State of the Climate in 2008 (open access)

State of the Climate in 2008

This report describes observations of precipitation, temperature, and other climatology metrics from different global regions.
Date: August 2009
Creator: Peterson, T. C.; Baringer, M. O.; Diamond, H. J.; Fogt, R. L.; Levy, J. M.; Richter-Menge, J. et al.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 33, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 19, 2009 (open access)

The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 33, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.
Date: August 19, 2009
Creator: Smith, W. Leon
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement plans for the RHIC/AGS on-line model environments (open access)

Improvement plans for the RHIC/AGS on-line model environments

The on-line models for Relativistic Ion Collider (RHIC) and the RHIC pre-injectors (the AGS and the AGS Booster) can be thought of as containing our best collective knowledge of these accelerators. As we improve these on-line models we are building the framework to have a sophisticated model-based controls system. Currently the RHIC on-line model is an integral part of the controls system, providing the interface for tune control, chromaticity control, and non-linear chromaticity control. What we discuss in this paper is our vision of the future of the on-line model environment for RHIC and the RHIC preinjectors. Although these on-line models are primarily used as Courant-Snyder parameter calculators using live machine settings, we envision expanding these environments to encompass many other problem domains.
Date: August 31, 2009
Creator: Brown, K. A.; Ahrens, L.; Beebe-Wang, J.; Morris, J.; Nemesure, S.; Robert-Demolaize, G. et al.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Galaxy Mergers and Dark Matter Halo Mergers in LCDM: Mass, Redshift, and Mass-Ratio Dependence (open access)

Galaxy Mergers and Dark Matter Halo Mergers in LCDM: Mass, Redshift, and Mass-Ratio Dependence

We employ a high-resolution LCDM N-body simulation to present merger rate predictions for dark matter halos and investigate how common merger-related observables for galaxies - such as close pair counts, starburst counts, and the morphologically disturbed fraction - likely scale with luminosity, stellar mass, merger mass ratio, and redshift from z = 0 to z = 4. We provide a simple 'universal' fitting formula that describes our derived merger rates for dark matter halos a function of dark halo mass, merger mass ratio, and redshift, and go on to predict galaxy merger rates using number density-matching to associate halos with galaxies. For example, we find that the instantaneous merger rate of m/M > 0.3 mass ratio events into typical L {approx}> fL{sub *} galaxies follows the simple relation dN/dt {approx_equal} 0.03(1+f)Gyr{sup -1} (1+z){sup 2.1}. Despite the rapid increase in merger rate with redshift, only a small fraction of > 0.4L{sub *} high-redshift galaxies ({approx} 3% at z = 2) should have experienced a major merger (m/M > 0.3) in the very recent past (t < 100 Myr). This suggests that short-lived, merger-induced bursts of star formation should not contribute significantly to the global star formation rate at early times, in …
Date: August 3, 2009
Creator: Stewart, Kyle R.; Bullock, James S.; Barton, Elizabeth J.; /UC, Irvine; Wechsler, Risa H. & /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Metabolic Flux Analysis of Shewanella spp. Reveals Evolutionary Robustness in Central Carbon Metabolism (open access)

Metabolic Flux Analysis of Shewanella spp. Reveals Evolutionary Robustness in Central Carbon Metabolism

Shewanella spp. are a group of facultative anaerobic bacteria widely distributed in marine and fresh-water environments. In this study, we profiled the central metabolic fluxes of eight recently sequenced Shewanella species grown under the same condition in minimal med-ium with [3-13C] lactate. Although the tested Shewanella species had slightly different growth rates (0.23-0.29 h31) and produced different amounts of acetate and pyruvate during early exponential growth (pseudo-steady state), the relative intracellular metabolic flux distributions were remarkably similar. This result indicates that Shewanella species share similar regulation in regard to central carbon metabolic fluxes under steady growth conditions: the maintenance of metabolic robustness is not only evident in a single species under genetic perturbations (Fischer and Sauer, 2005; Nat Genet 37(6):636-640), but also observed through evolutionary related microbial species. This remarkable conservation of relative flux profiles through phylogenetic differences prompts us to introduce the concept of metabotype as an alternative scheme to classify microbial fluxomics. On the other hand, Shewanella spp. display flexibility in the relative flux profiles when switching their metabolism from consuming lactate to consuming pyruvate and acetate.
Date: August 19, 2009
Creator: Tang, Yinjie J.; Martin, Hector Garcia; Dehal, Paramvir S.; Deutschbauer, Adam; Llora, Xavier; Meadows, Adam et al.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Triclosan, Triclocarban, and Caffeine Exposure on the Development of Amphibian Larvae. (open access)

Effects of Triclosan, Triclocarban, and Caffeine Exposure on the Development of Amphibian Larvae.

Triclosan and triclocarban are antimicrobials found in numerous consumer products, while caffeine is the most commonly consumed stimulant by humans. This study was undertaken to determine the effects of triclosan, triclocarban, and caffeine on the development and physiology of amphibian larvae. LC50 values of triclosan and triclocarban were determined after 96 hours for three North American larval species: Acris crepitans blanchardii, Bufo woodhousii woodhousii, Rana sphenocephala, and for a common amphibian developmental model: Xenopus laevis. Amphibian larvae were most sensitive to triclosan and triclocarban exposure during early development based upon 96-hour LC50 values. Heart rates for X. laevis and North American larvae exposed to triclosan were variable throughout development. However, significantly lower heart rates were observed in all larvae exposed to triclocarban. Metabolic rates of X. laevis and R. sphenocephala larvae exposed to triclosan were significantly affected in larvae exposed to ½ LC50 and the LC50 concentration. Metabolic rates of X. laevis larvae exposed to triclocarban were significantly affected by exposure to ½ LC50 concentrations in three of four stages investigated. No significant differences were observed in North American larvae exposed to triclocarban. Tissue uptake, lipid uptake, tissue bioconcentration factor (BCF) and lipid BCF of triclosan and triclocarban were investigated …
Date: August 2009
Creator: Palenske, Nicole Marie
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Deliberative Democracy, Divided Societies, and the Case of Appalachia (open access)

Deliberative Democracy, Divided Societies, and the Case of Appalachia

Theories of deliberative democracy, which emphasize open-mindedness and cooperative dialogue, confront serious challenges in deeply divided political populations constituted by polarized citizens unwilling to work together on issues they collectively face. The case of mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia makes this clear. In my thesis, I argue that such empirical challenges are serious, yet do not compromise the normative desirability of deliberative democracy because communicative mechanisms can help transform adversarial perspectives into workable, deliberative ones. To realize this potential in divided societies, mechanisms must focus on healing and reconciliation, a point under-theorized by deliberativists who do not take seriously enough the feminist critique of public-private dualisms that illuminates political dimensions of such embodied processes. Ultimately, only a distinctly two-stage process of public deliberation in divided populations, beginning with mechanisms for healing and trust building, will give rise to the self-transformation necessary for second-stage deliberation aimed at collectively binding decisions.
Date: August 2009
Creator: Tidrick, Charlee
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Always Painting the Future: Utopian Desire and the Women's Movement in Selected Works by United States Female Writers at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (open access)

Always Painting the Future: Utopian Desire and the Women's Movement in Selected Works by United States Female Writers at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

This study explores six utopias by female authors written at the turn of the twentieth century: Mary Bradley Lane's Mizora (1881), Alice Ilgenfritz Jones and Ella Merchant's Unveiling Parallel (1893), Eloise O. Richberg's Reinstern (1900), Lena J. Fry's Other Worlds (1905), Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland (1915), and Martha Bensley Bruère's Mildred Carver, USA (1919). While the right to vote had become the central, most important point of the movement, women were concerned with many other issues affecting their lives. Positioned within the context of the late nineteenth century women's rights movement, this study examines these "sideline" concerns of the movement such as home and gender-determined spheres, motherhood, work, marriage, independence, and self-sufficiency and relates them to the transforming character of female identity at the time. The study focuses primarily on analyzing the expression of female historical desire through utopian genre and on explicating the contradictory nature of utopian production.
Date: August 2009
Creator: Balic, Iva
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mapping the Dark Matter From UV Light at High Redshift: An Empirical Approach to Understand Galaxy Statistics (open access)

Mapping the Dark Matter From UV Light at High Redshift: An Empirical Approach to Understand Galaxy Statistics

We present a simple formalism to interpret the observations of two galaxy statistics, the UV luminosity function (LF) and two-point correlation functions for star-forming galaxies at z {approx} 4, 5 and 6 in the context of {Lambda}CDM cosmology. Both statistics are the result of how star formation takes place in dark matter halos, and thus are used to constrain how UV light depends on halo properties, in particular halo mass. The two physical quantities we explore are the star formation duty cycle, and the range of UV luminosity that a halo of mass M can have (mean and variance). The former directly addresses the typical duration of star formation activity in halos while the latter addresses the averaged star formation history and regularity of gas inflow into these systems. In the context of this formalism, we explore various physical models consistent with all the available observational data, and find the following: (1) the typical duration of star formation observed in the data is {approx}< 0.4 Gyr (1{sigma}), (2) the inferred scaling law between the observed L{sub UV} and halo mass M from the observed faint-end slope of the luminosity functions is roughly linear out to M {approx} 10{sup 11.5} - …
Date: August 3, 2009
Creator: Lee, Kyoung-Soo; Giavalisco, Mauro; Conroy, Charlie; Wechsler, Risa H.; Ferguson, Henry C.; Somerville, Rachel S. et al.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Modeling The GRB Host Galaxy Mass Distribution: Are GRBs Unbiased Tracers of Star Formation? (open access)

Modeling The GRB Host Galaxy Mass Distribution: Are GRBs Unbiased Tracers of Star Formation?

We model the mass distribution of long gamma-ray burst (GRB) host galaxies given recent results suggesting that GRBs occur in low metallicity environments. By utilizing measurements of the redshift evolution of the mass-metallicity (M-Z) relationship for galaxies, along with a sharp host metallicity cut-off suggested by Modjaz and collaborators, we estimate an upper limit on the stellar mass of a galaxy that can efficiently produce a GRB as a function of redshift. By employing consistent abundance indicators, we find that sub-solar metallicity cut-offs effectively limit GRBs to low stellar mass spirals and dwarf galaxies at low redshift. At higher redshifts, as the average metallicity of galaxies in the Universe falls, the mass range of galaxies capable of hosting a GRB broadens, with an upper bound approaching the mass of even the largest spiral galaxies. We compare these predicted limits to the growing number of published GRB host masses and find that extremely low metallicity cut-offs of 0.1 to 0.5 Z{sub {circle_dot}} are effectively ruled out by a large number of intermediate mass galaxies at low redshift. A mass function that includes a smooth decrease in the efficiency of producing GRBs in galaxies of metallicity above 12+log(O/H){sub KK04} = 8.7 can, …
Date: August 3, 2009
Creator: Kocevski, Daniel; /KIPAC, Menlo Park; West, Andrew A.; /UC, Berkeley, Astron. Dept. /MIT, MKI; Modjaz, Maryam & /UC, Berkeley, Astron. Dept.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Incubation humidity as an environmental stressor on the osmoregulatory developmental program of the chicken, Gallus gallus domesticus. (open access)

Incubation humidity as an environmental stressor on the osmoregulatory developmental program of the chicken, Gallus gallus domesticus.

Fetal programming results from stressors during fetal development and may influence the occurrence of disease later in life. Maternal nutritional status and/or environment can affect renal development by inducing limited nephron endowment at birth, which results in diseases such as hypertension and coronary heart disease in mammals. Birds are likely to be effective models for this process because, like mammals, they have high pressure cardiovascular systems, mammalian-type nephrons and are homeothermic. This project uses the chicken embryo to explore physiological responses of disrupted hydration state thereby providing insights into renal fetal programming. Under normal conditions the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) and developing avian kidney work in unison to ensure a proper balance of ions and water within the egg. White leghorn chicken eggs were incubated at 37.5oC±0.5oC and either <35%, 55-60% (normal) or >85% relative humidity. Amniotic fluid serves as the drinking source for the embryo late in development; its composition is important to salt and water homeostasis. High amniotic fluid osmolality increased the blood osmolality for embryos exposed to low humidity incubation thereby indirectly influencing the renal developmental program of the embryos from this group. Indeed estimated filtering capacity was doubled in the low humidity group (6.77 ± 0.43 mm3) …
Date: August 2009
Creator: Bolin, Greta M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 160, No. 27, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 26, 2009 (open access)

Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 160, No. 27, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Weekly newspaper from Rusk, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.
Date: August 26, 2009
Creator: Whitehead, Marie
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sapulpa Daily Herald (Sapulpa, Okla.), Vol. 94, No. 260, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 6, 2009 (open access)

Sapulpa Daily Herald (Sapulpa, Okla.), Vol. 94, No. 260, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 6, 2009

Daily newspaper from Sapulpa, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.
Date: August 6, 2009
Creator: Shance, Brenda
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
The Harper News (Harper, Tex.), Vol. 6, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, August 28, 2009 (open access)

The Harper News (Harper, Tex.), Vol. 6, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, August 28, 2009

Biweekly newspaper from Harper, Texas that includes community news along with advertising.
Date: August 28, 2009
Creator: Stevens, Martha
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 160, No. 24, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 5, 2009 (open access)

Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 160, No. 24, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Weekly newspaper from Rusk, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.
Date: August 5, 2009
Creator: Whitehead, Marie
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History

Science Fair and Beyond: Selecting Excellent Science Books for Children and Teens

This presentation attempts to answer the research question: "What percentage of parents do their children's science fair projects for them?" It also discusses about selection tools for finding useful science books.
Date: August 2009
Creator: O'Toole, Erin
Object Type: Presentation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Impact of Inhomogeneous Reionization on the Satellite Galaxy Population of the Milky Way (open access)

The Impact of Inhomogeneous Reionization on the Satellite Galaxy Population of the Milky Way

We use the publicly available subhalo catalogs from the via Lactea simulation along with a Gpc-scale N-body simulation to understand the impact of inhomogeneous reionization on the satellite galaxy population of the Milky Way. The large-volume simulation is combined with a model for reionization that allows us to predict the distribution of reionization times for Milky Way mass halos. Motivated by this distribution, we identify candidate satellite galaxies in the simulation by requiring that any subhalo must grow above a specified mass threshold before it is reionized; after this time the photoionizing background will suppress both the formation of stars and the accretion of gas. We show that varying the reionization time over the range expected for Milky Way mass halos can change the number of satellite galaxies by roughly two orders of magnitude. This conclusion is in contradiction with a number of studies in the literature, and we conclude that this is a result of inconsistent application of the results of Gnedin (2000); subtle changes in the assumptions about how reionization affects star formation in small galaxies can lead to large changes in the effect of changing the reionization time on the number of satellites. We compare our satellite …
Date: August 3, 2009
Creator: Busha, Michael T.; Alvarez, Marcelo A.; Wechsler, Risa H.; Abel, Tom; Strigari, Louis E. & /KIPAC, Menlo Park
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Professional Learning Communities on Student Achievement (open access)

The Effects of Professional Learning Communities on Student Achievement

The purpose of this study was to examine data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) report, identify questions and statements that correlate to the dimensions of professional learning communities (PLCs), and determine the effect PLCs have on student achievement based on the ECLS-K data. In addition, the rationale for doing this research was to measure growth in student achievement over time. A multilevel growth model was used for this research. Univariate analysis was conducted in order to reveal frequencies and percentages associated with teacher responses. Bivariate analysis was applied in order to determine the inter-correlations between the fourteen variables. Once the inter-correlations were determined from the bivariate analysis, principal component analysis was applied in order to reveal the theoretical relationship between the variables. Through the use of principal components a set of correlated variables is transformed into a set of structure coefficient: support and collaborative. Finally, a multilevel growth model was used in order to determine the effect that each variable within the support and collaborative structure coefficients had on student achievement over time. This study revealed a number of variables within the ECLS-K report that correspond to the dimensions of PLCs have a statistically …
Date: August 2009
Creator: Burdett, John M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Media on Citizens' Fear of Crime in Turkey. (open access)

The Effect of Media on Citizens' Fear of Crime in Turkey.

This study was conducted on-site in Istanbul, Turkey, to determine the effects that mass media has on citizens' perceptions about fear of crime, in particular, and fear, in general. Specifically, the study was designed to (1) determine the tendency of citizens' media consumption, (2) determine the level of fear of crime among Turkish citizens, (3) establish the effect of media on citizens' fear of crime, and (4) determine if gender, age, educational level, neighborhood, and monthly income have an independent effect on fear of crime. To achieve this purpose, after administering a survey in Istanbul, the researcher collected appropriate data and then utilized regression analysis to examine the relationship between media variables and fear of crime. A survey consisting of three parts was administered to 545 Turkish citizens over the age of 18 who currently reside in Istanbul, Turkey. In Part I of the survey, respondents were asked to identify their trends in relation to media consumption, and in Part II respondents were asked to report their feelings about fear of crime. Finally, Part III consisted of socio-demographic characteristics including gender, age, marital status, level of education, and income. The media variables used for this study were, general TV viewing, …
Date: August 2009
Creator: Erdonmez, Erhan
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Sapulpa Daily Herald (Sapulpa, Okla.), Vol. 94, No. 275, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 27, 2009 (open access)

Sapulpa Daily Herald (Sapulpa, Okla.), Vol. 94, No. 275, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 27, 2009

Daily newspaper from Sapulpa, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.
Date: August 27, 2009
Creator: Shance, Brenda
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Gateway to Oklahoma History
Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 160, No. 26, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 19, 2009 (open access)

Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 160, No. 26, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Weekly newspaper from Rusk, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.
Date: August 19, 2009
Creator: Whitehead, Marie
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
FCC Record, Volume 24, No. 13, Pages 10567 to 11508, August 10 - August 31, 2009 (open access)

FCC Record, Volume 24, No. 13, Pages 10567 to 11508, August 10 - August 31, 2009

Biweekly, comprehensive compilation of decisions, reports, public notices, and other documents of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
Date: August 2009
Creator: United States. Federal Communications Commission.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Texas State Board Report, Volume 100, August 2009 (open access)

Texas State Board Report, Volume 100, August 2009

Monthly newsletter from the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy regarding updates and information pertaining to Texas CPAs.
Date: August 2009
Creator: Texas State Board of Public Accountancy
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 89, No. 242, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 30, 2009 (open access)

The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 89, No. 242, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 30, 2009

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.
Date: August 30, 2009
Creator: Clements, Clifford E.
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History