Computer Use and Internet Use by Members of Rural Households

The share of rural and small town individuals with a computer at home increased from 14 percent in 1989 to 23 percent in 1994. The largest increase was for individuals with at least high school graduation and for individuals in households with total income above $40,000. In 1989, 12 percent of rural and small town residents used a computer at work. This increased to 17 percent in 1994. However, 40 percent of rural and small town individuals were impacted by the introduction of computers at work. Two-thirds noted that computers caused an increase in skill level needed to do their job. In 1997, at least one individual in 29 percent of rural households had used computer communications at least once (from any location). In 10 percent of rural households, one person uses computer communication in a typical month from home. General browsing and e-mail were the most common uses with electronic banking and shopping being much less common. Only 3 percent of rural households report using computer communications in a typical month for a self-employed business.Farm Management, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Measuring Economic Well-Being of Rural Canadians Using Income Indicators

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

U-Pb Zircon Geochronology of Roxbury Conglomerate, Boston Basin, Massachusetts: Tectono-stratigraphic Implications for Avalonia in and Beyond SE New England

High-precision CA-TIMS 206Pb/238U zircon dates from sandstone and Brighton igneous rocks associated with Roxbury Conglomerate in the Boston Basin, eastern Massachusetts provide constraints on the age and tectonic significance of these deposits. Detrital zircon suites from Roxbury-related sandstones representing, in ascending order, the Franklin Park Member (proposed name), the Brookline Member and the Squantum Member establish closely comparable maximum depositional ages of 595.14 ± 0.90, 598.87 ± 0.71 and 596.39 ± 0.79 Ma, respectively. The youngest of these is the best maximum age estimate of the conglomerate. Brighton dacite near the base of the Brookline Member and amygdaloidal andesite near the top yield respective crystallization ages of 584.19 ± 0.70 Ma and 585.37 ± 0.72 Ma. These virtually identical dates support previous interpretations of these particular units as shallow intrusions and thus represent minimum ages of associated conglomerate. The Roxbury-Brighton sequence is traditionally shown as inter-fingering northward with ≤570 Ma mudstone of the Cambridge “Argillite,” but the age range of the conglomerate makes this impossible. Conglomerate lacking quartzite clasts typical of the Roxbury proper and associated with 593.19 ± 0.73 Ma rhyolite on the south side of the basin is re-assigned to the Lynn-Mattapan Volcanic Complex which rests unconformably on Dedham Granite in basement exposed west and north of the basin as well. Calc-alkaline geochemistry and ages of the 609 to 584 Ma Dedham-Lynn-Mattapan-Brighton assemblage link it with 630 to 580 Ma arc sequences in other northern Appalachian Avalonian terranes. Roxbury Conglomerate accumulated in fault-bounded intra-arc basins near the end of this magmatic cycle

Mechanical Test Methods for Assessing Porcine Carotid and Uterine Artery Burst Pressure Following Ex Vivo Ultrasonic Ligature Seal and Transection

A test method was developed to identify those variables important for assessing the performance of ultrasonic surgical devices in ex vivo ligature sealing of porcine carotid and uterine arteries. Ruggedness testing using a small sample size in pilot experiments was conducted using a newly developed test method in an effort to assess the usefulness of this methodology and to identify test variables that might warrant further testing. The development of this test method included the use of a custom-designed prototypic tension device for load-controlled ex vivo vessel stretching during saline perfusion and subsequent seal and transection of porcine arteries with an advanced energy surgical device. The quality of the seal was evaluated as a burst pressure (mmHg). The experimental set-up allowed for either monitoring or controlling specific test conditions, including blood vessel tension during cutting and sealing, saline infusion rate, cutting time, pressure generated in the vessel during cutting, and burst pressure. Both muscular-type uterine and elastic-type carotid arteries were investigated, since energy based devices are most frequently used on muscular-type arteries but are developed and tested using elastic-type arteries. Although confounded with the age of the animal, in the ruggedness test pilot, it was observed that porcine carotid arteries yielded a comparatively lower burst strength seal as compared to porcine uterine arteries. The data generated during ruggedness testing suggests that the artery type and saline infusion rate during transection may be important variables in ex vivo vessel seal testing

A Descriptive Profile of Physical Education Teachers and Related Program Characteristics in Alberta

A survey of teachers and principals in Alberta was conducted to gain a descriptive profile of who is leaching physical education (PE) and to assess the relationship between PE specialists and variables associated with program delivery. A probability-sampling procedure was used to obtain a representative sample of schools. In these schools nonprobability procedures were used to recruit teachers. A total of'480 teachers' and 162 principals' questionnaires were returned. Although 50% (n=236) of PE teachers in the sample were classified as PE specialists (i.e., had either a degree, major or minor, in PE or a closely related area), there was a significant gap in the number of PE classes being taught by division. Of the 1,219 PE classes surveyed in this study, PE specialists taught 49% and 55% of classes at the elementary levels (Divisions I & 11) compared with 91% of junior high (Division III) and 90% of secondary (Division TV) PE classes. Significant differences were found between PE specialists and non-PE specialists on a number of items including perceptions of preparedness, teaching enjoyment and competence to teach PE, the number of PE specialists across grade levels, and the percentage of time devoted to PE in the timetable. Implications with respect to implementing PE specialists across all grades and the need for future pedagogical research to investigate the effect of PE specialists are also discussed.Une enquête a été entreprise auprès d'enseignants et de directeurs d'école en Alberta dans le but d'établir un profil descriptif des enseignants d'éducation physique (EP) et d'évaluer le rapport entre les spécialistes en EP et les variables associées à l'exécution de programmes. On a eu recours aune méthode d'échantillonnage au hasard pour obtenir un échantillon représentatif des écoles. Par la suite, on y a employé des procédures non probabilistes pour recruter des enseignants. En tout, 642 questionnaires (480 provenant d'enseignants et 162 de directeurs) nous ont été renvoyés. Alors que 50% (n=236) des enseignants de EP de l'échantillon se classaient comme spécialistes en EP (c'est-à-dire qu'ils avaient soit un diplôme, une majeure ou une mineure en EP ou dans un domaine connexe), un écart notable existait dans le nombre de cours de EP enseignés par division. Des 1 219 cours de EP inclus dans l'enquête, à l'élémentaire, 49% (Division I) et 55% (Division II) d'entre eux étaient enseignés par des spécialistes en EP. Au secondaire premier cycle (Division III), 91% des cours étaient enseignés par des spécialistes en EP; au secondaire (Division IV), 90% des cours l'étaient. Des différences importantes distinguaient les spécialistes en EP des non spécialistes, y compris leurs perceptions quant à leur état de préparation, le plaisir qu'il retirait de l'enseignement de l'EP, leur compétence à le faire, le nombre de spécialistes en EP à tous les niveaux scolaires et le nombre d'heures consacrées aux cours de EP. Une discussion portant sur les implications de la mise en place de spécialistes en EP à tous les niveaux scolaires et sur la nécessité d'étudier l'effet qu'exercent ceux-ci, termine l'article

A Causal Role of the Right Superior Temporal Sulcus in Emotion Recognition From Biological Motion

Understanding the emotions of others through nonverbal cues is critical for successful social interactions. The right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) is one brain region thought to be key in the recognition of the mental states of others based on body language and facial expression. In the present study, we temporarily disrupted functional activity of the right pSTS by using continuous, theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (cTBS) to test the hypothesis that the right pSTS plays a causal role in emotion recognition from body movements. Participants (N = 23) received cTBS to the right pSTS, which was individually localized using fMRI, and a vertex control site. Before and after cTBS, we tested participants’ ability to identify emotions from point-light displays (PLDs) of biological motion stimuli and a nonbiological global motion identification task. Results revealed that accurate identification of emotional states from biological motion was reduced following cTBS to the right pSTS, but accuracy was not impaired following vertex stimulation. Accuracy on the global motion task was unaffected by cTBS to either site. These results support the causal role of the right pSTS in decoding information about others’ emotional state from their body movements and gestures

NMFS / Interagency Working Group Evaluation of CITES Criteria and Guidelines.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: At present, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) criteria used to assess whether a population qualifies for inclusion in the CITES Appendices relate to (A) size of the population, (B) area of distribution of the population, and (C) declines in the size of the population. Numeric guidelines are provided as indicators of a small population (less than 5,000 individuals), a small subpopulation (less than 500 individuals), a restricted area of distribution for a population (less than 10,000 km2), a restricted area of distribution for a subpopula-tion (less than 500 km2), a high rate of decline (a decrease of 50% or more in total within 5 years or two generations whichever is longer or, for a small wild population, a decline of 20% or more in total within ten years or three generations whichever is longer), large fluctuations (population size or area of distribution varies widely, rapidly and frequently, with a variation greater than one order of magnitude), and a short-term fluctuation (one of two years or less). The Working Group discussed several broad issues of relevance to the CITES criteria and guidelines. These included the importance of the historical extent of decline versus the recent rate of decline; the utility and validity of incorporating relative population productivity into decline criteria; the utility of absolute numbers for defining small populations or small areas; the appropriateness of generation times as time frames for examining declines; the importance of the magnitude and frequency of fluctuations as factors affecting risk of extinction; and the overall utility of numeric thresh-olds or guidelines

Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial comparing the efficacy of a specialist and a generic parenting programme for the treatment of preschool ADHD

BACKGROUND: The New Forest Parenting Programme (NFPP) is a home-delivered, evidence-based parenting programme to target symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in preschool children. It has been adapted for use with 'hard-to-reach' or 'difficult-to-treat' children. This trial will compare the adapted-NFPP with a generic parenting group-based programme, Incredible Years (IY), which has been recommended for children with preschool-type ADHD symptoms.METHODS/DESIGN: This multicentre randomized controlled trial comprises three arms: adapted-NFPP, IY and treatment as usual (TAU). A sample of 329 parents of preschool-aged children with a research diagnosis of ADHD enriched for hard-to-reach and potentially treatment-resistant children will be allocated to the arms in the ratio 3:3:1. Participants in the adapted-NFPP and IY arms receive an induction visit followed by 12 weekly parenting sessions of 1½ hours (adapted-NFPP) or 2½ hours (IY) over 2.5 years. Adapted-NFPP will be delivered as a one-to-one home-based intervention; IY, as a group-based intervention. TAU participants are offered a parenting programme at the end of the study. The primary objective is to test whether the adapted-NFPP produces beneficial effects in terms of core ADHD symptoms. Secondary objectives include examination of the treatment impact on secondary outcomes, a study of cost-effectiveness and examination of the mediating role of treatment-induced changes in parenting behaviour and neuropsychological function. The primary outcome is change in ADHD symptoms, as measured by the parent-completed version of the SNAP-IV questionnaire, adjusted for pretreatment SNAP-IV score. Secondary outcome measures are: a validated index of behaviour during child's solo play; teacher-reported SNAP-IV (ADHD scale); teacher and parent SNAP-IV (ODD) Scale; Eyberg Child Behaviour Inventory - Oppositional Defiant Disorder scale; Revised Client Service Receipt Inventory - Health Economics Costs measure and EuroQol (EQ5D) health-related quality-of-life measure. Follow-up measures will be collected 6 months after treatment for participants allocated to adapted-NFPP and IY.DISCUSSION: This trial will provide evidence as to whether the adapted-NFPP is more effective and cost-effective than the recommended treatment and TAU. It will also provide information about mediating factors (improved parenting and neuropsychological function) and moderating factors (parent and child genetic factors) in any increased benefit.TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN39288126.</p

Association mapping across a multitude of traits collected in diverse environments in maize

Classical genetic studies have identified many cases of pleiotropy where mutations in individual genes alter many different phenotypes. Quantitative genetic studies of natural genetic variants frequently examine one or a few traits, limiting their potential to identify pleiotropic effects of natural genetic variants. Widely adopted community association panels have been employed by plant genetics communities to study the genetic basis of naturally occurring phenotypic variation in a wide range of traits. High-density genetic marker data—18M markers—from 2 partially overlapping maize association panels comprising 1,014 unique genotypes grown in field trials across at least 7 US states and scored for 162 distinct trait data sets enabled the identification of of 2,154 suggestive marker-trait associations and 697 confident associations in the maize genome using a resampling-based genome-wide association strategy. The precision of individual marker-trait associations was estimated to be 3 genes based on a reference set of genes with known phenotypes. Examples were observed of both genetic loci associated with variation in diverse traits (e.g., above-ground and below-ground traits), as well as individual loci associated with the same or similar traits across diverse environments. Many significant signals are located near genes whose functions were previously entirely unknown or estimated purely via functional data on homologs. This study demonstrates the potential of mining community association panel data using new higher-density genetic marker sets combined with resampling-based genome-wide association tests to develop testable hypotheses about gene functions, identify potential pleiotropic effects of natural genetic variants, and study genotype-by-environment interaction