The Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of the Albany Pinebush

The Albany Pinebush, a pitch pine-scrub oak sand barrens, was examined for robber flies and the results compared to historical records found in the New York State Museum, Albany. Thirty-six species were recorded of which seventeen were new records. Two species, Cyrtopogon laphriformis and Promachus bastardii, last recorded in 1914 and 1931, respectively, were not located in the survey

Maintaining efficiency while integrating entrants from lower-performing groups: an experimental study

Efficiently growing a group or firm often requires integration of individuals from lower-performing entities. We explore the effectiveness of two policies intended to facilitate such integration, using a laboratory experiment that models production as a coordination game with Pareto-ranked equilibria. We initially create an efficient group and an inefficient one. We then allow individuals to move into the high-performing group and vary by treatment whether movement is unrestricted, limited to one entrant per period, or subject to an entry exam. We include two additional treatments that combine the two restrictions in different ways to help understand why the institutions are effective in maintaining coordination. We find that both restrictions work to maintain efficient coordination but they are effective for different reasons.Growth, entry, coordination, experiments

Crime pays: The role of prohibition and rum running along US 112 in the transformation of the Michigan State Police

The Michigan State Police were first organized to protect the state’s infrastructure and quell labor disputes during World War I. Structured along the lines of a paramilitary organization, the State Police quickly developed a reputation for Nativism and anti-radical agendas. By the 1930s, the force had transformed into a state wide investigation and policing agency with broad support in the population and state government. Here, archival records and police publications are used to ascertain the role of Prohibition and rum running in the force’s transformation. Examination begins with an overview of the national movement to establish state policing agencies, and its roots in nativism. The effects of prohibition in the incorporation of heavy weapons, new tactics, and technologies taking place during this period are also discussed. Most important to the State Police’s transformation was its changing public opinion, allowing it to expand in the face of labor opposition

Developing Therapeutic Communication Skills: Integration of Standardized Client Simulation in an Associate Degree Nursing Program

By the year 2020, it is projected that there will be a shortage of 300,000 to one million registered nurses in the United States (Juraschek, Zhang, Ranganathan & Lin, 2012). Therapeutic communication skills are a fundamental and integral part of any registered nurse’s practice. Despite the importance of therapeutic communication, evidence suggests that the lack of skill development in nursing programs is having an adverse effect on the NCLEX-RN pass rate of graduating registered nurses. Identifying and addressing shortfalls in effective communication offers an opportunity to improve this pass rate. Learning to effectively communicate in a simulated situation will provide students an opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills of therapeutic communication. This doctoral project will provide the students an opportunity to practice their therapeutic communication skills as a clinical simulation integrated into the nursing curriculum. Two standardized client simulation scenarios were developed for this project. It is anticipated that having the opportunity to practice therapeutic communication skills and apply these skills to clinical situations, will ultimately improve the students’ confidence and the first-time pass rate for the NCLEX-RN exam

Neuronal imaging with ultrahigh dynamic range multiphoton microscopy

Multiphoton microscopes are hampered by limited dynamic range, preventing weak sample features from being detected in the presence of strong features, or preventing the capture of unpredictable bursts in sample strength. We present a digital electronic add-on technique that vastly improves the dynamic range of a multiphoton microscope while limiting potential photodamage. The add-on provides real-time negative feedback to regulate the laser power delivered to the sample, and a log representation of the sample strength to accommodate ultrahigh dynamic range without loss of information. No microscope hardware modifications are required, making the technique readily compatible with commercial instruments. Benefits are shown in both structural and in-vivo functional mouse brain imaging applications.R21 EY027549 - NEI NIH HH

Maintaining efficiency while integrating entrants from lower-performing environments: An experimental study

Efficient growth often requires the integration of individuals from lower-performing groups, firms, or societies into higher-performing ones. Such integration may be difficult without facilitating interventions or restrictions. We explore, using a laboratory experiment, the effectiveness of two regularly-employed entry restrictions: entry quotas and entry exams. We use a coordination game with Pareto-ranked equilibria, in which we allow an effciently-coordinated group and an ineffciently-coordinated one to arise endogenously. We then allow individuals to move from the low-performing group to the high-performing one. We vary whether such movement is unrestricted, is limited to one entrant per period, or is subject to passing an entry exam. We find both kinds of restrictions improve the efficient integration of entrants, but that there is no additional benefit obtained by their combination. The restrictions lead to improved behavior among entrants, but they have a stronger influence on the maintenance of good behavior among incumbents in the high-performing group

Maintaining efficiency while integrating entrants from lower-performing groups: An experimental study

Efficiently growing a group or firm often requires integration of individuals from lower-performing entities. We explore the effectiveness of two policies intended to facilitate such integration, using a laboratory experiment that models production as a coordination game with Pareto-ranked equilibria. We initially create an efficient group and an inefficient one. We then allow individuals to move into the high-performing group and vary by treatment whether movement is unrestricted, limited to one entrant per period, or subject to an entry exam. We include two additional treatments that combine the two restrictions in different ways to help understand why the institutions are effective in maintaining coordination. We find that both restrictions work to maintain efficient coordination but they are effective for different reasons

Differential rotation measurement of soft X-Ray corona

The aim of this paper is to study the latitudinal variation in the solar rotation in soft X-ray corona. The time series bins are formed on different latitude regions of the solar full disk (SFD) images that extend from 80 degree South to 80 degree North. These SFD images are obtained with the soft X-ray telescope (SXT) on board the Yohkoh solar observatory. The autocorrelation analyses are performed with the time series that track the SXR flux modulations in the solar corona. Then for each year, extending from 1992 to 2001, we obtain the coronal sidereal rotation rate as a function of the latitude. The present analysis from SXR radiation reveals that; (i) the equatorial rotation rate of the corona is comparable to the rotation rate of the photosphere and the chromosphere, (ii) the differential profile with respect to the latitude varies throughout the period of the study; it is more in the year 1999 and least in 1994 and (iii) the equatorial rotation period varies systematically with sunspot numbers and indicates its dependence on the phases of the solar activity cycle.Comment: 9 Pages, 4 Figures, Accepted for Publication in MNRA