The Educational Experience of Young Men of Color: A Review of Research, Pathways and Progress

This report synthesizes the literature on high school, postsecondary pathways, and higher education for African American, Asian Amerian and Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American and Alaska Native males. The result is a set of findings that are in common among these groups, as well as a number of distinct challenges and opportunities for each

Reduced dimer production in solar-simulator-pumped continuous wave iodine lasers based on model simulations and scaling and pumping studies

A numerical rate equation model for a continuous wave iodine laser with longitudinally flowing gaseous lasant is validated by approximating two experiments that compare the perfluoroalkyl iodine lasants n-C3F7I and t-C4F9I. The salient feature of the simulations is that the production rate of the dimer (C4F9)2 is reduced by one order of magnitude relative to the dimer (C3F7)2. The model is then used to investigate the kinetic effects of this reduced dimer production, especially how it improves output power. Related parametric and scaling studies are also presented. When dimer production is reduced, more monomer radicals (t-C4F9) are available to combine with iodine ions, thus enhancing depletion of the laser lower level and reducing buildup of the principal quencher, molecular iodine. Fewer iodine molecules result in fewer downward transitions from quenching and more transitions from stimulated emission of lasing photons. Enhanced depletion of the lower level reduces the absorption of lasing photons. The combined result is more lasing photons and proportionally increased output power

An Institutional Approach to River Basin Management : Conflict Resolution in the U. S. and South Korea

We juxtapose river basin management practices in both the U.S. and South Korea to learn how multi-stakeholder conflicts are resolved under varying policy contexts. The cross-cultural comparison likewise enables an evaluation of conflict resolution as a means for producing socio-politically acceptable, economically sound, technologically feasible and environmentally viable delivery of safe drinking water. It is argued that conflict resolution enhances opportunities to achieve sustainability in river basin management despite very different policy and cultural circumstances. Two U.S. cases reviewed: the Delaware River Basin Commission (established in 1961) and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (established in 1973). The two South Korean river basin cases under review are the Han and Nakdong Rivers

New Crayfish Species Records from the Sipsey Fork Drainage, Including Lewis Smith Reservoir (Alabama, USA): Native or Introduced Species?

As part of a study of aquatic faunal community changes along riverine-lacustrine transition zones upstream of Lewis Smith Reservoir in northwest Alabama, USA, we collected crayfish from 60 sites in the Sipsey Fork, Brushy Creek, and selected tributaries (Black Warrior River system). After finding two unexpected and possibly-introduced crayfish species, we expanded our investigation of crayfish distributions to include crayfish obtained from stomachs of black bass ( Micropterus spp.) caught at seven sites in the reservoir. To explore what crayfish species were in the drainage historically, we examined museum databases as well as stomach and intestinal contents of a variety of preserved fishes that were caught in the Sipsey Fork and Brushy Creek drainages upstream of the reservoir in the early 1990’s. Of the seven crayfish species collected, one, Orconectes ( Procericambarus ) sp. nr ronaldi , was not previously reported from Alabama, and another, O. lancifer , was not reported from the Black Warrior River system prior to the study. Three are known or possibly introduced species. Upstream of the reservoir, the native species Cambarus obstipus, C. striatus , and O. validus were common. The same three species were found in fish collected in the 1990’s. Orconectes perfectus was found only in the reservoir but may be native to the drainage. Orconectes lancifer was in the reservoir and in stream reaches influenced by the reservoir. Evidence points to O. lancifer being introduced in the drainage, but this is uncertain. Orconectes sp. nr ronaldi was found in a relatively small portion of Brushy Creek and its tributaries, in both flowing and impounded habitats, and may be introduced. Orconectes virilis is introduced in Alabama and was found only in stomachs of fish collected in the reservoir

Warm Dust and Spatially Variable PAH Emission in the Dwarf Starburst Galaxy NGC 1705

We present Spitzer observations of the dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 1705 obtained as part of SINGS. The galaxy morphology is very different shortward and longward of ~5 microns: short-wavelength imaging shows an underlying red stellar population, with the central super star cluster (SSC) dominating the luminosity; longer-wavelength data reveals warm dust emission arising from two off-nuclear regions offset by ~250 pc from the SSC. These regions show little extinction at optical wavelengths. The galaxy has a relatively low global dust mass (~2E5 solar masses, implying a global dust-to-gas mass ratio ~2--4 times lower than the Milky Way average). The off-nuclear dust emission appears to be powered by photons from the same stellar population responsible for the excitation of the observed H Alpha emission; these photons are unassociated with the SSC (though a contribution from embedded sources to the IR luminosity of the off-nuclear regions cannot be ruled out). Low-resolution IRS spectroscopy shows moderate-strength PAH emission in the 11.3 micron band in the eastern peak; no PAH emission is detected in the SSC or the western dust emission complex. There is significant diffuse 8 micron emission after scaling and subtracting shorter wavelength data; the spatially variable PAH emission strengths revealed by the IRS data suggest caution in the interpretation of diffuse 8 micron emission as arising from PAH carriers alone. The metallicity of NGC 1705 falls at the transition level of 35% solar found by Engelbracht and collaborators; the fact that a system at this metallicity shows spatially variable PAH emission demonstrates the complexity of interpreting diffuse 8 micron emission. A radio continuum non-detection, NGC 1705 deviates significantly from the canonical far-IR vs. radio correlation. (Abridged)Comment: ApJ, in press; please retrieve full-resolution version from http://www.astro.wesleyan.edu/~cannon/pubs.htm

1974

History of Golf (1) The Nine Toughest Holes in the World (2) Stockie Madness (3) Bartender, One More Round for Pythium (3) Panel: 1973 Turf Problems in Review - 1974 Possible Remedies (A1-A12) Movement of Water to a Holding Pond (A13) Maintenance of Low Budget, Short Season Golf Courses (A16) Turfgrass Fertilization (A18) Determining Turfgrass Fertilizer Needs (A25) Shortage of Plant Food and How to Adjust to Supply and Cost (A29) Panel: Tricalcium Arsenate - Use and Abuse (A33-A46) Operating and Maintaining Municipal Golf Courses (A48) Maintenance of a High Budget Golf Course (A51) Trends in Agricultural Education and Where Are the Emphases (A58) Maintenance of Municipal Parks and Recreation Areas (A60) Maintenance of Grass Tennis Courts (A63) Transition from Natural to Artificial Turf (A67) Plant materials for Outlying Areas (A71) Care of University Grounds (A76) Maintenance of Industrial Sites (A79) Turfgrass Diseases and Systemic Fungicides (A81) A Look at the Future (A 84) Watering of Golf Course Turf (A92

Apraxia and motor dysfunction in corticobasal syndrome

Background: Corticobasal syndrome (CBS) is characterized by multifaceted motor system dysfunction and cognitive disturbance; distinctive clinical features include limb apraxia and visuospatial dysfunction. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been used to study motor system dysfunction in CBS, but the relationship of TMS parameters to clinical features has not been studied. The present study explored several hypotheses; firstly, that limb apraxia may be partly due to visuospatial impairment in CBS. Secondly, that motor system dysfunction can be demonstrated in CBS, using threshold-tracking TMS, and is linked to limb apraxia. Finally, that atrophy of the primary motor cortex, studied using voxel-based morphometry analysis (VBM), is associated with motor system dysfunction and limb apraxia in CBS.   Methods: Imitation of meaningful and meaningless hand gestures was graded to assess limb apraxia, while cognitive performance was assessed using the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination - Revised (ACE-R), with particular emphasis placed on the visuospatial subtask. Patients underwent TMS, to assess cortical function, and VBM.   Results: In total, 17 patients with CBS (7 male, 10 female; mean age 64.4+/2 6.6 years) were studied and compared to 17 matched control subjects. Of the CBS patients, 23.5% had a relatively inexcitable motor cortex, with evidence of cortical dysfunction in the remaining 76.5% patients. Reduced resting motor threshold, and visuospatial performance, correlated with limb apraxia. Patients with a resting motor threshold <50% performed significantly worse on the visuospatial sub-task of the ACE-R than other CBS patients. Cortical function correlated with atrophy of the primary and pre-motor cortices, and the thalamus, while apraxia correlated with atrophy of the pre-motor and parietal cortices.   Conclusions: Cortical dysfunction appears to underlie the core clinical features of CBS, and is associated with atrophy of the primary motor and pre-motor cortices, as well as the thalamus, while apraxia correlates with pre-motor and parietal atrophy

Stressor- and Corticotropin releasing Factor-induced Reinstatement and Active Stress-related Behavioral Responses are Augmented Following Long-access Cocaine Self-administration by Rats

Rationale Stressful events during periods of drug abstinence likely contribute to relapse in cocaine-dependent individuals. Excessive cocaine use may increase susceptibility to stressor-induced relapse through alterations in brain corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) responsiveness. Objectives This study examined stressor- and CRF-induced cocaine seeking and other stress-related behaviors in rats with different histories of cocaine self-administration (SA). Materials and methods Rats self-administered cocaine under short-access (ShA; 2 h daily) or long-access (LgA; 6 h daily) conditions for 14 days or were provided access to saline and were tested for reinstatement by a stressor (electric footshock), cocaine or an icv injection of CRF and for behavioral responsiveness on the elevated plus maze, in a novel environment and in the light–dark box after a 14- to 17-day extinction/withdrawal period. Results LgA rats showed escalating patterns of cocaine SA and were more susceptible to reinstatement by cocaine, EFS, or icv CRF than ShA rats. Overall, cocaine SA increased activity in the center field of a novel environment, on the open arms of the elevated plus maze, and in the light compartment of a light–dark box. In most cases, the effects of cocaine SA were dependent on the pattern/amount of cocaine intake with statistically significant differences from saline self-administering controls only observed in LgA rats. Conclusions When examined after several weeks of extinction/ withdrawal, cocaine SA promotes a more active pattern of behavior during times of stress that is associated with a heightened susceptibility to stressor-induced cocaine-seeking behavior and may be the consequence of augmented CRF regulation of addiction-related neurocircuitry

UBVRI Light Curves of 44 Type Ia Supernovae

We present UBVRI photometry of 44 type-Ia supernovae (SN Ia) observed from 1997 to 2001 as part of a continuing monitoring campaign at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The data set comprises 2190 observations and is the largest homogeneously observed and reduced sample of SN Ia to date, nearly doubling the number of well-observed, nearby SN Ia with published multicolor CCD light curves. The large sample of U-band photometry is a unique addition, with important connections to SN Ia observed at high redshift. The decline rate of SN Ia U-band light curves correlates well with the decline rate in other bands, as does the U-B color at maximum light. However, the U-band peak magnitudes show an increased dispersion relative to other bands even after accounting for extinction and decline rate, amounting to an additional ~40% intrinsic scatter compared to B-band.Comment: 84 authors, 71 pages, 51 tables, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal. Version with high-res figures and electronic data at http://astron.berkeley.edu/~saurabh/cfa2snIa