Lunar Surface Rovers

Many questions of lunar science remain unanswered because of a lack of specific data. With the potential for returning humans to the Moon and establishing a long-term presence there, a new realm of exploration is possible. Numerous plans have been outlined for orbital and surface missions. The capabilities and objectives of a small class of rovers to be deployed on the lunar surface are described. The objective of these small rovers is to collect detailed in situ information about the composition and distribution of materials on the lunar surface. Those data, in turn, would be applied to a variety of lunar geoscience questions and form a basis for planning human activities on the lunar surface

Enriching strategic variety in new ventures through external knowledge

To build profitable market positions, new ventures have to address multiple challenges on several fronts. These ventures can compete by being simple (focused) or applying varied ways to compete. The likelihood of these ventures remaining competitive depends on their ability to build novelty into their products and operations, an activity that requires infusing knowledge into their operations. Most ventures, however, have limited knowledge bases and the reach (scope) of their external connections is limited, a factor that prompts them to tap into different external sources in their local areas. This article reports an empirical study of 140 new ventures located in seven regional clusters in Spain. The results show that new ventures can enrich the variety of their strategic repertoire by accessing diverse sources of external knowledge and being exposed to external novel knowledge, while absorptive capacity moderates this relationship. The degree of social development of these clusters also has a positive impact on the strategic variety of new ventures, exhibiting an inverted U-shape curve

Efficacy of MedMyst: an Internet Teaching Tool for Middle School Microbiology

Can web-based technology be used to effectively introduce or reinforce aspects of microbiology to middle school students? This central hypothesis examines whether brief exposure to a web adventure format containing virtual lab experiments and computer games within an engaging story line can impact student learning. An episodic adventure series, MedMyst (http://medmyst.rice.edu), focuses on infectious diseases and the microbes that cause them. The website is not intended to replace classroom instruction, but rather to engage students in problem-solving activities not likely to be encountered elsewhere. It also provides scientists with a resource to introduce microbiology to adolescent audiences through outreach activities. In the online adventure, the player (student) enters a futuristic world in which he or she becomes a “Reconstructor,” a member of an elite team charged with preventing the spread of infectious disease. The series consists of three “missions,” each lasting approximately 30 to 40 minutes and designed to address a limited set of learning objectives. Middle school students participated in the creation of the characters and the stylized design through focus groups. Classroom teachers oversaw the alignment of the web adventure objectives with the National Science Content Standards. Scientists and clinicians reviewed the web adventure for content and accuracy. A field test involving over 700 students from nine different schools assessed the knowledge gains attributable to playing MedMyst. Gain scores from pretest to posttest indicated that middle school students retained important information by interacting with the online material for as little as 30 minutes per adventure; however, gains for high school students were less persuasive, perhaps indicating a different learning tool or content is required for this age audience

Atmospheric PSF Interpolation for Weak Lensing in Short Exposure Imaging Data

A main science goal for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is to measure the cosmic shear signal from weak lensing to extreme accuracy. One difficulty, however, is that with the short exposure time ($\simeq$15 seconds) proposed, the spatial variation of the Point Spread Function (PSF) shapes may be dominated by the atmosphere, in addition to optics errors. While optics errors mainly cause the PSF to vary on angular scales similar or larger than a single CCD sensor, the atmosphere generates stochastic structures on a wide range of angular scales. It thus becomes a challenge to infer the multi-scale, complex atmospheric PSF patterns by interpolating the sparsely sampled stars in the field. In this paper we present a new method, PSFent, for interpolating the PSF shape parameters, based on reconstructing underlying shape parameter maps with a multi-scale maximum entropy algorithm. We demonstrate, using images from the LSST Photon Simulator, the performance of our approach relative to a 5th-order polynomial fit (representing the current standard) and a simple boxcar smoothing technique. Quantitatively, PSFent predicts more accurate PSF models in all scenarios and the residual PSF errors are spatially less correlated. This improvement in PSF interpolation leads to a factor of 3.5 lower systematic errors in the shear power spectrum on scales smaller than $\sim13'$, compared to polynomial fitting. We estimate that with PSFent and for stellar densities greater than $\simeq1/{\rm arcmin}^{2}$, the spurious shear correlation from PSF interpolation, after combining a complete 10-year dataset from LSST, is lower than the corresponding statistical uncertainties on the cosmic shear power spectrum, even under a conservative scenario.Comment: 18 pages,12 figures, accepted by MNRA

Parasympathetic functions in children with sensory processing disorder.

The overall goal of this study was to determine if parasympathetic nervous system (PsNS) activity is a significant biomarker of sensory processing difficulties in children. Several studies have demonstrated that PsNS activity is an important regulator of reactivity in children, and thus, it is of interest to study whether PsNS activity is related to sensory reactivity in children who have a type of condition associated with sensory processing disorders termed sensory modulation dysfunction (SMD). If so, this will have important implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying sensory processing problems of children and for developing intervention strategies to address them. The primary aims of this project were: (1) to evaluate PsNS activity in children with SMD compared to typically developing (TYP) children, and (2) to determine if PsNS activity is a significant predictor of sensory behaviors and adaptive functions among children with SMD. We examine PsNS activity during the Sensory Challenge Protocol; which includes baseline, the administration of eight sequential stimuli in five sensory domains, recovery, and also evaluate response to a prolonged auditory stimulus. As a secondary aim we examined whether subgroups of children with specific physiological and behavioral sensory reactivity profiles can be identified. Results indicate that as a total group the children with severe SMD demonstrated a trend for low baseline PsNS activity, compared to TYP children, suggesting this may be a biomarker for SMD. In addition, children with SMD as a total group demonstrated significantly poorer adaptive behavior in the communication and daily living subdomains and in the overall Adaptive Behavior Composite of the Vineland than TYP children. Using latent class analysis, the subjects were grouped by severity and the severe SMD group had significantly lower PsNS activity at baseline, tones and prolonged auditory. These results provide preliminary evidence that children who demonstrate severe SMD may have physiological activity that is different from children without SMD, and that these physiological and behavioral manifestations of SMD may affect a child\u27s ability to engage in everyday social, communication, and daily living skills

Observable Consequences of Merger-Driven Gaps and Holes in Black Hole Accretion Disks

We calculate the observable signature of a black hole accretion disk with a gap or hole created by a secondary black hole embedded in the disk. We find that for an interesting range of parameters of black hole masses (~10^6 to 10^9 solar masses), orbital separation (~1 AU to ~0.1 pc), and gap width (10 to 190 disk scale heights), the missing thermal emission from a gap manifests itself in an observable decrement in the spectral energy distribution. We present observational diagnostics in terms of power-law forms that can be fit to line-free regions in AGN spectra or in fluxes from sequences of broad filters. Most interestingly, the change in slope in the broken power-law is almost entirely dependent on the width of gap in the accretion disk, which in turn is uniquely determined by mass ratio of the black holes, such that it scales roughly as q^(5/12). Thus one can use spectral observations of the continuum of bright active galactic nuclei to infer not only the presence of a closely separated black hole binary but also the mass ratio. When the black hole merger opens an entire hole (or cavity) in the inner disk, the broad band SED of the AGN or quasar may serve as a diagnostic. Such sources should be especially luminous in optical bands but intrinsically faint in X-rays (i.e., not merely obscured). We briefly note that viable candidates may have already been identified, though extant detailed modeling of those with high quality data have not yet revealed an inner cavity.Comment: Accepted by Ap

Hospice in the nursing home: perspectives of front line nursing home staff

OBJECTIVE: Use of hospice has been associated with improved outcomes for nursing home residents and attitudes of nursing home staff toward hospice influences hospice referral. The objective of this study is to describe attitudes of certified nursing assistants (CNAs), nurses, and social workers toward hospice care in nursing homes. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We conducted a survey of 1859 staff from 52 Indiana nursing homes. MEASUREMENTS: Study data include responses to 6 scaled questions and 3 open-ended qualitative prompts. In addition, respondents who cared for a resident on hospice in the nursing home were asked how often hospice: (1) makes their job easier; (2) is responsive when a patient has symptoms or is actively dying; (3) makes care coordination smooth; (4) is needed; (5) taught them something; and (6) is appreciated by patients/families. Responses were dichotomized as always/often or sometimes/never. RESULTS: A total of 1229 surveys met criteria for inclusion. Of the respondents, 48% were CNAs, 49% were nurses, and 3% were social workers; 83% reported caring for a nursing home patient on hospice. The statement with the highest proportion of always/often rating was 'patient/family appreciate added care' (84%); the lowest was 'hospice makes my job easier' (54%). More social workers responded favorably regarding hospice responsiveness and coordination of care compared with CNAs (P = .03 and P = .05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: A majority of staff responded favorably regarding hospice care in nursing homes. About one-third of nursing home staff rated coordination of care lower than other aspects, and many qualitative comments highlighted examples of when hospice was not responsive to patient needs, representing important opportunities for improvement