| Subject | Speaker | Date | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water on Mars | Dr. David Bish | 1/07 | Astronomy, Geology |
| Estate Planning | Dan Yates | 1/14 | Legal |
| Tour of Veolia Water Co. Office | Tour | 1/21 | Water Supply |
| Aspects of the Flu | Dr. Robert L. Baker | 1/28 | Medicine |
| Bayesian Adaptive Design | Melissa Spann | 2/04 | Mathematics |
| Future of Engineering and Engineering Education | Dr. Gerald Jakubowski | 2/11 | Education |
| White River Water Treatment Plant | Ed Malone and Staff | 2/18 | Plant Tour |
| Studebaker, the Company | Andrew Beckman | 2/25 | Automotive |
| China's Three Gorges Dam | Darrell Bakken and Jim Bettner | 3/03 | Civil Engineering |
| Surgical Navigation of the Spine | Dr. Rick Sasso | 3/10 | Medicine |
| Islet Cell Transplantation | Dr. Robert McCarthy | 3/17 | Medicine |
| Belmont Wastewater Treatment Facility | . | 3/31 | Tour |
| Achieving Academic Excellence | Alok Chaturvedi | 4/07 | Computing |
| Features of CT Scanning | Dr. Jonas Rydberg | 4/14 | Medicine |
| Identity Theft | Prof. Fred Cate | 4/21 | Legal |
| Green Energy | Dr. Nelson Shaffer | 4/28 | Environment |
| Connection between Man and Animals | Michael Crowther | 4/30 | Nature |
| Musical DNA Software | Scott Kuhn and Tevlin Schuetz | 5/05 | Music |
| Children's Museum - Not an Ordinary Museum | Sara Landrum and Deborah Hammond | 5/12 | Museums |
Vol 85 No 1 - January 7, 2008
Dr. Bish is professor at
the Indiana University Department of Geological Sciences.He has a
bachelor's degree from Furman and a Ph.D. from Penn State University.
He is a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America.
The question of water on Mars goes back over 100 years, when Italian
astronomers observed what they called
"canali" (later incorrectly translated as "canals") on the planet's
surface. The American astronomer Lowell suggested that they were built
by intelligent creatures to move water from the poles, where ice caps
are clearly visible, to equatorial regions for irrigation.
The current evidence involving water on Mars comes mostly from
photographs, including those taken by satellites orbiting the planet.
These photos show many formations that suggest the planet once had
running, liquid water over an extended period of time. There are
layered rocks that look like our sedimentary rocks, and other features
look like distributory fans and deltas. There are also tributary
networks and valleys that appear to have been formed by running water.
The disappointment is that these features are found in rock formations
estimated by crater density considerations to be millions of years old.
We still see features such as gullies and dark streaks that appear to
change in time, as measured by photos taken years apart. While some
argue these are caused by moving water, at least some of them are
probably explained by the action of winds.
Today, the atmosphere of Mars is mostly CO2, though there is a bit of
water vapor. The atmosphere is about 1000 times dryer than a dry day in
New Mexico. However, we have abundant photographic evidence of frost
formation on the planet, so that the relative humidity must reach 100%
in at least some conditions.
The neutron spectrometer on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft studied the
composition of the top meter of the surface in the equatorial
highlands, and found that there are places where near-surface deposits
are up to 10% water by weight. The Mars Express, from the European
Space Agency, found that, in these same places, the water is not in the
top centimeter or so, so the surface is desiccated and dusty. At the
equator, free water near the surface would not be stable, and would
sublimate.
Dr. Bish wondered whether those equatorial water deposits might
represent water captured in hydrous minerals. If they were formed
millions of years ago, could they still be hydrated? As candidates for
these minerals, he considered smectites and zeolites (both clay-like
minerals) and epsomite (Epsom salts). In conditions found on earth, all
of these have significant water of hydration, in fact Epsom salts are
51% water by weight.
Dr. Bish's experiments indicate that, in martian conditions, especially
at night near the equator, both smectites and zeolites retain a
significant amount of water, though it is hardly imaginable that there
is enough of these minerals on Mars to account for all the water.
However, chemical sniffers on robotic
explorers have found an abundance of magnesium and sulfates, suggesting
there might be a good quantity of epsomite. Even though the atmosphere
is dry, the temperature is so low that these minerals would remain
hydrated. Dr. Bish feels the most likely explanation of the H2O at the
equator is the presence of mixtures of these hydrous minerals.
A spacecraft is to depart for Mars in 2009 carrying X-ray diffraction
equipment, and this should help to clarify the mystery further.
Notes by Tom Spradlin
Vol 85 No 2 - January 14, 2008
Our speaker today was member Dan Yates. Dan Yates is a partner in the
Estate Planning and Business Succession Planning Group of Bose,
McKinney & Evans, LLP.
Dan
is on the Worth’s Top 100 Attorneys in the Nation for 2007 and is a
graduate of Indiana University School of Law – Bloomington. Included in
these activities is his active help with the D. J. Angus Foundation.
Mr.
Yates reviewed estate planning and the effect of federal and state tax
laws on individuals who have assets exceeding 2 million dollars, or
those couples with assets exceeding 4 million dollars. It was
interesting to note that the federal tax limit will be increased to 3.5
million in 2009, and then repealed in 2010. Hopefully with changes in
congress this law will be changed, or we may need to time our death.
For
those individuals with joint estates exceeding 4 million dollars,
estate planning and “life planning” is extremely important. With out
this planning state and federal taxes can take away over 75% of your
estate over 4 million dollars. Likewise, it is important that you make
sure to take a complete survey to include IRA’s, 401K plans, life
insurance, art, jewelry, real estate and privately held business
ventures.
Mr. Yates suggested that everyone have a last will
and testament to cover items outside of your financial assets. Who gets
the family heirlooms that have sentimental value needs to be addressed.
Likewise Mr. Yates suggested that everyone have a durable power of
attorney, and a medical directive. Many of us who have had recent
hospitalizations have found that hospitals are asking about these
documents on admission.
Mr. Yates also covered the areas of
trusts, and many other new ways to protect your assets upon the death
of your self and your spouse. Dan also discussed the ability for you to
give $12,000 each year to your children, or anyone else you so desire.
This means that a couple can reduce the size of their estate by $24,000
per year per person gifted. The maximum about of these gifts can not
exceed $1 million dollars.
This news letter author does not
trust his notes, and does not want to give advice that might not be
correct. For that reason, if you have additional questions see you
financial advisor or trusted attorney. Dan suggested the best way of
selecting such an individual is by personal contact with trusted
friends who have some of the same issues that you might have.
Lastly
Dan covered charitable remainder annuity trusts, charitable lead trusts
and charitable remainder unitrust may be an ideal method of giving to
your favorite charity, while still protecting the income from the funds
for your wife and if you elect your children.
Many members
enjoyed seeing Dan again, and as could be expected Dan was asked many
questions after his talk, and after the meeting.
Notes by Hank Wolfla
Vol 85 No 3 - January 21,2008
The history of the Indianapolis Water Company dates back to the
construction of the Central Indiana Canal by the State of Indiana. It
was completed in 1839 to aid in industrial growth in central Indiana,
but was soon rendered uneconomical by the development of railroads. The
canal passed through the hands of several owners, eventually becoming
the privately held Indianapolis Water Company. In 1997, the utility was
sold to the investor-owned company, NiSource. In order to complete
other business transactions, NiSource was required by the Federal
Government to sell certain assets including the Indianapolis Water
Company. The City of Indianapolis exercised a long-held option to buy
the assets of the utility for $500 million in 2002.
After the sale was concluded, the City solicited bids for operation of the utility and Veolia Water was selected.
Veolia is a worldwide company offering management of drinking water,
wastewater and bio-solids systems. They also offer design and
construction services for water and wastewater industries, as well as
management of transportation services and other infrastructure related
businesses.
Veolia has a twenty-year management agreement with the City. They are
paid a set fee on an annual basis to manage the day-to-day activities.
The service area of the utility extends into each of the adjacent
counties. The utility serves approximately 1,000,000 customers. The
utility has over 4,000 miles of distribution mains and pumps, on an
average day, over 145 million gallons of water is delivered. Water
usage is seasonal and last year the utility set a one-day record of 228
million gallons. On an average winter day, they pump 125 million
gallons per day.
One of unique features of the design of the Indianapolis water system
is that water can be routed through the system in a variety of paths
depending on demand or service requirements. Indianapolis has four
separate water treatment plants and a distribution design that allows
the operator a wide range of flexibility.
The limiting factor in the water system supply is the ability of the
plants to produce potable water. Storage tanks throughout the system
store treated water in anticipation of peak demand periods. Recent
drought conditions have produced situations that did not allow the
tanks to “refill” after the high-demand draw-down. New plant
construction is extremely expensive and the first alternative is
conservation to reduce demand.
In addition to four treatment plants, 4,000 miles of distribution
system, numerous pumping stations and 15 storage tanks, the company
maintains 38,000 fire hydrants and numerous well fields.
About 75 percent of the water produced by Veolia for Indianapolis comes
from surface water: rivers and reservoirs. The remainder comes from
well fields. The drought conditions in 2007 required the company to
depend more heavily on the well fields.
The contract between the City of Indianapolis and Veolia is the largest
of its kind in the United States. It is unusual in several respects.
Water quality, meeting state and federal requirements, meeting customer
expectations and customer service requirements are all spelled out in
the contract and there are incentives for meeting specific targets.
Veolia/Indianapolis Water was the first water utility in the country to meet ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards.
They have a serious commitment to keeping purchases within the
community, doing business with disadvantaged/minority business,
involvement in community affairs and worker safety.
Water quality monitoring equipment was installed soon after Veolia
acquired responsibility for the operations. This equipment, installed
at various points throughout the distribution system, allows faster
response time to changes in water conditions throughout the system.
Water taste and quality from the Eagle Creek Reservoir have been a
serious problem during various times of the year. Blue-green algae
blooms have been identified as the cause and Veolia has targeted the
specific areas in the reservoir for treatment. Copper sulfate is
typically used to kill the algae blooms and through research Veolia has
reduced the amount from 9,000 pounds per year to 900 pounds per year.
This is a significant improvement in the ecological health of Eagle
Creek.
Veolia’s contract contains certain performance incentives. As an
example: Customer Satisfaction. The nation-wide average for water
utility customer satisfaction is 70 percent. The incentive target for
Veolia is 90 percent and the level increases over the life of the
contract. Currently, Veolia is 10-13 percentage points above the
national average, but not yet to the incentive level.
In 2008, Veolia expects to complete approximately $70 million in
capital improvements to the system. This is a significant increase over
the previous year due to a recent water rate increase.
Notes by James Reid
Vol 85 No 4 - January 28,2008
Flu epidemics have been recorded as far back as the 16th century and even prior. The most severe epidemic occurring in recent times was in 1918-1919. There were 21 million deaths recorded during that epidemic.
There are three types of flu viruses, types A, B and C. Type A affects humans more severely as well other animals. Types B and C are milder forms of flu with less effect on other animals.
The characteristics of the outer surface of the RNA virus allow for diagnosis with immunologic and serologic testing. Culture is not practical as a diagnostic method in daily practice. Drug treatment is also directed at penetrating this complex viral surface.
Viruses are named as to the type, geographic origin, strain and year of isolation. The flu viruses currently affecting individuals in the United States are transmitted primarily by droplets. They are much less airborne viruses. The incubation period is one to four days usually two. The patient can transmit the virus for five to 10 days after the clinical infection. Symptoms usually include fever, myalgia and coryza. Diarrhea is usually not a feature of seasonal flu. On the other hand with avian flu, diarrhea can be significant. There are antiviral drugs available for treatment which have some effectiveness but the viruses rapidly become resistant to these measures. The maximum incidence of seasonal flu usually occurs in February but many cases are seen from December to March.
There are two types of vaccines available for flu. One type is made of inactivated virus and the other is an attenuated but live virus. In the current vaccine there are two type A viral strains in one type B. There has been some controversy regarding the presence of Thimerosol as a preservative in the vaccine. There are several vaccines currently available however which do not contain this substance. The efficiency for immunization is rather good varying from 70 to 90%. The inactivated virus is generally used in individuals older than 50 years of age and in children from six to 23 months. Vaccination is recommended for pregnant females and for any individual who is immune compromised. Side effects are generally minor. True allergic reactions are rare but can occur. These would be more likely to occur in individuals who have an allergy to eggs.
In preparing the vaccines the CDC and the manufacturers try to determine and predict which viruses will affect the population in the coming months and include these in the vaccine. The attenuated viral vaccine is generally used in individuals in the four to 49 year age group. This attenuated vaccine is more likely to cause brief illness in older individuals.
Avian flu i.e.H5N1, affects wild waterfowll and poultry. Rather than the nasopharynx as in seasonal flu with avian flu the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts are affected. Most of the cases occurring from 2003 to 2006 occurred in the Far East and in Southeast Asia. There were no human cases in the United States. Avian flu is not easily transmitted from person to person but more likely from contact with the animal and with their excretions. This virus does not replicate in the nasopharynx as seasonal flu does but rather in the lower respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts resulting in pneumonia and diarrhea The affected individuals are usually less than 40 years of age and mortality is 50 to 60%.
Treatment for avian flu is generally supportive although there is some benefit from antiviral medications such as Oseltamivir. Immunoglobulin has also been used in therapy.
A pandemic occurs when the virus is spread from human to human. Fortunately this is not occurring with the avian flu virus at this time but it is anticipated that viral rearrangement may well occur with intermingling with other viruses and with mutations to produce this highly undesirable feature necessary for a pandemic.
Managing a pandemic is extremely difficult. The hospitals in Indianapolis have plans in place but implementing these plans with large numbers of the affected patients will be very difficult. Vaccines are under development and there is stockpiling of some antiviral drugs. Unfortunately the viruses develop immunity to these drugs rather promptly. If a pandemic were to occur in the same order of magnitude as occurred in 1918 the medical establishment will be completely overwhelmed. There is only a fraction of the number of beds available. The number of respirators available is limited and will not nearly cover the number of patients requiring them. There will not be enough health-care workers available. Since many of them will be affected as well.
Most importantly triage will be required when there are massive numbers of affected individuals and our society is not emotionally prepared for this kind of procedure . That is deciding who will get treated and who will not.
Everyone needs to remember that one of the most important things one can do to avoid the flu is washing their hands.
Notes by Jerry Kurlander
Vol 85 No 5 - February 4,2008
Dr. Spann is a Research Scientist in Neurosciences at Eli Lilly and Company. She has a bachelors in mathematics from the University of North Texas, and Masters and Ph. D. degrees in statistics from Baylor University.
In most clinical trials, fixed numbers of patients are randomly allocated to treatment with one of the treatments to be compared. Unfortunately, patients arrive for the trial one at a time. This prolongs the trial considerably, but offers an opportunity, in some situations, to allow the randomization for any given patient to depend on the results obtained up to the moment. A working group among statisticians in the pharmaceutical industry is working on an approach to bring this idea to fruition, and Dr. Spann described her recent contribution to this effort.
Dr. Spann described a trial which had been performed by Lilly in patients with acute episodes of schizophrenia. The study compared an injectible form of the Lilly drug Zyprexa (Z), an injectible form of haldoperidol (H) (a generic, standard treatment in this condition), and placebo (P). They were compared with respect to effectiveness (improvement of the schizophrenic symptoms over a period of 2 hours) and safety (incidence of dystonia, an undesirable side effect involving abnormal muscle contractions). The study had already been performed, in the standard way, but Dr. Spann and her team re-analyzed the data as if it had been performed using the adaptive design.
In the original report on the trial, Z was shown to be statistically not inferior to H with respect to effectiveness, and not to result in more dystonia than P. However, any consumer of clinical trial data knows that some conclusions like this depend on an understanding of some rather arcane statistical concepts, such as confidence intervals. Such intervals describe what might happen if the trial were repeated many times, even though there is no intention to do it more than once.
Dr. Spann's Bayesian approach focuses instead on estimation of the probability that a patient would improve on Z within an acceptable margin when compared with H (in terms of agitation) over two hours. Such a probability has intuitive appeal both to researchers and to those who make therapeutic decisions.
Dr. Spann's Bayesian analysis treated the data as if incoming patients were randomized, not according to a previously generated randomization table, but according to the current (at the time of the patient's entry) estimate of the probability that the patient would be successfully treated without dystonia. (Example: if we call successful relief of symptoms without dystonia "success", and if the current estimates of the probability of success are 50% for Z, 40% for H, and 10% for P, then the next patient would have 50/(50+40+10)=50% chance of getting Z, etc.). Using this analysis, they were able to reach the same conclusions in the original report of the trial, and with the same confidence, with significantly fewer patients.
This example was illustrated in a situation in which the response is known quickly (2 hours in this example); however, there exist methods for situations where the observation window is larger. Also, it requires that experts be able to reach agreement on a quantification of their prior knowledge of the situation. Despite those issues, there is potential that this paradigm could result in studies that reach robust conclusions in less time, and with fewer patients. Another advantage is that it might be possible to subject fewer patients to inferior treatments.
Notes by Tom Spradlin
Vol 85 No 6 - February 11,2008
Dr. Jakubowski is the President of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Dr. Jakubowski gave an interesting talk about the current status of engineering education as well as a short history of engineering.
Engineering was originally designed for the military. Engineers were used to design forts and other military structures.
Realizing that these skills could be used for civilian purposes, civil engineering was developed. Civil engineering along with electrical engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, and mining engineering formed the founder societies.
Prior to 1950, engineering projects relied on intuition, trial and error, and practical experience. From 1950 to 2000 scientific methods were brought to bear on the field of engineering and engineering schools were developed along the lines of these five founder societies. The complexity of engineering increased and more and more hours of education were required in the training of engineers. Currently the course of study is on average about 128 hours. Over the same time frame many other engineering courses were adopted.
Since 1990, and particularly since the year 2000, there has developed blurring between many of the engineering disciplines, with many new engineering fields developed between and intertwined with the founder societies. Engineers have had to develop additional skills in biology, mathematics, computer technology, nuclear technology, etc..
Oversight of the various engineering disciplines is performed by ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology), which oversees the various bodies of accreditation in the engineering field.
The future for the engineer is becoming increasingly complex. Multidisciplinary engineering involves engineers of several different disciplines working alone on a single project. Interdisciplinary engineering involves engineers of different engineering disciplines working cooperatively on a single project or projects as a cohesive group. Trans disciplinary engineers are required to work not only with other engineers but with other scientific, artistic and other disciplines for the development of ever more complicated projects.
An interesting question was raised as to how well the United States is meeting their engineering requirements. It was pointed out that China is educating 250,000 engineers per year whereas in the USA is educating only 55,000 engineers per year. In addition it is anticipated that there will be increasing retirements over the next few years. Dr. Jakubowski fears that we are losing our competitive edge in the world economy due to what he sees as a shortage of engineers.
Notes by Bill Elliott
Vol 85 No 7 - February 18,2008
Today's meeting was a tour of the Indianapolis Water Company White River Water Treatment Plant arranged by Darrell Bakken. Derick Sutton, Jim Gunn, Mark Grey, David Hill and Ed Malone provided tours for three groups. The tour included a visit to the central control area, laboratories, and then a van tour of the outside treatment areas.
The White River Water Treatment Plant is located on the northwest of the downtown area of the city. The rated capacity of this facility is 96 MGD (million gallons per day) with a maximum hydraulic capacity of 120 MGD, making it the largest facility in the Indiana Water Company, and the largest facility in the state. The facility treats both ground water and surface water. Approximately 25 percent of the source water is from ground water (wells). It is important to note that this well water is also used to heat the input water from surface water (canal water from White River). The source water is via a canal from White River and two well fields which have a total of 19 wells. The plant was constructed and first used in 1909, with many major additions in 1920's, 1950's and the 1970's.
The White River WTP is a conventional treatment facility with coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, and dual media filtration. Primary disinfection is achieved using sodium hypochlorite, and a distribution system residual is maintained with chloramines (aqueous ammonia). Alum and polymer are used to remove particles in the water. Powdered activated carbon is used to remove taste and odors. Hydrofluorosilicic acid is added to promote the health of teeth. Sodium hydroxide is used to raise the PH and sodium bisulfate to lower disinfection concentrations.
Finished water is stored in one of three reservoirs before being pumped into the distribution system. A chlorine contact basin is used to achieve the CT requirements for Giardia and virus inactivation.
The filter backwash system consists of an elevated 250,000 gallon wash tank and process unit for treating wash water and handling the residuals, which includes a Backwash Residual Tank, Lamella Plate Settlers to thicken the backwash water and a Sedimentation Basin Residual Tank.
The Residuals Dewatering Plant processes backwash and sedimentation basin residuals from White River and Fall Creek. The plant consists of a Gravity Thickener and two large presses. Approximately 3 semi-trucks per day of sludge are hauled to a land fill to act as a cap on the land fill.
The Indianapolis Water Company operates 24 hours per day, 7 days a week and is composed of 16 districts. The average water usage in 2007 was 150 MGD with a peak of 228 MGD in July.
We learned that Indiana does not have a state water policy, and the person with the biggest pump gets the most water.
The turbidity of the water entering the plant from the canal is approximately 25, while the turbidity of the water leaving the plant is 0.103. The Water Company has 80 sample stations in a 9 county service area, and over 300 samples per month are processed in the central lab located at the White River Treatment Plant. With present technology it takes 18 hours to process a sample for bacteria.
Notes by Hank Wolfla
Vol 85 No 8 - February 25,2008
Mr. Andy Beckman is the archivist for the Studebaker national Museum. The museum is located at 201 S. Chapin St, South Bend, IN 46601. Mr. Beckman gave an interesting talk about the history of the Studebaker Co. and family.
The H & C Studebaker blacksmith shop opened in 1852 at the corner of Michigan and Jefferson streets in what is now the heart of downtown South Bend. Henry and Clement Studebaker blacksmith shop would turn into the Studebaker Manufacturing Company in 1868 eventually to become the largest wagon manufacturing the world. Their brother John M. Studebaker would return from California where he had made wheelbarrows during the gold rush. He returned with $8,000 and bought out his brother Henry who by legend was a pacifist and was unwilling to produce wagons for military purposes. Studebaker produced union wagons during the Civil War. The brothers were joined by Peter Studebaker who headed up the sales department and opened up many sales outlets around the country.
In 1902 there was great discussion within the Studebaker family in regards to manufacturing automobiles. Clement Studebaker was opposed to the idea. John M. was ambivalent towards the idea. Studebaker moved into the industry, producing an electric car in 1902. A gasoline powered Studebaker came in 1904, produced by the carrridge company in Ohio. This was marketed under the name Studebaker which distributed the cars via their extensive sales network. In 1911 Studebaker would join forces with Everett-Metzger-Flanders Company of Detroit to form the Studebaker Corp.. Studebaker sold automobiles under the EMS and Flanders names until 1913; from there after all new cars carried the Studebaker name. Studebaker was still producing the wagons and would do so until 1920 at which time automobile production was moved from Detroit to South Bend.
The Great Depression, between 1929 and 1933, led to decreasing sales for Studebaker, causing them to go into receivership in 1933. Paul Hoffman and Herald Vance were able to bring Studebaker out from under court supervision in 1933. They continued to make cars right up to the start of World War II. During World War II, Studebaker was converted to make US Army 6 x 6 trucks which were largely used in Russia. They also made engines for the B-17 Flying Fortress.
After the war, civilian production resumed. One notable model is the bullet nosed Land Cruiser produced in 1950. Studebaker began to decline in 1953. They merged with Packard in 1954 at which time they were described as two drunks trying to help each other across the street. They gradually declined due to the withering competition from Ford and General Motors. They closed their South Bend plant in 1963. Their last car was produced in Montréal Canada in 1966.
Notes by Bill Elliott
Vol 85 No 9 - March 3,2008
Today's meeting was presented by our past presidents Jim Bettner and Darrel Bakken. Jim and Darrel provided an excellent review of China's Three Gorges Dam. Both Jim and Darrel have visited the Dam in the past. Jim asked the membership how many had visited China, and a large number of hands went up. We have a well traveled membership.
The Three Gorges Dam is a Chinese hydroelectric river dam that spans the Yangtze River in Sandouping, Yichang, Hubei, China. The total electric generating capacity of the dam will reach 22,500 megawatts, at which point it will be the largest hydro-electric power station in the world by capacity. This is the biggest project that has been undertaken in China since the Great Wall and the Grand Canal. Several generators are yet to be installed; the dam is not expected to become fully operational until about 2011.
The dam wall is made of concrete and is about 2,309 metres (7,575 ft) long, and 185 metres (607 ft) high. The wall is 115 metres (377.3 ft) wide on the bottom and 40 metres (131.2 ft) wide on top. The project used 27,200,000 cubic metres (35,600,000 cu yd) of concrete, 463,000 metric tons of steel, enough to build 63 Eiffel Towers, and moved about 10,260,000 cubic metres (13,400,000 cu yd) of earth.
The reservoir created by the Three Gorges Dam exceeds 660 kilometres (410 mi) in length and 1.12 kilometres (0.70 mi) in width on average, and contains 39,300,000,000 cubic metres (9.43 cu mi) of water, when the water level is at 175 metres (574 ft). The dam will reach its maximum capacity by the end of 2008.
As with many dams, there is a debate over costs and benefits. Although there are potential economic benefits such as flood control and hydroelectric power, there are also concerns about the relocation of over 1,500,000 people who have or will be displaced by the rising waters; siltation that could limit the dam's useful life; loss of numerous valuable archaeological and cultural sites; and significant adverse effects upon animal life.
The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest hydro-electric power station by total capacity, which will be 22,500 MW. It will have 34 generators in total. 32 of them are main generators, each with a capacity of 700 MW; and the other two are plant power generators to power other 14 generators, each with capacity of 50 MW. Fourteen are installed in the north side of the dam, twelve in the south side and the remaining six in the underground power plant in the mountain south of the dam. After completion, the expected annual electricity generation would be over 100 TWh, 18% more than originally predicted 84.7 TWh, since six more generators were added to the project in 2002.
The dam has ship locks to increase river shipping from 10 million to 50 million tonnes annually, with transportation costs cut by 30 to 37%. Shipping will become safer, since the gorges are notoriously dangerous to navigate. In addition to the canal locks, the Three Gorges Dam is equipped with a ship lift, a kind of elevator for vessels. The ship lift will be capable of lifting ships of up to 3,000 tons. The relocation of local residents is the central part of the Three Gorges Dam Project. It is considered as important as the construction of the dam. During the planning stages in the 1990s, it was estimated that 1.13 million residents would be forced to relocate; new developments have doubled that number to 2.3 million. Environmental issues with the dam include degraded water quality, detriments to wildlife, potential riverbank collapses, and potential silt related falling of coastal areas.
Darrell noted at the end of his talk that he felt that the environmental issues of China are extreme and will need to be addressed.
Note, the reporter used Wikipedia in the write up of this report.
Notes by Hank Wolfla
Vol 85 No 10 - March 10,2008
Dr. Sasso is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon and the president of Indiana Spine Group. Specializing in spine surgery, Dr. Sasso has dedicated his medical career to the comprehensive treatment and surgery of spinal disorders and abnormalities.
Dr. Sasso started working with image navigation in spine surgery in 1999. Sasso's presentation described an image navigation process, which he believes is very close to being reliable procedure in the operating room.
The use of GPS and satellite navigation in automobiles is the analogy that Sasso uses to describe surgical navigation. A GPS system in current automobiles tells us where we are, what direction were heading, our starting point, our destination and any obstacles in the way. This is the same goal in the operating room for the equipment being developed by Dr. Sasso.
The concept is that in the operating room the surgeon sees the patient's exterior skin. Under that skin are structures that are important to the surgeon: neural structures, skeletal structures and vascular structures. As a spine surgeon, in particular, Sasso indicates it would be useful to be able to know where his instruments were at all times and navigate through and around these important structures.
In addition, improved navigation could speed surgery and reduce potential complications (infection, blood loss, effects from anesthetics) from surgery.
Traditional surgery involves the surgeon using visual cues and assuming what structures are near or under what he can see. This works well until the surgeon has to deal with complex or abnormal anatomy. In those cases, the surgeon has to expose more tissue in order to see more.
There are significant limitations on imaging in operating rooms. X-ray machines emit radiation and other large, bulky equipment is simply in the way.
GPS in surgery would allow the surgeons to place incisions exactly where they need to be. GPS would constantly update in real time, the progress of the operation. Current methods require the surgeon to back away, take on an image, and then continue the operation.
The equipment Sasso is developing allows him to see in three dimensions, through a "heads-up" display, exactly where is and exactly where he needs to go. He sees the tool in his hand and the surrounding tissue. He can measure distances, diameters, angles and trajectories. Just as a jet fighter pilot can "see" through his "heads-up" display images that are out of standard vision and control on-board weapons systems, the surgeon can manipulate the three dimensional images he sees in any fashion.
Sasso explained the operation of the system, again using the GPS-in-your-car analogy. In our car, the map we see on the GPS is digital map data gathered by others and downloaded to the car's computer. The "map" the surgeon sees in the operating room is digital data of the patient gathered by a CT scan in the operating room.
The satellite(s) in the automotive GPS allows the computer to place us on the map, show our direction and speed. The corresponding "satellite" in the operating room is an infrared camera. It
"sees" the reference frame that has been placed on the patient and it "sees" the surgeon's tools. This data in imposed on the patient's map data on a computer screen.
The reference frame corresponds to the GPS antenna on an automobile. (Sasso indicates that the bulk of his work and intellectual property with these systems has revolved around the development of a functional reference frame.)
Patient data is acquired by a CT scan that is then manipulated in the computer to allow the imposition of the surgeon's tools in the visual three-dimensional image.
The equipment will also allow the elimination of imaging during an operation, thus speeding the procedure.
Until recently, the guidance system was too fragile to be practical. Recent updates and advances have created a much more reliable, stable system. The ability to acquire the patient data in the operating room, rather than prior to the operation has allowed a more simple alignment of the data in the computer. This provides more accurate real-time data to the surgeon.
Test of the equipment on cadavers has proven extremely accurate. The surgeons were able to place screws and avoid critical structures. Surgeons have saved time because they don't have to stop the operation to acquire additional scans.
Notes by James Reid
Vol 85 No 11 - March 17,2008
Bob was born in Lexington, MA and earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1976. He worked at the Mayo Clinic for some time, then Denver Children's Hospital before taking a position with Boehringer Mannheim/Roche Diagnostics, where he worked from 1987-2001. Then in 2003, he co-founded VitaCyte, a biotech company focused on developing biochemical reagents, cell isolation methods, cellular products and ancillary services to aid life science researchers who isolate cells from mammalian tissues or organs.
His first slide contained photos of three important books in diabetes research: Discovery of Insulin by Michael Bliss, Invisible Frontiers by Stephen S. Hall and Eli Lilly: A Life, 1885-1997 by James H. Madison. Eli Lilly & Co. produced insulin (Iletin) for patients in 1923 and later introduced human insulin (Humulin) in 1982. Type I Diabetes is caused by autoimmune destruction of the islet cells of the pancreas. Only a small amount of the total volume of the pancreas is made up of islet cells. They are highly vascularized and are exquisitely sensitive to minute changes in blood sugar, secreting insulin into the circulation to adjust the glucose level.
Type I Diabetes is characterized by absent blood insulin levels and Type II Diabetes is associated with elevated insulin levels, made less effective by insulin resistance. The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial study in 1993 documented that diabetics have fewer complications if the blood sugar is rigidly controlled. Hemoglobin A1C levels of < 7 is consistent with good blood sugar control, while higher levels show poorer control. A kidney/pancreas or pancreas transplant stabilizes the blood sugar and may improve some of the physiologic abnormalities of diabetes.
It has been the dream of physicians for many years to transplant islet cells and cure type I diabetes. This began in earnest in 1972 after chemical diabetes was reversed in rodents. There was only modest progress until the year 2000 when scientists from the University of Alberta demonstrated successful treatment of seven out of seven adult diabetic patients with refractory hypoglycemia after islet transplantation (i.e. Edmonton Protcol).
Dr. McCarthy had many graphic slides that demonstrated the technique of islet cell transplantation. First, the islet cells need to be freed from the pancreas by using collagenase containing enzymes to dissociate the tissue structure. Next they must be purified from other cells then collected into a large enough batch for infusion into the patient. The current method is to place a volume of the collected islet cells by percutaneous technique into the portal vein of the liver. The inefficiency of recovering islets from the pancreas leads to the high cost for this procedure ($140,000). Currently, there are a limited number of islet cell transplants performed each year. No one really knows where the islet cells locate in the liver once they are infused.
Bob reviewed the various methods of using collagenase to separate the islet cells from the pancreas, including the most recent results from the VitaCyte researchers. In the 1950's, minimally purified supernatants from anerobic cultures of Clostridium histolyticum bacteria were used for cell isolation. These "crude collagenase" preparations contained other enzymes that were effective in dissociating tissue, leading to recovery of individual cells. Later, scientists at Boehringer Mannheim Biochemicals in Indianapolis identified the key enzymes in crude collagenase that were effective for tissue dissociation activity. This product line, Liberase™ Purified Enzyme Blends, resulted in a dramatic increase in the recovery of islets from human pancreas, contributing to the success of the Edmonton Protocol.
The three most important elements for success in producing quality islet cells for transplantation are: the quality of the donor pancreas organs (multiple organs are needed); the quality of the collagenase enxyme; and the experience of the islet isolation team. Further inquiry is being made into another site for human islet cells to be placed into the body. An omental pouch is one of the more prominent possibilities. Active research programs are also funded to determine if porcine islet transplants can be used to treat diabetic patients. The best transplantation treatment for this disease today are kidney/pancreas transplants. The number of transplants are not high; they are restricted to patients with severe disease and require considerable skill sets to successfully perform the procedure.
There is much work to be done. Long term results for islet cell transplantation and the success rate of good blood sugar control is about 25% after three years. However, approximately 80% of grafts continue to function and secrete C-peptide which allows for better control of Hemoglobin A1C and avoidance of hypoglycemic reactions.
Notes by Bill Dick
Vol 85 No 13 - March 31,2008
Mr. Alan Wiseman was our host for the tour of the Belmont wastewater treatment facility. Following a short introduction, he divided us into two groups. The first group was guided by Mr. Kim Cussen. This group toured the external facilities of the plant. The second group was guided by Ms. Genadia Angelov. This group toured the laboratory facilities.
There were two treatment areas on the grounds. The primary treatment area received the sewer water from the downtown Indianapolis area. The secondary treatment area received water from the Greenwood area. We toured several of the outside areas. The first major building was where the sewers from downtown Indianapolis emptied. Within this building there were trash racks which took off large pieces of material prior to entering the settling tanks.
From this building the sewage water was elevated using Archimedes type screws. There appeared to be about 10 large screws for the elevation of the water. The fluid then went into a large tank which allowed the grit to settle out. The rakes would then handle the grit. The effluent water would then be much easier on the pumps following the removal of the grit.
The water then went over to large settling tanks. For floating material there were large paddles moving the material to skimmers. These same skimmers would rotate back underwater and take off solid organic material to a separate area where sludge was pumped out. This sludge was then burned in an incinerator on the premises.
There were several additional steps to the treatment of the wastewater which we did not observe. These included oxygen nitrification tanks, final clarifying tanks, effluent filters, and disinfection with sodium bisulfite.
The tour of the laboratory began with Narendra demonstrating to us the manner in which the residual solid material was measured. Melody demonstrated the tests that were run for ammonia and other materials. Ms. Angelov then demonstrated the bacteriology laboratory in which they tested for E. coli. There was another room in which analysis for fluorine and other contaminants was performed.
The tour ended with a demonstration by Mr. Wiseman of the weather equipment available try to predict rainfall. The plant is capable of treating 300,000,000 gallons of sewage daily; however, when there is rainfall the runoff may exceed 2,000,000,000 gallons per day. If this is the case the raw sewage overflow is pumped right back into White River without treatment. Indianapolis has currently signed on to plans to help prevent this in the future by digging two large tunnels under the city of Indianapolis. These will extend to a depth of 250 feet and will each be 10 miles in length and 30 feet in diameter. When it rains, these tunnels will fill up. The water can then be pumped out slowly over the next number of days. This should reduce considerably in the raw sewage overflow.
Notes by Bill Elliott
Vol 85 No 14 - April 7,2008
Prof. Chaturvedi and his company are working on the computer simulation of very large and complex systems. They have created a new knowledge portal for use in their work, and in simulation studies of any variety. The portal is called knowrtal, and they are using it in the construction of an extremely complex simulation of the entire world.
That project, of which his company is the technical lead, is called the Sentient World Simulation and is intended to provide a complete description of all activities of every country.
The objective of Prof. Chaturvedi's work is to make it possible to simulate the activities of people and organizations, and to model the effects of changes in those activities. For example, one might propose that morning congestion on a highway was caused by the starting times of people's work, and therefore that no improvement in the highway would improve the situation. In ordinary life, it's hard to find a way to test a hypothesis like that, but by making changes in a proper simulation, his company can test it quickly.
The project on Indiana education, which is now about four months old, will allow educators to predict the effects of changes in the educational system by inputting changes into the simulation of the Indiana system which his company is now building. Their model incorporates data on all the components of the system, and the mechanisms by which the components interact with each other. They validate their model by comparing actual results for past years with the results which their simulation would predict for those years.
The function of his company is not to give policy recommendations to a client, such as Indiana educators. As he said, he and his company are the midwives, not the parents of the policy. His function is to provide the means for everyone to have knowledge:
The world at the fingertip of everyone, not just information, but knowledge
- Knowledge that is interactive
- Knowledge that is shared
- Knowledge that allows collaboration, globallyIndiana will have it first and can lead the way in the competition for ideas- Ideas that are disruptive and paradigm shifting
Notes by Joe Jones
Vol 85 No 15 - April 14,2008
Dr. Rydberg's presentation consisted of two parts. The first was a description of the basic operation of the CT scan and how it functioned in the early days (1970's). The CT scanner consists of a traversable gurney, (on which the patient lies), an X-ray source, and a detector ring. He described how CT scanners of the 1970's were limited to head only diagnosis and took about 8 minutes per scan. Continued development has led from single detector rows (1970's) to multiple (64) detector rows (2008) which has allowed the creation of multiple slice CT scans which can performed literally in a few seconds. The X-ray and detector system weigh about two tons and rotate about the patient at about four revolutions per second. A four-slice CT scanner is actually eight times faster than the single slice CT scanner. The patient actually receives less radiation with the multiple slice CT scan than with the single slice scan.
Dr. Rydberg showed an example of a 2008 technology CT scan of a tumor in a liver with a fluid level that was explained by examining a side view cut of the scan. The CT scan with its thin slice (.5mm) structure presents multiple views that greatly assist in problem diagnosis.
The second part of Dr. Rydberg's presentation demonstrated CT scan capabilities on several examples of medical problems.
Trauma Imaging
Examples of spine, kidney, blood vessel imagery were shown.Virtual Colonoscopy
CT scan opens the colon up to appear as a flat surface.Stroke Diagnosis
CT scan can detect polyps.
CT scan can replace the classic colonoscopy.
Early diagnosis with the CT scan can assist in preventing strokes or assist in restoring function.Cardiac Imagery
C T scan has solved the problem of imaging the heart at rest by identifying the diastolic (at rest) portion of the heart beat period.Dr. Rydberg noted that, in general, CT scans cost about 30-40% less than MRI's, and, to his knowledge, all major hospitals in the Indianapolis area have CT scan capability. He further noted that CT scans and MRI diagnostic tools were complimentary.
Notes by Jim Bettner
Vol 85 No 16 - April 21,2008
Identity Theft - Fact or Fiction? Thanks to Dr. Bill Dick and Stefan Davis (Indiana University) Prof Fred Cate from the IU Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research provided our program. The meeting was extremely well attended with 109 members and guests in attendance.
The measurement of identity theft includes the taking of a person's identification and using this identification to establish credit. It also includes taking an individual's credit card (also checks), and making charges against the card. Seventy three percent of identity theft cases reported are the use of a credit card by another person. Twenty eight percent is true ID theft where a new credit account is created.
Forty states have credit freeze laws including Indiana. Indiana has 31 specific laws just covering the many aspects of identity theft. The occurrence of identity theft is in a decline for the past 6 years - we are winning the battle. Why don't we hear about this fact? The business's of identity theft protection does not want the public to be aware of these facts.
Only 25% of individual's report their identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission. The median cost to individuals experiencing an identity theft is $0.00. The mean cost has been declining over the past 4 years with a cost of $500 in the past year. The lost to credit and banking institutions is also going down with the median cost of $750 and the mean cost of $5500.
Taking another person's check or credit card and using it for your own benefit used to be called fraud. Now it is called identity theft. Fred shared data with us that as you grow older, the chance of experiencing identity theft drops. You gain experience and knowledge.
Data from the identity theft resource center shows that 67% of the victims knew the criminal. Forty percent were family members, and fifty percent could identify the criminal. Fraud is very close to home.
Do security breaches really create identity theft? If your name is on a data base that has been stolen, your chance of experiencing an identity theft is 0.098 percent.
Identity theft comes from three areas: insiders, synthetic ID fraud, and making up data.
What can you do? Purchase a shredder and shred any financial information you do not save. This includes those checks from the credit card company, offers for a second mortgage, any information that contains financial information. Review your bank and credit cards statement. Over 25% of the public does not review their credit card or bank statement. Get a copy of your credit report each year from www.annualcreditreport.com. Use a strong password, do not click on any links within your email messages, report any case of fraud, and if necessary place a fraud alert or freeze on your credit report. Lastly for those of us, who travel, make sure you notify your credit card company about your travel plans.
We learned that identity theft is a fact, but affects only a small percentage of the population. It can easily be stopped by the use of a shedder and the understanding that identity threat comes from those close to us.
Notes by Hank Wolfla
Vol 85 No 17 - April 28,2008
An alternative title of this presentation could have been: A Black and Green Method to Remove CO2. The black component of the process being discussed is coal and the green component is algae. The interaction between the living (algae) and non-living (coal) has been a long-time interest of Dr. Shaffer.
Indiana is a major coal producer and the second largest coal consumer in the United States. Coal is used predominately for electric power production and as a net exporter of electrical energy; Indiana's economy is positively impacted by coal mining activity.
Burning coal during the production of electrical energy produces large amounts of carbon dioxide. CO2 is currently the "whipping boy" of the environmental movement as it has the propensity to trap heat in earth atmosphere.
Several methods have been proposed to clean up power plant emissions of carbon dioxide. One popular method being discussed is carbon dioxide sequestration. This process captures CO2 and turns it into a supercritical liquid for storage underground. The process is potentially very expensive and the storage modes (underground salt domes, abandoned mines, porous rock, etc.) have their own environmental issues. CO2 in storage is not innocuous and the potential environmental hazards have not been completely addressed. Estimates for a system with a 90 percent CO2 capture would increase the cost of electricity by 42-52 percent.
Shaffer's proposal hinges on the fact that algae, one of the oldest forms of life on earth, will immediately react with CO2, minor nutrients and water in the presence of sunlight to produce "lots more algae" and oxygen.
This algae could be harvested for bio-fuel products, animal feeds, pharmaceuticals as well as a wide variety of other products. Water from the process can be recycled back to the process. Methods of growing and processing algae are well developed, especially in Asia. Algae slurries can be easily transported by pipeline if necessary. Potential yields from this industrial process are estimated to range up to 15,000 gallons of bio-fuel per acre as compared to 50 gallons of bio-fuel per acre for grains.
Oxygen produced by algae could be harvested and used, for example, in a power plant to enhance the combustion of coal.
Research is currently underway at National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL www.netl.doe.gov) and other centers.
Shaffer notes that there are issues to be considered concerning the use of algae in CO2 reduction:
Water must be treated to meet system requirements; a potential cost factor. Water discharged from the process must also meet environmental standards.
The fate of heavy metals (i.e. mercury) and other chemicals concentrated by the process is not well known.
The effects of weather (cloudy days) may hinder the process in midwestern climates.
www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/fy98/24190.pdf
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8129979
www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html
www.greenfuelonline.com
Spring Dinner Meeting - April 30,2008
Mr. Crowther started his talk with the efforts of Lowell Nussbaum, the newspaper columnist for the Indianapolis Times. Many of us remember the Times as the "evening paper" of Indianapolis. The mission of the Indianapolis Zoo inspires local and global communities to celebrate, protect, and preserve our natural world through conservation, education, and research, and by providing an enriching and wondrous environment for our visitors and the animals in our care. For the mission of the zoo to be completed people must come to love the efforts of the zoo. Only when a person comes to love will action occur. Mr. Crowther's speech covered the high level of connection between man and animals, and the effect of man on animals. Mr. Crowther outlined that mans effect and actions on wildlife are not with malice and most of mankind does not determine his future but just accepts what is handed to him.
The Indianapolis Zoo takes no tax funds, has one million visitors per year, and the Zoological Society has over 100,000 members from around the world. The Indianapolis Zoo occupies 64 acres on the near West side of Indianapolis. The next big effort of the Zoo will be the construction of the International Great Ape Exhibit that will open in 2013. It is the plan of the Zoo to make this Great Ape exhibit the leading exhibit in the world, along with active conservation activities. The Indianapolis Zoo is now part of the top 10 Zoo's in the United States. The zoo is engaged in a number of long term research projects and participation in conservation projects.
Mr. Crowther then covered the biennial $100,000 Indianapolis Prize that represents the largest individual monetary award for animal conservation in the world and is given as an unrestricted gift to the chosen honoree. (www.indianapolisprize.org) The Indianapolis Prize was initiated by the Indianapolis Zoo (www.indianapoliszoo.com) as a significant component of its mission to inspire local and global communities to celebrate, protect, and preserve our natural world through conservation, education and research.
This biennial award brings the world's attention to the cause of animal conservation and the brave, talented and dedicated men and women who spend their lives saving the Earth's endangered animal species. The first recipient of the Indianapolis Prize was Dr. George Archibald, Co-Founder of the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
Mr. Crowther provided the audience with insight on how the Indiana Zoo is active and the leader in wildlife conservation around the world.
The secret of wildlife conservation is balance, and being a radical middle of the road activist will lead to success. We do not understand what everything does and how it fits into the world. It is because of this fact that our wildlife is facing extinction. Extinction is a place of no escape, and is the inability to retain balance. We and the world are connected. We need to determine our future and not accept what is handed to us.
Mr. Crowther provided us with a thought provoking evening, along with facts on the Indianapolis Zoo and how it fits into world wide conservation.
Notes by Hank Wolfla
Vol 85 No 18 - May 5,2008
Musical DNA Software is a startup company in downtown Indianapolis founded by Ken Lemons, Inventor and CEO, and son of a recent Scientech speaker. Ken had a vision of "decoding" music, so that it could be experienced not just through listening, and not just through reading music in its usual notation, but also visually. His idea was to map the 12 notes of (western) music onto a circle, 30 degrees apart, like the digits on a clock. Notes played simultaneously are represented by the geometric figure produced by connecting the points corresponding to the notes.
The simplest case involves 2 notes, and the result is discussed in terms of the interval between them. A line may be drawn between two adjacent notes, and that short "interval" produces the sound musicians call the half step. The next longer interval, from one note to the note located 2 (or 60 degrees) away, is the second interval, and is called a full step. There are four more interval lengths, and they produce the minor third, the major third, the perfect fourth, and the tri-tone, respectively.
Playing 3 different notes produces a triangle of lines connecting the notes on the circle. There are 4 basic triangles possible (but they can rotate freely), producing the musical combinations called the major chord, the minor chord, the diminished triad, and the augmented triad. The final shape is produced when 4 notes are played, and this produces a trapezoid. There are 9 possible trapezoids that can be formed.
The company has developed (and continues to develop) software that permits real-time display of the circular representation as music is played. When the software is really put to the test, some of the patterns observed in 3 dimensions are reminiscent of the double helix we normally associate with DNA, hence the name Musical DNA Software.
For reasons that aren't clear, Ken and his staff have noticed that chords that we find pleasing tend to be represented by lopsided patterns when depicted on the circle. In general, the patterns can be classified as happy (sounds), sad, spooky, and dreamy.
The software under development has a number of different features, some of which we witnessed in today's presentation. In addition to the circle showing the patterns of the music being played, there is also a representation of the rhythm. A staff can be included so that one can see the notes being played in the usual notation, and a piano keyboard can be shown, in which the actual keys being pressed are shown. In addition to the piano, representations of other instruments are also available, such as cello (showing the exact fingering), guitars, etc. When the software is used in tutorial mode, the software shows what keys should be pressed.
Other features are currently under development. For example, they are working on a graphical representation that captures the duration of notes, and another feature will permit the graphical analysis of music that is "heard" by the software (as opposed to being digitally input).
The staff of Musical DNA Software has a broad vision of possible uses of their product. For example, it might be useful in teaching music, and it might be useful in composition. Casting a broader net, it might even be used to prepare "signatures" of valuable instruments. They are already discussing the cataloging of birdcalls, and it is interesting to think of possible applications relative to the human voice, whether in vocal music, in speech "fingerprinting" or in situations of speech pathology.
The company's website can be visited at www.musicaldnasoftware.com .
Notes by Tom Spradlin
Vol 85 No 19 - May 12,2008
The Mission of the Children's Museum is to provide an extraordinary learning experience for children. The Vision is to provide global leadership in children's museums serving children and families.
It is one of the oldest and the largest children's museum in the United States, founded in 1924. Approximately one million visitors per year see the Museum. There are 12 permanent galleries and many changing exhibits. The Museum stresses science, art and the humanities. Over 115,000 items are in the permanent collection. This museum is only one of three children's museums that collects artifacts on site similar to the Natural History Museum in New York.
The Museum is the 18th most visited museum in the United States. There are 200 full-time and 150 part-time staff. Exhibits are created inhouse. There are designers, artists, carpenters and others employed to create these exhibits. To accomplish the mission of the Museum there are 400 volunteers, 50 board members, 51 interns and 103 guild members.
There are many ongoing programs for children including daily theater and in-depth family and school programs as well as preschool programs. 100,000 school children per year visit the Museum on school time. There also are programs to assist teachers in professional development. Scientech provides some economic assistance for the science and math programs at the Museum.
The Museum provides free or reduced cost programming for poor children and families. The 30th to 34th Street project is a program for neighborhood development and re-habilitation. The Info Zone provides a branch of the Marion County Public Library for neighborhood use. Computers are available for neighborhood residents. These are often used for learning about job opportunities and available benefits for poor families including health benefits. Many of the neighborhood families do not have Internet access in the home. There is also a six-week summer camp program.
The learning of science is informal at the Museum. No set learning pattern is required in going through each exhibit. Children also can do real scientific investigations. There are active paleontology and biotechnology laboratories among others. The motto is "This is science. Don't take our word for it. Try it yourself."
The Museum is preparing for phase 2 in their development program. This includes a new Welcome Center, landscaping changes and international traveling exhibits among other advancements.
The annual cost of operating the museum is $22,261,000. One third of these funds come from admissions, membership dues, museum store profits, facility rental and the like. Two thirds of the funds come from support from individuals, foundations, corporations and the endowment fund. The endowment currently has approximately $300 million of which about 5% per year is used to support museum operations. They count on annual gifts which include many levels of giving. There are opportunities for naming projects, objects and programs. $74 million is required to begin Phase II of their development goal. They currently have $64 million and are seeking the additional $10 million. They do not begin new development unless the money is at hand including funds for ongoing maintenance of the project. The Museum is anxious to receive annual gifts, capital gifts as well as gifts to the endowment fund.
At the completion of the formal lectures there was a tour of the collections department. A remarkable number of artifacts have been photographed, categorized and preserved. There are items of all sorts including comic books, toys dolls and many varieties of objects too numerous to mention. The Museum is able to show approximately 15% of their collection at one time.
The tour also included the natural science department where we saw casts as well as actual fossils of dinosaurs and many other items. The staff has made important dinosaur discoveries in digs in the South Dakota region. They also offer one or two day digging experiences for individuals and families who choose to participate. They have a rich site to explore and almost everybody finds some artifact.
Further information on the Museum and its programs may be obtained on the Museum web site at www.childrensmuseum.org/index2.htm
Notes by Gerry Kurlander