Digital Commons Network^™

Degree Of Sedentarization Affects Risks And Conflicts For The Waso Boran In Northern Kenya, D. Layne Coppock, Abdullahi D. Jillo, Mark N. Mutinda, Abdilla A. Aboud

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

The Waso Borana have lived for over a century in northern Kenya. In the last few decades, however, their ability to maintain their traditions has been severely challenged. Here we report survey results from 540 households in Isiolo District, stratified among three groups differing in terms of lifestyle: sedentary, semi-sedentary, and mobile. In some cases these groups vary with respect to important perceived risks, causes of natural-resource related conflict, and possible solutions to conflict. For example, sedentary respondents often noted concerns over land tenure problems, human diseases, and political incitement. Mobile respondents, in contrast, often noted primary concerns over drought, …

Hispanic Physicians' Tobacco Intervention Practices: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study, Francisco G. Soto Mas, Richard L. Papenfuss, Holly E. Jacobson, Chiehwen E. Hsu, William M. Kane

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background U.S. Hispanic physicians constitute a considerable professional collective, and they may be most suited to attend to the health education needs of the growing U.S. Hispanic population. These educational needs include tobacco use prevention and smoking cessation. However, there is a lack of information on Hispanic physicians' tobacco intervention practices, their level of awareness and use of cessation protocols, and the type of programs that would best address their tobacco training needs. The purpose of this study was to assess the tobacco intervention practices and training needs of Hispanic physicians.

Methods Data was collected through a validated survey instrument …

Annual Report To The Pastoral Lands Board Of Western Australia: 2004 / 2005 Financial Year, Rod Williams, Philip Thomas

Natural resources published reports

The Department of Agriculture Western Australia has prepared this Annual Report for the financial year 2004 – 2005. The format is consistent with the previous two years, and now encapsulates enhanced detail and a broader range of headings within the report.

The Department of Agriculture’s services to the Board are outlined and environmental indicators are presented at the regional and property scales. New information being presented to the Board in this report includes Pastoral Lease property transfers, an explanation of the emerging Natural Resource Management program in the rangelands, the Australian Collaborative Rangeland Information System (ACRIS), an introduction to Carnarvon …

Successful Cropping In The High Rainfall Zone Of Western Australia : Crop Research And Extension In The Zone, Narelle Hill, Heping Zhang Dr., Tim Trezise, John Young, Natahan Moyes, Laurence Carslake, Neil C. Turner Dr, Walter Anderson, Michael Poole

Bulletins 4000 -

This manual is a review of all the relevant and current information relating to cropping systems in the high rainfall cropping zone (HRZ) of Western Australia. It functions partly as the final report summarising research results and extension activities and discusses recommendations and potential outcomes of two 5-year GRDC-funded projects (DAW 673 and CSP 302), that aimed to increase the productivity of southern high rainfall cropping systems.

Wildlife Health Centre Newsletter, Volume 11, Fall 2005

Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre: Newsletters and Publications

Canada Takes a Big Step Forward
Update from the Centre for Coastal Health
West Nile Virus in non-corvid Bird Species
National Cervid Population Estimates
Disease Updates
Atlantic Region:
Fatal Encounter of a Great Horned Owl with a Porcupine
Total Amputation of Extremities in a Raccoon
Foot Gangrene in Northern Gannets
Quebec Region:
Avian Cholera in the St. Lawrence Estuary in the Common Eider
Verminous pneumonia in beluga whales from the St. Lawrence Estuary
Ontario Region:
Type E Botulism in Lake Ontario 2004/2005
Pesticide Toxicities in Birds
Virus Infections in Gulls & Cormorants on Lakes Erie and Ontario
A Mortality Event …

Wildlife Health Centre Newsletter, Volume 11-1, Fall 2005

Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre: Newsletters and Publications

Canada Takes a Big Step Forward
Update from the Centre for Coastal Health
West Nile Virus in non-corvid Bird Species
National Cervid Population Estimates
Fatal Encounter of a Great Horned Owl with a Porcupine
Total Amputation of Extremities in a Raccoon
Foot Gangrene in Northern Gannets
Avian Cholera in the St. Lawrence Estuary in the Common Eider
Verminous pneumonia in beluga whales from the St. Lawrence Estuary
Pesticide Toxicities in Birds
Virus Infections in Gulls & Cormorants on Lakes Erie and Ontario
A Mortality Event in Freshwater Drum from Lake Ontario, Associated with Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus (VHSv), Type IV …

Agroecology Of The Naso-Teribe: The Management And Conservation Of Traditional Agroecological Systems, Maisie Ganz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The term “agroecology” is used to describe the sustainable design and management of agricultural systems by the application of ecological concepts and principles. The resulting agroecosystems, often practiced by indigenous or poor farmers in marginal environments without access to external technologies, are systems of food production that integrate cultivated crops into surrounding ecosystems. The Naso-Teribe, an indigenous community of approximately 3,800 individuals living in the forests of western Panama, practice a complex agroecological system. The Naso farmers’ agricultural practices contribute to, and are dependent on, the biodiversity of resources available. The ways in which Naso farmers manage, maintain, and preserve …

Fall 2005, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Human Health Risks From Chemically Contaminated Lake Fishes In Greece, Eugene G. Maurakis, David V. Grimes, Dimitra Bobori, Rob Hale, Jennifer Jones

Virginia Journal of Science

Objectives were to conduct screening level surveys of locally consumed fish tissues in vicinities of two lakes (Kastoria and Pamvotis) in Greece to determine the presence of halogenated organic compounds and determine carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic human health risks associated with the consumption of sampled fish tissues. Results estimate the Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risks (ILCR) and Hazard Index (HI) values for the two local populations using site-specific population data. These results were compared to analyses conducted using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency default values in an effort to determine the applicability of USEPA default values to assessments of risks in non U.S. …

The Role Of Malagasy Women In Community Development: Analyzing The Potential For The Creation Of A Women’S Association For Alternative Livelihoods In Ifaty, Amanda Fencl

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Integrated Conservation and development projects (ICDPs) have increased in number worldwide as conservation organizations have to come to terms with the importance of involving and addressing the needs of local human populations to order to achieve their conservation goals. Madagascar’s unique biodiversity, environmental degradation, and plaguing poverty has made ICDPs crucial in achieving national goals of tripling the area of natural heritage conserved and poverty reduction through socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable development. In order to understand how such sustainable development can be achieved, it is essential to spend time enhancing one’s understanding of the local mentality and worldview. On …

Structure Elucidation Of Bioactive Compounds Isolated From Endophytes Of Alstonia Scholaris And Acmena Graveolens, Nicholas James Hundley

Theses and Dissertations

Alstonia scholaris is an evergreen tree native to Southeast Asia and Australia. It is commonly used as a medicinal plant throughout these regions. In the present study, an endophyte of the genus Xylaria was isolated from a stem of Alstonia scholaris, its mycelia and exudate extracted, and the extract assayed for growth inhibition of HeLa cancer cells in vitro. Several known compounds were isolated and identified based on NMR, infrared, and mass spectral data. The compounds identified are 19,20-epoxycytochalasin C; 19,20epoxycytochalasin D; and xylobovide. Two other compounds, fusaric acid and dehydrofusaric acid, were discovered in an endophyte of the Hypocreales …

Inference On Survival Data With Covariate Measurement Error - An Imputation-Based Approach, Yi Li, Louise Ryan

Harvard University Biostatistics Working Paper Series

We propose a new method for fitting proportional hazards models with error-prone covariates. Regression coefficients are estimated by solving an estimating equation that is the average of the partial likelihood scores based on imputed true covariates. For the purpose of imputation, a linear spline model is assumed on the baseline hazard. We discuss consistency and asymptotic normality of the resulting estimators, and propose a stochastic approximation scheme to obtain the estimates. The algorithm is easy to implement, and reduces to the ordinary Cox partial likelihood approach when the measurement error has a degenerative distribution. Simulations indicate high efficiency and robustness. …

Rose Productivity And Physiological Responses To Different Substrates For Soil-Less Culture, C. Samartzidis, Tala Awada, E. Maloupa, K. Radoglou, H.-I. A. Constantinidou

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Cultivation of roses in various soil-less media was studied with the aim to identify the optimum soil condition for rose production. Madelon roses grafted on rootstock of Rosa indica var. major were transplanted to polyethylene bags containing zeolite and perlite (at ratios of 25z:75p, 50z:50p, 75z:25p and 100z:0p, v/v) in a climate-controlled greenhouse. Net photosynthesis (A_net), stomatal conductance (g_s) and water use efficiency (WUE) of roses were followed for 5 months. Flower production and quality were recorded in three flowering flushes during a 5-month period. Analysis of variance of repeated measurements showed that even …

A Comparison Of Diets And Water Agitation Methods For Larval Culture Of The Edible Sea Urchin, Tripneustes Ventricosus (Echinodermata: Echinoidea), Ray Wolcott, Charles G. Messing

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Tripneustes ventricosus (Lamarck, 1816) has been harvested for human consumption in the Caribbean for centuries, where harvest rates occasionally exceed sustainability. Historically a backreef and grass-bed urchin, the species has recently been observed on the forereef where it appears to control macroalgal growth in the absence of Diadema antillarum (Philippi, 1845) (Woodley and Gayle, 1999). Large-scale culturing has the potential to produce T. ventricosus in sufficient numbers for remediation of degraded coral reefs, restocking of nearshore habitats, and development of an aquaculture industry for one or more Caribbean islands. We report the first successful culturing of T. ventricosus from fertilization …

Normal Hematologic And Biochemical Values For Prelaying Greater Sage Grouse (Centrocercus Urophasianus) And Their Influence On Chick Survival, Mike R. Dunbar, Michael A. Gregg, John A. Crawford, Mark R. Giordano, Susan J. Tornquist

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Declines in greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) productivity and population numbers throughout their range demand a better understanding of how nutrition influences sage grouse populations. During March and April 1999–2001, blood samples were collected from 158 female (73 adult, 85 yearling), free-ranging, prelaying, greater sage grouse from an area in northwestern Nevada, USA, and southeastern Oregon, USA. These blood samples were evaluated to establish normal blood values for sage grouse and ascertain if certain blood parameters, as indices of nutrition, are useful for predicting if sage grouse hens would raise at least one chick to 1 August. Results of logistic …

Day 2: Thursday, 18 August 2005: Colorado Native Aquatic Species Restoration Program, Dave Schnoor

Endangered Species Act Congressional Field Tour (August 17-19)

6 pages (includes illustrations).

Contains one reference.

Day 1: Wednesday, 17 August 2005: Biodiversity And Critical Habitat, Charles Bedford, Federico Cheever, Tim Sullivan

Endangered Species Act Congressional Field Tour (August 17-19)

6 pages (includes color illustration).

Contains references.

Effects Of Information And Machine Learning Algorithms On Word Sense Disambiguation With Small Datasets, Gondy Leroy, Thomas C. Rindflesch

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Current approaches to word sense disambiguation use (and often combine) various machine learning techniques. Most refer to characteristics of the ambiguity and its surrounding words and are based on thousands of examples. Unfortunately, developing large training sets is burdensome, and in response to this challenge, we investigate the use of symbolic knowledge for small datasets. A naïve Bayes classifier was trained for 15 words with 100 examples for each. Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) semantic types assigned to concepts found in the sentence and relationships between these semantic types form the knowledge base. The most frequent sense of a word …

Potential Impacts Of Climate Change On Agricultural Land Use Suitability : Wheat, Dennis Van Gool, Luke Vernon

Resource management technical reports

This publication considers the impact of climate change on wheat crops. While a model was first used, it was only partially validated against real data, hence the model is now used as a decision support system that allows people with crop, land resource and climate knowledge to determine potential impacts of climate change on crop growth and production in Western Australia.

Trace Elements Status Of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) And Moose (Alces Alces) In Nova Scotia, Beth Pollock

Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre: Newsletters and Publications

The province of Nova Scotia is considered to have two moose (Alces alces) populations. In 2003, the moose of the mainland area of the province were formally listed “ENDANGERED” under the Nova Scotia Endangered Species Act. To date, the specific causes of the Mainland moose population decline have not been determined. Trace element imbalances have been considered as a potential etiology for the population decline. Liver and kidney samples were collected from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and moose throughout Nova Scotia during the fall and winter 2000-01 to compare trace element concentrations between the two species, in relation to age, …

Diagnosing And Ameliorating Problem Soils : Decision Tree On How To Diagnose And Ameliorate Problem Soils, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia

Agriculture reports

Most cropping paddocks in Western Australia have lower yielding areas within paddocks that perform poorly in most years. If the agronomy and management are good, the poor yields are usually due to soil-related problems. Some of these problems can be corrected or reduced by adopting certain proven practices. However, it is important to identify and quantify the problem so that decisions can be made on whether amelioration is possible and economically feasible. The objective is to provide a simploe decision tool for farmers and advisers to use in identifying and quantifying soil problems in agricultural soils in Western Australia. It …

Does The Effect Of Micronutrient Supplementation On Neonatal Survival Vary With Respect To The Percentiles Of The Birth Weight Distribution?, Francesca Dominici, Scott L. Zeger, Giovanni Parmigiani, Joanne Katz, Parul Christian

Johns Hopkins University, Dept. of Biostatistics Working Papers

Scientific Background: In developing countries, higher infant mortality is partially caused by poor maternal and fetal nutrition. Clinical trials of micronutrient supplementation are aimed at reducing the risk of infant mortality by increasing birth weight. Because infant mortality is greatest among the low birth weight infants (LBW) (less than or equal to 2500 grams), an effective intervention might be needed to increase birth weight among the smallest babies. Although it has been demonstrated that supplementation increases the birth weight in a trial conducted in Nepal, there is inconclusive evidence that the supplementation improves their survival. It has been hypothesized that …

Sheep Updates 2005 - Part 6, Sarah Pugh, Giles Glasson, Ed Barrett-Lennard, Hayley Norman, Matt Wilmot, Meir Altman, Kelly Pearce, Sally Phelan, David Masters, Nadine Eva, Brad Wooldridge, Stephen Gherardi, Lucy Anderton, Gonzalo Mata, P. Sanford, J Young, Tim Wiley, Richard Quinlan, Chris Oldham, Mike Hyder, Mandy Curnow, Samantha Giles, Andrew Thompson

Sheep Updates

This session covers seven papers from different authors:

PASTURES/GRAZING

1. New annual pastures - quality and quantity for fodder conservation?, Sarah Pugh and Giles Glasson, Department of Agriculture Western Australia

2. Saltland Pastures: Dispelling some Myths, Ed Barrett-Lennard^1,3, Hayley Norman^2,3, Matt Wilmat^2,3, Meir Altman,³, Kelly Pearce^2,3, Sally Phelan⁴, David Masters^2,3, ^1. Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, ² CSIRO Livestock Industries, Floreat, WA, ³. CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity ⁴. Saltland Pastures Association

3. Pastures: Putting profit back into sandplain, Nadine Eva, Department …

Effect Of Bio-Optical Parameter Variability On The Remote Estimation Of Chlorophyll-A Concentration In Turbid Productive Waters: Experimental Results—Erratum, Giorgio Dall'olmo, Anatoly A. Gitelson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

In the original publication [Dall’Olmo and Gitelson, Applied Optics (2005) 44: 412-422], certain information was presented inaccurately. These inaccuracies are corrected here.

Fit-To-Fight: Waist Vs. Waist/Height Measurements To Determine An Individual's Fitness Level A Study In Statistical Regression And Analysis, Steven J. Swiderski

Theses and Dissertations

Air Force members are to be tested for fitness by measuring their abdominal circumference, counting the number of sit-ups and push-ups they can accomplish, and the time it takes them to run 1 and miles. The abdominal measurement is a "one-size-fits-all" fitness standard. This research determines that a person's waist-to-height ratio is a better measurement than the waist measurement to estimate an individual's fitness level. This research estimates that all of the variables used to proxy fitness (Gender, Age, Height, Waist Circumference, Waist-to-Height Ratio, Push-Ups, and Sit-Ups) are statistically significant and do represent good estimators of physical fitness. This research …

The Effects Of Digital Audio On Social Presence, Motivation And Perceived Learning In Asynchronous Learning Networks, Eunhee Kim

Dissertations

This study explores the possibilities of applying digital audio to the ALN environment, so that students can speak and listen rather than type and read. Two sets of 1x2 field experiments (text vs. digital audio) were conducted with two formats of digital audio -recorded voice messages and narrated Microsoft PowerPoint presentation - used in several NJIT courses conducted via ALN. The perceptions of communication media were measured from two different user perspectives: active use when the subjects created their assignments using prescribed communication media (audio or text) and passive use when the subjects viewed/listened to other students' work.

The perceptions …

An Improved Music Model For Gibbsite, Scott Christian Mitchell

Theses and Dissertations

Several recent studies that have proposed MUSIC models for gibbsite surfaces have purported to achieve a very good fit with potentiometric titration data. However, in order to achieve such results, several significant parameters, such as the number of surface sites, site densities, and pKa values were sometimes re-introduced in the model as fitted parameters, and physically unrealistic modeling assumptions were sometimes used. In addition, recent evidence supports the idea that some of the gibbsite potentiometric titration data from these studies may be unreliable. In order to re-interpret the potentiometric titration data, we used several recently published methods. In order to …

Exposure Assessment Of Mercury In Fish From Kentucky Surface Waters, Najla Gubari

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Consumption of fish contaminated with mercury is the primary exposure pathway by which humans are exposed to mercury. Mercury is known to be a neurological toxin that can cause attention and language deficits, impaired memory, and impaired visual and motor function, especially in children under the age of six. In addition, mercury exposure can lead to other health problems in adults, such as damage to the kidney and increased risk of coronary heart disease. This study assesses the exposure to mercury through consumption of fish from Kentucky surface waters. The exposure assessment is based on data collected by the Kentucky …

Determining The Effects Of Psychosocial Interventions On Quality Of Life For Cancer Patients: Analysis Of Pilot Data And Recommendations For Full Experimental Design And Statistical Analysis, Sarah Julia Thomas

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The Hematology and Oncology Specialists Foundation plans to carry out a scientific study to assess the effects of several of its psychosocial interventions, or “wellness programs,” on the quality of life (QoL) experienced by cancer patients. Pilot data showed that participation in a meditation program significantly reduced the symptoms of stress experienced by the patients (t = 2.70, p = 0.011), and that participation in psychological counseling significantly reduced the anxiety and depression levels of the patients (t = 5.33, p = 0.002; t = 8.70, p < 0.001, respectively).

The full scale study has a 6×2 factorial design with six treatments (non-participation, …

Synthesis, Structural Studies And Desilylation Reactions Of Some N-2-(Trimethylsilyl)Ethyl-N-Nitrosocarbamates, Arpitha Thakkalapally, Vladimir Benin

Chemistry Faculty Publications

The present report describes the preparation and characterization of several N-2-(trimethylsilyl)ethyl-N-nitrosocarbamates, designed as precursors to thermally unstable secondary N-nitrosocarbamate anions via fluoride-assisted cleavage. X-ray structural studies demonstrate that the core N-nitrosocarbamate moiety has a nearly planar geometry, with an s-E orientation at the N–N bond. DFT calculations (B3LYP/6-31+G(d)) reproduce accurately the structural features of the title compounds and detailed conformational analysis at the same level of theory addresses the long-standing issue of preferred geometries for three classes of related structures: N-nitrosocarbamates, N-nitrosoureas and N-nitrosoamides. Desilylation studies demonstrate that both the …