Texas A&M University

About: Texas A&M University is a education organization based out in College Station, Texas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Finite element method. The organization has 72169 authors who have published 164372 publications receiving 5764236 citations.

Associational Resistance and Associational Susceptibility: Having Right or Wrong Neighbors

Abstract: Specific plant associations may decrease (associational resistance, AR) or increase (associational susceptibility, AS) the likelihood of detection by, and/or vulnerability to, herbivores. We discuss presumed mechanisms leading to AR and AS, suggest others, and conduct meta-analyses on plant and herbivore traits affecting AR and AS, and the effects of habitat. Specific plant associations determine the likelihood of detection and/or vulnerability of focal plants to herbivores. AS is more likely with insects and AR more likely with mammals. Unpalatable neighbors increase the likelihood of AR. An herbivore's feeding guild, diet breadth, and habitat type do not influence the likelihood of AR or AS. The effectiveness of AR in reducing herbivore abundance is independent of whether neighboring plants are within a plot of focal crops or along the edge of a plot. AR and AS may be applicable to associations among herbivores, and may be appropriately studied from a landscape perspective.

Scrutinizing Exotic Cosmological Models Using ESSENCE Supernova Data Combined with Other Cosmological Probes

Abstract: The first cosmological results from the ESSENCE supernova survey (Wood-Vasey and coworkers) are extended to a wider range of cosmological models including dynamical dark energy and nonstandard cosmological models. We fold in a greater number of external data sets such as the recent Higher-z release of high-redshift supernovae (Riess and coworkers), as well as several complementary cosmological probes. Model comparison statistics such as the Bayesian and Akaike information criteria are applied to gauge the worth of models. These statistics favor models that give a good fit with fewer parameters. Based on this analysis, the preferred cosmological model is the flat cosmological constant model, where the expansion history of the universe can be adequately described with only one free parameter describing the energy content of the universe. Among the more exotic models that provide good fits to the data, we note a preference for models whose best-fit parameters reduce them to the cosmological constant model.

An Isoreticular Series of Metal-Organic Frameworks with Dendritic Hexacarboxylate Ligands and Exceptionally High Gas-Uptake Capacity

Abstract: Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are newly emerging porous materials. Owing to their large surface area and tunable pore size and geometry, they have been studied for applications in gas storage and separation, especially in hydrogen and methane storage and carbon dioxide capture. It has been well established that the high-pressure gravimetric hydrogen-adsorption capacity of an MOF is directly proportional to its surface area. However, MOFs of high surface areas tend to decompose upon activation. In our previous work, we described an approach toward stable MOFs with high surface areas by incorporating mesocavities with microwindows. To extend this work, we now present an isoreticular series of (3,24)-connected MOFs made from dendritic hexacarboxylate ligands, one of which has a Langmuir surface area as high as 6033 m2 g-1. In addition, the gas-adsorption properties of this new isoreticular MOF series have been studied.

Forces contributing to the conformational stability of proteins

Abstract: For 35 years, the prevailing view has been that the hydrophobic effect is the dominant force in protein folding. The importance of hydrogen bonding was always clear, but whether it made a net favorable contribution to protein stability was not. Studies of mutant proteins have improved our understanding of the forces stabilizing proteins. They suggest that hydrogen bonding and the hydrophobic effect make large but comparable contributions to the stability of globular proteins.

"Why be normal?": Language and identity practices in a community of nerd girls

Abstract: The introduction of practice theory into sociolinguistics is an important recent development in the field. The community of practice provides a useful alternative to the speech-community model, which has limitations for language and gender researchers in particular. As an ethnographic, activitybased approach, the community of practice is of special value to researchers in language and gender because of its compatibility with current theories of identity. An extension of the community of practice allows identities to be explained as the result of positive and negative identity practices rather than as fixed social categories, as in the speech-community model. The framework is used here to analyze the linguistic practices associated with an unexamined social identity, the nerd, and to illustrate how members of a local community of female nerds at a US high school negotiate gender and other aspects of their identities through practice. (Community of practice, gender, discourse analysis, identity, social construction, social practice, speech community, adolescents, nerds)*