Determination of bone mineral mass in vivo

Radiographic equipment incorporates two radiation sources, generating high-energy and low-energy beams. Recording equipment measures amount of radiation that has penetrated limb. Data are fed into computer that determines mass of the examined bone

NASA scientific and technical program: User survey

Results are presented of an intensive user requirements survey conducted by NASA's Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program with the goal of improving the foundation for the user outreach program. The survey was carried out by interviewing 550 NASA scientists, engineers, and contractors and by analyzing 650 individual responses to a mailed out questionnaire. To analyze the user demographic data, a data base was built and used, and will be applied to ongoing analysis by the NASA STI Program

Evaluation of phonocardiographic data of astronauts during orbital flights

Simultaneous electrocardiographic and phonocardiographic data obtained from Gemini flight

Scopus database: a review

The Scopus database provides access to STM journal articles and the references included in those articles, allowing the searcher to search both forward and backward in time. The database can be used for collection development as well as for research. This review provides information on the key points of the database and compares it to Web of Science. Neither database is inclusive, but complements each other. If a library can only afford one, choice must be based in institutional needs

Soil fungi of virgin and restored tallgrass prairies in central Iowa

Four hundred eighty-three species of soil inhabiting fungi were identified from virgin and restored prairie soils in central Iowa. Many of the principal fungi in tallgrass prairie soils have been reported as principal taxa of other grassland ecosystems in North America and on other continents. The fungal community of tallgrass prairie soils in Iowa is most similar to fungal communities of mesic prairies in Wisconsin and grasslands in Ohio;The soil fungal communities of virgin and restored prairie soils are distinctly different. The numbers of species isolated were nearly equal, but composition, frequency, and density of the principal taxa were different. Past agricultural disturbance was a major contributing factor to differences between the fungi of the two communities;Early spring burning had little effect on composition, frequency, or density of fungi in prairie soil. Numbers of species declined slightly in postburn samples but increased to preburn levels by fall of the same year;Nearly two-thirds of the principal taxa isolated from tallgrass prairie soils showed little response to seasonal changes. Frequencies and densities of the principal taxa remained relatively constant between preburn and postburn collections throughout the growing season;Vescicular arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi are a common component of the mycoflora of tallgrass prairie soil. Sixteen species in four genera were present in the prairie soils sampled. The numbers of VAM spores fluctuated widely in samples from different sampling sites and at different times from the same site. Because of this, effects of burning or seasonal variations could not be evaluated

A Model for Extension Publication Planning and Scheduling Systems

A research project using naturalistic inquiry was undertaken to learn which systems of planning, prioritizing and scheduling extension publications are in use throughout the country. Data from those states determined to have such systems were used to create a model. That model became the basis for a new planning and scheduling system adopted in Texas in 1995. The system has achieved its main goals: helping the publications staff manage their workload; and giving county agents a voice in determining which publications are printed

Fighting Hunger with Research

The Sorghum/Millet Collaborative Research Program, INTSORMIL, combines the resources and research talent of host country research institutions, eight land grant universities, and the Agency for International Development. Its objective is to improve world-wide sorghum and millet production and utilization. This 5-year report shows that the international sorghum-millet research program is one in which researchers from the U.S. and host countries can effectively collaborate. The INTSORMIL External Evaluation Panel and other reviewers have and will continue to recommend program strengthening changes. Adjustments in research program content and scientist involvement will result as plans are made for future research. Sorghum and millet are basic food grains for millions of people. Most of them are located in the poorer nations of the world where economic, labor, soil and water resources are limited. The research is challenging because sorghum and millet production and utilization in the less developed countries are impeded by problems such as heat and drought stress, insects, diseases, and storage difficulties. INTSORMIL strives to overcome these problems through a collaborative program of research, technical assistance, training and institution building. The impacts of INTSORMIL research in the host countries are multiplied through workshops, newsletters, information exchanges, scientist exchanges, and an international exchange of sorghum and millet germplasm

Interdependent Pricing and Markup Behavior: An Empirical Analysis of GM, Ford and Chrysler

Our purpose in this paper is to develop and estimate a model of the US automobile industry that can be used to analyze the secular and cyclical strategic markup behavior and market structure of its three major domestic producers - - GM, Ford and Chrysler. The principal novelty in this paper is not such much in the underlying theory (we build on what Timothy Bresnahan has called the "new empirical industrial organization" literature), but rather in the actual empirical implementation of a multi-equation model sufficiently general to permit the testing of a variety of specific behavioral postulates associated with the interdependent strategic profit-maximizing behavior of GM, Ford and Chrysler. Using firm-specific annual data from 1959-83, we find that at usual levels of statistical significance, we cannot reject Cournot quantity-setting behavior, nor can we reject leader/follower quantity-setting behavior with GM as leader and Ford and Chrysler as followers; the parameter restrictions associated with leader/follower behavior are slightly more binding than those with Cournot, although the difference is not decisive. In terms of the cyclical analysis of market behavior, our most striking result is the great diversity of behavior we find among GM, Ford and Chrysler. Depending on which firm is being analyzed, there is support for the pro-cyclical "conventional wisdom" of markups (GM and Ford), as well as for the counter-cyclical "revisionist" literature (Chrysler). Diversity, rather than constancy and homogeneity, best characterizes firms in this industry.