Writing about accessibility

In this forum we celebrate research that helps to successfully bring the benefits of computing technologies to children, older adults, people with disabilities, and other populations that are often ignored in the design of mass-marketed products. --- Juan Pablo Hourcade, Editor </jats:p

IDENTIFYING EXTENSION'S COMMUNITY RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT CLIENTELE AND ADAPTING ECONOMIC INFORMATION TO THE NEEDS OF EACH

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Trusted Hands: The Role of Community-Based Organizations in Enrolling Children in Public Health Insurance Programs

Trusted Hand is a new approach to enrolling traditionally hard-to-reach children in public health insurance programs. While the most common locations for enrollment assistance are state and local social service agencies and health clinics, many states are increasing their network to include a variety of community-based organizations that typically have not been involved in public health insurance. This Issue Brief, prepared by researchers at the University of Colorado Denver, details the advantages, as well as the challenges of this promising new strategy

Design of a Uranium Dioxide Spheroidization System

The plasma spheroidization system (PSS) is the first process in the development of tungsten-uranium dioxide (W-UO2) fuel cermets. The PSS process improves particle spherocity and surface morphology for coating by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Angular fully dense particles melt in an argon-hydrogen plasma jet at between 32-36 kW, and become spherical due to surface tension. Surrogate CeO2 powder was used in place of UO2 for system and process parameter development. Particles range in size from 100 - 50 microns in diameter. Student s t-test and hypothesis testing of two proportions statistical methods were applied to characterize and compare the spherocity of pre and post process powders. Particle spherocity was determined by irregularity parameter. Processed powders show great than 800% increase in the number of spherical particles over the stock powder with the mean spherocity only mildly improved. It is recommended that powders be processed two-three times in order to reach the desired spherocity, and that process parameters be optimized for a more narrow particles size range. Keywords: spherocity, spheroidization, plasma, uranium-dioxide, cermet, nuclear, propulsio

A Complete Generic Phylogeny of Malpighiaceae Inferred from Nucleotide Sequence Data and Morphology

Premise of the study: The Malpighiaceae include ∼1300 tropical flowering plant species in which generic definitions and intergeneric relationships have long been problematic. The goals of our study were to resolve relationships among the 11 generic segregates from the New World genus Mascagnia, test the monophyly of the largest remaining Malpighiaceae genera, and clarify the placement of Old World Malpighiaceae. Methods: We combined DNA sequence data for four genes (plastid ndhF, matK, and rbcL and nuclear PHYC) from 338 ingroup accessions that represented all 77 currently recognized genera with morphological data from 144 ingroup species to produce a complete generic phylogeny of the family. Key results and conclusions: The genera are distributed among 14 mostly well-supported clades. The interrelationships of these major subclades have strong support, except for the clade comprising the wing-fruited genera (i.e., the malpighioid+Amorimia, Ectopopterys, hiraeoid, stigmaphylloid, and tetrapteroid clades). These results resolve numerous systematic problems, while others have emerged and constitute opportunities for future study. Malpighiaceae migrated from the New to Old World nine times, with two of those migrants being very recent arrivals from the New World. The seven other Old World clades dispersed much earlier, likely during the Tertiary. Comparison of floral morphology in Old World Malpighiaceae with their closest New World relatives suggests that morphological stasis in the New World likely results from selection by neotropical oil-bee pollinators and that the morphological diversity found in Old World flowers has evolved following their release from selection by those bees.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog

The Myxomycetes of Athens Conty, Ohio

Author Institution: Department of Environmental and Plant BiologyThe goal of this study was to document all reported collections of myxomycetes (slime molds) from Athens County, OH (USA). The compilation of several published and unpublished studies of myxomycete records from Athens County resulted in a total of 52 species. The species were distributed among 6 orders, 9 families, and 25 genera and represent 24% of the myxomycetes known from Ohio and approximately 15% of those recorded for North America. No new collections for the state of Ohio were reported

Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia) Provide a 21st-Century Perspective on Infraspecific Ranks and Interspecific Hybrids: A Modest Proposal for Appropriate Recognition and Usage

The taxonomic use of infraspecific ranks (subspecies, variety, subvariety, form, and subform), and the formal recognition of interspecific hybrid taxa, is permitted by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. However, considerable confusion regarding the biological and systematic merits is caused by current practice in the use of infraspecific ranks, which obscures the meaningful variability on which natural selection operates, and by the formal recognition of those interspecific hybrids that lack the potential for inter-lineage gene flow. These issues also may have pragmatic and legal consequences, especially regarding the legal delimitation and management of Threatened and Endangered Species. A detailed comparison of three contemporary floras highlights the degree to which infraspecific and interspecific variation are treated inconsistently. An in depth analysis of taxonomy of the North American flowering plant genus Sarracenia (Sarraceniaceae) provides an ideal case study illustrating the confusion that can arise from inconsistent and apparently arbitrary designation of infraspecific ranks and hybrid taxa. To alleviate these problems, we propose the abandonment of infraspecific ranks of “variety” and “form”, and discourage naming of sterile interspecific hybrids except for use in the horticultural or agronomic trade. Our recommendations for taxonomic practice are in accord with the objectives proposed in the Systematics Agenda 2000, Systematics Agenda 2020, and the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog