Correlation of satellite lightning observations with ground-based lightning experiments in Florida, Texas and Oklahoma

Satellite observations of lightning were correlated with ground-based measurements of lightning from data bases obtained at three separate sites. The percentage of ground-based observations of lightning that would be seen by an orbiting satellite was determined

Effects of aging on vibration detection thresholds at various body regions

Background: The ability to detect sinusoidal vibrations on the skin surface is dependent on the activation of two classes of receptors. The density of such receptors varies across the skin surface and is a factor in determining the sensory acuity of each skin area. However, the acuity of many sensory systems is known to deteriorate with advancing age. The aim of this study was to determine if vibrotactile sensibility of several skin surfaces deteriorated equally with advancing age. Methods: Vibration detection thresholds for two frequencies of vibration (30 Hz and 200 Hz) were determined using a method of limits protocol, in two groups of healthy adults, one group aged 17 to 27 years and the other aged 55 to 90 years. Sinusoidal vibrations were generated by a computer and delivered to the skin surface via the probe (diameter = 2 mm) of a mechanical vibrator. Four skin sites (palmar surface of the tip of the middle finger, volar surface of the forearm, lateral aspect of the shoulder, cheek just caudal to the zygoma) were tested. Results: The fingertip was the most sensitive site for vibrotactile detection at both frequencies in a substantial majority of subjects. The older group of subjects showed significantly higher detection thresholds for both frequencies at all sites, except the fingertip, when compared to young subjects. Conclusion: The study confirms the deterioration of vibrotactile acuity at several skin sites previously reported in the literature. However, there appears to be no significant reduction in vibrotactile detection at the fingertips in older subjects. This may reflect the high receptor density of this area, or the functional importance of vibrotactile sensibility of the fingertips or some combination of both of these factors

Occurrence and Reproduction of the Alabama Shad, Alosa alabamae Jordan and Evermann, in the Ouachita River System of Arkansas

The anadromous Alabama shad, Alosa alabamae, has drastically declined in abundance in recent decades throughout its historic range and has previously been reported in Arkansas from only five localities. Three of those locality records are pre- 1900. Sampling by seine in the Ouachita River drainage system of southern Arkansas in July and August of 1997 and 1998 produced more than 300 juvenile A. alabamae from two localities on the Little Missouri River and four localities on the Ouachita River. One record of an adult Alabama shad, taken on 4 April1997 by an angler below Remmel Dam on the Ouachita River, was also documented. Adults apparently ascended the Ouachita River and spawned successfully in 1997 and 1998 despite the construction of four locks and dams on that river in Louisiana and Arkansas in the 1980s. The Ouachita River drainage and a few streams in east-central Missouri are currently the only known spawning areas for A. alabamae in noncoastal regions of the entire Mississippi River basin. Continued survival of the Alabama shad in Arkansas depends on protecting critical spawning and nursery habitats in the Ouachita River system from deleterious alteration and on preserving that migratory species\u27 access to those habitats

How an Interprofessional Team Develops and Implements a Grassroots Maternal-Child Health Leadership Program to Address Infant mortality

Background: It is time to complement the work of our health care providers with a concerted statewide, community-centered approach to build infrastructures and systems that address social-economic-environmental factors that contribute to poor birth outcomes. The complexity of system issues that contribute to poor birth outcomes requires an interprofessional team, comprised of community and academic partners to develop feasible, affordable and implementable solution strategies. Hypothesis: Community capacity building improves MCH-related social-political factors of communities with poor birth outcomes

Editor\u27s Page

Now in its nineteenth year, the Basic Communication Course Annual continues to serve as an important outlet within the discipline for scholarship related to the way we teach, manage, and evaluate the basic course. Each year the Annual offers some of the best research on basic course pedagogy helping to position it as the primary source for teachers and scholars working to improve the quality of the basic course at their respective institutions. The Annual\u27s success has always been attributed to the community of scholars who continue to support the journal as contributors, editorial board members, and its readership. I wish to thank the efforts of the Annual\u27s previous editors, Deanna Sellnow, Craig Newburger, and Larry Hugenberg. I would especially like to thank Scott Titsworth, whose assistance has been instrumental as I have worked to complete my first issue

Appalachian Alter-Natives: The Back-to-the-Land Migration and Community Change in Appalachia, 1970--2000

Beginning in the late 1960s and continuing through the 1970s, thousands of people migrated from America\u27s cities to the countryside to establish communes and independent homesteads on small plots of land. By working the land they hoped to achieve autonomy, self-sufficiency, and closeness with nature. Cheap land, mild climate, beautiful scenery, and folk culture drew many of these predominately young, white, well educated, and affluent migrants to Appalachia. During the earliest years of the back-to-the-land migration suspicion and occasionally conflict surfaced as natives and newcomers navigated different lifestyle preferences and worldviews, for many of the back-to-the-landers, or alter-natives, had identified with 1960s social movements or the counterculture. Reactions to differences softened somewhat as the in-migrants engaged in mutually supportive relationships with their native neighbors. The alter-natives also formed countercultural sub-communities in the mountains that provided emotional and physical support for what could, at times, be a trying lifestyle.;Many alter-natives eventually became involved with broader community initiatives that addressed economic, educational, and environmental problems. Through various campaigns they forged bonds with like-minded natives, although disputes sometimes occurred as their cosmopolitan visions for local development and environmental sensibilities clashed with local procommodity interests. Different notions of the meaning of community and perceptions of sense of place shaped these contests. Both parties wanted to nurture community, but to many natives that meant preserving the traditional social structures and kinship networks that existed prior to the back-to-the-land migration. To many alter-natives community meant preserving the environment in which those exchanges occurred. Sometimes the clashes resulted in outsider/insider distinctions but they also brought diverse groups of individuals together.;Scholars who study the back-to-the-land movement have generally overlooked the impulse for community that existed alongside the desire for autonomy. Using Floyd County, Virginia, and Lincoln County, West Virginia, as case studies, this dissertation analyzes the in-migrants\u27 integration into Appalachia and the broad effects they had on the region\u27s social, political, and economic landscape. So the story of Appalachian alter-natives is the story of the search for community, of the push to reclaim---or preserve---interpersonal connections that provided support, grounding, and identity for multigenerational and new residents in rural Appalachia

Siena College Summer Institute: A program design for a short-term program for students from Siena\u27s international exchange universities.

This is a proposal of a program design for a three week summer program at Siena College for international students from Siena’s partner universities in Brazil and Columbia. The current trend of increased participation in short-term programs abroad has lead to the need for more programs. This is especially the case for thematic short-term programs for international students in the United States, as there is a lack of affordable options that offer college credit. The program’s curriculum is based on the Holistic and Emerging Adulthood development theories to ensure it meets the cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal needs of the students. It includes two credit-bearing courses in “Global Business English” and “United States Culture”. In addition to in-class coursework, the curriculum includes site visits to relevant local businesses and organizations and cultural activities and excursions. This proposal details the components and strategies for planning and implementing the Summer Institute as well as an evaluation plan for the program. The goal is to create a sustainable program that can be repeatedly implemented annually. With a sustainable base structure in place, it will also allow the program to easily grow and expand in number or participants and partner universities involved