Quantitative study of long-term solar and climatic changes

Long term variations in the diameter and the shape of the Sun were studied. Daily observations of the Sun's diameter made at the Greenwich Observatory between 1836 and 1953 were analysed and interpreted. The data was converted into digital form and then screened and processed. It was found that the horizontal diameter of the Sun measured at Greenwich appears to have decreased systematically between 1880 and 1953 at a rate of 1.2 plus or minus 0.6 minutes of arc per century

VARIABLE INTEREST RATES AND THE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF DAIRY FARM BUSINESSES

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

CREDIT RISK MIGRATION EXPERIENCED BY AGRICULTURAL LENDERS

Loan records and lender credit risk classifications are used to examine agricultural credit risk migration. The results include estimates of the likelihood of borrowers transitioning among five credit risk tiers. The paper also examines factors that influence or predict credit risk migration and its impact on loan pricing.credit risk, agricultural lending, credit risk migration, credit quality, Agricultural Finance,

The neurobiology of circadian rhythms

Purpose of review There is growing awareness of the importance of circadian rhythmicity in various research fields. Exciting developments are ongoing in the field of circadian neurobiology linked to sleep, food intake, and memory. With the current knowledge of critical ‘clock genes’ (genes found to be involved in the generation of circadian rhythms) and novel techniques for imaging cyclic events in brain and peripheral tissue, this field of research is rapidly expanding. We reviewed only some of the highlights of the past year, and placed these findings into a mutual circadian perspective. Recent findings Recent findings on the organization of the circadian clock systems are addressed, ranging from the retina to the suprachiasmatic nucleus and peripheral organs. Novel developments in sleep, food intake, and memory research linked to circadian aspects are discussed. Summary The neurobiology of circadian rhythms is pivotal to the orchestration of the temporal organization of an individual’s physiology and behavior. Endogenous circadian timing systems underlie coupling and uncoupling mechanisms of many neuronal and physiological processes, the latter possibly inducing health risks to the organism. The integration of sleep, food intake and memory in a circadian setting has clear potential as a systems neurobiology line of research.

The narrative voice of Lee Smith: emergence of a passionate narrative voice through body and spirit

Winding farther and farther off the concrete interstate, climbing higher and deeper into the mountains, leaving two-lane roads behind for a one-lane dirt road, and then leaving the last vestiges of the dirt road behind and forging still deeper and deeper into the mountains, the adventuresome traveler beholds the emerging isolated rural hollows. What kind of people choose to live in this remote southern geographical region known as the Appalachian mountain range which runs from northern Georgia through the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, the Virginias and Pennsylvania? The people who chose to live in these isolated regions are not the town and city dwellers of Appalachia, nor are they the valley farmers. The people living in these remote areas of the mountains are known as “branchwater\u27 mountaineers, occupying the branches and coves, living on the ridges and in the most inaccessible parts of the mountain region. They are small landholders, or tenants or squatters on usually poor land, and they move from abandoned tract to abandoned tract. The formidable geography of this area has acted as a natural barrier, keeping its inhabitants in, holding others out. The Appalachian region exerts a strong influence on its inhabitants and commands their loyalty. The isolation allows for the development of a rich folk culture, distinctive speech patterns, a strong sense of tradition and radical individualism. It is this group of Appalachian mountaineers that have become the mountaineers of fiction, often portrayed with moral and cultural standards similar to those characters of Erskine Caldwell and William Faulkner. This is the region and these are the people Lee Smith has chosen to present in her fiction

Crisci\u27s Dicta of Strict Liability for Insurer\u27s Failure to Settle: A Move Toward Rational Settlement Behavior

This comment attempts to explore the interests of the insurer and insured under the insurance contract, to differentiate between different tests applied by the courts, and to determine what effect these different tests will have on insurer\u27s conduct. Finally, the comment examines what courts have actually done in their process of defining insurer duties and presses for a more conscious exercise of their role in facilitating rational settlement behavior. Adoption of a rule of strict liability is advocated

The Effect of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) on Health Care Fraud in Montana

The Effect of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 199

A Critical Analysis of Health and Human Services\u27 Proposed Health Privacy Regulation in Light of the Health Insurance Privacy and Accountability Act of 1996

Dr. Eddy inquires, through a detailed analysis of relevant statutory provisions, whether it is likely that the HIPAA legislation or the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information Regulations (SPIIHI) proposed by HHS will efficiently and cost effectively defend the privacy issues they were intended to safeguard. His paper critically analyzes the extremely broad and expensive course of action and tactics HHS has chosen to employ in this effort to determine whether HHS\u27 proposal is an efficient use of health care dollars. To introduce his analysis, Dr. Eddy addresses the general concept of medical privacy and attempts to define what aspects of privacy that HIPAA and SPIIHI should protect. He challenges whether the proposed regulations are focused on existing problems and whether HHS has exceeded legislative mandates