Stability of the proton-to-electron mass ratio

We report a limit on the fractional temporal variation of the proton-to-electron mass ratio as, obtained by comparing the frequency of a rovibrational transition in SF6 with the fundamental hyperfine transition in Cs. The SF6 transition was accessed using a CO2 laser to interrogate spatial 2-photon Ramsey fringes. The atomic transition was accessed using a primary standard controlled with a Cs fountain. This result is direct and model-free

Long-term influences of parental divorce on offspring affective disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The prevalence of divorce in Western countries has increased in recent decades. However, there is no recent systematic review and/or meta-analysis of studies testing for long-term effects of parental divorce on offspring affective disorders. The present study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published since 1980 testing for the association between parental divorce and offspring depression and anxiety in adulthood. Method: PUBMED, Science Direct, Medline, PsychInfo, and PsychArticles databases were searched for eligible studies. Random-effect meta-analyses were used to synthesize effect sizes and to test whether associations of parental divorce with offspring affective disorders differed among three publication periods (i.e., before 1996, 1996–2005, 2006–2015). Results: In total, 29 studies were eligible for the systematic review, and 18 studies were included in the meta-analyses (depression: n=21,581; anxiety: n=2472). There was significant association between parental divorce and offspring depression (OR=1.56; 95%CI [1.31, 1.86]), but not anxiety (OR=1.16; 95%CI [0.98, 1.38]). The effect of parental divorce on offspring depression was not weaker in the reports published in more recent decades. Limitations: There is limited research in relation to offspring anxiety in adulthood. Conclusions: Parental divorce is associated with an increased risk of adult offspring depression, with no indication of the effect being weaker in recent publications

Information Seeking Behavior of Distance Education Students

This study describes a survey conducted with participants in the distance education program at the University of North Carolina. The study was conducted to learn more about the library use and needs of this student population in order to determine the library's plan of service to this student population. While distance education students are traditionally much older than the Millennial generation, the students in this study were found to favor electronic resources and be overall highly confident in their search abilities, two characteristics until now attributed to the Millennial generation. The students named Google and the UNC Libraries Web page as equally important to their research, but acknowledged using Google much more frequently than the library page. These findings suggest that the Millennial distinction may not be due to a generational divide, as previously reported, but rather due to technological immersion

WHOOPING CRANE NEST BUILDING IN SOUTHWEST INDIANA

The first documented case of whooping crane (Grus americana) nest building in Indiana is described. During spring 2015, a pair of whooping cranes did not leave their wintering grounds in Gibson County, Indiana, to return to their summering area in Wisconsin. Three nest platforms were discovered after the death of the female crane. To date, this is the only documented example of a whooping crane pair in the reintroduced Eastern Migratory Population (EMP) building nest platforms outside of Wisconsin. Although fidelity to the core nesting areas in Wisconsin is strong, and natal dispersal is usually \u3c30 km, this example from Indiana shows that whooping cranes in the EMP may have the potential to pioneer nesting areas far outside of core reintroduction areas

Analysis of the Relationship Between Diet and Exercise Beliefs and Actual Behaviors Among Breast Cancer Survivors in Northwest Ohio

Introduction: Studies have shown that a diet high in fruit and vegetable intake, as well as a routine including daily exercise or physical activity, can independently affect relapse rates and survivorship in breast cancer patients. Fruits and vegetables contain powerful anti-oxidant molecules, capable of preventing tumor formation and proliferation. Exercise can lower circulating levels of estrogen, the female hormone responsible for tumor proliferation in the estrogen-sensitive form of the disease. The most beneficial results have been shown in women who exercise and consume a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. We studied the attitudes towards and behaviors related to fruit and vegetable intake and exercise in a cohort of breast cancer survivors in northwest Ohio. Materials and Methods: Data were gathered from a survey sent out by the Northwest Ohio Branch of the Susan G. Komen For the Cure Foundation. We assessed and evaluated survivors’ self-reported beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors regarding exercise and fruit and vegetable intake. Results: Nearly half of the survivors (46.5%) reported being unsure or in disagreement with the statement “Eating at least 5 servings of fruits and/or vegetables per day will reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence.” Only 46.8% of those in agreement with the previous statement actually report eating at least 5 fruits and/or vegetables per day. With respect to exercise, 32.9% reported being unsure or in disagreement with the statement “Engaging in regular physical activity will reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence.” Only 68.5% of those in agreement with the previous statement report any physical activity in the past 30 days. Conclusions: Many breast cancer survivors do not appear to be aware of the benefits of diet and exercise. Further, a large proportion of those who are aware of the benefits do not adapt a healthy diet and exercise as part of their lifestyle. A majority of these survivors see a primary care physician, which we believe is the best venue to bridge this education gap. It is apparent by the pattern our data shows that more needs to be done to educate breast cancer survivors about the benefits of exercise and fruit and vegetable intake. Steps need to be taken to ensure that those who are educated also remain motivated to engage in a healthy lifestyle with the hopes of avoiding breast cancer recurrence

West Nile Virus as a Cause of Death Among Endangered Eastern Loggerhead Shrikes, Lanius ludovicianus migrans, in West St. Paul, Manitoba

In July 2006, three Eastern Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus migrans) nestlings were found dead in a nest in West St. Paul, near Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Eastern Loggerhead Shrike is an endangered form in Canada and populations are in decline. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical staining detected West Nile virus in the tissues of the nestlings indicating the cause of death. This is the first confirmed report of West Nile virus in wild populations of Eastern Loggerhead Shrikes in North America. These findings will challenge conservation biologists in their efforts to develop recovery and management plans for the endangered Eastern Loggerhead Shrike, as well as in the implementation of captive rearing programs

Sparrows can't sing : East End kith and kinship in the 1960s

Sparrows Can’t Sing (1963) was the only feature film directed by the late and much lamented Joan Littlewood. Set and filmed in the East End, where she worked for many years, the film deserves more attention than it has hitherto received. Littlewood’s career spanned documentary (radio recordings made with Ewan MacColl in the North of England in the 1930s) to directing for the stage and the running of the Theatre Royal in London’s Stratford East, often selecting material which aroused memories in local audiences (Leach 2006: 142). Many of the actors trained in her Theatre Workshop subsequently became better known for their appearances on film and television. Littlewood herself directed hardly any material for the screen: Sparrows Can’t Sing and a 1964 series of television commercials for the British Egg Marketing Board, starring Theatre Workshop’s Avis Bunnage, were rare excursions into an area of practice which she found constraining and unamenable (Gable 1980: 32). The hybridity and singularity of Littlewood’s feature may answer, in some degree, for its subsequent neglect. However, Sparrows Can’t Sing makes a significant contribution to a group of films made in Britain in the 1960s which comment generally on changes in the urban and social fabric. It is especially worthy of consideration, I shall argue, for the use which Littlewood made of a particular community’s attitudes – sentimental and critical – to such changes and for its amalgamation of an attachment to documentary techniques (recording an aural landscape on location) with a preference for nonnaturalistic delivery in performance

Drifting to oblivion? Rapid genetic differentiation in an endangered lizard following habitat fragmentation and drought

Aim The frequency and severity of habitat alterations and disturbance are predicted to increase in upcoming decades, and understanding how disturbance affects population integrity is paramount for adaptive management. Although rarely is population genetic sampling conducted at multiple time points, preand post-disturbance comparisons may provide one of the clearest methods to measure these impacts. We examined how genetic properties of the federally threatened Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard (Uma inornata) responded to severe drought and habitat fragmentation across its range. Location Coachella Valley, California, USA. Methods We used 11 microsatellites to examine population genetic structure and diversity in 1996 and 2008, before and after a historic drought. We used Bayesian assignment methods and F-statistics to estimate genetic structure. We compared allelic richness across years to measure loss of genetic diversity and employed approximate Bayesian computing methods and heterozygote excess tests to explore the recent demographic history of populations. Finally, we compared effective population size across years and to abundance estimates to determine whether diversity remained low despite post-drought recovery. Results Genetic structure increased between sampling periods, likely as a result of population declines during the historic drought of the late 1990s–early 2000s, and habitat loss and fragmentation that precluded post-drought genetic rescue. Simulations supported recent demographic declines in 3 of 4 main preserves, and in one preserve, we detected significant loss of allelic richness. Effective population sizes were generally low across the range, with estimates ≤100 in most sites. Main conclusions Fragmentation and drought appear to have acted synergistically to induce genetic change over a short time frame. Progressive deterioration of connectivity, low Ne and measurable loss of genetic diversity suggest that conservation efforts have not maintained the genetic integrity of this species. Genetic sampling over time can help evaluate population trends to guide management

An Integrated Approach to Developing Technical Communication Skills in Engineering Students

The Project to Integrate Technical Communication Habits (PITCH) is being implemented across seven engineering and computer science undergraduate programs. The overarching goal of PITCH is to develop written, oral and visual communication skills and professional habits in engineering students. PITCH activities begin in the very first semester and are reinforced and extended through all four years of each program. Senior design becomes the culminating experience in which students demonstrate the skills and habits acquired through PITCH courses. Student outcomes for the project were established based on an extensive survey of employers, alumni and faculty. Communication instruments include technical memoranda, poster presentations, oral presentations, laboratory reports, proposals, and senior design reports. In addition to text elements, the use of tables and graphics also are addressed. Advice tables, annotated sample assignments and grading rubrics are being developed for each instrument to assist students in their work and facilitate consistency in instruction and assessment across multiple instructors teaching different course sections. Within each of the seven programs, specific courses within all four years are targeted for implementation and assessment of technical communication skills. Roadmaps showing the target courses, and the instruments deployed and outcomes to be learned in each course are made available to students in each program. The different communication products are distributed across courses as appropriate, and the skills are developed at deeper and deeper levels as students progress through the years. Two critical and distinctive features of the project are that technical communication skills are fully integrated into the content of regular engineering courses and are taught by regular engineering faculty. These features will make PITCH sustainable over the longer term. In the first year of the project, 16 engineering and computer science faculty were trained by an external consultant through summer workshops to deliver and assess the technical communication instruments in their courses. All PITCH assignments submitted by students are being archived and will be used in a longitudinal assessment of the effectiveness of the project as the first cohort of students who started in fall 2012 near graduation. PITCH is funded by the Davis Educational Foundation and is designed to be self-sustaining after the three-year period of grant support. This paper describes the approach used, lists the PITCH student outcomes, and provides examples of the PITCH roadmaps, as well as the resources provided to students and faculty