Mississippi Modernism: The River Valley and Race in American Culture, 1892-1945

Mississippi Modernism looks to the Mississippi River Valley of the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first few decades of the twentieth century to analyze the ways individuals expressed and determined their experience in the changing world. By engaging with theories of modernity from Marshall Berman and the Black modernism of Houston A. Baker, Jr. this work proposes the Mississippi watershed as a region where individuals indulge in the processes of modernism remaking the environments, both urban and rural, surrounding them. By thinking about the “dry†and “wet†valleys envisioned by European settlers as Christopher Morris terms it, Mississippi Modernism reflects W. E. B. Du Bois’s exclusively African American of “double consciousness.†Additionally, this project utilizes Antonio Benítez-Rojo’s conception of the “repeating island†of the Caribbean archipelago to formulate a river that repeats in art and infrastructure. The analysis herein parses both the material and the cultural elements of the working-class and Black formations of the repeating river. Railroads, levees, and bridges receive special attention as they are the repeating rivers of Mississippi modernity and allow for a fuller understanding of the way Black subjects move in the river valley. Blues culture sits as a framework of this work; therefore, this project will deal in a wide range of media from literary analysis to a panoply oral and aural cultures. Via the exploration of musical figures W. C. Handy, Bessie Smith, and Gertrude “Ma†Rainey, Mississippi Modernism comes to know more fully the literary elements of writers Langston Hughes, Sterling A. Brown, William Faulkner, and Richard Wright

LANDOWNER ATTITUDES REGARDING PENNSYLVANIA\u27S EXTENDED ANTERLESS DEER SEASON ON DEER-DAMAGED FARMS

The Pennsylvania Game Commission authorized an extension of the 1990-1991 anterless white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) season to reduce deer abundance on farms having excessive crop damage. A mail survey of the 574 participating landowners was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the program. After 2 mailings 93% (n = 531) responded, and 444 returns had completed information for numbers of hunters, hectares, and harvested deer. Based on landowner responses, an estimated 2,674 deer were harvested by 35,181 hunters on 58,525 ha. An average of 4.6 deer were harvested/km2 of huntable land, which compared to a statewide estimate of f2.3 deer harvested/km2 during the 1990 4-day regular anterless-deer season. Twenty-four percent (n = 107) of respondents reported zero deer harvested. Twenty-five percent of respondents (n = 110) were satisfied with the program. Landowners who were dissatisfied (n = 331, 75%) could provide up to 5 reasons for dissatisfaction. Four hundred sixty-nine responses were provided. Three-hundred-forty-seven responses (74%) indicated too few deer were killed, while 23% (n = 106) indicated that the program was inconvenient. Satisfaction related to number and density of deer harvested, hectares of huntable land, perception of hunter density, and suggested improvements. Many respondents (n = 204, 46%)indicated they would participate again, in spite of the high degree of dissatisfaction. Number and density of deer harvested, density of hunters, perception of hunter density, satisfaction, and reason for dissatisfaction, were related to willingness to participate again. Landowner suggestions for improvements (5 allowed per respondent, n = 364 recieved) centered on harvesting more deer by involving more land (n = 201, 55%) and moving the timing of the season (n = 119, 33%). Seventy-two percent (n = 320) of responses (5 allowed per respondent, n = 625 recieved) indicated neighboring posted land was the primary reason for too many deer on their property. This remains the greatest challenge in providing relief from high deer densities

Sediment Management for Southern California Mountians, Coastal Plains and Shoreline. Part D: Special Inland Studies

In southern California the natural environmental system involves the continual relocation of sedimentary materials. Particles are eroded from inland areas where there is sufficient relief and, precipitation. Then, with reductions in hydraulic gradient along the stream course and at the shoreline, the velocity of surface runoff is reduced and there is deposition. Generally, coarse sand, gravel and larger particles are deposited near the base of the eroding surfaces (mountains and hills) and the finer sediments are deposited on floodplains, in bays or lagoons, and at the shoreline as delta deposits. Very fine silt and clay particles, which make up a significant part of the eroded material, are carried offshore where they eventually deposit in deeper areas. Sand deposited at the shoreline is gradually moved along the coast by waves and currents, and provides nourishment for local beaches. However, eventually much of this littoral material is also lost to offshore areas. Human developments in the coastal region have substantially altered the natural sedimentary processes, through changes in land use, the harvesting of natural resources (logging, grazing, and sand and gravel mining); the construction and operation of water conservation facilities and flood control structures; and coastal developments. In almost all cases these developments have grown out of recognized needs and have well served their primary purpose. At the time possible deleterious effects on the local or regional sediment balance were generally unforeseen or were felt to be of secondary importance. In 1975 a large-scale study of inland and coastal sedimentation processes in southern California was initiated by the Environmental Quality Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology and the Center for Coastal Studies at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. This volume is one of a series of reports from this study. Using existing data bases, this series attempts to define quantitatively inland and coastal sedimentation processes and identify the effects man has had on these processes. To resolve some issues related to long-term sediment management, additional research and data will be needed. In the series there are four Caltech reports that provide supporting studies for the summary report (EQL Report No. 17). These reports include: EQL Report 17-A Regional Geological History EQL Report 17-B Inland Sediment Movements by Natural Processes EQL Report 17-C Coastal Sediment Delivery by Major Rivers in Southern California EQL Report 17-D -- Special Inland Studies Additional supporting reports on coastal studies (shoreline sedimentation processes, control structures, dredging, etc.) are being published by the Center for Coastal Studies at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California

Black Root Rot in Tobacco

Black root rot is an important disease of tobacco in Kentucky, causing estimated annual losses in excess of $6,000,000. It rarely causes spectacular damage in any one burley field since the recommended burley varieties have some degree of resistance to the causal fungus. However, in dark tobacco plantings damage may be extensive, especially where susceptible varieties are still planted. Still, the inability to see widespread damage from black root rot is misleading. A 5% yield reduction results in a high dollar loss because the acre value of the crop is great. In addition to the reduction in yield, a lower quality crop may result from the slower growth and later maturity of diseased tobacco. The later maturing crop runs a greater risk of being cured under unfavorable curing conditions

The sharp interface limit of an Ising game

The Ising model of statistical physics has served as a keystone example of phase transitions, thermodynamic limits, scaling laws, and many other phenomena and mathematical methods. We introduce and explore an Ising game, a variant of the Ising model that features competing agents influencing the behavior of the spins. With long-range interactions, we consider a mean-field limit resulting in a nonlocal potential game at the mesoscopic scale. This game exhibits a phase transition and multiple constant Nash-equilibria in the supercritical regime. Our analysis focuses on a sharp interface limit for which potential minimizing solutions to the Ising game concentrate on two of the constant Nash-equilibria. We show that the mesoscopic problem can be recast as a mixed local/nonlocal space-time Allen-Cahn type minimization problem. We prove, using a $\Gamma$-convergence argument, that the limiting interface minimizes a space-time anisotropic perimeter type energy functional. This macroscopic scale problem could also be viewed as a problem of optimal control of interface motion. Sharp interface limits of Allen-Cahn type functionals have been well studied. We build on that literature with new techniques to handle a mixture of local derivative terms and nonlocal interactions. The boundary conditions imposed by the game theoretic considerations also appear as novel terms and require special treatment

Research poster: GIS and Remote Sensing Core Lab for facilitating interdisciplinary research in climate change

Research poste

Lack of an Association between Autoimmune Pancreatitis and Varicella Zoster Virus

No abstract available

The evolution of online teaching and learning in engineering at Deakin University

This paper presents a brief history of the use of online technologies in the support of teaching and learning in the School of Engineering and Technology at Deakin University, Victoria, Australia. It addresses the following topics: flexible engineering programs at Deakin University; computer-based learning in the School of Engineering and Technology; progression from individual efforts to formal, centralized control of the World Wide Web (Web); the costs of information technology; experiences with grant funded development projects; managing the development of online material; student access and equity; and staff development and cultural change. A sustainable online content development model is proposed to carry the School&rsquo;s online initiatives in support of teaching and learning activities into the future.<br /

Using Microsatellite DNA to Understand Bobwhite Behavior and Population Structure (Post Abstract)

Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) have a flexible mating system with varying degrees of parental investment in offspring. Questions of relatedness of mates and the dynamics of covey membership have not been answered. It is not known how different patterns of mating systems impact productivity of bobwhite populations. In addition to behaviors, the genetic structure of bobwhite populations likely varies across landscapes, and may depend on the distribution and abundance of habitat types. These issues have critical conservation and management implications, such as the impact of habitat fragmentation on gene flow. Recent advances in molecular techniques provide an opportunity to investigate these questions through examination of small, repetitive, highly variable regions of DNA known as microsatellites. Microsatellites provide the fine-scale resolution needed to objectively understand certain population structures and reproductive strategies. Microsatellite analysis techniques have been used successfully to research relatedness and extra-pair paternity of a number of species. Therefore, we have begun to investigate the genetic basis for many northern bobwhite behaviors related to reproduction. Our primary objectives are to determine: (1) relatedness of individuals within coveys and groups over time, (2) relatedness between reproductive pairs relative to random pairings, (3) relatedness of chicks in broods, (4) rates of extrapair fertilization, (5) rates of intra-specific nest parasitism, and (6) the relatedness of incubating birds to their eggs. To do so, we have developed a series of microsatellite markers for northern bobwhites. We radiomarked approximately 75% of bobwhites on our study area at Tall Timbers Research Station. We collected body feathers from adults and 1.5 mm patagial micro-biopsies from each chick (4 days old) found brooding with radiomarked adults for microsatellite analysis. We are determining relatedness and parentage, based on these microsatellite data, using programs RELATEDNESS and CERVUS. Additionally, we are testing our tissue collection techniques on a pen-reared population of bobwhites to determine the efficiency of DNA amplification via the polymerase chain reaction for 4 tissue collection techniques: patagial micro-biopsy, down and feather shaft, egg tooth, and egg membrane. Additionally, we are pairing pen-reared adult hens and males for different periods of time to determine the presence of sperm storage and test for evidence of sperm competition. Further, we are crossing individuals of known relatedness over several generations to test the accuracy of paternity inferences calculated by CERVUS with respect to bobwhite microsatellite data. Finally, by collecting feathers from hunterkilled bobwhites throughout the Red Hills and the southeast, we will compare the genetic structure of the bobwhite population(s) of the Red Hills, likely the last panmictic population in the southeast, to more isolated, declining populations. In our poster we present a detailed description of this research along with first year results