Signal generation and mixing electronics for frequency-domain lifetime and spectral fluorometry

The present invention additionally comprises a method and apparatus for generating and mixing signals for frequency-domain lifetime and spectral fluorometry. The present invention comprises a plurality of signal generators that generate a plurality of signals where the signal generators modulate the amplitude and/or the frequency of the signals. The present invention uses one of these signals to drive an excitation signal that the present invention then directs and transmits at a target mixture, which absorbs the energy from the excitation signal. The property of fluorescence causes the target mixture to emit an emitted signal that the present invention detects with a signal detector. The present invention uses a plurality of mixers to produce a processor reference signal and a data signal. The present invention then uses a processor to compare the processor reference signal with the data signal by analyzing the differences in the phase and the differences in the amplitude between the two signals. The processor then extracts the fluorescence lifetime and fluorescence spectrum of the emitted signal from the phase and amplitude information using a chemometric analysis

The space physics environment data analysis system (SPEDAS)

With the advent of the Heliophysics/Geospace System Observatory (H/GSO), a complement of multi-spacecraft missions and ground-based observatories to study the space environment, data retrieval, analysis, and visualization of space physics data can be daunting. The Space Physics Environment Data Analysis System (SPEDAS), a grass-roots software development platform (www.spedas.org), is now officially supported by NASA Heliophysics as part of its data environment infrastructure. It serves more than a dozen space missions and ground observatories and can integrate the full complement of past and upcoming space physics missions with minimal resources, following clear, simple, and well-proven guidelines. Free, modular and configurable to the needs of individual missions, it works in both command-line (ideal for experienced users) and Graphical User Interface (GUI) mode (reducing the learning curve for first-time users). Both options have “crib-sheets,” user-command sequences in ASCII format that can facilitate record-and-repeat actions, especially for complex operations and plotting. Crib-sheets enhance scientific interactions, as users can move rapidly and accurately from exchanges of technical information on data processing to efficient discussions regarding data interpretation and science. SPEDAS can readily query and ingest all International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP)-compatible products from the Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF), enabling access to a vast collection of historic and current mission data. The planned incorporation of Heliophysics Application Programmer’s Interface (HAPI) standards will facilitate data ingestion from distributed datasets that adhere to these standards. Although SPEDAS is currently Interactive Data Language (IDL)-based (and interfaces to Java-based tools such as Autoplot), efforts are under-way to expand it further to work with python (first as an interface tool and potentially even receiving an under-the-hood replacement). We review the SPEDAS development history, goals, and current implementation. We explain its “modes of use” with examples geared for users and outline its technical implementation and requirements with software developers in mind. We also describe SPEDAS personnel and software management, interfaces with other organizations, resources and support structure available to the community, and future development plans.Published versio

A History of Progressive-Era School Savings Banking, 1870-1930

A History of Progressive-Era School Savings Banking, 1870-193

School-Based Savings Programs, 1930-2002

School-Based Savings Programs, 1930-200

Initiation of Sexual Behavior in the Marital Relationship

While traditional beliefs and some research show that men have been more likely than women to initiate sexual activity, recent research indicates that traditional patterns of sexual initiation may be changing especially for married couples. Also, patterns of initiation seem to be related to sexual satisfaction. Specifically, women who always take the initiative and those who never do are the least satisfied with their sex lives. Conversely, those wives who initiate sex half the time are very happy with their sex lives. Since it appears that initiation of sexual activity is related to satisfaction with sex, information regarding why a partner does or does not initiate sex would be useful to a marriage and/or sex therapist. It was expected, on the basis of previous research and theorizing, that the tendency to initiate marital sex would be related to the following: a wife\u27s own approach/avoidance orientation to sex and the approach/avoidance orientation to sex of her husband as measured by Byrne\u27s Sexual Opinion Survey (SOS), attitudes towards sex roles of oneself and one\u27s spouse as measured by the Attitude Towards Women Scale (ATWS), and experiences with pre-adolescent and adolescent genital selfstimulation. Patterns of correlation were analyzed to determine relationships between the following independent variables: husbands\u27 and wives\u27 approach/avoidance orientation towards sex, attitudes towards sex roles, and pre-adolescent and adolescent genital self-stimulation, and the following dependent variables: the number of times the wives take the initiative sexually, the number of times the husbands take the initiative sexually, and the resulting percentage that each takes the initiative sexually, as measured on a monthly basis. Husbands and wives gave relatively similar estimates of how often the husband initiated sex and how often it was mutually initiated. Both husbands and wives reported that the husband was more likely to initiate sex than the wife; however, wives reported significantly higher frequencies of wife initiated sex than their husbands did for wife initiated sex. Husbands were found to be more erotophilic on the Sexual Opinion Survey than wives. Also, wives tended to be more profeminist than their husbands as measured by the Attitude Toward Women Scale. Couples in which the husband experienced frequent pre-adolescent and adolescent masturbatory experience engaged in sexual activity more frequently. Initiation by the husband was negatively correlated with the wife\u27s adolescent masturbatory experience. Gender differences in the masturbation score were apparent with husbands having more experience with genital self-stimulation. The wife\u27s Attitude Towards Women Score was negatively correlated with the couple\u27s total amount of sex. It appears that the traditional pattern of husband\u27s initiating more frequently still holds. It also appears that households of a more profeminist bent are engaging in less marital sex

Whose Britain Is This Anyway: Questioning Race, Class, Immigration and Nationality in Great Britain Between 1948 and 2011

This work discusses how questions of race, class, immigration and nationality have changed since 1948. To answer it I looked at the 1981 Brixton race riot and the 2011 UK urban youth riots. I argue that, despite improvements in black and white race relations, British society has continued to discriminate against black-Brits on multiple levels. I have also found that since the 1980s there has been a governmental and, more generally, a societal neglect of the working-class population as a whole. In regards to the findings of other scholars and historians, my work looks at both urban, poor blacks and whites as a class, without ignoring the vast differences in their racial and cultural experiences. For much of my study, I am also looking exclusively at both black and white urban youths. I look for causality of the discrimination through various factors such as, economics, housing, culture and policing. I seek to find out how societal issues in a first-world country could come to the point of violent rioting on the streets

Frog Spinal Motoneurons: Their Supraspinal Synaptic Input and Anatomical Localization

Techniques were developed for maintaining a bullfrog spinal cord in situ and for recording intracellularly from lumbar motoneurons in this preparation. Fibers in the contralateral and ipsilateral lateral funiculi of the spinal cord which originate at or above the calamus scriptorius were found to produce EPSPs in flexor and extensor motoneurons innervating the hindlimb. These EPSPs appeared to be generated monosynaptically on the somas and proximal dendrites of the motoneurons. Chromatolysis was used to map the location of motoneurons· innervating hindlimb muscles in the bullfrog, Rana catesbiana. These motoneurons were located in the dorsolateral cell column of the ventral horn, but not in the ventromedial column. A somatotopic organization was found, with motoneurons innervating proximal muscles located ventrally and rostrally to those innervating distal muscles. A functional organization was found, in which motoneurons controlling the flexor muscles around any joint were located rostrally to those controlling the extensors. Electrophysiological mapping gave results consistent with this arrangement

Encapsulation of lactobacillus casei into calcium pectinate-chitosan beads for enteric delivery

Gel beads were prepared by extrusion of various types of pectin into 0.15 M calcium chloride. Size, morphology, and textural properties of 3 types of beads were evaluated and it was established that the use of 3 w/v % amidated pectin provides the optimal characteristics suitable for encapsulation of live bacteria. Lactobacillus casei NCIMB 30185 (PXN37) was encapsulated into calcium pectinate gel through the extrusion of a live bacteria dispersion in 3 w/v % pectin into a solution of calcium chloride. The capsules were then additionally coated with chitosan. The viability of bacteria within these capsules was studied under model gastrointestinal conditions in vitro (simulated gastric and intestinal juices). It was established that pectin-chitosan capsules can provide protection to L. casei from the gastric acid and result in high levels of viable bacteria released in the intestine

Preparing for the silver tsunami: the demand for higher education among older adults

Journal Article(Over the next decade, Baby Boomers will be reaching retirement age in large numbers and the U.S. will be undergoing one of the most significant demographic shifts in its history. This demographic shift has important implications for the role of higher education as a provider of lifelong learning and for the changing composition of postsecondary institutions. Using data from the 2005 National Household Education Survey, the results of this study informs the higher education community about this emerging student market segment as a way to help us better respond to older adults? demand for formal learning in postsecondary institutions. Key words: Educational demand, Older adults, Baby Boomers, Consumer preference theory, Hurdle model