Assessment of Program Delivery to Small Farmers: Fax Information Center System at Satellite Locations

Due to the many variables associated with small and part-time farmers, such as widely ranging educational levels and available time applied to farming, effectively providing extension information to this group of farmers can be quite difficult. The use of innovative, program delivery methods for reaching small and part-time farmers has been tried in several North Carolina counties with variable success. One means of reaching these special audiences is a satellite information center at agribusiness or other locations away from the extension office itself. A fax request system prominently placed directly in these satellite locations has produced widely variable results in level of use from the perspective of requests for information originating from the centers. Yet, where the centers have been used for both an information request system and an informational bulletin board with timely information sent to the centers from Cooperative Extension for posting on the bulletin boards, the results have been very favorable. While many factors have been found to affect the success of individual locations, the fax satellite centers appear to be able to provide a niche for innovative program delivery by extension and can have highly beneficial side effects of positively marketing the extension programs in the respective counties

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of yeast NAD+-specific isocitrate dehydrogenase. Corrigendum

A corrigendum to the article by Hu et al. (2005), Acta Cryst. F61, 486–488

Optical Phase-Space-Time-Frequency Tomography

We present a new approach for constructing optical phase-space-time-frequency tomography (OPSTFT) of an optical wave field. This tomography can be measured by using a novel four-window optical imaging system based on two local oscillator fields balanced heterodyne detection. The OPSTFT is a Wigner distribution function of two independent Fourier Transform pairs, i.e., phase-space and time-frequency. From its theoretical and experimental aspects, it can provide information of position, momentum, time and frequency of a spatial light field with precision beyond the uncertainty principle. We simulate the OPSTFT for a light field obscured by a wire and a single-line absorption filter. We believe that the four-window system can provide spatial and temporal properties of a wave field for quantum image processing and biophotonics.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Children's brand symbolism understanding: Links to theory of mind and executive functioning

Against a background of research suggesting that brand symbolism understanding does not develop until 7 to 11 years of age, two studies investigate various aspects of preschool children's brand knowledge. While children's recognition of child-oriented brands is found to be significantly greater than their recognition of brands that are marketed primarily to teens and adults, these young children do recognize brands. In a second study, children's ability to form mental representations of brands is assessed, along with their understanding of brands as social symbols. Cognitive ability, theory of mind, and executive functioning are assessed as predictors of these brand-related outcomes. Theory of mind and executive functioning are both significant predictors of the ability to form mental representations of brands. Children's brand symbolism understanding shows a significant link with theory of mind. It is concluded that 3- to 5-year-olds have emerging knowledge of brands that are relevant in their lives. The impact of individual differences in theory of mind and executive functioning on children's brand knowledge aligns with current theories of child development. Methodological contributions and societal implications are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65039/1/20328_ftp.pd

Stellar Parameters for HD 69830, a Nearby Star with Three Neptune Mass Planets and an Asteroid Belt

We used the CHARA Array to directly measure the angular diameter of HD 69830, home to three Neptune mass planets and an asteroid belt. Our measurement of 0.674+/-0.014 milli-arcseconds for the limb-darkened angular diameter of this star leads to a physical radius of R$_*$ = 0.9058$\pm$0.0190 R\sun and luminosity of L* = 0.622+/-0.014 Lsun when combined with a fit to the spectral energy distribution of the star. Placing these observed values on an Hertzsprung-Russel (HR) diagram along with stellar evolution isochrones produces an age of 10.6+/-4 Gyr and mass of 0.863$\pm$0.043 M\sun. We use archival optical echelle spectra of HD 69830 along with an iterative spectral fitting technique to measure the iron abundance ([Fe/H]=-0.04+/-0.03), effective temperature (5385+/-44 K) and surface gravity (log g = 4.49+/-0.06). We use these new values for the temperature and luminosity to calculate a more precise age of 7.5+/-Gyr. Applying the values of stellar luminosity and radius to recent models on the optimistic location of the habitable zone produces a range of 0.61-1.44 AU; partially outside the orbit of the furthest known planet (d) around HD 69830. Finally, we estimate the snow line at a distance of 1.95+/-0.19 AU, which is outside the orbit of all three planets and its asteroid belt.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted to Ap

Interferometry of ϵ\epsilon Aurigae: Characterization of the asymmetric eclipsing disk

We report on a total of 106 nights of optical interferometric observations of the $\epsilon$ Aurigae system taken during the last 14 years by four beam combiners at three different interferometric facilities. This long sequence of data provides an ideal assessment of the system prior to, during, and after the recent 2009-2011 eclipse. We have reconstructed model-independent images from the 10 in-eclipse epochs which show that a disk-like object is indeed responsible for the eclipse. Using new 3D, time-dependent modeling software, we derive the properties of the F-star (diameter, limb darkening), determine previously unknown orbital elements ($\Omega$, $i$), and access the global structures of the optically thick portion of the eclipsing disk using both geometric models and approximations of astrophysically relevant density distributions. These models may be useful in future hydrodynamical modeling of the system. Lastly, we address several outstanding research questions including mid-eclipse brightening, possible shrinking of the F-type primary, and any warps or sub-features within the disk.Comment: 105 pages, 57 figures. This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from i

Digging by Debating: Linking massive datasets to specific arguments

We will develop and implement a multi-scale workbench, called "InterDebates", with the goal of digging into data provided by hundreds of thousands, eventually millions, of digitized books, bibliographic databases of journal articles, and comprehensive reference works written by experts. Our hypotheses are: that detailed and identifiable arguments drive many aspects of research in the sciences and the humanities; that argumentative structures can be extracted from large datasets using a mixture of automated and social computing techniques; and, that the availability of such analyses will enable innovative interdisciplinary research, and may also play a role in supporting better-informed critical debates among students and the general public. A key challenge tackled by this project is thus to uncover and represent the argumentative structure of digitized documents, allowing users to find and interpret detailed arguments in the broad semantic landscape of books and articles

Proposed specifications of a mobile operating room for far-forward surgery

Provision of initial surgery to casualties within one hour of injury is associated with better survival. Where evacuation options are limited, surgery within the “golden hour” may have to occur close to the point of injury. Interventions close to the point of injury are limited by the adverse environment. Far-forward surgery has a long history going back to Dominique Larrey of the Napoleonic Army. We reviewed previous reports and used our own experience of far- forward surgery to describe the specifications of the ideal mobile operating room that would address some of these environmental barriers