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Coprolite Analysis: The Analysis Of Ancient Human Feces For Dietary Data, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

Although archaeological fieldwork is hot and dirty, the most “earthy” side of the discipline is the laboratory analysis of coprolites. Each coprolite contains the remains of one to several actual meals eaten in prehistory, and analysis of many coprolites provides a picture of ancient diet that is unique in accuracy.

The term coprolite originally referred to fossilized feces in paleontological context. In archaeology, the term broadened to refer to any formed fecal mass, including mineralized, desiccated, or frozen feces and even the intestinal contents of mummies. Coprolites contain the remains of animals (parasites) that lived in the humans, the foods …

Paleopharmacology, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

An emerging field devoted to the exploration of the archaeological record for evidence of medicinal plants.

In the future, archaeology will have a role in pharmaceutical research. In the late twentieth century, much of the world’s pharmaceutical research has been based on ethnographic documentation of tribally recognized medicinal plants. Once the active chemical compounds in the plants are identified, they are either extracted or synthesized for commercial use. The American film Medicine Man depicts this approach. As shown in the film, such pharmacological research is threatened by declining tribal populations with loss of traditional herbal knowledge coupled with declining biodiversity. …

The Systematics Of The Genus Trichinella With A Key To Species, K. D. Murrell, J. Ralph Lichtenfels, Dante S. Zarlenga, E. Pozio

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The authors review the major biological, biochemical, and molecular characters that are used to distinguish the seven Trichinella species (T. spiralis, T. nativa, T. britovi, T. pseudospiralis, T. murrelli, T. nelsoni, T. papuae) and three genotypes whose taxonomic status is yet uncertain (T-6, T-8, T-9). A comparison of host specificity, morphology, reproductive abilities, nurse cell development and freeze resistance is presented, along with useful biochemical and molecular markers. Finally, this information is used to construct a diagnostic key for the species. A phylogenetic classification of the species is needed.

Hazing And Movements Of Canada Geese Near Elmendorf Air Force Base In Anchorage, Alaska, Darryl L. York, John L. Cummings, Richard M. Engeman, Kate L. Wedemeyer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Bird strikes to aircraft are a serious economic and safety problem in the United States, annually causing millions of dollars in damage to civilian and military aircraft and the occasional loss of human life. We observed movements of 1236 neckbanded lesser Canada geese (Branta canadensis parvipes) to determine efficacy of hazing as a means to reduce goose presence at Elmendorf Air Force Base (EAFB), Anchorage, Alaska from August to October 1997. Emphasis was on movements of geese onto EAFB with additional data collected at the other two major airports in the area, Anchorage International Airport (AIA) and Merrill …

Evaluation Of Flight ControlTm And Mesurol® As Repellents To Reduce Horned Lark (Eremophila Alpestris) Damage To Lettuce Seedlings, Darryl L. York, John L. Cummings, Richard M. Engeman, James E. Davis Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We conducted enclosure trials near Huron, CA in the San Joaquin Valley from 12 to 23 January 1999 to determine the efficacy of Flight Control™ (50% anthraquinone) and Mesurol® (75% methiocarb) in preventing horned lark damage to lettuce seedlings. Flight Control™ (FC) and Mesurol® were evaluated as foliar sprays at application rates of 2.79 and 2.27 kg ha^-1, respectively. Homed lark damage to lettuce seedlings treated with antraquinone was greater (p = 0.015) than for rnethiocarb®, 60 versus 20%, respectively, and seedlings in control plots were 100% destroyed. While this level of damage is probably unacceptable to lettuce …

Soil-Moisture Preferences And Soil-Use Behaviors Of Northern Pocket Gophers, Ray T. Sterner

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Factors affecting soil-contact and –manipulation behaviors of pocket gophers (Thomomys and Geomys spp.) are poorly understood. Delineation of these behaviors is crucial to development of new repellent systems that seek to exploit the fossorial activity of these rodents. In a laboratory study involving northern pocket gophers (Thomomys talpoides), I examined the effects(s) of gravimetric soil moisture (i.e., 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%) upon soil-contact and –use behaviors. Six gophers received successive, 0.5 h/day exposures to one of the moist soils compared to dry (0%) soil in a 2-choice apparatus. Times in each compartment and observed …

Sheep-Predation Behaviors Of Wild-Caught, Confined Coyotes: Some Historical Data, Ray T. Sterner, Kenneth Crane

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

As part of efforts to develop The Livestock Protection Collar (U.S. EPA Reg. No. 56228-22), we videotaped sheep-predation events by 23 (15 males and 8 females) wild-caught, confined coyotes (Canis latrans) in a 31 x 41 m enclosure. Coyotes were paired individually with a sheep (Ovis aries) during 1 h daily trials. Nineteen (13 males and 6 females) of the coyotes made 75 fatal attacks of 1 to 7 sheep each; 4 coyotes (2 males and 2 females) made no fatal attacks despite 19 to 39 daily pairings. Of coyotes that made fatal attacks, 13 (9 …

Strychnine Alkaloid And Avian Reproduction: Effects Occur At Lower Dietary Concentrations With Mallard Ducks Than With Bobwhite Quail, C. A. Pedersen, R. T. Sterner, M. J. Goodall

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Separate subchronic reproductive toxicity studies were conducted using mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) and northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus). Three groups (32/group; 16 male-female pairs) of 17-week-old ducks (F₀ generation) were fed Purina® Game Bird Breeder Layena® diets containing mean (±SD) 33.2 (±2.7), 68.9 (±1.8), and 140.9 (± 5.1) μg/g strychnine for 20 weeks, with some pairs in each group fed control diet during a subsequent 3-week recovery period. Three groups (32/group; 16 male-female pairs) of 19-week-old quail (F₀ generation) were fed similar diets containing mean (±SD) 279.2 (±10.1), 557.4 (±43.5), and 1,113.6 (±46.6) μg/g …

Integrated Pest Management Of Black Bear Reforestation Damage, Gary W. Witmer, Dale L. Nolte, William Stewart

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Black bear damage to commercial, coniferous trees on intensively managed public and private forest lands of the Pacific Northwest continues to be a problem for forest managers. Historically, methods such as relocation or spring hunts have been used in an effort to reduce bear density and damage. More recently, supplemental feeding has been used in an attempt to provide for the nutritional needs of bears during the damage period. Alternative silvicultural practices and repellents are being investigated for their ability to reduce the likelihood of bear damage. These and other methods need to be examined for their effectiveness, especially in …

Cormorant Research And Impacts To Southern Aquaculture, Scott Werner

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Several North American waterbird species were negatively affected by compromised environmental quality by the mid-twentieth century. Double-crested cormorant populations responded to increased environmental regulations in the United States in the early 1970s. The abundance of cormorants wintering in southern states (especially Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) increased concurrently with a marked increase in catfish, crawfish, and bait fish production in these states since 1980, thus increasing regional concern regarding production losses to these industries. Cormorants wintering in Mississippi have increased nearly 225% since 1990. Food habit studies, bioenergetic predictions, and captive-bird foraging experiments indicate that individual cormorants consume approximately 0.5 …

Evaluation Of Hot Sauce® As A Repellent For Forest Mammals, Kimberly K. Wagner, Dale L. Nolte

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Foraging by forest mammals can be significantly detrimental to reforestation efforts. Repellents may offer a nonlethal solution for some situations. Hot Sauce® animal repellent uses capsaicin, a trigeminal irritant that should be aversive to most mammals. We conducted a series of tests evaluating the impact of Hot Sauce on foraging by 5 species of forest mammals. In our first study, we examined its potential to reduce browsing by black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus). Damage to Western redcedar seedlings (Thuja plicata) was initially reduced with application of a 6.2% Hot Sauce solution, but efficacy began to decline after …

Deer Population Management Through Hunting In A Suburban Nature Area In Eastern Nebraska, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Scott E. Hygnstrom

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The Fontenelle Forest Nature Area (FF) maintained a hands-off management policy for 30 years until it was recognized that white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations had grown to such levels that they were severely degrading native plant communities. In 1995, members of a community task force decided to sponsor annual nine-day hunting seasons on FF after learning that densities exceeded 28 deer/km². Archers harvested 85 antlerless deer in the FF upland areas adjacent to residential Bellevue, Nebraska during 1996 to 1998. Muzzleloader hunters removed 53 antlerless deer from the FF lowland areas. Archery and muzzleloader hunters harvested …

Evaluation Of A Radar-Activated, Demand-Performance Bird Hazing System, Gwen R. Stevens, Jamie Rogue, Richard Weber, Larry Clark

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We evaluated a radar-activated integrated hazing system for the protection of waterfowl at large contaminated ponds at a power plant. The hazing devices in the system included acoustic alarm calls, pyrotechnics and chemical repellents dispersed in the form of a bird tear-gas. Unlike, timed interval systems, or systems with random activation sequences, birds did not habituate to the demand-performance system tested. Over the course of a year, we documented that waterfowl were 12.5 times less likely to fly over the hazed contaminated ponds relative to a non-hazed control pond. Of the waterfowl that did fly over both ponds, the likelihood …

Urban-Suburban Prairie Dog Management: Opportunities And Challenges, Gary W. Witmer, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Karen Manci, Donna Dees

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The historic range of the black-tailed prairie dog has undergone dramatic declines in the last century, prompting concern about the species' long-term viability. While considered a pest by many, others believe that the species is a "keystone" element of prairie ecosystems. Urban-suburban land managers are challenged with preserving colonies of prairie dogs on public lands while dealing with many conflicting interests, social costs, and risks. We review the management plans that municipalities have designed to reduce conflicts by using public input, zoned management, and a variety of management techniques. Areas of difficulty and research needs are also discussed.

Antipredator Vigilance Of Juvenile And Adult Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrels And The Role Of Nutritional Need, Cody Arenz, Daniel Leger

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Juvenile thirteen-lined ground squirrels, Spermophilus tridecemlineatus, are less vigilant (i.e. they spend less time visually scanning the environment) than adults. To determine whether nutritional need was a potential cause of this difference, we supplemented two groups of free-ranging juveniles during the predispersal stage, while juveniles were still near and around the natal burrows. The high-energy food group (HEF: 11 squirrels) received peanut butter and oats while the low-energy food group (LEF: seven squirrels) received lettuce. Adults (14 squirrels) were also supplemented, but due to their greater home range sizes, it was not feasible to classify them as either HEF …

Viability Of Piping Plover Charadrius Melodus Metapopulations, Jonathan H. Plissner, Susan M. Haig

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The meta-population viability analysis package, vortex, was used to examine viability and recovery objectives for piping plovers Charadrius melodus, an endangered shorebird that breeds in three distinct regions of North America. Baseline models indicate that while Atlantic Coast populations, under current management practices, are at little risk of near-term extinction, Great Plains and Great Lakes populations require 36% higher mean fecundity for a significant probability of persisting for the next 100 years. Meta-population structure (i.e. the delineation of populations within the meta-population) and inter-population dispersal rates had varying effects on model results; however, spatially-structured meta-populations exhibited lower viability than …

Single-Dilution Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay For Quantification Of Antigen-Specific Salmonid Antibody, Stewart W. Alcorn, Ronald J. Pascho

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed on the basis of testing a single dilution of serum to quantify the level of antibody to the p57 protein of Renibacterium salmoninarum in sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). The levels of antibody were interpolated from a standard curve constructed by relating the optical densities (OD) produced by several dilutions of a high-titer rainbow trout (O. mykiss) antiserum to the p57 protein. The ELISA OD values produced by as many as 36 test sera on each microplate were compared with the standard curve to calculate the antigen-specific antibody activity. Repeated …

Coccidia (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) Of The Mammalian Order Insectivora, Donald W. Duszynski, Steve J. Upton

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The coccidia (protistan phylum Apicomplexa Levine, 1970) comprise a large group of obligate intracellular parasites commonly found in all classes of vertebrate hosts and in some invertebrates. This review focuses on those species within the Eimeriidae because they are among the most prevalent and speciose of all parasite groups, and there is no taxonomic summation currently available for those species that infect insectivores. All published species descriptions in the genera Cyclospora, Eimeria and Isospora that infect insectivores are reviewed and evaluated. Some of the named species are invalid, either because rules concerning the naming of new species (International …

Syncoelium Vermilionensis Sp. N., (Hemiuroidea: Syncoeliidae) And New Records For Members Of Azygiidae, Ptychogonimidae, And Syncoeliidae Parasitizing Elasmobranchs In The Gulf Of California, Stephen S. Curran, Robin M. Overstreet

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

During July-September 1993 and May 1996, a survey of the metazoan parasites of 817 elasmobranchs from the Gulf of California, representing 42 species, was conducted at 14 sites along the western portion of the Gulf of California. Elasmobranchs were obtained from local commercial fishers. In this paper, we report all digeneans collected during the survey, excluding the gorgoderids, which will be presented in a subsequent paper. Four species from three hemiuroid families were collected, none of which was known previously from the Gulf of California. Syncoelium vermilionensis sp. n. (Syncoeliidae), a species that differs most notably from its congeners by …

License To Copyright: The Ongoing Dispute Over The Ownership Of James Bond, Keith Poliakoff

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The White Commission And The Federal Circuit, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The Commission on Structural Alternatives for the Federal Courts of Appeals, or White Commission, ("the Commission") recently issued a report and recommendations for Congress and the President after studying the appellate courts for a year. The Commission investigation emphasized the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, as Congress had instructed. The centerpiece of the Commission's recommendations was a divisional arrangement for the Ninth Circuit and the remaining appellate courts as their caseloads increase. Notwithstanding this focus on the Ninth Circuit, the commissioners compiled a substantial amount of objective empirical data and some subjective information on the other …

Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling Of A Lithium/Thionyl Chloride Battery With Electrolyte Flow, W. B. Gu, C. Y. Wang, John W. Weidner, Rudolph G. Jungst, Ganesan Nagasubramanian

Faculty Publications

A two-dimensional model is developed to simulate discharge of a lithium/thionyl chloride primary battery. As in earlier one-dimensional models, the model accounts for transport of species and charge, and electrode porosity variations and electrolyte flow induced by the volume reduction caused by electrochemical reactions. Numerical simulations are performed using a finite volume method of computational fluid dynamics. The predicted discharge curves for various temperatures show good agreement with published experimental data, and are essentially identical to results published for one-dimensional models. The detailed two-dimensional flow simulations show that the electrolyte is replenished from the cell head space predominantly through the …

Variation In Boll Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Captures In Pheromone Traps Arising From Wind Speed Moderation By Brush Lines, Thomas W. Sappington, Dale W. Spurgeon

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Paired trap lines of Þve boll weevil pheromone traps each were placed on opposite sides of a brush line at six different sites on a plantation in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Temperature, wind speed, and wind direction were monitored with a nearby weather station. We observed a strong negative relationship between mean daily wind speed and total daily capture of boll weevils. About half of the day-to-day variation in weevil captures was explained by wind speed alone. In addition, our data indicate that much of the variation between traps within days may arise from differences in local …

Varietal Resistance, James E. Throne, James E. Baker, Frank J. Messina, Karl J. Kramer, John A. Howard

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Production of all classes of wheat grown in the United States totaled 2.5 billion bushels in 1997. Common wheat, Triticum aestivum L. subsp. aestivum, is the primary source of all wheat varieties grown in the United States, with over 200 varieties known and over 100 varieties cultivated. These 100 varieties constitute over 95% of all wheat cultivated in the United States. Five general wheat classes are predominant in the United States: hard red winter, hard red spring, soft red winter, white, and durum.

Improving Warm-Season Forage Grasses Using Selection, Breeding, And Biotechnology, Kenneth P. Vogel

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Plant breeding is human-directed evolution. Plant breeders manipulate the genetic resources of a species, i.e., its germplasm, to produce plants that are of increased value to humanity. Although humans have successfully manipulated the genetic resources of plants and animals for several thousand years, the science of genetics was not developed until this century. Breeding work on most forage grasses in the USA did not began until the 1930s and initial work was focused on developing strains that had good establishment capability, persistence, high forage and seed yields, and good insect and disease resistance. These are essential attributes of forages (Burton, …

Identification And Differentiation Of Tilletia Indica And T. Walkeri Using The Polymerase Chain Reaction, Reid D. Frederick, Karen E. Snyder, Paul W. Tooley, Yvette Berthier-Schaad, Gary L. Peterson, Morris R. Bonde, Norman W. Schaad, David A. Knorr

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Karnal bunt of wheat, caused by Tilletia indica, was found in regions of the southwestern United States in 1996. Yield losses due to Karnal bunt are slight, and the greatest threat of Karnal bunt to the U.S. wheat industry is the loss of its export market. Many countries either prohibit or restrict wheat imports from countries with Karnal bunt. In 1997, teliospores morphologically resembling T. indica were isolated from bunted ryegrass seeds and wheat seed washes. Previously developed PCR assays failed to differentiate T. indica from the recently discovered ryegrass pathogen, T. walkeri. The nucleotide sequence of a 2.3 …

Morning, M. H. Mason

Yalobusha Review

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Human Skin Emanations By Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry. 2. Identification Of Volatile Compounds That Are Candidate Attractants For The Yellow Fever Mosquito (Aedes Aegypti), Ulrich R. Bernier, Daniel L. Kline, Donald Barnard, Carl Schreck, Richard A. Yost

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Volatile compounds emanated from human skin were studied by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/ MS). The purpose of this study was to identify compounds that may be human-produced kairomones which are used for host location by the mosquito, Aedes aegypti (L.). The procedure used to collect volatiles was chosen because of prior knowledge that attractive substances can be transferred from skin to glass by handling. Laboratory bioassays have shown that the residuum on the glass remains attractive to mosquitoes until the compounds of importance evaporate. The sampling and analytical procedures modeled the above-cited process as closely as possible except that the …

Should The Brandenburg V. Ohio Incitement Test Apply In Media Violence Tort Cases?, Rodney A. Smolla

Law Faculty Publications

Imagine that you are a newly-installed justice of a state supreme court. An array of cases come before you in your first term posing, in a variety of contexts, questions concerning the extent to which tort liability may be imposed to compensate victims for injuries or death allegedly caused by presentation of violent material in the media. Here are the cases:

I. The manufacturers of a violent video game are sued for wrongful death by the families of victims of school children murdered in a killing spree at a high school. The plaintiffs allege that the teen-aged boy who committed …

The Secret Journal Of Sister Jess: A True Story In Honor Of Oliver W. Hill, Sr., Esq., Jonathan K. Stubbs

Law Faculty Publications

Oliver Hill places his finger squarely on a modem struggle, namely, the idea that human beings can be both one and many. Many humans seem to think that it is impossible to have more than one identity. For example, suppose a black person says ''I am a human being first and my color is secondary." Some people hearing this statement would interpret it as a (foolish) repudiation of one's "racial" identity. To some the statement means that he wants to be a human being rather than a black person. That means he must be bleached of his blackness. Thus, in …