An RFID Primer and Intellectual Freedom Caution

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is here. RFID commonly refers to both a system of identifying unique individual items via radio signals and to the tags that are attached to or embedded in those items. Whether pronounced as “are-fids” or spelled out as “R-F-I-Ds,” the system and its tags are appearing throughout society – including Indiana libraries. The Mooresville and Speedway Public Libraries are just two examples of recent installations

Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies and Indiana Libraries

Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies (hereafter referred to simply as peace studies) is one of the younger academic disciplines having its origins in the aftermath of World War II. And, believe it or not, it has many of its roots right here in Indiana. In 1948 Manchester College pioneered the first undergraduate peace studies program in America followed closely by Goshen and Earlham Colleges. These three programs now cooperate in the Lily-funded Plowshares project. (Details of this innovative initiative are available at its website http://www.plowsharesproject.org/) Indiana is such a magnet for peace studies as a discipline and profession that both the Peace and Justice Studies Association and the Historic Peace Church conferences were held in Goshen and Indianapolis respectively in 2005

Serving the Religious Information Needs of Our Communities Without Blowing the Budget

Anecdotal evidence suggests that some Indiana public libraries are hesitant to purchase religious materials, especially small and medium sized libraries. The most frequently cited reasons are a potentially high demand upon a limited budget, the enormous pool of materials from which to select and the sometimes controversial nature of religious materials. Yet religious information needs are as real as any other need for information and, within the context of the current war, are of special importance for American citizens. After first addressing these hesitations in more detail, this article will offer practical suggestions for building a modest collection of religious reference materials for small Indiana public libraries

Liberty, Security, and Indiana Libraries

Until recently, most library literature on intellectual freedom and censorship focused on external efforts to restrict access to materials already owned or made accessible by libraries. With 9/11 and the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act, the defense of patron privacy and the confidentiality of patron records, long a growing concern, has jumped to the fore. Self-censorship by citizens afraid to exercise their freedom to read out of fear that someone may uncover their reading habits and subject them to social or state sanctions has become a major issue. ("Read" is used throughout this essay for "read, view, listen to, or access.") In legal terms such fears exert a "chilling effect" on the exercise of First Amendment liberties

Intellectual Freedom Since 9/11: The USA Patriot Act, Etc. and Indiana Libraries

Within six weeks of the horrendous events of September 11, 2001, a mere blink of the eye in the usual legislative process, Congress passed and the President signed into law, Public Law 107-56, the “Uniting and Protecting America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act” also know as the “USA PATRIOT Act” or the “Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001.” It received bi-partisan support and near unanimous approval in both the United States House and Senate. It is 132 pages long and amends approximately fifteen sections of the United States Code

Stratigraphic Overview of Palaeogene Tuffs in the Faroe-Shetland Basin, NE Atlantic Margin

Acknowledgements We are very grateful to PGS for generously donating seismic datasets. Seismic interpretation was carried out using IHS Kingdom software, and wells were downloaded from the UK Oil & Gas Common Data Access Welllog interpretation was conducted using Schlumberger Techlog software. D.W. would also like to thank C. Telford for insights regarding the identification of tuffs in ditch cuttings and Total (UK) for material concerning the Vaila Formation. Attendees of VMRC workshops from academia and industry provided important insights into the stratigraphy of the FSB. Finally,D.W.would like to acknowledge the late Robert Knox, without whom our knowledge of North Atlantic explosive volcanism would be considerably poorer. The reviews of P. Reynolds and J. Ólavsdóttir greatly improved the paper. Funding This work is part of D.W.’s PhD research, which is funded by a University of Aberdeen College of Physical Sciences Scholarship.Peer reviewedPostprin

Reply to Comment on "Cosmic rays, carbon dioxide, and climate"

In our analysis [Rahmstorf et al., 2004], we arrived at two main conclusions: the data of Shaviv and Veizer [2003] do not show a significant correlation of cosmic ray flux (CRF) and climate, and the authors' estimate of climate sensitivity to CO2 based on a simple regression analysis is questionable. After careful consideration of Shaviv and Veizer's comment, we want to uphold and reaffirm these conclusions. Concerning the question of correlation, we pointed out that a correlation arose only after several adjustments to the data, including shifting one of the four CRF peaks and stretching the time scale. To calculate statistical significance, we first need to compute the number of independent data points in the CRF and temperature curves being correlated, accounting for their autocorrelation. A standard estimate [Quenouille, 1952] of the number of effective data points is urn:x-wiley:00963941:media:eost14930:eost14930-math-0001 where N is the total number of data points and r1, r2 are the autocorrelations of the two series. For the curves of Shaviv and Veizer [2003], the result is NEFF = 4.8. This is consistent with the fact that these are smooth curves with four humps, and with the fact that for CRF the position of the four peaks is determined by four spiral arm crossings or four meteorite clusters, respectively; that is, by four independent data points. The number of points that enter the calculation of statistical significance of a linear correlation is (NEFF− 2), since any curves based on only two points show perfect correlation; at least three independent points are needed for a meaningful result

Nanophase Carbonates on Mars: Does Evolved Gas Analysis of Nanophase Carbonates Reveal a Large Organic Carbon Budget in Near-Surface Martian Materials?

Evolved Gas Analysis (EGA), which involves heating a sample and monitoring the gases released, has been performed on Mars by the Viking gas chromatography/mass spectrometry instruments, the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) on the Phoenix lander, and the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory. All of these instruments detected CO2 released during sample analysis at abundances of approx. 0.1 to 5 wt% assuming a carbonate source. The source of the CO2 can be constrained by evaluating the temperature of the gas release, a capability of both the TEGA and SAM instruments. The samples analyzed by SAM show that the majority of the CO2 is released below 400C, much lower than traditional carbonate decomposition temperatures which can be as low as 400C for some siderites, with magnesites and calcites decomposing at even higher temperatures. In addition to mineralogy, decomposition temperature can depend on particle size (among other factors). If carbonates formed on Mars under low temperature and relative humidity conditions, the resulting small particle size (nanophase) carbonates could have low decomposition temperatures. We have found that calcite can be synthesized by exposing CaO to water vapor and CO2 and that the resulting mineral has an EGA peak of approx. 550C for CO2, which is about 200C lower than for other calcites. Work is ongoing to produce Fe and Mg-bearing carbonates using the same process. Current results suggest that nanophase calcium carbonates cannot explain the CO2 released from martian samples. If the decomposition temperatures of Mg and Fe-bearing nanophase carbonates are not significantly lower than 400C, other candidate sources include oxalates and carboxylated organic molecules. If present, the abundance of organic carbon in these samples could be greater than 0.1 wt % (1000s of ppm), a signficant departure from the paradigm of the organic-poor Mars based on Viking results

Organic Combustion in the Presence of Ca-Carbonate and Mg-Perchlorate: A Possible Source for the Low Temperature CO2 Release Seen in Mars Phoenix Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer Data

Two of the most important discoveries of the Phoenix Lander were the detection of approx.0.6% perchlorate [1] and 3-5% carbonate [2] in landing site soils. The Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) instrument on the Phoenix lander could heat samples up to approx.1000 C and monitor evolved gases with a mass spectrometer. TEGA detected a low (approx.350 C) and high (approx.750 C) temperature CO2 release. The high temp release was attributed to the thermal decomposition of Ca-carbonate (calcite). The low temperature CO2 release could be due to desorption of CO2, decomposition of a different carbonate mineral, or the combustion of organic material. A new hypothesis has also been proposed that the low temperature CO2 release could be due to the early breakdown of calcite in the presence of the decomposition products of certain perchlorate salts [3]. We have investigated whether or not this new hypothesis is also compatible with organic combustion. Magnesium perchlorate is stable as Mg(ClO4)2-6H2O on the martian surface [4]. During thermal decomposition, this perchlorate salt releases H2O, Cl2, and O2 gases. The Cl2 can react with water to form HCl which then reacts with calcite, releasing CO2 below the standard thermal decomposition temperature of calcite. However, when using concentrations of perchlorate and calcite similar to what was detected by Phoenix, the ratio of high:low temperature CO2 evolved is much larger in the lab, indicating that although this process might contribute to the low temp CO2 release, it cannot account for all of it. While H2O and Cl2 cause calcite decomposition, the O2 evolved during perchlorate decomposition can lead to the combustion of any reduced carbon present in the sample [5]. We investigate the possible contribution of organic molecules to the low temperature CO2 release seen on Mars