Commercial Bank Financing for Industrial Development

Has industrial development in South Dakota been hampered by financial constraints? Will the capital sufficient for future industrial financing needs be available? Focusing on commercial banks and their role in financing industrial development, the study which this bulletin reports specifically sought: 1 . to describe the structure, past, and probable future growth of manufacturing and processing industries in South Dakota. 2. to determine to what extent industrial firms are hampered by lack of funds for construction of new facilities, for expansion of present facilities, and for operating expenses; and to determine the basis of restriction. 3. to determine the present role of commercial banks in financing industrial development. 4. to determine attitudes that bankers have toward industrial development within their community and their attitudes and policies in financing this development. 5. to explore the potential and future role of the commercial banks in financing industrial development

NMFS / Interagency Working Group Evaluation of CITES Criteria and Guidelines.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: At present, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) criteria used to assess whether a population qualifies for inclusion in the CITES Appendices relate to (A) size of the population, (B) area of distribution of the population, and (C) declines in the size of the population. Numeric guidelines are provided as indicators of a small population (less than 5,000 individuals), a small subpopulation (less than 500 individuals), a restricted area of distribution for a population (less than 10,000 km2), a restricted area of distribution for a subpopula-tion (less than 500 km2), a high rate of decline (a decrease of 50% or more in total within 5 years or two generations whichever is longer or, for a small wild population, a decline of 20% or more in total within ten years or three generations whichever is longer), large fluctuations (population size or area of distribution varies widely, rapidly and frequently, with a variation greater than one order of magnitude), and a short-term fluctuation (one of two years or less). The Working Group discussed several broad issues of relevance to the CITES criteria and guidelines. These included the importance of the historical extent of decline versus the recent rate of decline; the utility and validity of incorporating relative population productivity into decline criteria; the utility of absolute numbers for defining small populations or small areas; the appropriateness of generation times as time frames for examining declines; the importance of the magnitude and frequency of fluctuations as factors affecting risk of extinction; and the overall utility of numeric thresh-olds or guidelines

Quantum computing in optical microtraps based on the motional states of neutral atoms

We investigate quantum computation with neutral atoms in optical microtraps where the qubit is implemented in the motional states of the atoms, i.e., in the two lowest vibrational states of each trap. The quantum gate operation is performed by adiabatically approaching two traps and allowing tunneling and cold collisions to take place. We demonstrate the capability of this scheme to realize a square-root of swap gate, and address the problem of double occupation and excitation to other unwanted states. We expand the two-particle wavefunction in an orthonormal basis and analyze quantum correlations throughout the whole gate process. Fidelity of the gate operation is evaluated as a function of the degree of adiabaticity in moving the traps. Simulations are based on rubidium atoms in state-of-the-art optical microtraps with quantum gate realizations in the few tens of milliseconds duration range.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, for animations of the gate operation, see http://www.itp.uni-hannover.de/~eckert/na/index.htm

Seroepidemiologic Study of Human Infections with Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in North Carolina

Increasing entomologic and epidemiologic evidence suggests that spotted fever group rickettsiae (SFGR) other than Rickettsia rickettsii are responsible for spotted fever rickettsioses in the United States. A retrospective seroepidemiologic study was conducted on stored acute- and convalescent-phase sera that had been submitted for Rocky Mountain spotted fever testing to the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health. We evaluated the serologic reactivity of the paired sera to R. rickettsii, Rickettsia parkeri, and Rickettsia amblyommii antigens. Of the 106 eligible pairs tested, 21 patients seroconverted to one or more antigens. Cross-reactivity to multiple antigens was observed in 10 patients, and seroconversions to single antigens occurred in 11 patients, including 1 against R. rickettsii, 4 against R. parkeri, and 6 against R. amblyommii. Cross-absorption of cross-reactive sera and/or Western blots identified two presumptive cases of infection with R. parkeri, two presumptive cases of infection with R. rickettsii, and one presumptive case of infection with R. amblyommii. These findings suggest that species of SFGR other than R. rickettsii are associated with illness among North Carolina residents and that serologic testing using R. rickettsii antigen may miss cases of spotted fever rickettsioses caused by other species of SFGR

RTI: Court and Case Law-Confusion by Design

Professional confusion, as well as case law confusion, exists concerning the fidelity and integrity of response to intervention (RTI) as a defensible procedure for identifying children as having a specific learning disability (SLD) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Division is generated because of conflicting mandates specified in IDEA when compared to mandates in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This article is submitted to address (a) concerns about the misuse of RTI in identifying students with SLD and (b) how schools face the challenges of identifying students with learning disabilities, providing appropriate services within the least restricted environment while attempting to meet the requirements found in NCLB that all children will learn on grade level and be assessed accordingly