EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS TO ADDRESS THE ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENTS FACING TOBACCO FARMERS AND RURAL COMMUNITIES

This paper discusses the context within which educational programs tailored to tobacco producers and related rural communities have developed. Discussion is expanded by examining current program approaches employed by various organizations. Many of these organizations have a manual stake in helping producers in tobacco communities develop their management capacity. A range of initiatives aimed at facilitating economic adjustment is compared, including the major issues addressed and expected outcomes. Many of the initiatives have made useful contributions; however, gaps and limitations remain. These are considered as future educational efforts and issues are discussed.educational programs, tobacco producers, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Mandarin Market Segments Based on Consumer Sensory Evaluations

Ninety-five consumers in seven grocery stores tasted unidentified peeled sections of three mandarins (a tangerine, a satsuma, and a clementine), and provided demographic and purchase information. Forty-four percent of the respondents preferred tangerines, 34 percent satsumas, and 22 percent clementines. The probability of preferring each of type of mandarin was estimated from internal quality analysis of paired samples, as well as from demographic and purchase responses. Model simulations were used to recommend harvest standards for satsumas based on Brix-to-acid ratios.Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Stimulus Variability Affects the Amplitude of the Auditory Steady-State Response

In this study we investigate whether stimulus variability affects the auditory steady-state response (ASSR). We present cosinusoidal AM pulses as stimuli where we are able to manipulate waveform shape independently of the fixed repetition rate of 4 Hz. We either present sounds in which the waveform shape, the pulse-width, is fixed throughout the presentation or where it varies pseudo-randomly. Importantly, the average spectra of all the fixed-width AM stimuli are equal to the spectra of the mixed-width AM. Our null hypothesis is that the average ASSR to the fixed-width AM will not be significantly different from the ASSR to the mixed-width AM. In a region of interest beamformer analysis of MEG data, we compare the 4 Hz component of the ASSR to the mixed-width AM with the 4 Hz component of the ASSR to the pooled fixed-width AM. We find that at the group level, there is a significantly greater response to the variable mixed-width AM at the medial boundary of the Middle and Superior Temporal Gyri. Hence, we find that adding variability into AM stimuli increases the amplitude of the ASSR. This observation is important, as it provides evidence that analysis of the modulation waveform shape is an integral part of AM processing. Therefore, standard steady-state studies in audition, using sinusoidal AM, may not be sensitive to a key feature of acoustic processing

Functional Properties of Human Auditory Cortical Fields

While auditory cortex in non-human primates has been subdivided into multiple functionally specialized auditory cortical fields (ACFs), the boundaries and functional specialization of human ACFs have not been defined. In the current study, we evaluated whether a widely accepted primate model of auditory cortex could explain regional tuning properties of fMRI activations on the cortical surface to attended and non-attended tones of different frequency, location, and intensity. The limits of auditory cortex were defined by voxels that showed significant activations to non-attended sounds. Three centrally located fields with mirror-symmetric tonotopic organization were identified and assigned to the three core fields of the primate model while surrounding activations were assigned to belt fields following procedures similar to those used in macaque fMRI studies. The functional properties of core, medial belt, and lateral belt field groups were then analyzed. Field groups were distinguished by tonotopic organization, frequency selectivity, intensity sensitivity, contralaterality, binaural enhancement, attentional modulation, and hemispheric asymmetry. In general, core fields showed greater sensitivity to sound properties than did belt fields, while belt fields showed greater attentional modulation than core fields. Significant distinctions in intensity sensitivity and contralaterality were seen between adjacent core fields A1 and R, while multiple differences in tuning properties were evident at boundaries between adjacent core and belt fields. The reliable differences in functional properties between fields and field groups suggest that the basic primate pattern of auditory cortex organization is preserved in humans. A comparison of the sizes of functionally defined ACFs in humans and macaques reveals a significant relative expansion in human lateral belt fields implicated in the processing of speech

Collecting, analyzing and archiving of ground based infrared solar spectra obtained from several locations

The infrared solar spectrum as observed from the ground under high resolution contains thousands of absorption lines. The majority of these lines are due to compounds that are present in the Earth's atmosphere. Ground based infrared solar spectra contain information concerning the composition of the atmosphere at the time the spectra were obtained. The objective of this program is to record solar spectra from various ground locations, and to analyze and archive these spectra. The analysis consists of determining, for as many of the absorption lines as possible, the molecular species responsible for the absorption, and to verify that current models of infrared transmission match the observed spectra. Archiving is an important part of the program, since a number of the features in the spectra have not been identified. At some later time, when the features are identified, it will be possible to determine the amount of that compound that was present in the atmosphere at the time the spectrum was taken

Synthetic Ligands of Olfactory Binding Proteins Modulate Aggregation Response of Asian Citrus Psyllid in the Presence of Host-Plant Volatiles

There is interest in using ligands of chemosensory binding proteins (CBP) to augment an insect’s responsiveness to chemosensory cues. We showed previously that combining a synthetic ligand of a CBP with limonene, a common citrus volatile, enhanced the probing response of Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorinacitri). Here, we determined whether synthetic compounds, which were ligands of D. citri olfactory binding protein (OBP) DCSAP4, influenced the settling and aggregation levels of psyllids on young citrus shoots. The test ligands and Cmac scent were dispensed from a droplet of an emulsified wax product (SPLAT) placed on the bottom of each vial. The shoots were presented: (1) alone (shoot + blank SPLAT), (2) with a mixture of citrus volatiles (“Cmac scent”) (shoot + SPLAT with Cmac scent), or (3) with different concentrations of test ligands (shoot + SPLAT with test ligand at concentration 1, shoot + SPLAT with test ligand at concentration 2, etc.). Depending on the availability of test ligands, sprigs, and psyllids, each test included from two to four replicates of each treatment (i.e., shoot only, shoot + Cmac scent, shoot + test ligand at concentration 1, shoot + test ligand at concentration 2, etc.); only a single test ligand was presented in each test. For each test, 200 D. citri were released in the test area and the numbers of psyllids on each sprig were counted 24 h later. Sprigs with ≥7 psyllids were considered to be an aggregation. A total of seven ligands were tested individually. Four of the ligands (654, 717, 784, and 861) modulated psyllid settling and aggregation response, causing greater settling and aggregation to sprigs presented with the Cmac scent than to those sprigs with blank SPLAT. Presentation of one of the ligands (019) resulted in an opposite effect in which psyllid settling and aggregation levels were lower on sprigs with Cmac scent than on those with blank SPLAT. There were no differences in settling levels in the different treatment vials in the Ligand 905 experiment. In the Ligand 937 experiment, settling levels did not vary significantly between treatment vials although settling levels were relatively high in all treatment vials and there was a significant treatment effect. Increased settling and aggregation levels were largely not observed with in the vials with only the test ligands, and there was little effect of ligand concentration on psyllid response levels. This suggests that the test ligands themselves did not attract the psyllids but rather modulated the psyllid’s response to the Cmac scent. The results suggest that synthetic ligands of D. citri CBPs can be used to increase the effectiveness of citrus scent lures used to attract psyllids to monitoring traps and attract and kill devices

The seismic attenuation structure of the East Pacific Rise

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 1992.Includes bibliographical references (p. 321-337).by William Sam Douglas Wilcock.Ph.D

Responsibility for HIV Prevention: Patterns of Attribution Among HIV-seropositive Gay and Bisexual Men

The article presents research based on narratives by gay and bisexual men recently infected with HIV. Researchers looked at the men\u27s attributions of responsibility for infection, comparing recollections of feelings before becoming infected with views expressed after seroconversion. The research responds to a call to better understand risk behavior among HIV-positive persons, in an effort to craft effective prevention interventions. In both before-and after-HIV infection views, survey participants expressed a sense of personal responsibility. Researchers report also nuances of views about shared responsibility

Hectospec, the MMT's 300 Optical Fiber-Fed Spectrograph

The Hectospec is a 300 optical fiber fed spectrograph commissioned at the MMT in the spring of 2004. A pair of high-speed six-axis robots move the 300 fiber buttons between observing configurations within ~300 s and to an accuracy ~25 microns. The optical fibers run for 26 m between the MMT's focal surface and the bench spectrograph operating at R~1000-2000. Another high dispersion bench spectrograph offering R~5,000, Hectochelle, is also available. The system throughput, including all losses in the telescope optics, fibers, and spectrograph peaks at ~10% at the grating blaze in 1" FWHM seeing. Correcting for aperture losses at the 1.5" diameter fiber entrance aperture, the system throughput peaks at $\sim$17%. Hectospec has proven to be a workhorse instrument at the MMT. Hectospec and Hectochelle together were scheduled for 1/3 of the available nights since its commissioning. Hectospec has returned \~60,000 reduced spectra for 16 scientific programs during its first year of operation.Comment: 68 pages, 28 figures, to appear in December 2005 PAS