Changes made, needed and proposed in the vocational agriculture curriculum in Tennessee since the enactment of the 1968 Vocational education amendments

Data were collected from the regional supervisors of agricultural education and selected teachers of vocational agri-culture through a mailed questionnaire. All of the supervisors and 80.76 percent of the teachers responded to the study. Findings of the study indicated the following: 1. Teachers of vocational agriculture definitely considered it their responsibility to initiate curricular changes. 2. The offering of specialized courses in agricultural mechanics was definitely the most effective curricula change instituted by teachers of vocational agriculture. This change in specialized course offerings followed in the given order by plant science, animal science, landscaping, small gasoline engines, green-house management and soil science. 3. Off-farm agricultural training was moderately effective as a curricula change. 4. Slightly more time was being devoted to agricultural mechanics than production agriculture. These course offerings were followed in order by agricultural supplies and services, ornamental horticulture and agricultural products. 5. Farm mechanics received more teaching time than any other area of production agriculture followed by animal science, plant science, soil science, farm management and leadership training, 6. Whole class instruction had decreased in importance while individualized instruction had shown a marked increase during the past four years. Plant science, animal science, farm management, forestry and pulpwood production had received the greatest decrease in emphasis during the past four years. 8. Farm mechanics, leadership, landscaping and small gasoline engines were receiving more emphasis in the classroom than four years ago. 9. Agricultural sales and services, leadership, greenhouse management, farm mechanics and landscaping are subject areas that should receive more emphasis in the decade ahead, 10. Fifty-five percent of the vocational agriculture graduates for the past four years were engaged in farming or off-farm agri-cultural occupations. 11. Production agriculture had declined in curricular emphasis and off-farm agricultural occupations had shown a marked increase, 12. There had been very little change in emphasis for leader-ship activities, but indications were that they would receive considerably more emphasis in the future

A Landowner’s Guide to Common North American Predators of Upland-nesting Birds

Predation has been identified as a key factor limiting upland-nesting bird reproductive success in many studies. These results suggest that the effects of predation could be reduced by establishing and maintaining suitable nesting habitats. In several studies, habitat management alone was able to maintain populations of upland-nesting birds at or slightly above threshold believed necessary to sustain populations. However, additional studies also have shown that avian populations increased substantially after predator populations were reduced or nesting birds were protected by restricting predator access through the use of electric fencing or creating nesting islands. These practices, however, need to be implemented in combination with good habitat management if optimum benefits are to be realized

On Maximal Massive 3D Supergravity

We construct, at the linearized level, the three-dimensional (3D) N = 4 supersymmetric "general massive supergravity" and the maximally supersymmetric N = 8 "new massive supergravity". We also construct the maximally supersymmetric linearized N = 7 topologically massive supergravity, although we expect N = 6 to be maximal at the non-linear level.Comment: 33 page

Nebulized heparin in burn patients with inhalation trauma : safety and feasibility

Background: Pulmonary hypercoagulopathy is intrinsic to inhalation trauma. Nebulized heparin could theoretically be beneficial in patients with inhalation injury, but current data are conflicting. We aimed to investigate the safety, feasibility, and effectiveness of nebulized heparin. Methods: International multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial in specialized burn care centers. Adult patients with inhalation trauma received nebulizations of unfractionated heparin (25,000 international unit (IU), 5 mL) or placebo (0.9% NaCl, 5 mL) every four hours for 14 days or until extubation. The primary outcome was the number of ventilator-free days at day 28 post-admission. Here, we report on the secondary outcomes related to safety and feasibility. Results: The study was prematurely stopped after inclusion of 13 patients (heparin N = 7, placebo N = 6) due to low recruitment and high costs associated with the trial medication. Therefore, no analyses on effectiveness were performed. In the heparin group, serious respiratory problems occurred due to saturation of the expiratory filter following nebulizations. In total, 129 out of 427 scheduled nebulizations were withheld in the heparin group (in 3 patients) and 45 out of 299 scheduled nebulizations were withheld in the placebo group (in 2 patients). Blood-stained sputum or expected increased bleeding risks were the most frequent reasons to withhold nebulizations. Conclusion: In this prematurely stopped trial, we encountered important safety and feasibility issues related to frequent heparin nebulizations in burn patients with inhalation trauma. This should be taken into account when heparin nebulizations are considered in these patients

Dynamic nuclear polarization at the edge of a two-dimensional electron gas

We have used gated GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures to explore nonlinear transport between spin-resolved Landau level (LL) edge states over a submicron region of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). The current I flowing from one edge state to the other as a function of the voltage V between them shows diode-like behavior---a rapid increase in I above a well-defined threshold V_t under forward bias, and a slower increase in I under reverse bias. In these measurements, a pronounced influence of a current-induced nuclear spin polarization on the spin splitting is observed, and supported by a series of NMR experiments. We conclude that the hyperfine interaction plays an important role in determining the electronic properties at the edge of a 2DEG.Comment: 8 pages RevTeX, 7 figures (GIF); submitted to Phys. Rev.

Infinities within graviton scattering amplitudes

We present unitarity as a method for determining the infinities present in graviton scattering amplitudes. The infinities are a combination of IR and UV. By understanding the soft singularities we may extract the UV infinities and relate these to counter-terms in the effective action. As an demonstration of this method we rederive the UV infinities present at one-loop when gravity is coupled to matter.Comment: revised versio