Filipinos in Rural Hawaii

Filipino immigrants and their descendants who have lived in Hawaiʻi’s plantation communities are the subjects of this thoughtful and social analysis. Here is an inside look at various facets of Filipino rural life—working conditions, courtship pattern, living patterns, living standards, celebrations, and even “chicken fighting.” Over the last couple of decades, the plantation towns of Hawaiʻi have been dying. Fewer workers are needed as land is converted to other uses and as labor-efficient production techniques are developed. The displacement of people whose lives have been centered on the functional apparatus of the plantations is particularly distressing. As Hawaiʻi copes with the human problems, it is important to understand the history, social behavior, and values of Filipino plantation workers, some of whom now face substantial hardship. The author and his co-researchers studied three plantation towns in depth and examined in varying detail the lives of Filipino plantation residents on the islands of Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, and Hawaiʻi. In the course of collecting data, they taped and transcribed a number of conversations, some of which are included here. These voices add a lively counterpoint to the data and discussion. As time and events overcome the caretakers of the ethnic cultures of Hawai'i's plantations, the rural lifestyles of these communities may be forgotten. Books such as this will help to preserve their flavor and texture. Social scientists, scholars and students of ethnic studies, community leaders, and even the people described herein will find this a useful and informative study

America's North Coast: A Benefit-Cost Analysis of a Program to Protect and Restore the Great Lakes

Examines the baseline ecological conditions of the Great Lakes and offers a plan for the area's environmental protection and restoration. Demonstrates how a restoration program can provide economic benefits that substantially exceed its costs

International classification of disease

Presents preliminary results describing the effects of implementing the Tenth Revision of the International classification of disease (ICD-10) on mortality statistics for selected causes of death effective with deaths occurring in the United States in 1999.Also available via the World Wide Web as an Acrobat .pdf file

Method for constructing complete annual U.S. life tables

"December 1999.""by Robert N. Anderson, Ph.D., Division of Vital Statistics" - p. 1Also available via the World Wide Web.Includes bibliographical references (p. 10)

p21 is decreased in polycystic kidney disease and leads to increased epithelial cell cycle progression: roscovitine augments p21 levels.

BackgroundAutosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a common genetic disease with few treatment options other than renal replacement therapy. p21, a cyclin kinase inhibitor which has pleiotropic effects on the cell cycle, in many cases acts to suppress cell cycle progression and to prevent apoptosis. Because defects in cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cells occur in PKD, and in light of earlier reports that polycystin-1 upregulates p21 and that the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor roscovitine arrests progression in a mouse model, we asked whether (1) p21 deficiency might underlie ADPKD and (2) the mechanism of the salutary roscovitine effect on PKD involves p21.Methodsp21 levels in human and animal tissue samples as well as cell lines were examined by immunoblotting and/or immunohistochemisty. Apoptosis was assessed by PARP cleavage. p21 expression was attenuated in a renal tubular epithelial cell line by antisense methods, and proliferation in response to p21 attenuation and to roscovitine was assessed by the MTT assay.ResultsWe show that p21 is decreased in human as well as a non-transgenic rat model of ADPKD. In addition, hepatocyte growth factor, which induces transition from a cystic to a tubular phenotype, increases p21 levels. Furthermore, attenuation of p21 results in augmentation of cell cycle transit in vitro. Thus, levels of p21 are inversely correlated with renal tubular epithelial cell proliferation. Roscovitine, which has been shown to arrest progression in a murine model of PKD, increases p21 levels and decreases renal tubular epithelial cell proliferation, with no affect on apoptosis.ConclusionThe novelty of our study is the demonstration in vivo in humans and rat models of a decrement of p21 in cystic kidneys as compared to non-cystic kidneys. Validation of a potential pathogenetic model of increased cyst formation due to enhanced epithelial proliferation and apoptosis mediated by p21 suggests a mechanism for the salutary effect of roscovitine in ADPKD and supports further investigation of p21 as a target for future therapy

Collisional Properties of Cold Spin-Polarized Metastable Neon Atoms

We measure the rates of elastic and inelastic two-body collisions of cold spin-polarized neon atoms in the metastable 3P2 state for 20^Ne and 22^Ne in a magnetic trap. From particle loss, we determine the loss parameter of inelastic collisions beta=6.5(18)x10^{-12} cm^3s^{-1} for 20^Ne and beta=1.2(3)x10^{-11}cm^3{s}^{-1} for 22^Ne. These losses are caused by ionizing (i.e. Penning) collisions %to more than and occur less frequently than for unpolarized atoms. This proves the suppression of Penning ionization due to spin-polarization. From cross-dimensional relaxation measurements, we obtain elastic scattering lengths of a=-180(40) a_0 for 20^Ne and a=+150(+80/-50) a_0 for 22^Ne, where a_0=0.0529 nm.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Anomalous heat flow in the northwest Atlantic: A case for continued hydrothermal circulation in 80-M.Y. crust

A detailed study of a 60×150 km area at 60°W, 24°N at the eastern end of the Nares Abyssal Plain indicates that hydrothermal circulation is still active in the 80 m.y. B.P. oceanic crust. The 58 heat flow measurements made at five stations in the area have revealed (1) constant heat flow over the abyssal plain (56 mW m−2), (2) a cyclic heat flow over the abyssal hills (mean of 77 mW m−2), and (3) a large anomaly of 710 m W m−2 over one of several small domes which protrude from the abyssal plain. The domes are 0.5–1.0 km in diameter near the top and rise 50 m above the level of the abyssal plain. They are recognized from surface echo sounders by an abrupt disappearance in the abyssal plain subbottom reflectors, but on near-bottom pinger records they appear as steep-walled structures which are covered by ∼10 m of sediment (compared to ∼75 m on the surrounding abyssal hills). From analogy with active ridge crests, these features are probably small volcanoes. The heat flow anomaly over one of the domes is matched well by a finite element convection model with the following characteristics: (1) recharge at one basement outcrop and discharge at another, (2) 300 m of sediment fill between outcrops, and (3) permeabilities of 10−10 cm2 for basalt and 10−13 cm2 for sediment. In other words, we believe that there is very effective convective heat transfer within the crust and out of the relatively permeable, thinly sedimented basement dome, resulting in the local high heat flow. Overall, the results from the Nares survey vividly show the age independent muting effect of sediment on the surface manifestation of crustal convection. In our survey area the mode of heat transfer varies from purely conductive in the more thickly sedimented abyssal plain areas (∼300 m sediment cover) to moderate amplitude convection pattern beneath the abyssal hills (∼75 m sediment cover) to a very large thermal anomaly over the small dome or ‘chimneylike’ structure (∼10 m sediment cover). The domes are possibly active analogues to the presently inactive basement chimney drilled at DSDP site 417A

Sheathing Nail Bending-Yield Stress: Effect on Cyclic Performance of Wood Shear Walls

This study investigated the effects of sheathing nail bending-yield stress (fyb) on connection properties and shear wall performance under cyclic loading. Four sets of nails were specially manufactured with average fyb of 87, 115, 145, and 241 ksi. Nail bending-yield stress and the hysteretic behavior of single-nail lateral connections were determined. The parameters of the lateral nail tests were used in a numerical model to predict shear wall performance and hysteretic parameters. The competency of the numerical model was assessed by full-scale cyclic tests of shear walls framed with Douglas-fir lumber and sheathed with oriented strandboard (OSB). The parameters of the shear wall model were used in another program to predict shear wall performance for a suite of seismic ground motions. The single-nail connection tests and wall model computations suggested that increased fyb of the sheathing nails should lead to improved wall stiffness and capacity. In both single-nail lateral connection and shear wall tests, the probability of nonductile failure modes increased as fyb increased. The peak capacity of the walls increased as fyb of the sheathing nails increased up to 145 ksi, but wall initial stiffness, displacement at peak capacity, and energy dissipation were not significantly affected by fyb. Sheathing nail fyb greater than 145 ksi did not enhance the overall cyclic behavior of wood shear walls