735 research outputs found
Cynhaeaf:customs, practices and folklore associated with the traditional harvest in Wales
Get PDFThis thesis aims to explore a wide variety of customs and practices associated with the traditional harvest in Wales, principally during the nineteenth century; with a particular focus on south-west Wales, where the evidence survives most strongly. This includes an examination of the practice of harvest migration to destinations both within and outside Wales, the traditions associated with it, and the social stresses which it engendered; with particular attention to the practice of cyflog y groes, or cross wages, in the Vale of Clwyd. The customs and symbolism surrounding the last sheaf, or caseg fedi, are scrutinised in some detail, together with their long-standing Frazerian interpretation, and an alternative approach is proposed. An exploration of a range of harvest folklore demonstrates in particular the constant personification of sheaves as animals or people. The essay concludes by tracing the traditional supper at the end of harvest, the merrymaking associated with it, and the reasons for its eventual replacement by the Christian harvest festival. Throughout the study attention will be drawn to the social and ritual tensions accompanying these customs, including tensions in the harvest field, and the contrast between co-operation among farms on the one hand and aggressive competitiveness on the other; as well as the prevailing context of subsistence or borderline deprivation in which they take place
The Planning Execution Monitoring Architecture
Get PDFThe Planning Execution Monitoring (PEM) architecture is a design concept for developing autonomous cockpit command and control software. The PEM architecture is designed to reduce the operations costs in the space transportation system through the use of automation while improving safety and operability of the system. Specifically, the PEM autonomous framework enables automatic performance of many vehicle operations that would typically be performed by a human. Also, this framework supports varying levels of autonomous control, ranging from fully automatic to fully manual control. The PEM autonomous framework interfaces with the core flight software to perform flight procedures. It can either assist human operators in performing procedures or autonomously execute routine cockpit procedures based on the operational context. Most importantly, the PEM autonomous framework promotes and simplifies the capture, verification, and validation of the flight operations knowledge. Through a hierarchical decomposition of the domain knowledge, the vehicle command and control capabilities are divided into manageable functional "chunks" that can be captured and verified separately. These functional units, each of which has the responsibility to manage part of the vehicle command and control, are modular, re-usable, and extensible. Also, the functional units are self-contained and have the ability to plan and execute the necessary steps for accomplishing a task based upon the current mission state and available resources. The PEM architecture has potential for application outside the realm of spaceflight, including management of complex industrial processes, nuclear control, and control of complex vehicles such as submarines or unmanned air vehicles
Observational Evidence from Supernovae for an Accelerating Universe and a Cosmological Constant
Get PDFWe present observations of 10 type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) between 0.16 < z <
0.62. With previous data from our High-Z Supernova Search Team, this expanded
set of 16 high-redshift supernovae and 34 nearby supernovae are used to place
constraints on the Hubble constant (H_0), the mass density (Omega_M), the
cosmological constant (Omega_Lambda), the deceleration parameter (q_0), and the
dynamical age of the Universe (t_0). The distances of the high-redshift SNe Ia
are, on average, 10% to 15% farther than expected in a low mass density
(Omega_M=0.2) Universe without a cosmological constant. Different light curve
fitting methods, SN Ia subsamples, and prior constraints unanimously favor
eternally expanding models with positive cosmological constant (i.e.,
Omega_Lambda > 0) and a current acceleration of the expansion (i.e., q_0 < 0).
With no prior constraint on mass density other than Omega_M > 0, the
spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia are consistent with q_0 <0 at the 2.8 sigma
and 3.9 sigma confidence levels, and with Omega_Lambda >0 at the 3.0 sigma and
4.0 sigma confidence levels, for two fitting methods respectively. Fixing a
``minimal'' mass density, Omega_M=0.2, results in the weakest detection,
Omega_Lambda>0 at the 3.0 sigma confidence level. For a flat-Universe prior
(Omega_M+Omega_Lambda=1), the spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia require
Omega_Lambda >0 at 7 sigma and 9 sigma level for the two fitting methods. A
Universe closed by ordinary matter (i.e., Omega_M=1) is ruled out at the 7
sigma to 8 sigma level. We estimate the size of systematic errors, including
evolution, extinction, sample selection bias, local flows, gravitational
lensing, and sample contamination. Presently, none of these effects reconciles
the data with Omega_Lambda=0 and q_0 > 0.Comment: 36 pages, 13 figures, 3 table files Accepted to the Astronomical
Journa
Human intestinal tissue tropism of intimin epsilon O103 Escherichia coli
Get PDFHuman intestinal in vitro organ culture was used to assess the tissue tropism of human isolates of Escherichia coli O103:H2 and O103:H- that express intimin F. Both strains showed tropism for follicle associated epithelium and limited adhesion to other regions of the small and large intestine. This is similar to the tissue tropism shown by intimin gamma enterohaemorrhagic (EHEC) O157:H7, but distinct from that of intimin a enteropathogenic (EPEC) O127:H6. (C) 2002 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserve
Tests of the Accelerating Universe with Near-Infrared Observations of a High-Redshift Type Ia Supernova
Get PDFWe have measured the rest-frame B,V, and I-band light curves of a
high-redshift type Ia supernova (SN Ia), SN 1999Q (z=0.46), using HST and
ground-based near-infrared detectors.
A goal of this study is the measurement of the color excess, E_{B-I}, which
is a sensitive indicator of interstellar or intergalactic dust which could
affect recent cosmological measurements from high-redshift SNe Ia. Our
observations disfavor a 30% opacity of SN Ia visual light by dust as an
alternative to an accelerating Universe. This statement applies to both
Galactic-type dust
(rejected at the 3.4 sigma confidence level) and greyer dust (grain size >
0.1 microns; rejected at the 2.3 to 2.6 sigma confidence level) as proposed by
Aguirre (1999). The rest-frame -band light cur ve shows the secondary
maximum a month after B maximum typical of nearby SNe Ia of normal luminosi ty,
providing no indication of evolution as a function of redshift out to z~0.5. A
n expanded set of similar observations could improve the constraints on any
contribution of extragalactic dust to the dimming of high-redshift SNe Ia.Comment: Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal, 12 pages, 2 figure
Supernova Limits on the Cosmic Equation of State
Get PDFWe use Type Ia supernovae studied by the High-Z Supernova Search Team to
constrain the properties of an energy component which may have contributed to
accelerating the cosmic expansion. We find that for a flat geometry the
equation of state parameter for the unknown component, alpha_x=P_x/rho_x, must
be less than -0.55 (95% confidence) for any value of Omega_m and is further
limited to alpha_x<-0.60 (95%) if Omega_m is assumed to be greater than 0.1 .
These values are inconsistent with the unknown component being topological
defects such as domain walls, strings, or textures. The supernova data are
consistent with a cosmological constant (alpha_x=-1) or a scalar field which
has had, on average, an equation of state parameter similar to the cosmological
constant value of -1 over the redshift range of z=1 to the present. Supernova
and cosmic microwave background observations give complementary constraints on
the densities of matter and the unknown component. If only matter and vacuum
energy are considered, then the current combined data sets provide direct
evidence for a spatially flat Universe with Omega_tot=Omega_m+Omega_Lambda =
0.94 +/- 0.26 (1-sigma).Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 3 figure
Limb Immobilization Induces a Coordinate Down-Regulation of Mitochondrial and Other Metabolic Pathways in Men and Women
Get PDFAdvancements in animal models and cell culture techniques have been invaluable in the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms that regulate muscle atrophy. However, few studies have examined muscle atrophy in humans using modern experimental techniques. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in global gene transcription during immobilization-induced muscle atrophy in humans and then explore the effects of the most prominent transcriptional alterations on protein expression and function. Healthy men and women (N = 24) were subjected to two weeks of unilateral limb immobilization, with muscle biopsies obtained before, after 48 hours (48 H) and 14 days (14 D) of immobilization. Muscle cross sectional area (∼5%) and strength (10–20%) were significantly reduced in men and women (∼5% and 10–20%, respectively) after 14 D of immobilization. Micro-array analyses of total RNA extracted from biopsy samples at 48 H and 14 D uncovered 575 and 3,128 probes, respectively, which were significantly altered during immobilization. As a group, genes involved in mitochondrial bioenergetics and carbohydrate metabolism were predominant features at both 48 H and 14 D, with genes involved in protein synthesis and degradation significantly down-regulated and up-regulated, respectively, at 14 D of muscle atrophy. There was also a significant decrease in the protein content of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase, and the enzyme activity of cytochrome c oxidase and citrate synthase after 14 D of immobilization. Furthermore, protein ubiquitination was significantly increased at 48 H but not 14 D of immobilization. These results suggest that transcriptional and post-transcriptional suppression of mitochondrial processes is sustained throughout 14 D of immobilization, while protein ubiquitination plays an early but transient role in muscle atrophy following short-term immobilization in humans
Hubble Space Telescope and Ground-Based Observations of Type Ia Supernovae at Redshift 0.5: Cosmological Implications
Get PDFWe present observations of the Type Ia supernovae (SNe) 1999M, 1999N, 1999Q,
1999S, and 1999U, at redshift z~0.5. They were discovered in early 1999 with
the 4.0~m Blanco telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory by the
High-z Supernova Search Team (HZT) and subsequently followed with many
ground-based telescopes. SNe 1999Q and 1999U were also observed with the Hubble
Space Telescope. We computed luminosity distances to the new SNe using two
methods, and added them to the high-z Hubble diagram that the HZT has been
constructing since 1995.
The new distance moduli confirm the results of previous work. At z~0.5,
luminosity distances are larger than those expected for an empty universe,
implying that a ``Cosmological Constant,'' or another form of ``dark energy,''
has been increasing the expansion rate of the Universe during the last few
billion years.Comment: 68 pages, 22 figures. Scheduled for the 01 February 2006 issue of
Ap.J. (v637
The Lantern Vol. 43, No. 1, Fall 1976
Get PDF• Frustration • Think Again • My Sweet • Secret Society of One • November Ghosts • A Lonely Girl\u27s Prayer • Visions of You • The Innocence Baby • Society • Silence • Don\u27t Turn Around • Waves • Loneliness • Time Writer • Brood • It\u27s Not Funny • Four Haiku, Entwined • We\u27ll Have to Stop Meeting Like This • Castles In the Sand • The Seahttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1109/thumbnail.jp
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