An Agricultural Time Series-Cross Section Data Set

The Agricultural Time Series-Cross Section (ATICS) dataset described in this Working Paper is based on the annual crop and livestock statistics collected by the United States Department of Agriculture. These statistics, scattered through a wide assortment of published and unpublished USDA bulletins and circulars, are extensive in their coverage of the agricultural sector, are highly disaggregated, and span a time period over one hundred years in length. Yet these rich sources have never been unified into a single compilation of data which is accessible, uniform, and machine readable. The ATICS dataset is an attempt to fill this gap.

The Successes And Challenges Of Utilizing Geogebra To Integrate MP5: Use Appropriate Tools Strategically

The purpose of this action research study was to identify the successes and challenges a teacher experienced when GeoGebra was incorporated into an Algebra II unit of study with the goal of integrating the fifth mathematical practice of the Common Core State Standards, use appropriate tools strategically. Data were collected from 20 student participants and the teacher-researcher via the following methods: teacher-researcher self-observations, peer educator observations, student interviews, and video-recordings. Instruments in the form of an observational protocol, utilized by observers, and an interview protocol, utilized by the interviewer, were employed. The data analysis indicated two successes: the teacher-researcher’s instruction targeted a deeper level of mathematical understanding by students and a moderately high level of student interest. The data analysis also indicated three challenges: a) challenges with technology, specifically, computer access, internet speed, internet access, and a GeoGebra problem; b) challenges with students, specifically, students being unprepared for class, the time required for students to prepare for a lesson, and the need to monitor student computer usage; and c) challenges with teachers, specifically, with other Algebra II teachers and with the teacher-researcher

Thalamic inflammation after brain trauma is associated with thalamo-cortical white matter damage

Background Traumatic brain injury can trigger chronic neuroinflammation, which may predispose to neurodegeneration. Animal models and human pathological studies demonstrate persistent inflammation in the thalamus associated with axonal injury, but this relationship has never been shown in vivo. Findings Using [11C]-PK11195 positron emission tomography, a marker of microglial activation, we previously demonstrated thalamic inflammation up to 17 years after traumatic brain injury. Here, we use diffusion MRI to estimate axonal injury and show that thalamic inflammation is correlated with thalamo-cortical tract damage. Conclusions These findings support a link between axonal damage and persistent inflammation after brain injury

Why citizens don’t like paying for public goods with their taxes– and how institutions can change that

Why are Americans so against paying taxes to fund basic government functions such as roads and education? In new research, Alan M. Jacobs and J. Scott Matthews find that many citizens object to paying for public investment because they do not trust politicians to spend new revenues as promised. Using online experiments with voting-age US citizens, they find that support for using taxation to pay for investment was dependent on how much voters trusted the institution charged with carrying out the work. Local governments and the military were trusted to a much greater degree than Congress, especially among conservatives. Citizens were also more willing to pay more for public goods when they were told that the new taxes would be set aside in a dedicated trust fund account

What is nursing in the 21st century and what does the 21st century health system require of nursing?

It is frequently claimed that nursing is vital to the safe, humane provision of health care and health service to our populations. It is also recognized however, that nursing is a costly health care resource that must be used effectively and efficiently. There is a growing recognition, from within the nursing profession, health care policy makers and society, of the need to analyse the contribution of nursing to health care and its costs. This becomes increasingly pertinent and urgent in a situation, such as that existing in Ireland, where the current financial crisis has lead to public sector employment moratoria, staff cuts and staffing deficits, combined with increased patient expectation, escalating health care costs, and a health care system restructuring and reform agenda. Such factors, increasingly common internationally, make the identification and effective use of the nursing contribution to health care an issue of international importance. This paper seeks to explore the nature of nursing and the function of the nurse within a 21st century health care system, with a focus on the Irish context. However, this analysis fits into and is relevant to the international context and discussion regarding the nursing workforce. This paper uses recent empirical studies exploring the domains of activity and focus of nursing, together with nurses perceptions of their role and work environment, in order to connect those findings with core conceptual questions about the nature and function of nursing

Assessing the Vascular Deformability of Erythrocytes and Leukocytes: From Micropipettes to Microfluidics

Among the most crucial rheological characteristics of blood cells within the vasculature is their ability to undergo the shape change (i.e., deform). The significance of cellular deformability is readily apparent based solely on the disparate mean size of human erythrocytes (~8 μm) and leukocytes (10–25 μm) compared to the minimum luminal size of capillaries (4–5 μm) and splenic interendothelial clefts (0.5–1.0 μm) they must transit. Changes in the deformability of either cell will result in their premature mechanical clearance as well as an enhanced possibility of intravascular lysis. In this chapter, we will demonstrate how microfluidic devices can be used to examine the vascular deformability of erythrocytes and agranular leukocytes. Moreover, we will compare microfluidic assays with previous studies utilizing micropipettes, ektacytometry and micropore cell transit times. As will be discussed, microfluidics-based devices offer a low-cost, high throughput alternative to these previous, and now rather ancient, technologies