Foamed in place ceramic refractory insulating material Patent

Characteristics of foamed-in-place ceramic refractory insulating material and method of fabricatio

Trapped in the Digital Divide: The Distributive Paradigm in Community Informatics

This paper argues that over-reliance on a distributive paradigm in community informatics practice has restricted the scope of the high tech equity agenda. Drawing on five years of participatory action research with low-income women in upstate New York, I explore the ways in which distributive understandings of technology and inequality obscure the day-to-day interactions these women have with ICT and overlook their justified critical ambivalence towards technology. Finally, I offer unique insights and powerful strategies of resistance suggested by my research collaborators in a drawing exercise intended to elicit alternative articulations of digital equity. If we begin from their points of view, the problems and solutions that can and should be entertained in our scholarship and practice look quite different

Family & Consumer Sciences and Cooperative Extension in a Diverse World

The role of Family & Consumer Sciences (FCS) as a program area in Extension dates back before the Smith Lever Act of 1914. As we celebrate 100 years, reaching a new set of audiences poses a challenge to Extension. These audiences include new Americans, new family structures, urban populations, new occupations, and virtual clients from around the world. This commentary examines the role that FCS will play in the next 100 years to face these challenges

Resistance of Tripsacorn to \u3ci\u3eSitophilus zeamais\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eOryzaephilus surinamensis\u3c/i\u3e

One strategy that has been used to find germplasm for developing improved plant varieties is to test ancestral germplasm for the desired traits. Although the progenitors of commercial maize are not known, a hybrid (called Tripsacorn) developed from a perennial teosinte, Zea diploperennis, and eastern gamagrass, Tripsacum dactyloides, resembles the earliest known samples of primitive domesticated maize. We tested resistance of whole Tripsacorn to the primary storage pest (primary storage pests can infest intact kernels) the maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), and resistance of ground Tripsacorn to the secondary storage pest (secondary pests usually cannot infest intact kernels) the sawtoothed grain beetle, Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.) (Coleoptera: Silvanidae). Tripsacorn was immune to attack by S. zeamais. The weevils were unable to lay eggs in the Tripsacorn, and we hypothesized that the hardness of the fruitcase was responsible for lack of weevil oviposition. Oryzaephilus surinamensis were able to complete immature development on ground Tripsacorn, but duration of development was longer and weight of emerged adults was less than for beetles developing on wheat. Hardness of the fruitcase may have been a primitive mechanism of defense against insects and other pests, but probably would not be an acceptable trait in commercial varieties. It remains to be determined whether the possible antibiotic effect demonstrated in ground Tripsacorn would be a useful trait in commercial maize hybrids

Resistance of Tripsacorn-introgressed maize lines to \u3ci\u3eSitophilus zeamais\u3c/i\u3e

The maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is one of the major pests of maize worldwide. We tested one Tripsacorn-introgressed inbred maize line and 42 hybrid combinations between eleven public inbred lines and 16 different Tripsacorn-introgressed inbreds for resistance to the maize weevil to investigate if there is a genetic basis for resistance to the maize weevil that can be conferred to maize. No progeny were produced in 21 of the entries, and only eight entries had progeny production significantly greater than zero. All the lines that exhibited complete resistance (no progeny produced) are F1 hybrids between 10 different Tripsacorn-introgressed inbred lines combined with 8 different public maize inbreds. Results indicate that all 16 Tripsacorn-introgressed inbred lines confer resistance in F1 hybrids. In some of the Tripsacorn-introgressed lines, the degree of resistance expressed varied according to combining ability and heterotic group background. Based on the results, we hypothesize a dominant gene for weevil resistance is inherited from Tripsacorn. The data indicate that Tripsacorn provides a valuable tool for conferring native weevil resistance to maize

A Field Study of Tide-Induced Sand Movement on Del Monte Beach, California.

http://www.archive.org/details/fieldstudyoftide00eub

Framing of Mad Cow Media Coverage

When a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, is confirmed, it causes a major impact economically, socially, culturally, and geographically. Through framing analysis, this study examined the way in which a case of BSE confirmed in Canada was covered in Canadian and American newspapers. By examining what the major newspapers emphasized, what sources they used for information on the disease, and the frames used in reporting the outbreak, results indicated a significant difference between American and Canadian print media coverage surrounding the mad cow outbreak. Specifically, U.S. newspapers primarily reported the outbreak as posing a high risk to humans, while Canadian newspapers primarily reported the outbreak as a crisis for the Canadian cattle industry. Overall, the news coverage of the mad cow disease outbreak in May 2003 was negative, potentially causing uncertainty and fear in Canada and the United States. If journalists cover only agricultural news that is problematic or associated with risk—like mad cow disease—then it can be expected that consumers will continue to lack accurate knowledge and understanding of agricultural and food-related issues

Seasonality Directs Contrasting Food Collection Behavior and Nutrient Regulation Strategies in Ants

Long-lived animals, including social insects, often display seasonal shifts in foraging behavior. Foraging is ultimately a nutrient consumption exercise, but the effect of seasonality per se on changes in foraging behavior, particularly as it relates to nutrient regulation, is poorly understood. Here, we show that field-collected fire ant colonies, returned to the laboratory and maintained under identical photoperiod, temperature, and humidity regimes, and presented with experimental foods that had different protein (p) to carbohydrate (c) ratios, practice summer- and fall-specific foraging behaviors with respect to protein-carbohydrate regulation. Summer colonies increased the amount of food collected as the p:c ratio of their food became increasingly imbalanced, but fall colonies collected similar amounts of food regardless of the p:c ratio of their food. Choice experiments revealed that feeding was non-random, and that both fall and summer ants preferred carbohydrate-biased food. However, ants rarely ate all the food they collected, and their cached or discarded food always contained little carbohydrate relative to protein. From a nutrient regulation strategy, ants consumed most of the carbohydrate they collected, but regulated protein consumption to a similar level, regardless of season. We suggest that varied seasonal food collection behaviors and nutrient regulation strategies may be an adaptation that allows long-lived animals to meet current and future nutrient demands when nutrient-rich foods are abundant (e.g. spring and summer), and to conserve energy and be metabolically more efficient when nutritionally balanced foods are less abundant

Cosmic String Wakes in Scalar-Tensor Gravities

The formation and evolution of cosmic string wakes in the framework of a scalar-tensor gravity are investigated in this work. We consider a simple model in which cold dark matter flows past an ordinary string and we treat this motion in the Zel'dovich approximation. We make a comaprison between our results and previous results obtained in the context of General Relativity. We propose a mechanism in which the contribution of the scalar field to the evolution of the wakes may lead to a cosmological observation.Comment: Replaced version to be published in the Classical and Quantum Gravit

A Web-Based Self-Guided Program to Promote Valued-Living in College Students: A Pilot Study

Web-based programs that focus on values, a core process within acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), may be a promising approach to cultivate positive psychosocial adjustment among undergraduates. The current study tested the usability, acceptability, and receptivity of the Living Your Values (LYV) program, a single-session, web-delivered, self-guided values intervention for undergraduates and its utility to promote valued-living and psychological wellbeing. In an undergraduate sample (N = 133), while the LVY program was deemed moderately usable, acceptability and receptivity findings were more attenuated. At follow-up (n = 98), a significant pre-intervention to follow-up increase in valued-living was evidenced both overall and for leisure/recreation/community/citizenship values. No significant changes in psychological well-being were demonstrated. Further program development considerations are discussed