THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY PROGRAM AND THE 1981 FARM BILL

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Fast and flexible selection with a single switch

Selection methods that require only a single-switch input, such as a button click or blink, are potentially useful for individuals with motor impairments, mobile technology users, and individuals wishing to transmit information securely. We present a single-switch selection method, "Nomon," that is general and efficient. Existing single-switch selection methods require selectable options to be arranged in ways that limit potential applications. By contrast, traditional operating systems, web browsers, and free-form applications (such as drawing) place options at arbitrary points on the screen. Nomon, however, has the flexibility to select any point on a screen. Nomon adapts automatically to an individual's clicking ability; it allows a person who clicks precisely to make a selection quickly and allows a person who clicks imprecisely more time to make a selection without error. Nomon reaps gains in information rate by allowing the specification of beliefs (priors) about option selection probabilities and by avoiding tree-based selection schemes in favor of direct (posterior) inference. We have developed both a Nomon-based writing application and a drawing application. To evaluate Nomon's performance, we compared the writing application with a popular existing method for single-switch writing (row-column scanning). Novice users wrote 35% faster with the Nomon interface than with the scanning interface. An experienced user (author TB, with > 10 hours practice) wrote at speeds of 9.3 words per minute with Nomon, using 1.2 clicks per character and making no errors in the final text.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, presented at NIPS 2009 Mini-symposi

U.S. family foods programs : an interstate comparison

Published February 1971. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

Disentangling unclear nuclear breakup channels of beryllium-9 using the three-axis Dalitz plot

The three-axis Dalitz plot has been applied to the breakup of a nucleus into unequal mass fragments for the first time. The Dalitz plot allows clear identification of the various breakup channels of 9Be → 2α + n process. The method has allowed the branching ratio for the 6.38 MeV level in9Be to be provisionally calculated when examining the 9Be(4He, α)ααn reaction. The effects of non-uniform angular distributions on the Dalitz plot must still be properly investigated along with the effects of contaminant reaction channels. It is proposed that this method could be used to determine the breakup branching ratio of a newly-measured level in this nucleus

Beta-decay of Mn-65 to Fe-65

The low energy structure of Fe-65 has been studied by means of gamma- and fast-timing spectroscopy. A level scheme of Fe-65 populated following the beta-decay of Mn-65 was established for the first time. It includes 41 levels and 85 transitions. The excitation energy of the beta-decaying isomer in Fe-65 has been precisely determined at 393.7(2) keV. The beta delayed neutron emission branch was measured as Pn = 7.9(12)%, which cannot be reconciled with the previously reported value of 21.0(5)%. Four gamma-rays and four excited states in Fe-64 were identified as being populated following the beta-n decay. Four lifetimes and five lifetime limits in the subnanosecond range have been measured using the Advanced Time-Delayed Method. The level scheme is compared with shell-model calculations. Tentative spin and parity assignments are proposed based on the observed transition rates, the calculations and the systematics of the region.Comment: Accepted in Physical Review

Staphylococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome 2000–2006: Epidemiology, Clinical Features, and Molecular Characteristics

Circulating strains of Staphylococcus aureus (SA) have changed in the last 30 years including the emergence of community-associated methicillin-resistant SA (MRSA). A report suggested staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome (TSS) was increasing over 2000-2003. The last population-based assessment of TSS was 1986.Population-based active surveillance for TSS meeting the CDC definition using ICD-9 codes was conducted in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area (population 2,642,056) from 2000-2006. Medical records of potential cases were reviewed for case criteria, antimicrobial susceptibility, risk factors, and outcome. Superantigen PCR testing and PFGE were performed on available isolates from probable and confirmed cases.Of 7,491 hospitalizations that received one of the ICD-9 study codes, 61 TSS cases (33 menstrual, 28 non-menstrual) were identified. The average annual incidence per 100,000 of all, menstrual, and non-menstrual TSS was 0.52 (95% CI, 0.32-0.77), 0.69 (0.39-1.16), and 0.32 (0.12-0.67), respectively. Women 13-24 years had the highest incidence at 1.41 (0.63-2.61). No increase in incidence was observed from 2000-2006. MRSA was isolated in 1 menstrual and 3 non-menstrual cases (7% of TSS cases); 1 isolate was USA400. The superantigen gene tst-1 was identified in 20 (80%) of isolates and was more common in menstrual compared to non-menstrual isolates (89% vs. 50%, p = 0.07). Superantigen genes sea, seb and sec were found more frequently among non-menstrual compared to menstrual isolates [100% vs 25% (p = 0.4), 60% vs 0% (p<0.01), and 25% vs 13% (p = 0.5), respectively].TSS incidence remained stable across our surveillance period of 2000-2006 and compared to past population-based estimates in the 1980s. MRSA accounted for a small percentage of TSS cases. tst-1 continues to be the superantigen associated with the majority of menstrual cases. The CDC case definition identifies the most severe cases and has been consistently used but likely results in a substantial underestimation of the total TSS disease burden

Breakup branches of Borromean beryllium-9

The breakup reaction 9Be(4He, 3α)n was measured using an array of four double-sided silicon strip detectors at beam energies of 22 and 26 MeV. Excited states in 9Be up to 12 MeV were populated and reconstructed through the measurement of the charged reaction products. It is proposed that limits on the spins and parities of the states can be derived from the way that they decay. Various breakup paths for excited states in 9Be have been explored including the 8Be(g.s.) + n, 8Be(2+) + n and 5He(g.s.) + 4He channels. By imposing the condition that the breakup proceeded via the 8Be ground state, clean excitation spectra for 9Be were reconstructed. The remaining two breakup channels were found to possess strongly-overlapping kinematic signatures and more sophisticated methods (referenced) are required to completely disentangle these other possibilities. Emphasis is placed on the development of the experimental analysis and the usefulness of Monte-Carlo simulations for this purpose

Evidence for a 3.8 MeV state in 9Be

The breakup reaction 9Be(4He,3a)n was measured using an array of four double-sided silicon strip detectors at beam energies of 22 and 26 MeV. Excited states in 9Be up to 8 MeV were populated and reconstructed through measurements of the charged reaction products. Evidence is given for a state in 9Be at 3.82-0.09+0.08 MeV with width=1240-90+270 keV. This is consistent with two recent measurements of a state with similar properties in the mirror nucleus 9B. An analysis of the reduced widths (Beg.s.8 channel) of this state along with the proposed mirror state has led to a firm limit of J<=7/2 and a tentative assignment of J^pi=1/2- or 3/2-

Fission Fragment Isomers Populated Via \u3csup\u3e6\u3c/sup\u3eLi+\u3csup\u3e232\u3c/sup\u3eTh.

Short-lived isomers in fission fragments following bombardment of 45-MeV 6Li on 232Th were examined. Isomers in the A ~ 95,122, and 132 mass regions were observed. New isomeric decays were observed in 121In [T1/2=17(2) μs], 123In (T1/2≳100 μs), and 125Sb [T1/2=25(4) μs]. These isomers are suggested to arise from ν(h11/2⊗d3/2)7−and ν(h11/2⊗s1/2)5− neutron core excitations coupling with the valence proton