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What Science Can And Cannot Offer To A Religious Narrative, Ursula W. Goodenough

Biology Faculty Research

A molecular/cell biologist offers perspectives on the contributions that the scientific worldview might and might not make to religious though. It is argued that two essential features of institutionalized religions–their historical context and their supernatural orientation—are not addressed by the sciences, nor can the sciences contribute to the art and ritual that elicit states of faith and transcendence. The sciences have, however, important stories (myths) to offer, stories that have the potential to unify us, to tell us what is sacred, what has meaning, and how we might best proceed.

This paper, in slightly different form, was first presented before …

Surviving Disasters

Close Up Reports

No abstract provided.

An Experimental Scanning Electron Microscopic Study Of Human Cerebellar Cortex Using The T-Butyl Alcohol Freeze-Drying Device, Teruyuki Hojo

Scanning Microscopy

Specimen preparation methods are very important in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of nerve tissues. In the present study, a t-butyl alcohol freeze-drying device was used to prepare cerebellar cortex of the human and that of the rat at 15°C and 160 mm Hg. This method has been previously used with success in the preparation of other tissues, such as pancreas and trachea. Relatively large specimens (about 10 mm x 15 mm x 1 mm) of formalin-fixed human and glutaraldehyde-Millonig buffer perfused (1 hour) Wistar rat were rinsed in water, dehydrated in a series of ethanols, immersed in t-butyl …

The Annual Meeting Of The Iowa Academy Of Science April 22-23, 1994 [Program, 106th Meeting], Iowa Academy Of Science

Iowa Academy of Science Documents

Contents:

Program Summary --- 5
General Session Speakers --- 9
Awards --- 12
Symposia Programs --- 13
Poster Session --- 18
Map --- Centerfold
Section Programs/Special Sessions --- 22
Agricultural Sciences --- 22
Anthropology --- 23
Botany --- 27
Cellular & Molecular Biology --- 28
Chemistry, Inorganic --- 29
Chemistry, Organic --- 31
Conservation --- 32
Earth Science Teaching --- 34
Engineering --- 34
Geology --- 34
Linguistics --- 38
Nursing --- 39
Physics --- 39
Physiology --- 40
Psychology --- 42
Science Teaching --- 42
Zoology --- 43
Annual Meeting Committee --- 45
Local Arrangements Committee --- 45
IAS …

Animal Protection And Medical Science, David O. Wiebers, Jennifer Leaning, Roger D. White

Experimentation Collection

Over the past decade, the debate concerning animal use in biomedical research, education, and testing has contributed to an environment of public posturing on both sides. Many in the medical and animalprotection communities have come to view one another as adversaries with hopelessly different goals.

In the face of rapid and substantial increases in public concern over the wellbeing of animals, many in the medical community have sought to fend off what they see as an increasingly threatening social trend. Those who have spoken out on behalf of various medical organisations or institutions have generally been avid animal-research advocates. Those …

Effects Of Competition And Predation On Prothonotary Warblers And House Wrens Nesting In Eastern Iowa, Timothy Brush

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

In a fragmented midwestern floodplain forest, a small Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) population experienced high competition with House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) and mammalian nest predation in 1988-89. Despite the provision of 3 types of nest boxes and higher water levels, Prothonotary Warblers did not nest successfully and decreased in the fragmented forest in 1990-91. House Wrens used >90% of the nest boxes in both years. Wren territories doubled within the nestbox area, while remaining constant on an unmanipulated area. In contrast, a larger warbler population had high nesting success during 1990-91 in a relatively unfragmented, wetter forest tract. Such forests, …

Utilization Of Wood Duck Nest Boxes With Respect To Plant Community Type, Orientation And Juxtaposition At The Green Bottom Wildlife Management Area, West Virginia, Anthony Benjamin Borda Jr.

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Utilization of wood duck (Aix sponsa, L.) nest boxes was evaluated at the Green Bottom Wildlife Management Area, a 1,110-acre mid-Ohio Valley floodplain. Primary focus was directed upon nest box utilization by the wood duck but use by other wildlife was observed and recorded. Utilization of the nest boxes by the wood duck was analyzed with respect to plant community type, orientation and juxtaposition to other wood duck nest boxes. Forty-three wood duck next boxes were observed and inspected in 1993. Wood ducks nested in 24 of the nest boxes, and 361 eggs were found. Clutch size ranged …

The Ohlone And The Oak Woodlands: Cultural Adaptation In The Santa Clara Valley, Grant William Schick

Research Manuscript Series

Today, Santa Clara Valley consists of a modern industrialized environment distinguished by concrete, pavement and automobiles. These "innovations" made by modern technology began only recently. The environment and ecology of 200 years ago was extremely different from ours today. Filled with many native habitats, it thrived through the inter-dependance of all plant and animal species. In this study, I examine the characteristics of Santa Clara Valley in centuries past and today, in order to understand the vast number of resources which were available to the native inhabitants of the Santa Clara Basin. This paper has its base in cultural ecology, …

Blessed With Orchards, Cheered With Vine: Ideologies Of Agriculture In The Transformation Of Alta California, Virginia C. Czosek

Research Manuscript Series

Prior to the arrival of the first Europeans on her shores, California was ecologically and visually a radically different land than she would become in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The first prolonged European intervention in the region in the form of the Spanish missions, as well as the successive waves of . American immigration with the Gold Rush of the 1850's, left a lasting legacy in the form of their tremendous impact on the environment of California. Agriculture fundamentally altered the appearance of the territory, replacing its native environment with a man-made, cultivated one. The groves of oaks and …

Public Attitudes Toward Animal Research: Some International Comparisons, Ralph Pifer, Kinya Shimizu, Linda Pifer

Attitudes Toward Animal Research Collection

A comparative analysis was made of the public's attitudes toward the use of animals in scientific research in 15 different nations. The intensity of opposition to animal research was found to vary from relatively low levels in Japan and the United States to much higher levels in France, Belgium, and Great Britain. More women than men were opposed to animal research in all 15 nations. Scientific knowledge, or the lack of knowledge, was not found to have a consistent relationship with attitudes toward animal research. Concern about the environment was found to be related to opposition to animal research in …

Selective Recovery Of Β-Galactosidase With Charged Fusion Tails Using Ion-Exchange Membranes, Erika A. Thiem, Meng H. Heng

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

We explored the feasibility of attaching charged tails to a target protein, in this case β-galactosidase, for selective recovery. In this process, an ion-exchange membrane was used for selective binding and release of β-galactosidase with the attached purification fusions. Strength of binding and purity of eluate increased with increasing tail length. In addition, activity yield was improved with the implementation of an intermediate partial elution recycle procedure.

Research Papers By 1992 And 1993 Interns In The Program For Women In Science And Engineering At Iowa State University, Mary Ann Evans, Krishna S. Athreya

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

The papers in this volume offer a sampling of the outstanding work of high school and undergraduate interns who participated in the 1992 and 1993 Program for Women in Science and Engineering (PWSE) summer internship programs. From synthesis of materials to developing effective methods of hazardous waste disposal, from nondestructive structural studies at the macroscopic level to microstructural analyses of materials, from testing precision of sensors used as aids in agriculture to isolating effects of specific parameters on plant growth, to name a few, these papers span a wide range of scientific methods and disciplines. They serve as testimony to …

Cover - Table Of Contents

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Cover - Table Of Contents

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Competition And Predation On Prothonotary Warblers And House Wrens Nesting In Eastern Iowa, Timothy Brush

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

In a fragmented midwestern floodplain forest, a small Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) population experienced high competition with House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) and mammalian nest predation in 1988-89. Despite the provision of 3 types of nest boxes and higher water levels, Prothonotary Warblers did not nest successfully and decreased in the fragmented forest in 1990-91. House Wrens used >90% of the nest boxes in both years. Wren territories doubled within the nestbox area, while remaining constant on an unmanipulated area. In contrast, a larger warbler population had high nesting success during 1990-91 in a relatively unfragmented, wetter forest tract. Such forests, …

Front Matter

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Use Of Ion Exchange Membranes For Selective Recovery Of Aspergillus Awamori Glucoamylase And Phage T4 Lysozyme, Deborah K. Stafslein, Jeff M. Hunter, Craig E. Forney

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Our research examined whether enhanced separation and purification of mutant enzymes could be obtained on ion-exchange membranes. Solutions of three mutants of Aspergillus awamori glucoamylase were passed through an anionic exchange membrane, as well as one mutant of T4 lysozyme through a cationic exchange membrane. The mutant enzymes were modified by adding "charged fusions'', polypeptides of either aspartic acid residues to increase the overall negative charge of the enzyme or arginine residues to increase the overall positive charge. The effect of the mutations on the purification of glucoamylase from a "modified" fermentation broth were examined at two different elution pHs, …

Age And Developmental History Of Iowa Fens, C. A. Thompson, E. A. Bettis Iii

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Iowa fens are small, mineorotrophic peatlands maintained by shallow groundwater. Eighteen fen sites located across northern Iowa were mapped and radiocarbon dated to assess the timing of initial peat accumulation. The radiocarbon ages span the Holocene, ranging from 1,240 to 10,900 B.P.; however most fens postdate 5,000 yr B.P. The dominance of late-Holocene ages suggests that Holocene climatic change may have strongly influenced the record of peat accumulation. During the mid-Holocene Iowa was warmer and drier than at present, and peat was degraded or accumulated slowly in fens. The range of ages also implies that the commencement and subsequent rate …

Nomenclatural Changes For Some Diatoms Found In Iowa, David B. Czarnecki

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Nomenclatural revisions for four diatom taxa found in Iowa, two of which are presently maintained in the Loras College Freshwater Diatom Culture Collection (FDCC), are necessary because of systematic interpretations of the Division Bacillariophyta. Achnanthidium hauckianum (Grun.) Czarnecki comb. nov. was originally assigned to the genus Achnanthes Bory. Three taxa were previously assigned to the morphologically diverse genus Navicula Bory. These are Cavinula weinzierlii (Schimanski) Czarnecki comb. nov., Craticula cuspidata var. major [(Meist.) Czarnecki comb. nov. and] Craticula halophila var. subcapitata (0str.) Czarnecki comb. nov.

Back Cover

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Removal Of Magnetic Impurities From Strontium Copper Oxychloride, Colleen B. Eads, Carol J. Kosmicke, Lance L. Miller

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Analyses of a copper-deficient series of Strontium Copper Oxychloride polycrystalline samples are reported. Magnetic susceptibility, X-ray powder diffraction, and differential thermal analyses show a small Curie-type magnetic signal correlates with =0.6% (excess) copper ions in the nominally stoichiometric material. The analyses also imply that the extra magnetic signal is from an impurity phase, possibly related to Strontium Copper Oxide. The concentration of the impurity phase can be controlled by varying the copper stoichiometry.

Nuclear Waste Into Glass: Viscosities Of Molten Analogs Of Radioactive Waste Disposal Media, Betty Pang, Kenneth E. Windom

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Disposal of high-level radioactive wastes involves vitrification of a mixture of waste products and borosilicate glass frit. Monitoring the composition of the mixture is critical to the control of the vitrification process, bur is difficult because of the high levels or radioactive components in the mixture. Synthetic non-radioactive analogs of the products from nuclear reprocessing have been prepared and their viscosities measured over a wide range of temperature appropriate to those of the vitrification process. Preliminary results indicate that viscosity is a linear function of composition, under isothermal conditions, for a limited compositional range that encompasses the proportions of waste …

Parallel Algorithms For Solving Partial Differential Equations, Stacy Pschenica

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

This paper describes the use of a parallel computer system in applying a finite difference method to solve various types of partial differential equations. A sequential implementation of this method was made parallel by essentially spatially decomposing the problem domain into pieces that could be separately analyzed and assigning each piece to a processor in a large, multi-processor system. Although this approach is attractive in theory, it suffers in practice because of inter-processor interactions. Thus, particular emphasis was placed on developing efficient methods for the sharing of information among the processors.

Initially, a simple two-dimensional board game, life, was implemented …

Editorial Board & Iowa Academy Of Science Officers And Directors

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Annual Report Of The Iowa Academy Of Science, 1993-94, Paul E. Rider

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Since 1976, annual reports have served as a continuing record of the activities of the Iowa Academy of Science and an archive for its history. These augment the 100 year IAS history written in the centennial year of 1975.

This report covers the period from July 1, 1993 to June 30, 1994. It is based on the official records of the Academy (committee reports, Board minutes, correspondence) as well as the recollections, impressions and thoughts of the author.

Editorial Board & Iowa Academy Of Science Officers And Directors

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

The Iowa Academy Of Science Parish Farm: 1986-1992, David L. Dozark

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

This article focuses on the Iowa Academy of Science Parish Farm and the progress made in the last seven years towards the goals set forth in the Model Farm Concept which was adopted by the Academy in 1970. Highlights of this article are a summary of the income and expenses associated with the farm's highly profitable crop production, the ground-water monitoring project being conducted by the Geological Survey Bureau, the woodlot rejuvenation project, soil and wildlife conservation improvements, and the prairie forbes exhibit area. The farm continues to serve as a primary source of income for the Academy and a …

Analysis Of An Iowa Aridity Index In Relationship To Climate And Crop Yield, Soumare Harouna, R. E. Carlson

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

An aridity index and its components, temperature and precipitation, for the period from 1900 through April 1993 were defined and characterized. This index describes the anomalous behavior of both temperature and precipitation over time. Our intent was to examine climate variability in Iowa. Moving mean and standard deviations over various lengths of time were calculated from three time series. We found that these indices fluctuate considerably from year to year and from month to month. The lowest aridity index values occurred in the recent summer of 1992, and the highest occurred during the very drought-prone 1930s. The 12-month moving mean …

Relation Between S2 And Later Generation Testcrosses Of Two Corn Populations, S. M. Lile, A. R. Hallauer

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Determination of the relative combining abilities of corn (Zea mays L.) inbred lines is an important feature of applied corn breeding programs. Combining ability is measured by the relative performance of a line in testcrosses to one or more testers. Inbred lines from BS13(S2)Cl and BSCB1(R)C7 corn populations were evaluated at the S₂ and later generations of inbreeding. Intense selection was practiced among and within lines during inbreeding to develop the S₅-equivalent and S₈ generation lines. The objective of this study was to determine if the combining ability of lines in early generations (S₂) …