Thomas Staples Martin : his senatorial career

The Democratic party and the combined Republican and Readjuster parties were approximately equal in strength in Virginia in the 1880\u27s, the elections being won by majorities or a few thousand votes. By 1890, however, the Democratic party was in command of most branches of\u27 the government and appeared determined to perpetuate itself in power, In the years following 1890 there arose a relatively latent political figure who, through the powerful Democratic organization and with the able assistance of his lieutenants, influenced the political affairs of Virginia to such an extent that opposition offered only token resistance. From the time he was first chosen to represent Virginie. in the United States Senate in 1893 until the end of his senatorial career in 1919, Thomas Staples Martin prevailed significantly in Virginia as well as National matters, and it is with this period that the writer is concerned. While this paper will include some aspects of the Democratic party in Virginia as well as touch upon some political and diplomatic areas of Virginia and the nation, this study does not attempt to be a definitive work in either phase. Rather, this paper concerns itself with Thomas s. Martin as a United States Senator and. incidentally those areas of local and national life which his career affected. The chief sources or information for this study have been state newspapers, personal papers and accounts, and government publications. The study also includes material obtained by correspondence end interviews with persons familiar with Senator Martin\u27s career. Efforts were ma.de to secure the Senator\u27s personal papers, but with little success. While there is a collection of newspaper clippings end letters of Martin in the Alderman Library at the University of Virginia, it is an incomplete set as far as pertinent personal correspondence is concerned. Senator Martin\u27s own personal papers, if they exist, were not available for study, and thus many of the Senator\u27s feelings and attitudes on domestic and national issues during his career that possibly may have been revealed through his personal correspondence remain untouched

USING NDVI AS A PASTURE MANAGEMENT TOOL

Maintaining forage availability is challenging for managers of grazing systems, especially in spatially heterogeneous swards. Remote sensing may help to overcome this problem. The objectives of this study were to (i) determine a method by which NDVI may be calibrated to estimate biomass, (ii) determine if NDVI can be used to assess spatial variability of yield in extensive grasslands, and (iii) to determine if NDVI can be used to evaluate grazing systems. We found that the calibration of NDVI values for the estimation of biomass was better correlated with the destructive harvesting procedure (R2 = 0.68) but far more laborious and time-consuming than estimation of biomass from the rising plate meter (R2 = 0.54). Semivariograms revealed that sampling at a 0.76 m distance provided information about the spatial variability structure of NDVI values from grazed swards. Frequency distributions of sward biomass derived from NDVI reflected foraging strategies of cattle. Negative skewness and high kurtosis of histograms indicated selective grazing, while positive skewness and low kurtosis indicated the opposite. Histograms also allowed for estimation of available forage within each field. We concluded that grassland biomass may be derived from high resolution NDVI and RPM data and used to evaluate condition of grassland landscapes and aid decision-making of managed grazing systems

Corn production with perennial ground covers: evaluation of cover species and their effects on corn growth and development

The use of perennial ground covers (PGC) in corn production may offer a long term and ecological solution to soil conservation issues while allowing the removal of corn stover for biofuel production. This system has historically offered many challenges as yields have been quite variable among studies, and management practices required for PGC production systems vary from modern day practices. Issues of using perennial ground covers appear to encompass a complex genetic x environmental x management interaction that deals with availability of nutrients and light quality, as well as timing and types of management practices used with ground cover species. The overall focus of the following chapters is to elucidate certain aspects of this three-way interaction and to expand scientific knowledge of the corn and perennial ground cover production systems to expedite the development of a successful system

Testing GPT-4 with Wolfram Alpha and Code Interpreter plug-ins on math and science problems

This report describes a test of the large language model GPT-4 with the Wolfram Alpha and the Code Interpreter plug-ins on 105 original problems in science and math, at the high school and college levels, carried out in June-August 2023. Our tests suggest that the plug-ins significantly enhance GPT's ability to solve these problems. Having said that, there are still often "interface" failures; that is, GPT often has trouble formulating problems in a way that elicits useful answers from the plug-ins. Fixing these interface failures seems like a central challenge in making GPT a reliable tool for college-level calculation problems

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Telemedicine

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An Accurate Digital Instrument to Measure Reactor Period

At Facilities Having a Research-Training Reactor, such as the University of Missouri-Rolla Reactor (UMRR), One Finds It Necessary to Perform a Large Number of Rod Calibrations during the Course of the Year. in Practice Rod Worths Are Determined by Measuring the Reactor Period Created by an Incremental Withdrawal of the Rod under Calibration. Period is Then Related to Reactivity Thru the Use of a Publication Such as the AEC Publication, ID016485. This Frequent Measurement of Period Makes It Desirable to Have a Simple, Automatic and Accurate Method to Make Such Measurements. at UMRR We Have Designed, Constructed and Installed Such an Instrument. the Instrument Measures Doubling Time Rather Than Period But, Thru the Use of an Internal Time Base Conversion, displays a Four Bit Decimal Number that is the Reactor Period in Seconds. the Instrument is Simple in Concept and Utilizes the 7400 Series Integrated Circuits in the Largest Portion of the Unit. the Instrument is Easy to Operate and Once Initiated, Will Automatically Complete the Measurement of the Period Displaying the Results. Error in the Instrument Can Be Shown to Be Less Than 1.5%. Thus, the Unit Meets the Three Requirements of Simplicity, Accuracy and Ease of Operation and in Addition is Moderately Inexpensive, Less Than $120. Copyright © 1973 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc

Edoardo Bassini (1844-1924): father of modern-day hernia surgery.

According to Roman scripture, it was Celsus who attempted the first inguinal hernia repair in history during the first century A.D. His attempts were unsuccessful and resulted in an early recurrence of the hernia, which eventually led to the patient’s death.1 Over the next two millennia, little understanding was gained regarding the anatomy of the inguinal canal. It was only in the last 100 years that major advancements in herniorrhaphy were established, thanks in large part to the work of Edoardo Bassini, who revolutionized the surgical treatment of the inguinal hernia with a technique which has become the basis of modern-day herniorrhaphy

Christian Albert Theodor Billroth, M.D., founding father of abdominal surgery (1829-1894).

In the 1800s, the field of surgery was in its infancy, somewhat primitive and embryonic. The technical nature of surgery was the basis for the dividing line between the disciplines of surgery and internal medicine. Sterilization was not a common practice. Radical surgical resections and experimentation in medicine were shunned. With his boldness equaled only by his innovation and resourcefulness, Theodor Billroth would become a pioneer not only in the development of modern surgery, but also in the advancement of its cultural and historical significance