There is a paradoxical relationship between the density of solar housing and net household energy use. The amount of solar energy available per person decreases as density increases. At the same time, transportation energy, and to some extent, household operating energy decreases. Thus, an interesting question is posed: how does net energy use vary with housing density? This study attempts to provide insight into this question by examining three housing forms: low-density detached homes, medium-density townhouses, and high-density high-rise apartments in Toronto. The three major quantities of energy that are summed for each are building operational energy use, solar energy availability, and personal transportation energy use. Solar energy availability is determined on the basis of an effective annual collector efficiency. The results show that under the base case in which solar panels are applied to conventional homes, the high-density development uses one-third less energy than the low-density one. Improving the efficiency of the homes results in a similar trend. Only when the personal vehicle fleet or solar collectors are made to be extremely efficient does the trend reverse-the low-density development results in lower net energy.
This article interrogates the question of what it means to be a scholar-commentator in the digital age. Deploying an autoethnographic style, the essay asks about the role of power and responsibility in teaching, research, and public commentary, particularly in the context of studying and engaging in Jewish politics. The article addresses questions about the proper role of the scholar in the academy and the role of subjectivity and political commitments in structuring scholarship, pedagogy, and public engagement. It also examines how one’s view of the profession can seem to shift through the emergence of new writing outlets and new forums for public engagement. Finally, the author investigates how a scholar’s own political commitments can shift over time, how one seeks to shore up identification on social media while trying to change hearts and minds through the op-ed pages, and how community identification can serve as a buffer and motivator for particular forms of research and political action.
This paper analyzes how the “particular symbolic fortunes” of Canada’s most widely recognized literary prize, the Scotiabank Giller Prize, undergo what James English calls “capital intraconversion”––how they are “culturally ‘laundered’” through their association with Frontier College, Canada’s longest-running adult literacy organization. While the Giller initially benefitted from fashioning itself as the private, industry-driven alternative to state-sponsored culture in Canada, increasing criticism of its corporate sponsorship has led, in the past decade, to a rebranding effort. This effort, I contend, seeks to benefit from two key terms––multiculturalism and literacy. Associated as the discourse of multiculturalism and the figure of the literate citizen are with the strong publics of the western, liberal-democratic nation-state, they possess a remarkable ability to accentuate the symbolic capital of Canada’s most widely recognized literary prize.
Ca-ATPase activity in sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) membranes isolated from skeletal muscles of the typical hibernator, the ground squirrel Spermophilus undulatus, is about 2-fold lower than that in SR membranes of rats and rabbits and is further decreased 2-fold during hibernation. The use of carbocyanine anionic dye Stains-All has revealed that Ca-binding proteins of SR membranes, histidine-rich Ca-binding protein and sarcalumenin, in ground squirrel, rat, and rabbit SR have different electrophoretic mobility corresponding to apparent molecular masses 165, 155, and 170 kDa and 130, 145, and 160 kDa, respectively; the electrophoretic mobility of calsequestrin (63 kDa) is the same in all preparations. The content of these Ca-binding proteins in SR membranes of the ground squirrels is decreased 3–4 fold and the content of 55, 30, and 22 kDa proteins is significantly increased during hibernation.
A novel technique for increasing the sensitivity of tilted fibre Bragg grating (TFBG) based refractometers is presented. The TFBG sensor was coated with chemically synthesized silver nanowires 100nm in diameter and several micrometres in length. A 3.5-fold increase in sensor sensitivity was obtained relative to the uncoated TFBG sensor. This increase is associated with the excitation of surface plasmons by orthogonally polarized fibre cladding modes at wavelengths near 1.5μm. Refractometric information is extracted from the sensor via the strong polarization dependence of the grating resonances using a Jones matrix analysis of the transmission spectrum of the fibre.
Social defeat in mice is a potent stressor that promotes the development of depressive- and anxiety-like behaviours, as well as variations of neuroendocrine and brain neurotransmitter activity. Although environmental enrichment may protect against some of the adverse behavioural and biological effects of social defeat, it seems that, among male group-housed mice maintained in an enriched environment (EE), aggressive behaviours may be more readily instigated, thus promoting distress and exacerbating psychopathological features. Thus, although an EE can potentially have numerous beneficial effects, these may depend on the general conditions in which mice were raised. It was observed in the current investigations that EE group-housed BALB/cByJ mice displayed increased anxiety-like behaviours compared to their counterparts maintained in a standard environment (SE). Furthermore, in response to social defeat, EE group-housed male mice exhibited decreased weight gain, exaggerated corticosterone elevations and altered hippocampal norepinephrine utilization compared to their SE counterparts. These effects were not apparent in the individually housed EE mice and, in fact, enrichment among these mice appeared to buffer against serotonin changes induced by social defeat. It is possible that some potentially beneficial effects of enrichment were precluded among group-housed mice, possibly owing to social disturbances that might occur in these conditions. In fact, even if social interaction is an essential feature of enrichment, it seems that some of the positive effects of this housing condition might be optimal when mice are housed individually, particularly with regard to buffering the effects of social defeat.
A 100-kDa protein that is a main component of the microsomal fraction from rabbit gastric mucosa is phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) in the presence of 0.2% Triton X-100. Microsomes from rabbit gastric mucosa possess activity of H,K-ATPase but not activity of Na,K-ATPase. Incubation of microsomes with 5 μM fluorescein 5′-isothiocyanate (FITC) results in both an inhibition of H,K-ATPase and labeling of a protein with an electrophoretic mobility corresponding to the mobility of the protein phosphorylated by PKA. The data suggest that the α-subunit of H,K-ATPase can be a potential target for PKA phosphorylation.
The electrical resistivity distribution at the base of La Soufrière of Guadeloupe lava dome is reconstructed by using transmission electrical resistivity data obtained by injecting an electrical current between two electrodes located on opposite sides of the volcano. Several pairs of injection electrodes are used in order to constitute a data set spanning the whole range of azimuths, and the electrical potential is measured along a cable covering an angular sector of ≈120? along the basis of the dome. The data are inverted to performa slice electrical resistivity tomography (SERT) with specific functions implemented in the EIDORS open source package dedicated to electrical impedance tomography applied to medicine and geophysics. The resulting image shows the presence of highly conductive regions separated by resistive ridges. The conductive regions correspond to unconsolidated material saturated by hydrothermal fluids. Two of them are associated with partial flank collapses and may represent large reservoirs that could have played an important role during past eruptive events. The resistive ridges may represent massive andesite and are expected to constitute hydraulic barriers.