost effective mating design, a lack of paternal pedigree information is a major limitation for polycross breeding in forage grasses such as timothy (Phleum pratense L.). This study describes a paternity test for use in timothy breeding using polymorphic data on 27 genomic simple sequence repeat markers. The paternity test is a simple exclusion statistical test with a combination of maternal information. It successfully determined paternity (success rate = 97%) for 112 progeny plants derived from three polycross groups (A, B, and D). Indirectly selected paternal parents in polycrosses were inferior to maternal parents directly selected by polycross progeny tests mainly for forage yield. Chi-squared values (χ2) in goodness-of-fit tests of the frequency distribution of paternal parents compared with the expected probabilities revealed unbalanced selection in Polycrosses B and D (χ2 = 141.4*** and 82.7***, respectively). Significant differences among the maternal and paternal parents in breeding values for competitiveness toward legumes and low-digestibility fiber content indicate that unbalanced paternal selection would result from individual phenotypic selection for these traits. These results demonstrate that implementation of a marker-based paternity test in timothy polycross breeding could significantly improve the selection of superior paternal parents and redress problems of parental imbalance
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