A benchmark and feasibility study of the Tennessee 4-H rabbit project

County Extension staffs in 26 Tennessee counties reporting more than 3 4-H\u27ers enrolled in the 4-H Rabbit project and 17 state specialists who reported more than 1,000 4-H\u27ers enrolled in their state\u27s Rabbit project constituted the populations included in this study. Purposes were to identify the current status of the Tennessee 4-H Rabbit project and to determine what other states had done with regards to successful 4-H Rabbit projects. Major findings included the following: 1. Ten county staffs reported a total of 13 Rabbit shows in which 111 4-H\u27ers participated. Show judges most frequently mentioned included Rabbit producers. Extension Agents, College Professors and others. The shows were held either in late Summer/early Fall or in the Spring. Fourteen county staffs indicated 4-H\u27ers gave demonstrations dealing with Rabbits. 2. Six county staffs reported having Rabbit project groups with a grand total of 60 4-H\u27ers participating. The most frequently reported meeting topic was teaching how to feed and care for rabbits. Nine county staffs reported a total of 23 volunteer leaders and 7 county staffs reported a total of 13 teen leaders helping with the Rabbit project. Twelve staffs felt the Extension Agent did the most work with the project, while 10 felt Adult Volunteer Leaders did. Twenty-two Extension Agents reported no personal experience with rabbits. 3. Nine county staffs indicated Newspaper coverage of 4-H Rabbit project member achievements, while two county staffs reported Radio recognition. Ribbons were the most frequently reported type of show award given. Cash awards and trophies were also given. Nine county staffs reported project members involved in District competition, while four reported 4-H\u27ers involved in competition at the State level. Eleven Rabbit project members were reported in the Honor Club and three were All Stars. 4. The Fair Board was the most frequently (i.e., 7) reported sponsor of the Rabbit project. Other sponsors reported were Rabbit Owners, Agricultural Companies, Parents, the International Heifer Project and Rabbit Breeder Associations. Almost one-half of the county staffs reporting noted sponsorship at the local level, while sponsorship at the state and national levels were reported by three and one county staffs, respectively. Types of donations in order of most responses include money, prizes, time, rabbits, rabbit feed, and marketing assistance. 5. Seventy-two percent or more county staffs responded positively to questions dealing with the current format of the Rabbit project manual. The staffs were almost evenly split over whether or not other literature was needed. Thirteen county staffs thought the Rabbit project should remain an individual project, while 12 thought it should be consolidated into one small animal project. Twenty-two staffs felt there was a continuing need for the 4-H Rabbit project. 6. All contacted state specialists reported that their 4-H Rabbit project was a recognized statewide project and that adult volunteer leaders helped with it. Thirteen specialists indicated rabbit owners were major sponsors along with parents and fair boards. 7. Special awards or recognition reported by special its included medals, plaques, certificates, trophies and trips. Competition at county, state, district and national levels were reported by 16, 15, 5 and 2 state specialists, respectively. 8. Special projects and activities reported by state specialists included a 4-H Rabbit Poster Program, illustrated talk contest, Barbeque, Auction, Royalty contest. Showmanship contest, special project literature. Quiz Bowl, Statewide or District Leaders organization, and club demonstration at a statewide rabbit meeting\u27. 9. Implications were drawn and recommendations made for use of findings and further study

Late Miocene Pickett Creek Flora Of Owyhee County, Idaho

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57496/1/Vol 31 No 12 final 12-19-07.pd

Bringing pupils into the ORBYTS of research

publishersversionPeer reviewe

Seismological imaging of ridge–arc interaction beneath the Eastern Lau Spreading Center from OBS ambient noise tomography

The Lau Basin displays large along-strike variations in ridge characters with the changing proximity of the adjacent subduction zone. The mechanism governing these changes is not well understood but one hypotheses relates them to interaction between the arc and back-arc magmatic systems. We present a 3D seismic velocity model of the shallow mantle beneath the Eastern Lau back-arc Spreading Center (ELSC) and the adjacent Tofua volcanic arc obtained from ambient noise tomography of ocean bottom seismograph data. Our seismic images reveal an asymmetric upper mantle low velocity zone (LVZ) beneath the ELSC. Two major trends are present as the ridge-to-arc distance increases: (1) the LVZ becomes increasingly offset from the ridge to the north, where crust is thinner and the ridge less magmatically active; (2) the LVZ becomes increasingly connected to a sub-arc low velocity zone to the south. The separation of the ridge and arc low velocity zones is spatially coincident with the abrupt transition in crustal composition and ridge morphology. Our results present the first mantle imaging confirmation of a direct connection between crustal properties and uppermost mantle processes at ELSC, and support the prediction that as ELSC migrates away from the arc, a changing mantle wedge flow pattern leads to the separation of the arc and ridge melting regions. Slab-derived water is cutoff from the ridge, resulting in abrupt changes in crustal lava composition and crustal porosity. The larger offset between mantle melt supply and the ridge along the northern ELSC may reduce melt extraction efficiency along the ridge, further decreasing the melt budget and leading to the observed flat and faulted ridge morphology, thinner crust and the lack of an axial melt lens

BRICS and the New American Imperialism

"BRICS is a grouping of the five major emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Volume five in the Democratic Marxism series, BRICS and the New American Imperialism challenges the mainstream understanding of BRICS and US dominance to situate the new global rivalries engulfing capitalism. It offers novel analyses of BRICS in the context of increasing US induced imperial chaos, deepening environmental crisis tendencies (such as climate change and water scarcity), contradictory dynamics inside BRICS countries and growing subaltern resistance. The authors revisit contemporary thinking on imperialism and anti-imperialism, drawing on the work of Rosa Luxemburg, one of the leading theorists after Marx, who attempted to understand the expansionary nature of capitalism from the heartlands to the peripheries. The richness of Luxemburg’s pioneering work inspires most of the volume’s contributors in their analyses of the dangerous contradictions of the contemporary world as well as forms of democratic agency advancing resistance. While various forms of resistance are highlighted, among them water protests, mass worker strikes, anti-corporate campaigning and forms of cultural critique, this volume grapples with the challenge of renewing anti-imperialism beyond the NGO-driven World Social Forum and considers the prospects of a new horizontal political vessel to build global convergence. It also explores the prospects of a Fifth International of Peoples and Workers.

How the structure of the large subunit controls function in an oxygen-tolerant [NiFe]-hydrogenase

Salmonella enterica is an opportunistic pathogen that produces a [NiFe]-hydrogenase under aerobic conditions. In the present study, genetic engineering approaches were used to facilitate isolation of this enzyme, termed Hyd-5. The crystal structure was determined to a resolution of 3.2 Å and the hydro-genase was observed to comprise associated large and small subunits. The structure indicated that His(229) from the large subunit was close to the proximal [4Fe–3S] cluster in the small subunit. In addition, His(229) was observed to lie close to a buried glutamic acid (Glu(73)), which is conserved in oxygen-tolerant hydrogenases. His(229) and Glu(73) of the Hyd-5 large subunit were found to be important in both hydrogen oxidation activity and the oxygen-tolerance mechanism. Substitution of His(229) or Glu(73) with alanine led to a loss in the ability of Hyd-5 to oxidize hydrogen in air. Furthermore, the H229A variant was found to have lost the overpotential requirement for activity that is always observed with oxygen-tolerant [NiFe]-hydrogenases. It is possible that His(229) has a role in stabilizing the super-oxidized form of the proximal cluster in the presence of oxygen, and it is proposed that Glu(73)could play a supporting role in fine-tuning the chemistry of His(229) to enable this function

Laparoscopic-assisted resection of a giant colonic diverticulum: a case report

a case repor

Relationships of Physical Performance Tests to Military-relevant Tasks in Women

Purpose: This investigation sought to determine the most predictive measures of performance on a repetitive box lifting task (RBLT) and load bearing task (LBT) among 123 women (aged 23±4 years, height 165±7 cm, body mass 64±10 kg). Methods: To determine the relationship of various predictors to performance on the RBLT and LBT, multiple regression analysis was conducted on body mass, height, leg cross-sectional area, upper and lower body muscular strength, lower body explosive power, upper and lower body local muscular endurance, and aerobic capacity. Results: The mean±SD (range) number of repetitions for the RBLT was 86±23 (20-159). The mean±SD (range) time to complete the LBT was 2,054±340 seconds (1,307-3,447). The following equations were generated: RBLT (number of repetitions)=57.4 + 0.2(peak jump power) + 0.4(number of pushups in 2 minutes) + 0.15(number of repetitions during the squat endurance test) + 1.39(one repetition maximal strength boxlift (kg)) – 0.04(2-mile run time (2MR) in seconds), R=0.81; standard error of the estimate (SEE)=14; LBT (in seconds)=1,831 – 4.28(number of repetitions during the squat endurance test) + 0.95(2MR in seconds) – 13.4(body mass), R=0.73; SEE=232. Conclusions: We found that the 2MR and squat endurance test were signifi cant predictive factors for performance on both load carriage tasks. These data also imply that women’s performance in combat-related tasks can be improved with training that targets muscular strength, power, and local muscular endurance in addition to aerobic capacity