A global data set of soil particle size properties

A standardized global data set of soil horizon thicknesses and textures (particle size distributions) was compiled. This data set will be used by the improved ground hydrology parameterization designed for the Goddard Institute for Space Studies General Circulation Model (GISS GCM) Model 3. The data set specifies the top and bottom depths and the percent abundance of sand, silt, and clay of individual soil horizons in each of the 106 soil types cataloged for nine continental divisions. When combined with the World Soil Data File, the result is a global data set of variations in physical properties throughout the soil profile. These properties are important in the determination of water storage in individual soil horizons and exchange of water with the lower atmosphere. The incorporation of this data set into the GISS GCM should improve model performance by including more realistic variability in land-surface properties

A phenomenological investigation of doctoral students\u27 experiences with their dissertation committees

In an attempt to understand doctoral students\u27 lived experiences with their dissertation committees, interviews were conducted with thirteen doctoral students enrolled in either clinical or counseling psychology programs. Traditional phenomenological methods were used to analyze interview data to identify emergent themes. Three themes emerged from a qualitative analysis of interview data: (1) Process, (2) Relationships, and (3) Issues. These three themes, implicit in all the protocols, comprise the basic structure of the experience these doctoral students had with their dissertation committees. The results are discussed in relation to the existing literature on the dissertation. Suggestions are offered for doctoral students being supervised by dissertation committees. The implications for faculty providing dissertation supervision are also addressed. Finally, suggestions for future research are included

Metal Depletion and Warm H2 in the Brown Dwarf 2M1207 Accretion Disk

We present new far-ultraviolet observations of the young M8 brown dwarf 2MASS J12073346-3932539, which is surrounded by an accretion disk. The data were obtained using the Hubble Space Telescope-Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. Moderate resolution spectra (R~17,000-18,000) obtained in the 1150-1750 A and 2770-2830 A bandpasses reveal H2 emission excited by HI Ly$\alpha$ photons, several ionization states of carbon (CI - CIV), and hot gas emission lines of HeII and NV (T ~ 10^4-5 K). Emission from some species that would be found in a typical thermal plasma at this temperature (SiII, SiIII, SiIV, and MgII) are not detected. The non-detections indicate that these refractory elements are depleted into grains, and that accretion shocks dominate the production of the hot gas observed on 2MASS J12073346-3932539. We use the observed CIV luminosity to constrain the mass accretion rate in this system. We use the kinematically broadened H2 profile to confirm that the majority of the molecular emission arises in the disk, measure the radius of the inner hole of the disk (R_{hole}~3R_{*}), and constrain the physical conditions of the warm molecular phase of the disk (T(H2)~2500-4000 K). A second, most likely unresolved H2 component is identified. This feature is either near the stellar surface in the region of the accretion shock or in a molecular outflow, although the possibility that this Jovian-like emission arises on the day-side disk of a 6 M_{J} companion (2M1207b) cannot be conclusively ruled out. In general, we find that this young brown dwarf disk system is a low-mass analog to classical T Tauri stars that are observed to produce H2 emission from a warm layer in their disks, such as the well studied TW Hya and DF Tau systems.Comment: ApJ, accepted. 12 pages, 10 figures. 3 tables

Appropriating Enterprise Resource Planning Systems in Colleges of Business: Extending Adaptive Stucturation Theory for Testability

Enterprise resource planning systems are a form of advanced information technology that is quickly becoming commonplace in colleges of business. The nature of software, industry involvement, and academe influences how enterprise resource planning systems are integrated into business education processes. The appropriation of these systems in an academic setting involves a great deal of change, which, if not carefully considered, could result in failure to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes for students, the academic institution and industry stakeholders. Adaptive structuration theory provides a conceptual change model that helps capture the longitudinal change process. In order to provide a better understanding of the periods of routine use at the center of adaptive structuration theory, we introduce theory from the concerns-based adoption model. We integrate aspects of these two theories in the academic setting to provide a theoretical framework that explains the enterprise resource planning systems appropriation process and provide a method for studying the utilization of advanced information technologies for educational purposes. This framework may also be used as a practical means of identifying and considering appropriation issues when planning and evaluating enterprise resource planning systems usage in the classroom

Direction of the Play: For Black Boys Who Have Considered Homicide When the Streets Were Too Much

This project entailed the selection, background research and documentation, musical analysis, casting, direction, vocal coaching, and post-production analysis of a production of For Black Boys Who Have Considered Homicide When The Streets Were Too Much at Spooky Action Theatre Company. Documentation includes research and analysis of the play, its music, and an evaluation of the play as a production vehicle for Empowering Artists Dreams. The analysis also includes a discussion as to the non-traditional directoral vision of this production

Dysfunction in the βII Spectrin-Dependent Cytoskeleton Underlies Human Arrhythmia.

Background: The cardiac cytoskeleton plays key roles in maintaining myocyte structural integrity in health and disease. In fact, human mutations in cardiac cytoskeletal elements are tightly linked with cardiac pathologies including myopathies, aortopathies, and dystrophies. Conversely, the link between cytoskeletal protein dysfunction in cardiac electrical activity is not well understood, and often overlooked in the cardiac arrhythmia field. Methods and Results: Here, we uncover a new mechanism for the regulation of cardiac membrane excitability. We report that βII spectrin, an actin-associated molecule, is essential for the post-translational targeting and localization of critical membrane proteins in heart. βII spectrin recruits ankyrin-B to the cardiac dyad, and a novel human mutation in the ankyrin-B gene disrupts the ankyrin-B/βII spectrin interaction leading to severe human arrhythmia phenotypes. Mice lacking cardiac βII spectrin display lethal arrhythmias, aberrant electrical and calcium handling phenotypes, and abnormal expression/localization of cardiac membrane proteins. Mechanistically, βII spectrin regulates the localization of cytoskeletal and plasma membrane/sarcoplasmic reticulum protein complexes that include the Na/Ca exchanger, RyR2, ankyrin-B, actin, and αII spectrin. Finally, we observe accelerated heart failure phenotypes in βII spectrin-deficient mice. Conclusions: Our findings identify βII spectrin as critical for normal myocyte electrical activity, link this molecule to human disease, and provide new insight into the mechanisms underlying cardiac myocyte biology

Reframing the plantation house: preservation critique in Southern literature

This dissertation contextualizes southern narrative critiques of plantation house preservation through the historic preservation movement, from its precursory development in the 1930s through today. Examining literary representations of plantation houses as historic relics in the contemporary moment, I demonstrate how a range of twentieth- and twenty-first century southern writers critique or challenge its architectural preservation. The southern plantation house has been coded in American popular culture as an exemplar of architectural heritage and a symbol of southern history, both of which beckon its preservation. Various modes of preservation, from nineteenth-century plantation fiction’s reminiscence of family homes and heroes to twenty-first century’s thriving tourism industry, figure the plantation owner’s house in romanticized ways that celebrate its architectural aesthetics, present its history through a narrow register of racial relations, and promote its nostalgic embrace. I argue that against prevailing tendencies toward various uncritical ethos of preservation, William Faulkner, Walker Percy, Alice Randall, Attica Locke, Allan Gurganus, and Godfrey Cheshire reframe the plantation house within complex historical and cultural contexts that counter the developing historic preservation movement’s popular following by illuminating the mythologies undergirding the iconic white-columned architecture and their perpetuation through its preservation. Through an interdisciplinary approach, Reframing the Plantation House combines architectural history, historic preservation, and a significant level of textual literary analysis to reveal counter-narratives that unsettle an assumed historical integrity and cultural significance associated with extant plantation houses. Beginning in the 1930s with the first federal initiatives to preserve architectural heritage as a precursor to the preservation movement, I argue that Faulkner’s narratives reframe ruined plantation mansions within historical and cultural contexts that substantiate their ruination and abandonment. The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 heralded piquing restoration sentiments and popular historicism. Against this cultural drive, I argue that Walker Percy aligned plantation house restoration and the desire for historical authenticity with parodic fantasy. Slave histories have been predominantly silenced in plantation mythology and tourism. Contemporary writers Alice Randall and Attica Locke each address this selective history as I argue that they reinscribe symbols of slave history within plantation architectures and narratives. An enduring desire to preserve the plantation house without also preserving the traumas of slavery remains today, which Allan Gurganus and Godfrey Cheshire illustrate and attempt to remedy through narrative

The Grizzly, October 26, 1993

Colvin, Reynolds to Serve on Captains\u27 Council • Verdict Returned in Reginald Denny Trial • Ursinus Loses Friend and Supporter • Student Apathy Strikes Again • Ursinus Students to Perform in State Choral Festival • Gaijin-Eyes Exhibit to Open • Literary Society • Self-Realization in the Big Apple: Wiggly Blocks and The Piano • Bears Win Homecoming • Phillies Lose World Serieshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1322/thumbnail.jp