Review of \u3ci\u3eAmerican Farm Tools: From Hand-Power to Steam-Power\u3c/i\u3e By R. Douglas Hurt

R. Douglas Hurt deals with the invention and development of American farm implements and machinery with a special emphasis on the nineteenth century. The material is organized around the functions of various agricultural machines used in the major grain-growing states. Ten chapters focus on the improvements made in plows, grain drills, corn planters, cultivators, reapers, binders, headers, corn binders, corn shellers, threshing machines, combined harvesters, mowing machines, hay stackers, feed mills, and steam traction engines. The author decided to describe certain lines of farm equipment without trying to catalogue all agricultural tools, implements, and machines. Therefore the reader will not find descriptions of such items as cotton gins, saw mills, blacksmith tools, windmills, irrigation pumps, wagons, buggies, washing machines, and hardware materials. Also, during the period 1892 to 1914, no mention is made of the manufacture of the internal combustion engine and its uses in stationary gas engines, the early tractors, automobiles, trucks, and electric light plants. The judicious use of 219 photographs and illustrations gives a visual presentation of the evolution of rural technology. The verbal descriptions of mechanical and technical matters can be readily understood by the general reader. The book includes a good bibliography and a helpful appendix to aid the reader in understanding the importance of metallurgy as an important factor in the manufacture of farm machinery. Better farm machinery had to wait until the making of steel had been perfected. Some readers would welcome more analysis and interpretation of rural technology. For example, virtually all historians mention that our colonial forefathers used the wooden plow, the sickle, and the flail to grow crops, the same tools used thousands of years earlier in Biblical times. Why was this progress so slow? Why were no new machines invented in colonial America in the 170 years prior to the Revolutionary War? Why did it take two hundred years of experimentation before the first successful track-type Caterpillar engines were built in 1904? Combines were widely used in the Pacific Coast states in the 1880s, yet they were not adopted in the Midwest until the late 1920s, a lag of forty years. Perhaps historians should give more attention to the factors that deter progress and to the obstacles that prevent the adoption of new ideas, to try to explain the inability of people to adopt new methods. Nevertheless, the narrative is informative and well written. American Farm Tools is a fine addition to the historical record

Captain Nathaniel Wyche Hunter and the Florida Indian Campaigns, 1837-1841

In January, 1837, Captain Nathaniel Wyche Hunter arrived at Fort Huleman, Florida, to engage in the military campaigns against the Seminole Indians. His letters and diaries during the next four years provide a vivid account of military life in the Peninsula State. Although his observations do not alter the history of the Seminole wars, they do reflect the thoughts of a perceptive officer facing the frustrations common to this theater of frontier warfare. They also present a soldier’s view of the United States government’s action in removing the Florida Indians to lands beyond the Mississippi river

Review of \u3ci\u3eAmerican Farm Tools: From Hand-Power to Steam-Power\u3c/i\u3e By R. Douglas Hurt

R. Douglas Hurt deals with the invention and development of American farm implements and machinery with a special emphasis on the nineteenth century. The material is organized around the functions of various agricultural machines used in the major grain-growing states. Ten chapters focus on the improvements made in plows, grain drills, corn planters, cultivators, reapers, binders, headers, corn binders, corn shellers, threshing machines, combined harvesters, mowing machines, hay stackers, feed mills, and steam traction engines. The author decided to describe certain lines of farm equipment without trying to catalogue all agricultural tools, implements, and machines. Therefore the reader will not find descriptions of such items as cotton gins, saw mills, blacksmith tools, windmills, irrigation pumps, wagons, buggies, washing machines, and hardware materials. Also, during the period 1892 to 1914, no mention is made of the manufacture of the internal combustion engine and its uses in stationary gas engines, the early tractors, automobiles, trucks, and electric light plants. The judicious use of 219 photographs and illustrations gives a visual presentation of the evolution of rural technology. The verbal descriptions of mechanical and technical matters can be readily understood by the general reader. The book includes a good bibliography and a helpful appendix to aid the reader in understanding the importance of metallurgy as an important factor in the manufacture of farm machinery. Better farm machinery had to wait until the making of steel had been perfected. Some readers would welcome more analysis and interpretation of rural technology. For example, virtually all historians mention that our colonial forefathers used the wooden plow, the sickle, and the flail to grow crops, the same tools used thousands of years earlier in Biblical times. Why was this progress so slow? Why were no new machines invented in colonial America in the 170 years prior to the Revolutionary War? Why did it take two hundred years of experimentation before the first successful track-type Caterpillar engines were built in 1904? Combines were widely used in the Pacific Coast states in the 1880s, yet they were not adopted in the Midwest until the late 1920s, a lag of forty years. Perhaps historians should give more attention to the factors that deter progress and to the obstacles that prevent the adoption of new ideas, to try to explain the inability of people to adopt new methods. Nevertheless, the narrative is informative and well written. American Farm Tools is a fine addition to the historical record

The Real Effect of Warm-Cool Colors

The phenomenon of warmer colors appearing nearer in depth to viewers than cooler colors has been studied extensively by psychologists and other vision researchers. The vast majority of these studies have asked human observers to view physically equidistant, colored stimuli and compare them for relative depth. However, in most cases, the stimuli presented were rather simple: straight colored lines, uniform color patches, point light sources, or symmetrical objects with uniform shading. Additionally, the colors used were typically highly saturated. Although such stimuli are useful in isolating and studying depth cues in certain contexts, they leave open the question of whether the human visual system operates similarly for realistic objects. This paper presents the results of an experiment designed to explore the color-depth relationship for realistic, colored objects with varying shading and contour

The roots of "Western European societal evolution". A concept of Europe by Jenő Szűcs

Jenő Szűcs wrote his essay entitled Sketch on the three regions of Europe in the early 1980s in Hungary. During these years, a historically well-argued opinion emphasising a substantial difference between Central European and Eastern European societies was warmly received in various circles of the political opposition. In a wider European perspective Szűcs used the old “liberty topos” which claims that the history of Europe is no other than the fulfillment of liberty. In his Sketch, Szűcs does not only concentrate on questions concerning the Middle Ages in Western Europe. Yet it is this stream of thought which brought a new perspective to explaining European history. His picture of the Middle Ages represents well that there is a way to integrate all typical Western motifs of post-war self-definition into a single theory. Mainly, the “liberty motif”, as a sign of “Europeanism” – in the interpretation of Bibó’s concept, Anglo-saxon Marxists and Weber’s social theory –, developed from medieval concepts of state and society and from an analysis of economic and social structures. Szűcs’s historical aspect was a typical intellectual product of the 1980s: this was the time when a few Central European historians started to outline non-Marxist aspects of social theory and categories of modernisation theories, but concealing them with Marxist terminology

Species of a whale and an unknown fish sample identified using molecular taxonomy

Molecular genetics provides a powerful tool for conservation of species protected by international regulations or threatened by overexploitation. The present communication is the first report from India on the application of molecular tools for the accurate identification of a stranded whale in putrefied condition as it was impossible to identify the species status using conventional taxonomy and the carcass of an unknown animal devoid of its head and tail, collected from a fish market. Partial sequences of mtDNA control region and cytochrome b gene of the whale were generated and tested with BLAST search and DNA surveillance for molecular identification. It was identified as Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera edeni). Partial sequence of mtDNA cytochrome b gene of the unknown fish from the market was generated, tested with BLAST search and was identified as sword fish Xiphias gladius

Using Texture Synthesis for Non-Photorealistic Shading from Paint Samples

This paper presents several methods for shading meshes from scanned paint samples that represent dark to light transitions. Our techniques emphasize artistic control of brush stroke texture and color. We first demonstrate how the texture of the paint sample can be separated from its color gradient. We demonstrate three methods, two real-time and one off-line for producing rendered, shaded images from the texture samples. All three techniques use texture synthesis to generate additional paint samples. Finally, we develop metrics for evaluating how well each method achieves our goal in terms of texture similarity, shading correctness and temporal coherence

Employee Performance Analysis Through Leadership Style, Motivation & Work Discipline (at Waroeng Charity Manado)

Employee Performances are become important thing these days. Employee performance is assessed in terms of quality and quantity based on labor standards specified by the organization. Good performance is the optimal performance such as the appropriate performance standards of an organization and support achievement of organizational goals. There are many factors which give effect and influence in creating such a high employee performance. The purpose of this research is to know the effect of Leadership Style, Motivation and Work Discipline towards employee performance developed in Qualitative Method. This research used Qualitative Method , Descriptive Analysis to give a detail explanation about employee performance of Waroeng Charity based on the leadership style, motivation and work discipline as the factors which giving a influence to create a high or low employee performances. To ensure the accuracy of the analysis, this research uses in-depth interview until we get the saturation. The result of this research discovered that three factors are the main consideration for both employee and leader. The leadership style isnt suit enough with the employees, while the motivation & work discipline of the employee is really low. This means Waroeng Charity should reconsider to change the leadership style and focus improving the motivation and discipline by creating training and development. Keywords: employee performances, leadership style, motivation, work disciplin

Changes in HIV knowledge, and socio-cultural and sexual attitudes in South India from 2003-2009

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>As communities face serious pressures on traditional values, such as those posed by HIV infection, cultural inertia may result, whereby existing trends towards more liberalized views of sexuality are stalled. We examined changes in attitudes around HIV in Bagalkot district, south India, between 2003 and 2009.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>General population surveys were conducted in 2003 and 2009, among approximately 6,600 randomly sampled men and women in 10 villages and 20 urban blocks of Bagalkot. Questions about HIV knowledge, sexuality, gender and condoms were included. We compared responses in the two surveys using a multivariate logistic regression model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Awareness of HIV increased significantly from 76.9% in 2003 to 87.8% in 2009, and condom awareness increased significantly (37.4% to 65.4%) in all groups studied. However, in 2009, only 23% of people mentioned condoms as a means of prevention, an improvement from 8% in 2003 (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 3.3; 95%CI 2.6-4.1, p <0.001). There was a significant increase in the number of women believing sex workers should be compulsorily tested for HIV (76.3%-86.4%%, AOR 1.8; 95%CI 1.4-2.4, p<0.001). An increasing number agreed that “it is wrong to talk about sex” (p=0.05), especially women (21.9% vs. 32.4%, p<0.01). There was an increase in women who thought it “wrong to talk about AIDS in a respectable family”, and more respondents in 2009 thought it improper to discuss condoms (15.6% vs. 27.4%, AOR 1.9, 95%CI 1.4-2.8, p=0.001). In 2003, 31.4% agreed that “access to condoms promotes promiscuity”, increasing to 45.2% in 2009 (AOR 1.7; 95%CI 1.3-2.3, p<0.001). Educated and young urban women were the most likely to believe this. In 2003, 19.3% and in 2009 30.2% (AOR 1.8, 95%CI 1.4-2.3, p<0.001) thought that sex education promotes sexual activity and promiscuity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Despite increases over time in HIV-related knowledge and reductions in stigmatizing attitudes, resistance to changing cultural mores was apparent, with less willingness to embrace openness and discuss sexuality. Young and female respondents appeared to be the most resistant to change, reflecting a cultural inertia that mirrors studies of other pressures on traditional societal values. More effort is required to advocate among women and young people for healthy sexuality, openness and safe sex practices.</p

Indian Efforts on the Inventorization of Marine Mammal Species for their Conservation and Management

The present study is the first attempt to use molecular tools for identification of marine mammals in India. The objective was to develop a database of genetic sequences for future marine mammal research in addition to confirming the species identity of cetaceans and dugongs using a molecular approach. Partial sequencing of mitochondrial DNA loci was carried out in accidentally caught/stranded specimens of Spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris), Pantropical spotted dolphin/bridled dolphin (Stenella attenuata), Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus), Long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis), Indopacific humpbacked dolphin (Sousa chinensis), Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus), Finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides), Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni) and Dugong (Dugong dugon). Molecular identification of species was done by phylogenetic reconstruction of the sequences using portals GenBank and DNA Surveillance. Apart from ratifying their morphological identification, the analysis was able to distinguish specimens that otherwise, could not have been identified using conventional approaches. Phylogenetic analysis of the Sousa-Stenella-Tursiops-Delphinus group indicated more or less robust monophyly for all species in this complex, except Delphinus capensis. A sister-group relationship for Sperm whales and Baleen whales was evident, that would place the former closer to the latter than to any other group of toothed whales