Digital Commons Network^™

The Role Of L-Dopa In Mucuna Fruits: A Deterrent Or A Marker, August 2008, Jeff Dale

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Agoutis (Dasyprocta punctata) are ubiquitous in Monteverde and are known dispersers of Mucuna urens seeds despite the high levels of L-dopa the seeds contain. I tested the effects of L-dopa added to pejibaye (Bactris gasipaes) on seed selection by D. punctata. I hypothesized that L-dopa acts more as a marker for agouti dispersal than a deterrent for insect predation. In five sites of known agouti activity, I placed three types of seeds (i.e. those with natural L-dopa, synthetic L-dopa, and with neither) in piles of ten approximately one meter apart. My primary data were sequences of seed removal patterns. However, …

Bird Diversity In Fragmented Forests In Monteverde, Costa Rica, August 2008, Heather Hulton

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Due to deforestation, fragmented forests and secondary growth are replacing old growth forests. These fragments are reduced in biodiversity. In this study, bird diversity of a pre-montane forest fragment, Bajo del Tigre, connected to the Monteverde Reserve through a corridor, and plus two other fragmented forests, Calandria and House Fragment, in Monteverde, Costa Rica were compared. It was expected that the fragment with the highest degree of protection and is connected to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve should have a higher bird diversity. There is a difference between Bajo del Tigre and the two forest fragments in bird diversity when …

Activity Patterns Of Damselflies And Dragonflies (Odonata) In Monteverde, Costa Rica, August 2008, Jenny Gaynor

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Daily periods of activity tend to vary across different species of dragonflies and damselflies of the order Odonata. The purpose of this study was to investigate the activity patterns of five different behaviors for five different species of odonates. Observations were made at the Estación Biológica de Monteverde over a weeklong period in late July. Results showed that there were variations in behavior compared with time both within and across the five species. However, each species did not display every behavior, and behaviors were not evenly distributed across different species. This may be a result of variance in population sizes …

Changes In Wormlion (Vermilionidae) Pit Construction In Response To Energy Inputs And Disturbances, August 2008, Luke Hillman

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Wormlions are insects that, like antlions, are sit and wait predators in their larval stages, for whom optimizing energy expenditures is crucial because of potentially long periods of starvation. Initial pit depth and pit growth rates of antlions have been shown to decrease in response to limited food resources. Due to the similar foraging technique of worm and antlions, wormlions were hypothesized to show similar responses. Thirty-two wormlions were randomly divided into four treatments: fed-disturbed (FD), fed-undisturbed (FU), unfed-disturbed (UD) or unfed-undisturbed (UU). An aphid was dropped into wormlion pits of the FU and FD treatments, and pits in “disturbed” …

The Dynamics Of Prey Capture Of The Colonial, Orb-Weaving Spider Metabus Gravidus (Araneidae) In Monteverde, Costa Rica, August 2008, Signe Spencer

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Prey capture dynamics of the colonial, orb-weaving spider Metabus gravidus (Araneidae) are based on individuals. It is possible that prey caught in certain locations of the web will stimulate more reactions, and that different types of prey will stimulate variable reactions. Since the members of the colony live close to one another, it is also possible that spiders exhibit competition over prey. Different insects were dropped into various locations of individual orbs in order to observe reactions. The spiders did not seem to prefer whether prey was dropped closer or further from the center of the web (Chisquared goodness of …

Aggregational Behavior And Nest Ownership Of Crawfodapis Luctuosa (Diphaglossinae: Apidae), August 2008, Nathan J. Spaht

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Crawfordapis luctuosa is a large, black, diurnal bee found in aggregations on exposed clay sites above 1500m in elevation from the highlands of Mexico to Panama. Many past studies have attempted to classify the exact sociality and nest ownership of this species; this study follows their examples in an attempt to better define these behaviors. Data was gathered on nest usage, visitation behavior as well as aggressive and non-aggressive interactions. This study reaches no definite conclusions as to the patterns of nest ownership in the five days of observation. Individuals consistently visited more than one nest and up to seven …

Usf Women's Club Yearbook, 2008–2009, Usf Women's Club

USF Women’s Club Collection

Yearbook of the USF Women's Club. Inside is a list of past presidents, officers, committee chairmen, and members for 2008–2009. The booklet also includes a tribute to Grace Allen, interest groups, calendar of events, and a copy of the constitution and by-laws from the handbook.

Rapid Dispersal And Long Term Effect On Resident Canada Geese By On-Demand Use Alarm And Alert Call Playback Reinforced With Cracker/Banger Shells, Philip Whitford

Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada Joint Annual Meeting: 10th (2008)

Increasing resident Canada geese create major crop loss problems, and increased air strike potential. There is a growing need for effective, non-lethal means to disperse resident Canada geese. Success in removing geese rapidly from any of the above situations should produce results that can be applied to all. From 16 May – 28 August, 2007, alarm/alert call playback from GOOSEBUSTER™ call units, Bird–X Inc., Chicago IL, was used with a one minute delayed reinforcement by firing cracker shells to assess efficacy at reducing goose numbers at a sewage treatment plant and several farms with past records of heavy summer crop …

Studies Of Polymers In Fouling Release Coating Science, Haoran Chen

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In chapter one, we describe our studies of the solubility properties of two biocides in F127 aqueous solutions. One is zinc omadine and the other is C9211. The partition coefficients of these two biocides were also determined from the analytical results.

In chapter two, we conducted phase related studies of a triblock copolymer, PEO400- PBO55-PEO400 in aqueous solution. The phase diagram features of PEO400-PBO55-PEO400 in water are compared with those of F127. We believe the lack of a lower gel to liquid transition boundary in this system is because of the relatively longer PEO segments relative to the PBO segment. …

Graduate Connections- August 2008

Graduate Connections: A Newsletter for UNL Graduate Students

In This Issue:

Click on links to navigate the newsletter

Navigating Graduate School......1

Success in Graduate School

18th Annual Campuswide TA Workshops

New Student Welcome

Barbara Lovitts Seminars

Stay Connected

38 Strategies for Completing Your Dissertation

Good Practices in Graduate

Education....................................4

Academic Integrity: A Letter to My Students

Essential Connections..................7

A Timeless and Solitary Page

Teaching Tip .................................8

Ten Things to Do the First Day of Class

Professional Development...........9

Think “Next Stage”

Interactions.................................10

Graduate Student Association News

Funding Opportunities...............11

Resources for Researchers........12

NURAMP Workshops

Responsible Conduct of Research

Human and Animal Subjects

Announcements..........................13

Software Workshops

Online Graduate Bulletin

Call for …

Indiana Wildlife Disease News, Volume 3, Issue 3 - August 2008

Indiana Wildlife Disease News

Inside this issue:
Cautionary tale about rabies
USGS Disease Manual
Newcastle disease in MN
69th Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference
CWD in captive deer in Michigan
Midwest Wildlife Disease Update

Special points of interest:
• Newcastle disease
• Botulism
• Michigan Wildlife Disease Manual
• 69th Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference
• Newcastle disease in Minnesota cormorants
• First case of CWD in a captive Michigan deer herd

Patterns Of Body And Tail Length And Body Mass In Sciuridae, Virginia Hayssen

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

For squirrels, physical size varies with ancestry, locomotion, and sex. Body length has little variation associated with subfamilies or tribes but varies significantly among genera within tribes. Thus, patterns in body size among genera represent more recent evolutionary pressures. Flying squirrels weigh less than similarly sized tree or ground squirrels but ecological profile and ancestry are confounded for flying squirrels. Tail length has clear relationships with ecological profile in squirrels. Tail length is shorter in ground squirrels, longer in tree squirrels, and longest in flying squirrels. In addition, in arboreal squirrels, females have longer tails, relative to body length, than …

Drug Use Sequencing And Kandel's Gateway Hypothesis, John Reid

All Theses

This thesis tests the hypothesis by Kandel (1975) that there is a specific sequence of drug use that users follow. Using the same scalogram analysis technique utilized by Kandel in her original Gateway Hypothesis study, a distinct sequence of use was discovered. This thesis is based on the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2005). This study confirmed Kandel's earlier findings in that this study determined that there is a sequence of drug use. The current study also confirms Kandel's position that licit drugs precede the use of illicit drugs. This study's findings differ from those of Kandel, however, …

Vital Signs, Fall 2008, Boonshoft School Of Medicine

Vital Signs

A fifty-five page newsletter created by the Boonshoft School of Medicine to document the current affairs of the school. This issue includes a variety of feature articles, a research spotlight, and more.

Editorial, Mehmet Bahar, Huseyin Bag

Essays in Education

Editors' Note

Catalog, 2008-2009, Roger Williams University

Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Spatial Variability Of Radionuclide Distribution Coefficients At The Savannah River Site And The Sub-Surface Transport Implications, Kelly Grogan

All Theses

Distribution coefficients, Kd, were measured for a suite of gamma-emitting radionuclides in uncontaminated soils from the E-Area burial grounds at the Savannah River Site. The objectives of the study were to (1) characterize the spatial variability of Kd, (2) evaluate the effect of spatial variability on vadose zone transport, and (3) develop statistical models for predicting Kd from physical or chemical characteristics.
Equilibrium batch sorption tests were performed on 27 soil samples collected from depths ranging from 11 ft to 100 ft from the BGO-3A core with 241Am, 109Cd, 139Ce, 137Cs, 57Co, 60Co, 203Hg, 85Sr, and 88Y. Distribution coefficients were …

Issues On Stability Of Adp Feedback Controllers For Dynamical Systems, S. N. Balakrishnan, Jie Ding, F. L. Lewis

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper traces the development of neural-network (NN)-based feedback controllers that are derived from the principle of adaptive/approximate dynamic programming (ADP) and discusses their closed-loop stability. Different versions of NN structures in the literature, which embed mathematical mappings related to solutions of the ADP-formulated problems called “adaptive critics” or “action-critic” networks, are discussed. Distinction between the two classes of ADP applications is pointed out. Furthermore, papers in “model-free” development and model-based neurocontrollers are reviewed in terms of their contributions to stability issues. Recent literature suggests that work in ADP-based feedback controllers with assured stability is growing in diverse forms.

Journal Of Cave And Karst Studies, Volume 70, No. 2, August 2008, Table Of Contents, National Speleological Society

KIP Articles

No abstract provided.

Njit Highlanders Women's Volleyball 2008 Media Guide, New Jersey Institute Of Technology Athletic Department

Volleyball - Women's

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Surface Layer Effects In Spherical Contact, Jae Hun Kim

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

[to be added]

The Role Of Plant-Bird Interactions In The Invasion Of Juniperus Bermudiana In Hawaii: Integrating Experiments, Behavior, And Models, Eliza Woo

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

[to be added]

Toward Understanding The Biological Role Of The Conserved H-Nox Domain In Bacteria, Matthew D. Christiansen

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

[to be added]

Vineyard Work Calendar, Rhoda Burrows

SDSU Extension Fact Sheets

No abstract provided.

Selecting Drift-Reducing Nozzles, Jim Wilson, John Nowatzki, Vern Hofman

SDSU Extension Fact Sheets

No abstract provided.

Genome-Wide Transposon Tagging Reveals Location-Dependent Effects On Transcription And Chromatin Organization In Arabidopsis, Faye M. Rosin, Naohide Watanabe, Jean Luc Cacas, Naohiro Kato, Juana M. Arroyo, Yuda Fang, Bruce May, Matthew Vaughn, Joseph Simorowski, Umamaheswari Ramu, Richard W. Mccombie, David L. Spector, Robert A. Martienssen, Eric Lam

Faculty Publications

The interphase nucleus exists as a highly dynamic system, the physical properties of which have functional importance in gene regulation. Not only can gene expression be influenced by the local sequence context, but also by the architecture of the nucleus in three-dimensions (3D), and by the interactions between these levels via chromatin modifications. A challenging task is to resolve the complex interplay between sequence- and genome structure-based control mechanisms. Here, we created a collection of 277 Arabidopsis lines that allow the visual tracking of individual loci in living plants while comparing gene expression potential at these locations, via an identical …

Estimating Species Trees Using Multiple-Allele Dna Sequence Data, Liang Liu, Dennis K. Pearl, Robb T. Brumfield, Scott V. Edwards

Faculty Publications

Several techniques, such as concatenation and consensus methods, are available for combining data from multiple loci to produce a single statement of phylogenetic relationships. However, when multiple alleles are sampled from individual species, it becomes more challenging to estimate relationships at the level of species, either because concatenation becomes inappropriate due to conflicts among individual gene trees, or because the species from which multiple alleles have been sampled may not form monophyletic groups in the estimated tree. We propose a Bayesian hierarchical model to reconstruct species trees from multiple-allele, multilocus sequence data, building on a recently proposed method for estimating …

Undergraduate And Graduate Course Descriptions, 2008 Fall, Wright State University

Course Descriptions

Wright State University undergraduate and graduate course descriptions from Fall 2008.

Image Properties In An Aberration-Corrected Photoemission Electron Microscope, Rolf Könenkamp, T. Jones, J. Elstner, Robert Campbell Word, Gertrude Rempfer, Todd Dixon, Luis Almaraz, Walter P. Skoczylas

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We report recent progress in the construction of a new aberration-corrected photoemission electron microscope. The correcting element in this instrument is a hyperbolic electron mirror which corrects for chromatic and spherical aberration. We present first images obtained with the new instrument and numerical results from trajectory and wave-optical calculations indicating that the resolution can be of the order of 1 nm.

Summer Commencement: August 1, 2008, University Of North Dakota

UND Commencement Programs

UND Summer Commencement program from August 1, 2008.