172 research outputs found

    Settling and Laying Down: A Cultural History of Quakers in Savannah and Statesboro, Georgia

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    This descriptive cultural history follows a hybrid methodology often applied to ethno-histories. This approach combines archival research, oral history, and ethnography, with reflexive aspects. I explore some similarities and differences between two Quaker meetings in Southeast Georgia, the small but growing urban meeting in Savannah and a discontinued rural one in the small college town of Statesboro (that sometimes met in the village of Guyton). These case studies of local and personal histories, combined with my observations as a participant in the life of the community, are designed to illuminate fine details of Quaker culture in the recent Deep South

    Detection of pediatric upper extremity motor activity and deficits with accelerometry

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    Importance: Affordable, quantitative methods to screen children for developmental delays are needed. Motor milestones can be an indicator of developmental delay and may be used to track developmental progress. Accelerometry offers a way to gather real-world information about pediatric motor behavior. Objective: To develop a referent cohort of pediatric accelerometry from bilateral upper extremities (UEs) and determine whether movement can accurately distinguish those with and without motor deficits. Design, Setting, and Participants: Children aged 0 to 17 years participated in a prospective cohort from December 8, 2014, to December 29, 2017. Children were recruited from Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital, Maryland Heights, Missouri, and Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri. Typically developing children were included as a referent cohort if they had no history of motor or neurological deficit; consecutive sampling and matching ensured equal representation of sex and age. Children with diagnosed asymmetric motor deficits were included in the motor impaired cohort. Exposures: Bilateral UE motor activity was measured using wrist-worn accelerometers for a total of 100 hours in 25-hour increments. Main Outcomes and Measures: To characterize bilateral UE motor activity in a referent cohort for the purpose of detecting irregularities in the future, total activity and the use ratio between UEs were used to describe typically developing children. Asymmetric impairment was classified using the mono-arm use index (MAUI) and bilateral-arm use index (BAUI) to quantify the acceleration of unilateral movements. Results: A total of 216 children enrolled, and 185 children were included in analysis. Of these, 156 were typically developing, with mean (SD) age 9.1 (5.1) years and 81 boys (52.0%). There were 29 children in the motor impaired cohort, with mean (SD) age 7.4 (4.4) years and 16 boys (55.2%). The combined MAUI and BAUI (mean [SD], 0.86 [0.005] and use ratio (mean [SD], 0.90 [0.008]) had similar F1 values. The area under the curve was also similar between the combined MAUI and BAUI (mean [SD], 0.98 [0.004]) and the use ratio (mean [SD], 0.98 [0.004]). Conclusions and Relevance: Bilateral UE movement as measured with accelerometry may provide a meaningful metric of real-world motor behavior across childhood. Screening in early childhood remains a challenge; MAUI may provide an effective method for clinicians to measure and visualize real-world motor behavior in children at risk for asymmetrical deficits

    Modeling metallic island coalescence stress via adhesive contact between surfaces

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    Tensile stress generation associated with island coalescence is almost universally observed in thin films that grow via the Volmer-Weber mode. The commonly accepted mechanism for the origin of this tensile stress is a process driven by the reduction in surface energy at the expense of the strain energy associated with the deformation of coalescing islands during grain boundary formation. In the present work, we have performed molecular statics calculations using an embedded atom interatomic potential to obtain a functional form of the interfacial energy vs distance between two closely spaced free surfaces. The sum of interfacial energy plus strain energy provides a measure of the total system energy as a function of island separation. Depending on the initial separation between islands, we find that in cases where coalescence is thermodynamically favored, gap closure can occur either spontaneously or be kinetically limited due to an energetic barrier. Atomistic simulations of island coalescence using conjugate gradient energy minimization calculations agree well with the predicted stress as a function of island size from our model of spontaneous coalescence. Molecular dynamics simulations of island coalescence demonstrate that only modest barriers to coalescence can be overcome at room temperature. A comparison with thermally activated coalescence results at room temperature reveals that existing coalescence models significantly overestimate the magnitude of the stress resulting from island coalescence.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to PR

    CWRML: representing crop wild relative conservation and use data in XML

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    Background Crop wild relatives are wild species that are closely related to crops. They are valuable as potential gene donors for crop improvement and may help to ensure food security for the future. However, they are becoming increasingly threatened in the wild and are inadequately conserved, both in situ and ex situ. Information about the conservation status and utilisation potential of crop wild relatives is diverse and dispersed, and no single agreed standard exists for representing such information; yet, this information is vital to ensure these species are effectively conserved and utilised. The European Community-funded project, European Crop Wild Relative Diversity Assessment and Conservation Forum, determined the minimum information requirements for the conservation and utilisation of crop wild relatives and created the Crop Wild Relative Information System, incorporating an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) schema to aid data sharing and exchange. Results Crop Wild Relative Markup Language (CWRML) was developed to represent the data necessary for crop wild relative conservation and ensure that they can be effectively utilised for crop improvement. The schema partitions data into taxon-, site-, and population-specific elements, to allow for integration with other more general conservation biology schemata which may emerge as accepted standards in the future. These elements are composed of sub-elements, which are structured in order to facilitate the use of the schema in a variety of crop wild relative conservation and use contexts. Pre-existing standards for data representation in conservation biology were reviewed and incorporated into the schema as restrictions on element data contents, where appropriate. Conclusion CWRML provides a flexible data communication format for representing in situ and ex situ conservation status of individual taxa as well as their utilisation potential. The development of the schema highlights a number of instances where additional standards-development may be valuable, particularly with regard to the representation of population-specific data and utilisation potential. As crop wild relatives are intrinsically no different to other wild plant species there is potential for the inclusion of CWRML data elements in the emerging standards for representation of biodiversity data

    Exile Vol. IX No. 2

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    FICTION Robert & Muriel or, If You Think of the Girl You Love Too Much As Someday Being Bald, You Can Always Remain Aloof by Johnathan Reynolds 7-14 Quentin Marsh by Margaret Polishook 15 Used To Be by Susan Smith 17-23 It Was a Chatham Day by Caroline Baird 33-37 Where All the Artists Go by George Estes 41-43 September by Cynthia Winzeler 45-50 ESSAY Carthartes Aura by Richard Boyer 27-29 POETRY To A Mouse by Kay Stein 24-25 Poem by Christine Cooper 26 For Sylvia Plath by Robert Hoyt 26 On Studying Shakespeare by Christine Cooper 29 Song by Judith Pyster 30-31 Prestidigitation by Michael Glaser 37 Poem by Sarah Conway 39 Poem by Barbara Thiele 50 An Old Man\u27s Lament by Robert Hoyt 51 GRAPHICS Pastel by Lynne Wiley 4 Pen Drawing by Elizabeth Surbeck 6 Pen Sketch by Martha Merselis 14 Pen and Ink by Matha Merselis 16 Brush Drawing by Martha Merselis 24 Pen Sketches by Martha Merselis 30 Pencil Drawing by Patterson Bouic 32 Pen and Ink by Katheryn Knapp 38 Brush Drawing by Sara Henry 40 Pen and Ink by Martha Merselis 4

    Evidence for a Mass Dependent Step-Change in the Scaling of Efficiency in Terrestrial Locomotion

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    A reanalysis of existing data suggests that the established tenet of increasing efficiency of transport with body size in terrestrial locomotion requires re-evaluation. Here, the statistical model that described the data best indicated a dichotomy between the data for small (<1 kg) and large animals (>1 kg). Within and between these two size groups there was no detectable difference in the scaling exponents (slopes) relating metabolic (Emet) and mechanical costs (Emech, CM) of locomotion to body mass (Mb). Therefore, no scaling of efficiency (Emech, CM/Emet) with Mb was evident within each size group. Small animals, however, appeared to be generally less efficient than larger animals (7% and 26% respectively). Consequently, it is possible that the relationship between efficiency and Mb is not continuous, but, rather, involves a step-change. This step-change in the efficiency of locomotion mirrors previous findings suggesting a postural cause for an apparent size dichotomy in the relationship between Emet and Mb. Currently data for Emech, CM is lacking, but the relationship between efficiency in terrestrial locomotion and Mb is likely to be determined by posture and kinematics rather than body size alone. Hence, scaling of efficiency is likely to be more complex than a simple linear relationship across body sizes. A homogenous study of the mechanical cost of terrestrial locomotion across a broad range of species, body sizes, and importantly locomotor postures is a priority for future research
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