Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Live Capture Of Denning Mammals Using An Improved Box-Trap Enclosure: Kit Foxes As A Test Case, Adam J. Kozlowski, Tim J. Bennett, Eric M. Gese, Wendy M. Arjo

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The ability to capture and recapture animals efficiently is ,In integral part of many wildlife studies. For many species of small terrestrial carnivores, the baited box trap has been a staple of live-capture trapping efforts. Combined with an enclosure, the box trap is especially effective on species with a den or refuge that can be encircled. However, increased trapping success of these enclosure designs often is offset by increased cost, labor, and awkwardness of transporting and establishing the enclosure trap. We describe a new enclosure design, the tunnel trap, which improves on the mobility and effectiveness of previous enclosure designs. …

Coyote (Canis Latrans), Marc Bekoff, Eric M. Gese

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Coyotes

On Analytical Methods And Inferences For 2 X 2 Contingency Table Data Using Wildlife Examples, Richard M. Engeman, George D. Swanson

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The 2 X 2 contingency table is common analytical method for wildlife studies, but inappropriate analyses and inferences are not uncommon. Issues of concern are presented for selecting the appropriate test for analyzing these data sets. These include the choice of test relative to experimental or sampling design and breadth of intended inferences, the careful statement of hypotheses, and analyses with small sample sizes. Examples from the wildlife literature are used to reinforce the statistical concepts.

A Review Of Color Vision In White-Tailed Deer, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Michael J. Pipas

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

A better understanding of the color vision abilities of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) helps to determine how these animals interpret their environment. We review and summarize the literature related to the color vision abilities of white-tailed deer. Physiological measurements using advanced techniques such as molecular genetics, electroretinography, and electron microscopy have demonstrated conclusively that whitetailed deer possess the anatomical requisites for color vision. Operant conditioning techniques employed in pen studies using trained cervids confirm that deer see color. The eyes of white-tailed deer are characterized by 3 classes of photopigments: a short-wavelengthsensitive cone mechanism, a middle-wavelength-sensitive cone mechanism, …

Lewis And Clark And The Geology Of Nebraska And Parts Of Adjacent States, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Anne P. Diffendal

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark undertook their journey with the Corps of Discovery in 1804–1806 in order to explore the area that the United States had purchased from France in 1803. Then known as Louisiana, this region included almost everything west of the Mississippi to the continental divide (illustrated below). In order to find the best route across the continent, President Thomas Jefferson charged Lewis to follow the Missouri River to its headwaters and then locate rivers flowing down the west side of the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River and into the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson's written instructions further specified …

Fundamental And Magnetic-Hardening Studies Of Rare-Earth And Nanocomposite Magnets, David J. Sellmyer, George C. Hadjipanayis

David Sellmyer Publications

In this project we study new nanocrystalline and nanocomposite structures that have high potential for permanent-magnet development. These materials, which can be synthesized to have either very high or intermediate coercivities, have many applications in electric power, transportation, and information-storage industries. There is great interest in further development of understanding and application of these materials. Following are brief discussions of recent research highlights for the present grant.

Where Are The Women Geoscientist Professors?, Mary Anne Holmes, Suzanne O'Connell

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Nearly 50 geo- and social scientists recently gathered for a workshop on women in the geosciences. The two-fold purpose was to compile data on the status of women in the geosciences, and to arrive at a consensus on strategies to increase the proportion of women and their diversity in the field. The Workshop on Women in the Geosciences was held September 25-27, 2003, in Washington, D.C.

Strong Field Detachment Of A Negative Ion With Non-Zero Angular Momentum: Application To F-, M. V. Frolov, N. L. Manakov, E. A. Pronin, Anthony F. Starace

Anthony F. Starace Publications

We apply our recently developed, model-independent quantum approach for intense laser detachment of a weakly bound electron to interpret a recent experiment on above-threshold detachment (ATD) of the F^- ion. We find that the measured electron energies correspond to the “Keldysh part” of the ATD spectrum, just below the onset of our predicted rescattering plateau. Overall, our predicted ATD spectrum (using a scaled peak intensity and focal averaging) is in excellent agreement with the experimental data, except for certain structures observed for electron energies above 12.6 eV that we attribute to known two-electron resonances of F^-. A …

Measurement Of Prompt Charm Meson Production Cross Sections In Pp̅ Collisions At √S=1.96 Tev, Darin Acosta, Kenneth A. Bloom, Collider Detector At Fermilab Collaboration

Kenneth Bloom Publications

We report on measurements of differential cross sections d /dpT for prompt charm meson production in pp̅ collisions at √s=1.96 TeV using 5.8±0.3 pb^-1 of data from the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. The data are collected with a new trigger that is sensitive to the long lifetime of hadrons containing heavy flavor. The charm meson cross sections are measured in the central rapidity region |y|≤1 in four fully reconstructed decay modes: D⁰→K^- π⁺, D*+→D⁰ π⁺, D⁺→K^- π⁺ π⁺, …

Spatiotemporal Databases: Models For Attracting Students To Research, Ágnes Bércesné Novák, Peter Revesz, Zsolt Tuza

CSE Conference and Workshop Papers

In higher education professors often make much effort to introduce their students to research. Unfortunately, the present standard database systems curriculum is composed of well-settled subjects that do not lead to research. The challenge is to bring the research frontier closer to students at beginner level. In this paper we describe how it can be done in the area of spatiotemporal databases. We propose a new database systems curriculum and illustrate its benefits by mentioning several highly succsesful student projects in some recent experimental introductory database systems courses that followed the new curriculum.

United States Patent: Application Of High Spin Polarization Materials In Two Terminal Non-Volatile Bistable Memory Devices, Bernard Doudin, Andrei Sokolov, Cheol-Soo Yang, Lu Yuan, Sy-Hwang Liou

Sy-Hwang Liou Publications

Disclosed are two terminal bistable memory cells having least two high-spin polarization magnetic material junctions which are separated from one another by electron trap site defect containing insulator. The two terminal bistable memory cells demonstrate stable, low current readable, hysteretic resistance states which are set by the flow of a relatively high, (eg. a milliamp or less), plus or minus polarity D.C. current therethrough, which resistance is monitored by lower magnitude A.C. or D.C. current flow therethrough. Preferred cells have at least one Cr0₂/Cr₂0₃/ CrO₂ sequence but typically have multiple Cr0₂/Cr …

Body Mass Of Late Quaternary Mammals (Data Set), Felisa A. Smith, S. Kathleen Lyons, S.K. Morgan Ernest, Kate E. Jones, Kansas State University, Tamar Dayan, Pablo A. Marquet, James H. Brown, John P. Haskell

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this data set was to compile body mass information for all mammals on Earth so that we could investigate the patterns of body mass seen across geographic and taxonomic space and evolutionary time. We were interested in the heritability of body size across taxonomic groups (How conserved is body mass within a genus, family, and order?), in the overall pattern of body mass across continents (Do the moments and other descriptive statistics remain the same across geographic space?), and over evolutionary time (How quickly did body mass patterns iterate on the patterns seen today? Were the Pleistocene …

Leaf And Wood Utilization In The Middle Missouri River, Kim Rager

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

No abstract provided.

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 35, No.4 December 2003

The Prairie Naturalist

HOME RANGE AND MOVEMENTS OF EASTERN AND RIO GRANDE WILD TURKEY FEMALES IN NORTHEASTERN

SOUTH DAKOTA ▪ C. P. Lehman, L. D. Flake, and A. P. Leif

THE BAT FAUNA OF SOUTHEASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA . J. E. Lane, C. L. Buck, and R. M. Brigham

FIRST REPORT OF THE NORTH DAKOTA RARE BIRD COMMITTEE ▪ D. Svingen and R. E. Martin

BREEDING CHRONOLOGY OF DABBLING DUCKS IN MINNEDOSA, MANITOBA ▪ A. M. Wells and H. H. Prince

A LIVE COLLECTION OF A PISTOLGRIP FROM NEBRASKA ▪ S. C. Schainost

NEW NESTING DATES FOR SOME BREEDING BIRDS IN NORTH DAKOTA ▪ …

Targeting Methanopterin Biosynthesis To Inhibit Methanogenesis, Razvan Dumitru, Hector Palencia, Scott D. Schroeder, Bree A. Demontigny, James M. Takacs, Madeline E. Rasche, Jess L. Miner, Stephen W. Ragsdale

James Takacs Publications

This paper describes the design, synthesis, and successful employment of inhibitors of 4-( β -D-ribofuranosyl) aminobenzene-5’-phosphate (RFA-P) synthase, which catalyzes the first committed step in the biosynthesis of methanopterin, to specifically halt the growth of methane-producing microbes. RFA-P synthase catalyzes the first step in the synthesis of tetrahydromethanopterin, a key cofactor required for methane formation and for one-carbon transformations in methanogens. A number of inhibitors, which are N-substituted derivatives of p-aminobenzoic acid (pABA), have been synthesized and their inhibition constants with RFA-P synthase have been determined. Based on comparisons of the inhibition constants among various inhibitors, we propose that the …

Flocking Over 3d Terrain, Joel Gompert

CSE Technical Reports

A method is presented for animating herds of animals that can follow terrain while being efficient enough to run in real-time. This method involves making simple modifications to Reynolds’ agent-based flocking algorithm. The modifications use only local properties of the terrain, and thus have low complexity. This method focuses on using terrain that can be described as an elevation grid, but it may be extendible to arbitrary terrain. The flocking algorithm with these modifications produces naturally behaving herds that follow the terrain. They will swerve around hills and attempt to follow paths that reduce energy expenditure. The terrain-following rule added …

In-Field Labeling Of Western Corn Rootworm Adults (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) With Rubidium, Timothy M. Nowatzki, Bradley Niimi, Kelli J. Warren, Sean Putnam, Lance J. Meinke, David C. Gosselin, F. Edwin Harvey, Thomas E. Hunt, Blair Siegfried

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Field and laboratory studies were conducted in 2000 and 2001 to determine the feasibility of mass marking western corn rootworm adults, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, with RbCl in the field. Results showed that application of rubidium (Rb) in solution to both the soil (1 g Rb/plant) and whorl (1 g Rb/plant) of corn plants was optimal for labeling western corn rootworm adults during larval development. Development of larvae on Rb-enriched corn with this technique did not significantly influence adult dry weight or survival. Rb was also highly mobile in the plant. Application of Rb to both the soil and the …

“Don’T Tell Me, I’Ll Find Out”: Robert Karplus—A Science Education Pioneer, Robert Fuller

Robert G. Fuller Publications

Robert Karplus (1927–90), who began his career as a brilliant theoretical physicist, switched to science education in the early 1960s. He made many substantial contributions to this field in addition to developing a complete K–6 hands-on science curriculum. Karplus provided his curriculum with a sound epistemological foundation, based on the work of Piaget. He developed an effective classroom teaching strategy, the learning cycle. He and his team used a scientific approach to curriculum development. They focused on teacher development. Karplus was committed to science for ALL students. Through science activities he sought to share the joy of discovery. A recent …

Nonlethal Techniques For Managing Predation: Primary And Secondary Repellents, John A. Shivik, Adrian Treves, Peggy Callahan

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Conservation biology requires the development of practical tools and techniques to minimize conflicts arising from human modification of ecosystems. We applied behavioral theory of primary and secondary repellents to predator management by using aversive stimulus devices (electronic training collars) and disruptive stimulus devices (behavior-contingent audio and visual repellents) in a multipredator (Canis lupus, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Ursus spp. ) study in the United States. We examined fladry and a newly developed disruptive stimulus device contingent upon behavior on six wolf territories in Wisconsin, (US.A.) and determined that the disruptive stimulus device gave the greatest degree of protection from predation. We …

Wolf Depredation Trends And The Use Of Fladry Barriers To Protect Livestock In Western North America, Marco Musiani, Charles Mamo, Luigi Boitani, Carolyn Callaghan, C. Cormack Gates, Livia Mattei, Elisabetta Visalberghi, Stewart W. Breck, Giulia Volpi

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In Alberta, Canada (1982-2001), and in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, United States (1987-2001), wolves (Canis lupus) killed various domestic animals, among which the major prey were sheep in the United States (68%, n = 494) and cattle in Canada (95%; n = 1633). Under recovery programs, the wolf population increased in the United States, and depredation events increased proportionately. In both countries, the number of domestic animals killed each year was correlated with the number of wolves killed by government authorities for depredation management. We tested the ability of anti-wolf barriers made of flags hanging from ropes to impede wolf …

Lewis And Clark And The Geology Of The Great Plains, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Anne P. Diffendal

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark undertook their journey with the Corps of Discovery in 1804-1806 in order to explore the area that the United States had purchased from France in 1803. Then known as Louisiana, this region included almost everything west of the Mississippi to the continental divide. In order to find the best route across the continent, President Thomas Jefferson charged Lewis with following the Missouri River to its headwaters and then locating rivers flowing down the west side of the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River and into the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson's written instructions further specified that the …

Constraint Datalog In Trust Management, Scot Anderson

Department of Computer Science and Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Constraint Datalog holds an increasing role in Trust Management. We discuss several Trust Management systems and give a description of the environment and requirements for Trust Management. Constraint Datalog using addition constraints and approximation theory provides an expressive semantic with which to describe security policies for credentials, delegations and authorizations. Approximation theory allows halting in Constraint Datalog over addition constraints. We use the decision problem of Diophantine equations to show that Constraint Datalog over addition constraints is complete. Combining these two concepts provides an approximately complete, safe language. The problem of constant additions to closed languages provides reasons for using …

New Studies Initiated By The U.S. Geological Survey— Effects Of Nutrient Enrichment On Stream Ecosystems, Mark D. Munn, Pixie A. Hamilton

Publications of the US Geological Survey

In 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program began an intensive study of nutrient enrichment—elevated concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus— in streams in five agricultural basins across the Nation (see map, p. 2). This study is providing nationally consistent and comparable data and analyses of nutrient conditions, including how these conditions vary as a result of natural and human-related factors, and how nutrient conditions affect algae and other biological communities. This information will benefit stakeholders, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and its partners, who are developing nutrient criteria to protect the aquatic health of streams …

Poisonous Snakes And Snakebite In Nebraska, Ron J. Johnson

Other Publications in Wildlife Management

Recognizing Poisonous Snakes Prairie rattlesnake Timber rattlesnake Western massasauga Copperhead THE "2-3-4" OF SNAKEBITE Avoiding Poisonous Snakes - The "2" What SHOULD be done in case of Poisonous Snakebite - The "3" What SHOULD NOT Be Done - The "4" Should You Kill Poisonous Snakes on Sight? IN CASE OF POISONOUS SNAKEBITE

Laser-Energy Transfer And Enhancement Of Plasma Waves And Electron Beams By Interfering High-Intensity Laser Pulses, P. Zhang, N. Saleh, Shouyuan Chen, Z.M. Sheng, Donald P. Umstadter

Donald Umstadter Publications

The effects of interference due to crossed laser beams were studied experimentally in the high-intensity regime. Two ultrashort (400 fs), high-intensity (4×10¹⁷ and 1.6×10¹⁸ W/cm²) and1µm wavelength laser pulses were crossed in a plasma of density 4×10¹⁹ cm³. Energy was observed to be transferred from the higher-power to the lower-power pulse, increasing the amplitude of the plasma wave propagating in the direction of the latter. This results in increased electron self-trapping and plasma-wave acceleration gradient, which led to an increased number of hot electrons (by 300%) and hot-electron temperature (by 70%) and a …

Criss-Crossing Laser Beams Zoom Electrons Along, P. Zhang, N. Saleh, Shouyuan Chen, Z.M. Sheng, Donald P. Umstadter

Donald Umstadter Publications

Crossing two high-intensity laser beams in a plasma (a collection of charged particles) can have some interesting effects. In a recent experiment performed by researchers at the University of Michigan and the Institute of Physics in China, energy from a higher-power laser pulse was transferred to a lower-power laser pulse. The lower-power pulse had been accelerating electrons with its "wakefield" (like a wave accelerating a surfer). The extra energy to this lower-power pulse enhanced the electron acceleration and decreased the divergence of the electron beam. These features are desirable for proposed "laser particle accelerators" that would be powered by relatively …

Giant Metamagnetic Moments In A Granular Fecl2-Fe Heterostructure, Sarbeswar Sahoo, Christian Binek, Wolfgang Kleemann

Christian Binek Publications

Giant moments are observed at low temperatures in a granular FeCl₂-Fe heterostructure owing to a local metamagnetic transformation of the antiferromagnetic (AF) FeCl₂ matrix due to dipolar interactions. A model of metamagnetically (MM) "dressed" single-domain Fe particles is suggested to explain the observations. These include polydispersive ac susceptibility induced by AF-MM domain configurations and weak exchange bias due to non-spin-flipped AF crystallites.

Search For The Flavor-Changing Neutral Current Decay D0→Μ +Μ - In Pp̅ Collisions At √S =1.96 Tev, Darin Acosta, Kenneth A. Bloom, Collider Detector At Fermilab Collaboration

Kenneth Bloom Publications

We report on a search for the flavor-changing neutral current decay D⁰→µ⁺µ^- in pp̅ collisions at √s =1.96 TeV using 65 pb^-1 of data collected by the CDF II experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. A displaced-track trigger selects long-lived D⁰ candidates in the D⁰→µ⁺µ^- search channel, the kinematically similar D⁰→ π⁺ π^- channel used for normalization, the Cabibbo-favored D⁰→ K^-π⁺ channel used to optimize the selection criteria in an unbiased manner, and their charge conjugates. Finding no signal …

Acute And Chronic Toxicity Of Compound Drc-1339 (3-Chloro-4-Methylaniline Hydrochloride) To Birds, John D. Eisemann, Patricia A. Pipas, John L. Cummings

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

DRC-1339( 3-chloro-4-methylaniline hydrochloride) is the only toxicant currently registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for lethal bird control. DRC-1339 was first registered in 1967 for starling control at feedlots It may currently be used to manage blackbirds, rock doves, crows, ravens, magpies, gulls and starlings for purposes of protecting human health and safety, agricultural crops and threatened or endangered species. A large body of toxicity information is available because of the nature of DRC-1339 uses and its 35-year history of use. Laboratory testing has resulted in estimates of median lethal dose (LD₅₀) for 55 species of …

Nontarget Bird Exposure To Drc-1339 During Fall In North Dakota And Spring In South Dakota, Thomas W. Custer, Christine M. Custer, Paul M. Dummer, George M. Linz, Louis Sileo, Randal S. Stahl, John J. Johnston

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Blackbirds frequently use ripening sunflower (Helianthus annuus)as a food source in the northern Great Plains. In 1999 and 2000, the avicide DRC-1339 (3-chloro-4-methylaniline hydrochloride) was used experimentally on fall-ripening sunflower fields in North Dakota so researchers could evaluate its effectiveness for reducing crop depredations by blackbirds DRC-1339 was applied to rice and broadcast on the ground in a confined area within ripening sunflower fields. One objective of this study was to determine if nontarget birds, birds other than blackbirds, were eating rice and were exposed to DRC 1339. In 1999, 8 of 11(73%) sparrows collected by shotgun in sunflower fields …