Does spinal manipulation relieve back pain?

Spinal manipulation therapy (SMT) reduces lower back pain and improves the ability to perform everyday activities more than sham therapies (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A, multiple randomized controlled trials [RCTs] and systematic reviews), but it�۪s no more or less effective than pain medication, physical therapy, exercise, back school, or care given by a general practitioner (SOR: A, meta-analysis)

School quality and wages

This dissertation examines the literature that attempts to measure the relationship between school quality and earnings. I begin by developing a simple economic model that predicts that, everything else being equal and with comparisons being made within a market, workers from higher quality schools will have higher earnings among those with the same level of schooling and they will have steeper schooling-earnings gradients. The remainder of this dissertation explores problems that exist in this literature for which no solutions have been presented. These problems include: 1) there doesnâÂÂt have to be a direct and positive relationship between school quality and earnings; 2) the data suggest that school quality measures are frequently mismatched to workers; 3) most school quality studies include college-trained labor while completely ignoring the quality of the college attended; 4) the omission of college quality from the estimation is especially problematic for studies that attempt to measure the school quality-earnings relationship through differences in schooling-earnings gradients for those educated in different systems; 5) state of birth wage rankings thought to capture a school quality effect are not invariant to the market (state of residence) in which they are evaluated; and 6) the evidence presented herein suggests that interstate migration is selective. These problems undermine the credibility of existing estimates of a school qualityearnings relationship

Temporal Variability of Tungsten and Cobalt in Fallon, Nevada

BACKGROUND: Since 1997, Fallon, Nevada, has experienced a cluster of childhood leukemia that has been declared “one of the most unique clusters of childhood cancer ever reported.” Multiple environmental studies have shown airborne tungsten and cobalt to be elevated within Fallon, but the question remains: Have these metals changed through time in correspondence with the onset of the leukemia cluster? METHODS: We used dendrochemistry, the study of element concentrations through time in tree rings, in Fallon to assess temporal variability of airborne tungsten and cobalt since the late 1980s. The techniques used in Fallon were also tested in a different town (Sweet Home, OR) that has airborne tungsten from a known source. RESULTS: The Sweet Home test case confirms the accuracy of dendrochemistry for showing temporal variability of environmental tungsten. Given that dendrochemistry works for tungsten, tree-ring chemistry shows that tungsten increased in Fallon relative to nearby comparison towns beginning by the mid-1990s, slightly before the onset of the cluster, and cobalt has been high throughout the last ~ 15 years. Other metals do not show trends through time in Fallon. DISCUSSION: Results in Fallon suggest a temporal correspondence between the onset of excessive childhood leukemia and elevated levels of tungsten and cobalt. Although environmental data alone cannot directly link childhood leukemia with exposure to metals, research by others has shown that combined exposure to tungsten and cobalt can be carcinogenic to humans. CONCLUSION: Continued biomedical research is warranted to directly test for linkage between childhood leukemia and tungsten and cobalt

Characterization of surface decorations in Prehispanic archaeological ceramics by Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, XRD and XRF

Non-invasive Raman microspectroscopy, FTIR, μXRD and XRF were used to identify the materials present in the black, red, and white surface decorations in selected pottery wares from two Prehispanic archaeological sites in Northwestern (NW) Argentina (AD 900?1530). The iron manganese spinel jacobsite, MnFe2O4, was found to be the main component of two of the fired black decorations analyzed, while hematite and amorphous silicates were found to be present in the red and white fired decorations, respectively. This is the first study, to our knowledge, that firmly identifies jacobsite in black decorations in Prehispanic archaeological ceramics. In fragments recovered from one site, a carbon-based black pigment was identified while gypsum was observed in the recessed areas of decorative surface incisions. Gypsum, potassium nitrate and halite, most likely deposited during burial, were observed on the surface of some of the fragments analyzed. The results are discussed in the context of the technological processes involved and are compared to compositions previously reported for decorations in ceramic objects from NW Argentina.Fil: Centeno, Silvia A.. The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Estados UnidosFil: Williams, Veronica Isabel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto de Arqueología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Little, Nicole C.. Museum Conservation Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Speakman, Robert J.. Museum Conservation Institute; Estados Unido

Chemical characterization of tin-lead glazed ceramics from Aragon (Spain) by neutron activation analysis

Majolica pottery was the most characteristic tableware produced in Spain during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. A study of the three main production centers in the historical region of Aragon during Middle Ages and Renaissance was conducted on a set of 71 samples. The samples were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), and the resulting data were interpreted using an array of multivariate statistical procedures. Our results show a clear discrimination among different production centers allowing a reliable provenance attribution of ceramic sherds from the Aragonese workshops

Excimer laser processing of inkjet-printed and sputter-deposited transparent conducting SnO2:Sb for flexible electronics

The feasibility of low-temperature fabrication of transparent electrode elements from thin films of antimony-doped tin oxide (SnO2:Sb, ATO) has been investigated via inkjet printing, rf magnetron sputtering and post-deposition excimer laser processing. Laser processing of thin films on both glass and plastic substrates was performed using a Lambda Physik 305i excimer laser, with fluences in the range 20–100 mJ cm− 2 reducing sheet resistance from as-deposited values by up to 3 orders of magnitude. This is consistent with TEM analysis of the films that shows a densification of the upper 200 nm of laser-processed regions

Las cerámicas vidriadas decoradas del Convento de San Francisco de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Una aproximación a su estudio arqueométrico.

[cas]Para el presente estudio fueron seleccionadas 41 cerámicas procedentes del fondo de El Museo Canario y correspondientes a materiales de las excavaciones arqueológicas realizadas en eí solar del antiguo convento de San Francisco de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Todos los individuos fueron analizados por fluoresceiicia de rayos X (FRX) y difracción de rayos X (DRX), complementándose el estudio analítico con una selección de cerámicas estudiadas mediante el ariálisis por activación neutro nica (AAN). Los resultados han permitido demostrar que la mayor parte de las cerámicas estudiadas presentan una proveniencia de la ciudad de Sevilla. No obstante, también se han hallado otras ceráinicas que parecen corresponder a otros centros productores, tanto españoles como italianos y portugueses. De esta manera, se demuestra la relativa heterogeneidad de las iínportaciohes cerá- micas del antiguo convento de San Francisco.[eng]In order to asses the provenance of the majolica production from the Iberian Peninsula in the Canary Island as a first step for the trade with America, a set of 41 majolica individuals has been sampled from the archaeological site of El Antiguo Convento de San Francisco (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria). Individuals have been studied by means of X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The results show an important group matching our reference group from Seville, in agreement with the historical record. Chemical data also reveals individuals whose provenance corresponds to other production centres of the Iberian Peninsula. Possible Italian and Dutch productions have also been identified. All these results confirm the relative heterogeneity of the range of imported majolica by the convent of San Francisco

The relationship of female physical attractiveness to body fatness

Funding This work was supported by NSFC grant 91431102 from the National Science Foundation of China. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Acknowledgements We are grateful to all the participants from all the countries and all the members of Molecular Energetics Group for their help on the investigation and discussion of the results.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Ursinus Weekly, April 26, 1965

Ursinus Meistersingers present tour program • Student-Faculty show combines music, humor, satire • Library week: April 25 to May 1 • Campus Chest encouraged by enthusiastic support: One down, one to go • Campus freedom, Sunisru and you • Dr. Helfferich hosts dinner • Invitation • Shakespeare theatre festival • Last chapel May 13th • Editorial: Meistersingers concert; They\u27re all right, Jack; In the name of sweet charity • H.R.C. wages unending war: Greater than 1776 • Toward maturity • Peon or pledge? • Lacrosse team remains undefeated • Baseball team evens log; Beats W. Maryland, Johns Hopkins • Thinclads nip Swarthmore • Softballers open season with win • MSGA candidates speak out: L. Rudnyansky; R. Reed; R. Shaw • U.C. student pioneer corpsman • Ruby sales awards • Greek gleaningshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1247/thumbnail.jp