Showing papers by "Boise State University published in 2012"

Nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region as a universal DNA barcode marker for Fungi

Abstract: Six DNA regions were evaluated as potential DNA barcodes for Fungi, the second largest kingdom of eukaryotic life, by a multinational, multilaboratory consortium. The region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 used as the animal barcode was excluded as a potential marker, because it is difficult to amplify in fungi, often includes large introns, and can be insufficiently variable. Three subunits from the nuclear ribosomal RNA cistron were compared together with regions of three representative protein-coding genes (largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, and minichromosome maintenance protein). Although the protein-coding gene regions often had a higher percent of correct identification compared with ribosomal markers, low PCR amplification and sequencing success eliminated them as candidates for a universal fungal barcode. Among the regions of the ribosomal cistron, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region has the highest probability of successful identification for the broadest range of fungi, with the most clearly defined barcode gap between inter- and intraspecific variation. The nuclear ribosomal large subunit, a popular phylogenetic marker in certain groups, had superior species resolution in some taxonomic groups, such as the early diverging lineages and the ascomycete yeasts, but was otherwise slightly inferior to the ITS. The nuclear ribosomal small subunit has poor species-level resolution in fungi. ITS will be formally proposed for adoption as the primary fungal barcode marker to the Consortium for the Barcode of Life, with the possibility that supplementary barcodes may be developed for particular narrowly circumscribed taxonomic groups.

Fermi Large Area Telescope Second Source Catalog

Abstract: We present the second catalog of high-energy γ-ray sources detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT), the primary science instrument on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi), derived from data taken during the first 24 months of the science phase of the mission, which began on 2008 August 4. Source detection is based on the average flux over the 24 month period. The second Fermi-LAT catalog (2FGL) includes source location regions, defined in terms of elliptical fits to the 95% confidence regions and spectral fits in terms of power-law, exponentially cutoff power-law, or log-normal forms. Also included are flux measurements in five energy bands and light curves on monthly intervals for each source. Twelve sources in the catalog are modeled as spatially extended. We provide a detailed comparison of the results from this catalog with those from the first Fermi-LAT catalog (1FGL). Although the diffuse Galactic and isotropic models used in the 2FGL analysis are improved compared to the 1FGL catalog, we attach caution flags to 162 of the sources to indicate possible confusion with residual imperfections in the diffuse model. The 2FGL catalog contains 1873 sources detected and characterized in the 100 MeV to 100 GeV range of which we consider 127 as being firmly identified and 1171 as being reliably associated with counterparts of known or likely γ-ray-producing source classes.

Fermi-LAT observations of the diffuse γ-ray emission: implications for cosmic rays and the interstellar medium

Abstract: The gamma-ray sky >100 MeV is dominated by the diffuse emissions from interactions of cosmic rays with the interstellar gas and radiation fields of the Milky Way. Observations of these diffuse emissions provide a tool to study cosmic-ray origin and propagation, and the interstellar medium. We present measurements from the first 21 months of the Fermi-LAT mission and compare with models of the diffuse gamma-ray emission generated using the GALPROP code. The models are fitted to cosmic-ray data and incorporate astrophysical input for the distribution of cosmic-ray sources, interstellar gas and radiation fields. To assess uncertainties associated with the astrophysical input, a grid of models is created by varying within observational limits the distribution of cosmic-ray sources, the size of the cosmic-ray confinement volume (halo), and the distribution of interstellar gas. An all-sky maximum-likelihood fit is used to determine the Xco-factor, the ratio between integrated CO-line intensity and molecular hydrogen column density, the fluxes and spectra of the gamma-ray point sources from the first Fermi-LAT catalogue, and the intensity and spectrum of the isotropic background including residual cosmic rays that were misclassified as gamma rays, all of which have some dependency on the assumed diffuse emission model. The models are compared on the basis of their maximum likelihood ratios as well as spectra, longitude, and latitude profiles. We also provide residual maps for the data following subtraction of the diffuse emission models. The models are consistent with the data at high and intermediate latitudes but under-predict the data in the inner Galaxy for energies above a few GeV. Possible explanations for this discrepancy are discussed, including the contribution by undetected point source populations and spectral variations of cosmic rays throughout the Galaxy.

Measurement of Separate Cosmic-Ray Electron and Positron Spectra with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

Abstract: We measured separate cosmic-ray electron and positron spectra with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. Because the instrument does not have an onboard magnet, we distinguish the two species by exploiting the Earth's shadow, which is offset in opposite directions for opposite charges due to the Earth's magnetic field. We estimate and subtract the cosmic-ray proton background using two different methods that produce consistent results. We report the electron-only spectrum, the positron-only spectrum, and the positron fraction between 20 GeV and 200 GeV. We confirm that the fraction rises with energy in the 20--100 GeV range and determine for the first time that it continues to rise between 100 and 200 GeV.

The fermi large area telescope on orbit: Event classification, instrument response functions, and calibration

Abstract: The Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT, hereafter LAT), the primary instrument on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) mission, is an imaging, wide field-of-view, high-energy \gamma-ray telescope, covering the energy range from 20 MeV to more than 300 GeV. During the first years of the mission the LAT team has gained considerable insight into the in-flight performance of the instrument. Accordingly, we have updated the analysis used to reduce LAT data for public release as well as the Instrument Response Functions (IRFs), the description of the instrument performance provided for data analysis. In this paper we describe the effects that motivated these updates. Furthermore, we discuss how we originally derived IRFs from Monte Carlo simulations and later corrected those IRFs for discrepancies observed between flight and simulated data. We also give details of the validations performed using flight data and quantify the residual uncertainties in the IRFs. Finally, we describe techniques the LAT team has developed to propagate those uncertainties into estimates of the systematic errors on common measurements such as fluxes and spectra of astrophysical sources.

Bleach Gel: A Simple Agarose Gel for Analyzing RNA Quality

Abstract: RNA-based applications requiring high-quality, non-degraded RNA are a foundational element of many research studies. As such, it is paramount that the integrity of experimental RNA is validated prior to cDNA synthesis or other downstream applications. In the absence of expensive equipment such as microfluidic electrophoretic devices, and as an alternative to the costly and time-consuming standard formaldehyde gel, RNA quality can be quickly analyzed by adding small amounts of commercial bleach to TAE buffer-based agarose gels prior to electrophoresis. In the presence of low concentrations of bleach, the secondary structure of RNA is denatured and potential contaminating RNases are destroyed. Because of this, the 'bleach gel' is a functional approach that addresses the need for an inexpensive and safe way to evaluate RNA integrity and will improve the ability of researchers to rapidly analyze RNA quality.

GeV observations of star-forming galaxies with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

Abstract: Recent detections of the starburst galaxies M82 and NGC 253 by gamma-ray telescopes suggest that galaxies rapidly forming massive stars are more luminous at gamma-ray energies compared to their quiescent relatives. Building upon those results, we examine a sample of 69 dwarf, spiral, and luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies at photon energies 0.1-100 GeV using 3 years of data collected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi). Measured fluxes from significantly detected sources and flux upper limits for the remaining galaxies are used to explore the physics of cosmic rays in galaxies.We find further evidence for quasi-linear scaling relations between gamma-ray luminosity and both radio continuum luminosity and total infrared luminosity which apply both to quiescent galaxies of the Local Group and low-redshift starburst galaxies (conservative P-values 0.05 accounting for statistical and systematic uncertainties). The normalizations of these scaling relations correspond to luminosity ratios of log(L0.1-100 GeV/L1.4 GHz) = 1.7 ± 0.1(statistical) ± 0.2(dispersion) and log(L0.1-100 GeV/L8-1000μm) = −4.3 ± 0.1(statistical) ± 0.2(dispersion) for a galaxy with a star formation rate of 1M yr−1, assuming a Chabrier initial mass function. Using the relationship between infrared luminosity and gamma-ray luminosity, the collective intensity of unresolved star-forming galaxies at redshifts 0 < z < 2.5 above 0.1 GeV is estimated to be 0.4-2.4 ×10−6 ph cm−2 s−1 sr−1 (4%-23% of the intensity of the isotropic diffuse component measured with the LAT).We anticipate that∼10 galaxies could be detected by their cosmic-ray-induced gamma-ray emission during a 10 year Fermi mission.

Long noncoding RNAs are rarely translated in two human cell lines

Abstract: In addition to over 20,000 protein-coding genes and known small-RNA, including microRNA host genes, the human genome includes at least 9640 loci transcribed solely into long, non-protein-coding RNAs (long noncoding RNAs; lncRNAs), often with multiple transcript isoforms (Derrien et al. 2012). Of these, only a minority (under 100) have been functionally characterized at an individual level by forward and reverse genetic approaches in organismal and cell culture models. The remainder are known purely via high-throughput discovery and expression analysis. Well-known examples of lncRNAs that have been functionally characterized in-depth include the imprinted Myc target H19 (Gabory et al. 2009), the epigenetic homeobox gene regulator HOTAIR, which promotes cancer metastasis (Gupta et al. 2010), and Xist, the lncRNA that is responsible for inactivation of the mammalian X-chromosome (Jeon and Lee 2011). While these few examples already attest to the diversity of lncRNA functions in chromatin remodeling and imprinting, the diversity of heretofore-uncharacterized lncRNAs hints at numerous additional lncRNA-dependent regulatory mechanisms in mammalian systems. Miat is another example of a recently discovered lncRNA that takes part in a direct network feedback loop with the Pou5f1 pluripotency factor in stem cells (Pou5f1 is also known as Oct4); Miat is both a direct target of and a direct regulator of Pou5f1 (Lipovich et al. 2010; Sheik Mohamed et al. 2010). Hence, lncRNAs can be both regulated by and regulators of key transcription factors. LncRNA genes are transcribed in a diverse range of human tissues and cell lines, and show highly specific spatial and temporal expression profiles, which, in conjunction with detailed molecular characterization of the lncRNAs, attest to numerous distinct functions. These functions include, but are not limited to, epigenetic and post-transcriptional gene expression regulation, sense-antisense interactions with known protein-coding genes, direct binding and regulation of transcription factor proteins, nuclear pore gatekeeping, and enhancer function by transcriptional initiation of lncRNAs that cause chromatin remodeling (Lipovich et al. 2010). Mammalian lncRNAs have epigenetic signatures comparable to those of protein-coding genes, frequently associate with the polycomb repressor complex PRC2 which renders them capable of regulating numerous target genes through histone modifications suppressing gene expression, and mediate global transcriptional programs of cancer transcription factors (Guttman et al. 2009; Khalil et al. 2009; Huarte et al. 2010; Derrien et al. 2012). A particularly intriguing property of mammalian lncRNAs is their lack of evolutionary conservation, relative to protein-coding genes. Primate-specific lncRNAs in the human genome are increasingly well-documented in the literature (for a review citing multiple pertinent recent reports, see Lipovich et al. 2010). Previously, Tay et al. (2009) screened the human genome for primate-specific single-copy genomic sequences, uncovering 131 primate-specific transcriptional units supported by transcriptome data. The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene, a key contributor to synaptic plasticity, learning, memory, and multiple neurological diseases, is overlapped by a cis-encoded primate-specific lncRNA (Pruunsild et al. 2007). Most recently, Derrien et al. (2012) found that ∼30% of human lncRNA transcripts in GENCODE, many of which are expressed in the brain, are primate specific. The resulting relevance of lncRNAs to species-specific phenotypes, including primate and human uniqueness, highlights the importance of using empirical methodologies to document whether lncRNAs are actually non-protein-coding. The majority of definitively known lncRNAs have been annotated using empirical evidence such as cDNA and EST alignments to genome assemblies (Carninci et al. 2005; Katayama et al. 2005; Affymetrix/Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory ENCODE Transcriptome Project 2009). Yet, despite the attention that they have received, the noncoding status of most lncRNA genes and transcripts has been established mostly through computational means including: examining the size of open reading frames (ORFs), assessing conservation of ORFs that are shorter than known proteins, and looking for conserved translation initiation and termination codons. However, a recent flurry of literature suggests that there may exist a class of bifunctional RNAs encoding both mRNAs and functional noncoding transcripts: Indeed, there is direct evidence for rare members of this transcript class in human, mouse, and fly (Hube et al. 2006; Kondo et al. 2010; Dinger et al. 2011; Ingolia et al. 2011; Ulveling et al. 2011). Hence, identifying the fraction of ostensibly noncoding RNAs that may encode polypeptides is a compelling and open question. In this report, we utilize empirical evidence to estimate, in two ENCODE cell lines, the fraction of annotated lncRNAs that may encode, and therefore possibly function through, polypeptides. As part of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project, matched-sample long polyA+ and polyA− RNA-seq data were produced, along with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) data for cellular proteins, for the Tier-1 “ENCODE-prioritized” human cell lines K562 and GM12878. The RNA-seq data provides measures of relative gene expression in various cellular compartments (Djebali et al. 2012); for both GM12878 and K562, nucleus, cytosol, and whole-cell samples were used to sequence both polyA+ and polyA− RNA populations. These data have been used to obtain measures of transcript abundance for all genes in GENCODE v7 annotation (the annotation generated for the ENCODE Consortium), based on ENCODE and other data (Harrow et al. 2012). The mass spec data were produced via a “shotgun” approach, wherein cells were cultured, subcellular fractionation performed, followed by protein separations, tryptic digestion, and MS/MS analysis. The resulting spectra were mapped directly to a 6-frame translation of the entire hg19 assembly to produce a “proteogenomic track” within the UCSC Genome Browser (Kent 2002; Karolchik et al. 2009), and were also mapped against the GENCODE gene annotation set (J Khatun, Y Yu, J Wrobel, BA Risk, HP Gunawardena, A Secrest, WJ Spitzer, L Xie, L Wang, X Chen, et al., in prep.). Integrative analysis of RNA and proteomics data has been explored in the literature and is examined in another ENCODE paper, highlighting translation of novel splice variants and expressed pseudogenes (Tian et al. 2004, Djebali et al. 2012). However, these data have not yet been applied to examine the empirical evidence for or against translation of computationally classified human long noncoding RNAs. A recent joint study of RNA and proteomic data in mouse revealed that protein levels and mRNA levels correlate such that RNA concentration is predictive of at least 40% of the variation in protein levels (Schwanhausser et al. 2011). Since lncRNA genes are expressed, on average, at 4% of the level of protein-coding genes in the ENCODE cell lines (Derrien et al. 2012), we expect a similarly low level of expression for any putative protein(s) translated from lncRNAs. Therefore, to interrogate the translational competence of lncRNAs, we must account for the relative expression levels of these transcripts. It has been shown that the quantity of detectable matches between MS/MS spectra and their corresponding peptides in a transcript correlate to protein abundance levels (Lu et al. 2007). This means that the number of detected peptide matches is an approximate surrogate for protein abundance (Liu et al. 2004; Vogel and Marcotte 2008). We used this characteristic to determine a calibration function that links mRNA expression abundance and protein expression abundance for the ENCODE data from K562 and GM12878. In our analysis, 21% of GENCODE v7 protein-coding genes are represented by at least one uniquely mapping peptide in any MS/MS sample, and the majority of those genes detected are expressed above 5 RPKMs in the whole-cell RNA-seq data (Harrow et al. 2012). We used these data, applying state-of-the-art machine-learning models to estimate the translational competence of transcripts as a function of RNA expression levels in various cellular compartments and RNA fractions. Using these models, we “regressed out” the expression-level effects to compare the translation competency of ostensibly noncoding transcripts to that of known mRNAs. We then manually examined each lncRNA for which we obtained empirical evidence of coding capacity. From these data, we determined the proportion of lncRNAs that appear to be truly “noncoding” in ENCODE Tier 1 cell lines, and we examined the exceptional cases where there was strong evidence of protein translation to determine whether these are indeed translated lncRNAs or simply misannotated mRNAs.

Constraints on the Galactic Halo Dark Matter from Fermi-LAT Diffuse Measurements

Abstract: We have performed an analysis of the diffuse gamma-ray emission with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) in the Milky Way halo region, searching for a signal from dark matter annihilation or decay. In the absence of a robust dark matter signal, constraints are presented. We consider both gamma rays produced directly in the dark matter annihilation/decay and produced by inverse Compton scattering of the e +/e - produced in the annihilation/decay. Conservative limits are derived requiring that the dark matter signal does not exceed the observed diffuse gamma-ray emission. A second set of more stringent limits is derived based on modeling the foreground astrophysical diffuse emission using the GALPROP code. Uncertainties in the height of the diffusive cosmic-ray halo, the distribution of the cosmic-ray sources in the Galaxy, the index of the injection cosmic-ray electron spectrum, and the column density of the interstellar gas are taken into account using a profile likelihood formalism, while the parameters governing the cosmic-ray propagation have been derived from fits to local cosmic-ray data. The resulting limits impact the range of particle masses over which dark matter thermal production in the early universe is possible, and challenge the interpretation of the PAMELA/Fermi-LAT cosmic ray anomalies as the annihilation of dark matter.

Examining mobile learning trends 2003–2008: a categorical meta-trend analysis using text mining techniques

Abstract: This study investigated the longitudinal trends of academic articles in Mobile Learning (ML) using text mining techniques. One hundred and nineteen (119) refereed journal articles and proceedings papers from the SCI/SSCI database were retrieved and analyzed. The taxonomies of ML publications were grouped into twelve clusters (topics) and four domains, based on abstract analysis using text mining. Results include basic bibliometric statistics, trends in frequency of each topic over time, predominance in each topic by country, and preferences for each topic by journal. Key findings include the following: (a) ML articles increased from 8 in 2003 to 36 in 2008; (b) the most popular domain in current ML is Effectiveness, Evaluation, and Personalized Systems; (c) Taiwan is most prolific in five of the twelve ML clusters; (d) ML research is at the Early Adopters stage; and (e) studies in strategies and framework will likely produce a bigger share of publication in the field of ML.

Search for Dark Matter Satellites Using Fermi-LAT

Abstract: Numerical simulations based on the Lambda-CDM model of cosmology predict a large number of as yet unobserved Galactic dark matter satellites. We report the results of a Large Area Telescope (LAT) search for these satellites via the gamma-ray emission expected from the annihilation of weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter. Some dark matter satellites are expected to have hard gamma-ray spectra, finite angular extents, and a lack of counterparts at other wavelengths. We sought to identify LAT sources with these characteristics, focusing on gamma-ray spectra consistent with WIMP annihilation through the $b \bar b$ channel. We found no viable dark matter satellite candidates using one year of data, and we present a framework for interpreting this result in the context of numerical simulations to constrain the velocity-averaged annihilation cross section for a conventional 100 GeV WIMP annihilating through the $b \bar b$ channel.

Quantitative radiometric and biostratigraphic calibration of the Pennsylvanian–Early Permian (Cisuralian) time scale and pan-Euramerican chronostratigraphic correlation

Abstract: A quantitative biostratigraphic and radiometric calibration is presented for the Pennsylvanian through Early Permian global time scale, based upon high-precision, isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometer (ID-TIMS) U-Pb zircon ages for interstratified ash beds in the parastratotype sections of the southern Urals of Russia. Twenty-four ash-bed ages in three outer ramp and basinal sections of the Pre-Uralian foredeep bracket the biotic definitions of global stages and regional substages from the base of the Upper Pennsylvanian Kasimovian Stage to the base of the Lower Permian Artinskian Stage; four additional ash-bed ages in two sections of the eastern slope of the Urals constrain the global Bashkirian and Serpukhovian Stages. Quantitative stratigraphic methods (CONOP9) are applied to a compilation of over 2000 bioevents in 22 stratigraphic sections supplemented by our dated volcanic horizons to refine the Pennsylvanian–Early Permian global time scale. Significant shifts in the duration of several stages are demonstrated, ranging from one to six million years, compared with prior estimates. The unprecedented density of radiometric calibration points for the Pennsylvanian–Permian transition provides a high-resolution (∼0.1-Ma) global chronostratigraphic standard for testing and improving biostratigraphic correlations across Euramerica. We integrate radiometric ages, biostratigraphic correlation, and cyclostratigraphic tuning of major cyclothems to the long-period (404-ka) eccentricity cycle to elucidate the tempo, magnitude, and forcing of eustatic changes and cyclothemic deposition associated with the waxing and waning of Gondwanan ice sheets, and establish a pan-Euramerican chronostratigraphic framework for most of Pennsylvanian and Early Permian time.

Trends of e-learning research from 2000 to 2008: Use of text mining and bibliometrics

Abstract: This study investigated the longitudinal trends of e-learning research using text mining techniques. Six hundred and eighty-nine (689) refereed journal articles and proceedings were retrieved from the Science Citation Index/Social Science Citation Index database in the period from 2000 to 2008. All e-learning publications were grouped into two domains with four groups/15 clusters based on abstract analysis. Three additional variables: subject areas, prolific countries and prolific journals were applied to data analysis and data interpretation. Conclusions include that e-learning research is at the early majority stage and foci have shifted from issues of the effectiveness of e-learning to teaching and learning practices. Educational studies and projects and e-learning application in medical education and training are growing fields with the highest potential for future research. Approaches to e-learning differ between leading countries and early adopter countries, and government policies play an important role in shaping the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outcomes of a Telehealth Intervention for Homebound Older Adults With Heart or Chronic Respiratory Failure: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract: Purpose: Telehealth care is emerging as a viable intervention model to treat complex chronic conditions, such as heart failure (HF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and to engage older adults in self-care disease management. Design and Methods: We report on a randomized controlled trial examining the impact of a multifaceted telehealth intervention on health, mental health, and service utilization outcomes among homebound medically ill older adults diagnosed with HF or COPD. Random effects regression modeling was used, and we hypothesized that older adults in the telehealth intervention ( n = 51) would receive signifi cantly better quality of care resulting in improved scores in healthrelated quality of life, mental health, and satisfaction with care at 3 months follow-up as compared with controls ( n = 51) and service utilization outcomes at 12 months follow-up. Results: At follow-up, the telehealth intervention group reported greater increases in general health and social functioning, and improved in depression symptom scores as compared with usual care plus education group. The control group had signifi cantly more visits to the emergency department than the telehealth group. There was an observed trend toward fewer hospital days for telehealth participants, but it did not reach signifi cance at 12 months. Implications: Telehealth may be an effi cient and effective method of systematically delivering integrated care in the home health sector. The use of telehealth technology may benefi t homebound older adults who have diffi culty accessing care due to disability, transportation, or isolation.

Weak relationship between risk assessment studies and recorded mortality in wind farms

Abstract: Summary 1. Wind farms generate little or no pollution. However, one of their main adverse impacts is bird mortality through collisions with turbine rotors. 2. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies have been based on observations of birds before the construction of wind farms. We analysed data from 53 EIAs in relation to the actual recorded bird mortalities at 20 fully installed wind farms to determine whether this method is accurate in predicting the risk of new wind farm installations. 3. Bird data from EIAs were compared with bird collisions per turbine and year at functional postconstructed wind farms to identify any relationship between pre- and post-construction studies. 4. Significant differences in birds recorded flying among the 53 proposed wind farms were found by the EIAs. Similar results were obtained when only griffon vultures Gyps fulvus and other raptors were considered. There were significant differences in indexes, including the relative index of breeding birds close to proposed locations, among the 53 proposed wind farm sites. 5. The collision rate of birds with turbines was one of the highest ever recorded for raptors, and the griffon vulture was the most frequently killed species. Bird mortality varied among the 20 constructed wind farms. 6. No relationship between variables predicting risk from EIAs and actual recorded mortality was found. A weak relationship was found between griffon vulture and kestrel Falco sp. mortality and the numbers of these two species crossing the area. 7. Synthesis and applications. There was no clear relationship between predicted risk and the actual recorded bird mortality at wind farms. Risk assessment studies incorrectly assumed a linear relationship between frequency of observed birds and fatalities. Nevertheless, it is known that bird mortality in wind farms is related to physical characteristics around individual wind turbines. However, EIAs are usually conducted at the scale of the entire wind farm. The correlation between predicted mortality and actual mortality must be improved in future risk assessment studies by changing the scale of these studies to focus on the locations of proposed individual wind turbine sites and working on a species specific level.

A statistical approach to recognizing source classes for unassociated sources in the first Fermi-LAT catalog

Abstract: The Fermi Large Area Telescope First Source Catalog (1FGL) provided spatial, spectral, and temporal properties for a large number of gamma-ray sources using a uniform analysis method. After correlating with the most-complete catalogs of source types known to emit gamma rays, 630 of these sources are "unassociated" (i.e. have no obvious counterparts at other wavelengths). Here, we employ two statistical analyses of the primary gamma-ray characteristics for these unassociated sources in an effort to correlate their gamma-ray properties with the AGN and pulsar populations in 1FGL. Based on the correlation results, we classify 221 AGN-like and 134 pulsar-like sources in the 1FGL unassociated sources. The results of these source "classifications" appear to match the expected source distributions, especially at high Galactic latitudes. While useful for planning future multiwavelength follow-up observations, these analyses use limited inputs, and their predictions should not be considered equivalent to "probable source classes" for these sources. We discuss multiwavelength results and catalog cross-correlations to date

Are Telecommuting and Personal Travel Complements or Substitutes

Abstract: Whether telecommuting and personal travel are complements or substitutes is a key question in urban policy analysis. Urban planners and policy makers have been proposing telecommuting as part of travel demand management (TDM) programs to reduce congestion. Based on small samples, several empirical studies have found that telecommuting has a substitution effect (although small) on commute travel, and have thus argued that policies promoting telecommuting might be promising in reducing travel. Using data from the 2001 and 2009 National Household Travel Surveys (NHTS), this study involves two large national samples to try to more accurately identify the impact of telecommuting on workers’ travel patterns. Through a series of empirical tests, this research investigates how telecommuting influences workers’ one-way commute trips, daily total work trips, and daily non-work trips, and tries to provide some answers to a question that has been discussed for some years—namely, whether telecommuting and personal travel are complements or substitutes. The results of these tests suggest that telecommuting has been an important factor in shaping personal travel patterns over the 2001–2009 period, and that telecommuting indeed has a complementary effect on not just workers’ one-way commute trips, but also their daily total work trips, and total non-work trips.

New Media, Old Criticism: Bloggers' Press Criticism and the Journalistic Field

Abstract: Bourdieu’s field theory suggests that the rise of the internet and blogs could generate a shift in the journalistic field – the realm where actors struggle for autonomy – as new agents gain access. This textual analysis of 282 items of media criticism appearing on highly trafficked blogs reveals an emphasis on traditional journalistic norms, suggesting a stable field. Occasional criticisms of the practicability of traditional norms and calls for greater transparency, however, may suggest an emerging paradigm shift.

Periodic emission from the gamma-ray binary 1FGL J1018.6-5856

Abstract: Gamma-ray binaries are stellar systems containing a neutron star or black hole, with gamma-ray emission produced by an interaction between the components. These systems are rare, even though binary evolution models predict dozens in our Galaxy. A search for gamma-ray binaries with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) shows that 1FGL J1018.6-5856 exhibits intensity and spectral modulation with a 16.6-day period. We identified a variable x-ray counterpart, which shows a sharp maximum coinciding with maximum gamma-ray emission, as well as an O6V((f)) star optical counterpart and a radio counterpart that is also apparently modulated on the orbital period. 1FGL J1018.6-5856 is thus a gamma-ray binary, and its detection suggests the presence of other fainter binaries in the Galaxy.

A Field Proof-of-Concept of Aquifer Imaging Using 3-D Transient Hydraulic Tomography with Modular, Temporarily-Emplaced Equipment

Abstract: [1] Hydraulic tomography is a field scale aquifer characterization method capable of estimating 3-D heterogeneous parameter distributions, and is directly sensitive to hydraulic conductivity (K), thus providing a useful data source for improving flow and transport models. We present results from a proof-of-concept field and modeling study in which we apply 3-D transient hydraulic tomography (3DTHT) to the relatively high-K and moderately heterogeneous unconfined aquifer at the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site. Short-duration (20 min) partially penetrating pumping tests, for which observed responses do not reach steady state, are used as the aquifer stimulation. To collect field data, we utilize a system of temporarily emplaced packer equipment to isolate multiple discrete intervals in boreholes. To analyze the data, we utilize MODFLOW combined with geostatistical inversion code based on the quasilinear approach of Kitanidis (1995). This combination of practical software allows inversion of large datasets (>250 drawdown curves, and almost 1000 individual data points) and estimation of K at >100,000 locations; reasonable runtimes are obtained using a single multicore computer with 12 GB of RAM. The K heterogeneity results from 3DTHT are cross-validated against K characterization from a large set of partially penetrating slug tests, and found to be quite consistent. The use of portable, modular equipment for field implementation means that 3DTHT data collection can be performed (including mobilization/demobilization) within a matter of days. Likewise, use of a practical, efficient and scalable numerical modeling and inversion strategy means that computational effort is drastically reduced, such that 3-D aquifer property distributions can be estimated quickly.