Digital Commons Network^™

Sperm Competition Selects Beyond Relative Testes Size In Birds, Stefan Lupold, George M. Linz, James W. Rivers, David F. Westneat, Tim R. Birkhead

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Sperm morphology varies considerably across taxa, and postcopulatory sexual selection is thought to be one of the main forces responsible for this diversity. Several studies have investigated the effects of the variation in sperm design on sperm function, but the consequences of variation in sperm design on testis morphology have been overlooked. Testes size or architecture may determine the size of the sperm they produce, and selection for longer sperm may require concomitant adaptations in the testes. Relative testes size differs greatly between species and is often used as an index of sperm competition, but little is known about whether …

Sperm Design And Variation In The New World Blackbirds (Icteridae), Stefan Lüpold, George M. Linz, Tim R. Birkhead

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Post-copulatory sexual selection (PCSS) is thought to be one of the evolutionary forces responsible for the rapid and divergent evolution of sperm design. However, whereas in some taxa particular sperm traits are positively associated with PCSS, in other taxa, these relationships are negative, and the causes of these different patterns across taxa are poorly understood. In a comparative study using New World blackbirds (Icteridae), we tested whether sperm design was influenced by the level of PCSS and found significant positive associations with the level of PCSS for all sperm components but head length. Additionally, whereas the absolute length of sperm …

White-Tailed Deer Herbivory And Timber Harvesting Rates: Implications For Regeneration Success, Brad F. Miller, Tyler A. Campbell, Benjamin R. Laseter, W. Mark Ford, Karl V. Miller

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Herbivory by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) can affect forest regeneration. Typical measures to ensure forest regeneration have included physical barriers or direct manipulation of deer densities. However, altering silvicultural practices to provide abundant deer forage has not been tested thoroughly. We examined browse species preferences and changes in herbivory rates in 1–6 year old regeneration areas from 2001 to 2004 in the central Appalachians on the MeadWestvaco Wildlife and Ecosystem Research Forest in West Virginia. Woody vegetation reached the maximum plot coverage by the 4th growing season. However, the establishment of less abundant woody species, such as northern …

Declining Mortality In American Crow (Corvus Brachyrhynchos) Following Natural West Nile Virus Infection, Lisa M. Reed, Michael A. Johansson, Nicholas Panella, Robert Mclean, Terry Creekmore, Rose Puelle, Nicholas Komar

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) is known to suffer 100% mortality from infection with the New York 1999 strain of West Nile virus (WNV). Following the initial detection of WNV in North America in 1999, we measured prevalence of WNV-reactive antibodies (‘‘seroprevalence”) in free-ranging American and fish crows (Corvus ossifragus) of central New Jersey after each transmission season through 2005. In 2002, seroprevalence in American crow juveniles increased to 14% from the 5% of the previous year, potentially indicating increased survival in this species. Using the annual seroprevalence measurements and the number of human West Nile …

Invasive Litter, Not An Invasive Insectivore, Determines Invertebrate Communities In Hawaiian Forests, Nathania C. Tuttle, Karen H. Beard, William C. Pitt

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In Hawaii, invasive plants have the ability to alter litter-based food chains because they often have litter traits that differ from native species. Additionally, abundant invasive predators, especially those representing new trophic levels, can reduce prey. The relative importance of these two processes on the litter invertebrate community in Hawaii is important, because they could affect the large number of endemic and endangered invertebrates. We determined the relative importance of litter resources, represented by leaf litter of two trees, an invasive nitrogen-fixer, Falcataria moluccana, and a native tree, Metrosideros polymorpha, and predation of an invasive terrestrial frog, Eleutherodactylus …

Feasibility Of Infectious Prion Digestion Using Mild Conditions And Commercial Subtilisin, John L. Pilona, Paul B. Nash, Terry Arver, Don Hoglund, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Two serine protease enzymes, subtilisin 309 and subtilisin 309-v,were used to digest brain homogenates containing high levels of prion infectivity using mildly alkaline conditions to investigate prion decontamination methods. To establish that PrP^res infectivity was eliminated, we utilized the Rocky Mountain Laboratory (RML) mouse-adapted scrapie model system for bioassay. Only one digestion condition (subtilisin 309 at 138mAU/ml, 55 ◦C and 14 h digestion time pH 7.9) was considered to be highly relevant statistically (P < 0.001) compared to control, with 52% of challenged mice surviving until the end of the study period. In contrast, treatment of PrP^res by autoclaving at 134 ◦C or treatment with hypochlorite at a concentration of 20,000ppm completely protected mice from prionosis. Further, in vitro assays suggest …

Eight Polymorphic Microsatellite Loci Developed And Characterized From Townsend’S Big-Eared Bat, Corynorhinus Townsendii, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Katie Erin G. Miller, Marjorie D. Matocq, Susan L. Perkins

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Two of the five subspecies of the western big-eared bat, Corynorhinus townsendii, are listed as federally endangered with the remaining three being of conservation concern. Knowing the degree of connectivity among populations would aid in the establishment of sound conservation and management plans for this taxon. For this purpose, we have developed and characterized eight polymorphic microsatellite markers.

Intraspecific Comparison Of Population Structure, Genetic Diversity, And Dispersal Among Three Subspecies Of Townsend’S Big-Eared Bats, Corynorhinus Townsendii Townsendii, C. T. Pallescens, And The Endangered C. T. Birginianus, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Kirk W. Navo, Craig W. Stihler

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Townsend’s big-eared bat, Corynorhinus townsendii, is distributed broadly across western North America and in two isolated, endangered populations in central and eastern United States. There are five subspecies of C. townsendii; C. t. pallescens, C. t. australis, C. t. townsendii, C. t. ingens, and C. t. virginianus with varying degrees of concern over the conservation status of each. The aim of this study was to use mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA data to examine genetic diversity, population differentiation, and dispersal of three C. townsendii subspecies. C. t. virginianus is found in isolated populations in the eastern United States and …

Experimental Infection Of Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon Pyrrhonota) With Varying Doses Of West Nile Virus, Paul T. Oesterle, Nicole M. Nemeth, Kaci K. Vandalen, Heather Sullivan, Kevin T. Bentler, Ginger R. Young, Robert G. Mclean, Larry Clark, Cynthia Smeraski, Jeffrey S. Hall

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) were inoculated with differing doses of West Nile virus (WNV) to evaluate their potential role as reservoir hosts in nature. Swallows often nest in large colonies in habitats and months associated with high mosquito abundance and early WNV transmission in North America. Additionally, cliff swallow diet consists of insects, including mosquitoes, leading to an additional potential route of WNV infection. The average peak viremia titer among infected cliff swallows was 10^6.3 plaque-forming units (PFU)/mL serum and the reservoir competence index was 0.34. There was no correlation between dose and probability of becoming infected …

Accuracy Assessment For Ag500, Electromagnetic Articulograph, Yana Yunusova, Jordan R. Green, Antje Mefferd

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose: The goal of this article was to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of the AG500 (Carstens Medizinelectronik, Lenglern, Germany), an electromagnetic device developed recently to register articulatory movements in three dimensions. This technology seems to have unprecedented capabilities to provide rich information about time-varying positions of articulators. However, strengths and weaknesses of the system need to be better understood before the device is used for speech research.
Method: Evaluations of the sensor positions over time were obtained during (a) movements of the calibration device, (b) manual movements of sensors in a cartridge within the recording field of the cube, …

Forecasting The Combined Effects Of Urbanization And Climate Change On Stream Ecosystems: From Impacts To Management Options, Kären C. Nelson, Margaret A. Palmer, James E. Pizzuto, Glenn A. Moglen, Paul L. Angermeier, Robert H. Hilderbrand, Michael Dettinger, Katharine Hayhoe

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Streams collect runoff, heat, and sediment from their watersheds, making them highly vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbances such as urbanization and climate change. Forecasting the effects of these disturbances using process-based models is critical to identifying the form and magnitude of likely impacts. Here, we integrate a new biotic model with four previously developed physical models (downscaled climate projections, stream hydrology, geomorphology, and water temperature) to predict how stream fish growth and reproduction will most probably respond to shifts in climate and urbanization over the next several decades.

Taxonomy Of Quaternary Deep-Sea Ostracods From The Western North Atlantic Ocean, Moriaki Yasuhara, Hisayo Okahashi, Thomas M. Cronin

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Late Quaternary sediments from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 1055B, Carolina Slope, western North Atlantic (32°47.041’ N, 76°17.179’ W; 1798 m water depth) were examined for deep-sea ostracod taxonomy. A total of 13 933 specimens were picked from 207 samples and c. 120 species were identified. Among them, 87 species were included and illustrated in this paper. Twenty-eight new species are described. The new species are: Ambocythere sturgio, Argilloecia abba, Argilloecia caju, Argilloecia keigwini, Argilloecia robinwhatleyi, Aversovalva carolinensis, Bythoceratina willemvandenboldi, Bythocythere eugeneschornikovi, Chejudocythere tenuis, Cytheropteron aielloi, Cytheropteron demenocali, Cytheropteron didieae, Cytheropteron richarddinglei, Cytheropteron fugu, Cytheropteron guerneti, Cytheropteron richardbensoni, Eucytherura hazeli, …

A Lacustrine Carbonate Record Of Holocene Seasonality And Climate, Chad A. Wittkop, Jane L. Teranes, Walter E. Dean, Thomas P. Guilderson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Annually laminated (varved) Holocene sediments from Derby Lake, Michigan, display variations in endogenic calcite abundance refl ecting a long-term (millennial-scale) decrease in burial punctuated with frequent short-term (decadal-scale) oscillations due to carbonate dissolution. Since 6000 cal yr B.P., sediment carbonate abundance has followed a decreasing trend while organic-carbon abundance has increased. The correlation between organic-carbon abundance and the sum of March-April-October-November insolation has an r² value of 0.58. We interpret these trends to represent a precession-driven lengthening of the Holocene growing season that has reduced calcite burial by enhancing net annual organic-matter production and associated calcite dissolution. Correlations with …

Prevalence Of West Nile Virus In Migratory Birds During Spring And Fall Migration, Robert J. Dusek, Robert G. Mclean, Laura D. Kramer, Sonya R. Ubico, Alan P. Dupuis Ii, Gregory D. Ebel, Stephen C. Guptill

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

To investigate the role of migratory birds in the dissemination of West Nile virus (WNV), we measured the prevalence of infectious WNV and specific WNV neutralizing antibodies in birds, principally Passeriformes, during spring and fall migrations in the Atlantic and Mississippi flyways from 2001–2003. Blood samples were obtained from 13,403 birds, representing 133 species. Specific WNV neutralizing antibody was detected in 254 resident and migratory birds, representing 39 species, and was most commonly detected in northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis ) (9.8%, N = 762) and gray catbirds ( Dumetella carolinensis ) (3.2%, N = 3188). West Nile virus viremias …

Paleoceanography Of The Gulf Of Alaska During The Past 15,000 Years: Results From Diatoms, Silicoflagellates, And Geochemistry, John A. Barron, David Bukry, Walter E. Dean, Jason A. Addison, Bruce Finney

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

High-resolution records of diatoms, silicoflagellates, and geochemistry covering the past 15,000 years were studied in three cores from the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). Core EW0408-85JC in an oceanic setting on the Kayak Slope displays a paleoceanographic record similar to that at several locations on the California margin during deglaciation. Biologic productivity as reconstructed using geochemical and microfossil proxies increased abruptly during the Bølling–Alleröd (Bø–Al) warm interval (14.7–12.9 cal ka), declined during the Younger Dryas (YD) cold interval (12.9 to 11.7 cal kyr BP), and rose again during the earliest Holocene. At this site, the record after ~11 cal kyr BP …

Microseismicity At The North Anatolian Fault In The Sea Of Marmara Offshore Istanbul, Nw Turkey, Fatih Bulut, Marco Bohnhoff, William L. Ellsworth, Mustafa Aktar, Georg Dresen

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) below the Sea of Marmara forms a ‘‘seismic gap’’ where a major earthquake is expected to occur in the near future. This segment of the fault lies between the 1912 Ganos and 1999 İzmit ruptures and is the only NAFZ segment that has not ruptured since 1766. To monitor the microseismic activity at the main fault branch offshore of Istanbul below the Çınarcık Basin, a permanent seismic array (PIRES) was installed on the two outermost Prince Islands, Yassiada and Sivriada, at a few kilometers distance to the fault. In addition, a temporary network of …

A One-Dimensional Heat-Transport Model For Conduit Flow In Karst Aquifers, Andrew J. Long, Patrick C. Gilcrease

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A one-dimensional heat-transport model for conduit flow in karst aquifers is presented as an alternative to two or three-dimensional distributed-parameter models, which are data intensive and require knowledge of conduit locations. This model can be applied for cases where water temperature in a well or spring receives all or part of its water from a phreatic conduit. Heat transport in the conduit is simulated by using a physically-based heat-transport equation that accounts for inflow of diffuse flow from smaller openings and fissures in the surrounding aquifer during periods of low recharge. Additional diffuse flow that is within the zone of …

Interbasin Flow In The Great Basin With Special Reference To The Southern Funeral Mountains And The Source Of Furnace Creek Springs, Death Valley, California, U.S., Wayne R. Belcher, M. S. Bedinger, Jennifer T. Back, Donald S. Sweetkind

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Interbasin flow in the Great Basin has been established by scientific studies during the past century. While not occurring uniformly between all basins, its occurrence is common and is a function of the hydraulic gradient between basins and hydraulic conductivity of the intervening rocks. The Furnace Creek springs in Death Valley, California are an example of large volume springs that are widely accepted as being the discharge points of regional interbasin flow. The flow path has been interpreted historically to be through consolidated Paleozoic carbonate rocks in the southern Funeral Mountains. This work reviews the preponderance of evidence supporting the …

Possible Sources Of Archaeological Maize Found In Chaco Canyon And Aztec Ruin, New Mexico, Larry Benson, J. R. Stein, H. E. Taylor

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Maize played a major role in Chaco’s interaction with outlying communities in the southern Colorado Plateau. This paper seeks to determine where archaeological corn cobs brought to Chaco Canyon were grown. Strontium-isotope and trace-metal ratios of 180 soil-water and 18 surface-water sites in the Southern Colorado Plateau have revealed possible source areas for some of 37 archaeological corn cobs from Chaco Canyon and 10 archaeological corn cobs from Aztec Ruin, New Mexico. The most probable source areas for cobs that predate the middle-12th-century drought include several Upper Rio Chaco sites (not including Chaco Canyon). There are many potential source areas …

A Robust, Multisite Holocene History Of Drift Ice Off Northern Iceland: Implications For North Atlantic Climate, John T. Andrews, Dennis Darby, Dennis Eberle, Anne E. Jennings, Matthias Moros, Astrid Ogilvie

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

An important indicator of Holocene climate change is provided by evidence for variations in the extent of drift ice. A proxy for drift ice in Iceland waters is provided by the presence of quartz. Quantitative xray diffraction analysis of the < 2 mm sediment fraction was undertaken on 16 cores from around Iceland. The quartz weight (wt.)% estimates from each core were integrated into 250-yr intervals between −0.05 and 11.7 cal. ka BP. Median quartz wt.% varied between 0.2 and 3.4 and maximum values ranged between 2.8 and 11.8 wt.%. High values were attained in the early Holocene and minimum values were reached 6–7 cal. ka BP. Quartz wt.% then rose steadily during the late Holocene. Our data exhibit no correlation with counts on haematite-stained quartz (HSQ) grains from VM129-191 west of Ireland casting doubt on the ice-transport origin. A pilot study on the provenance of Fe oxide grains in two cores that cover the last 1.3 and 6.1 cal. ka BP indicated a large fraction of the grains between 1 and 6 cal. ka BP were from either Icelandic or presently unsampled sources. However, there was a dramatic increase in Canadian and Russian sources from the Arctic Ocean ~1 cal. ka BP. These data may indicate the beginning of an Arctic Oscillation-like climate mode.

History Of Wildlife Toxicology, Barnett A. Rattner

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The field of wildlife toxicology can be traced to

the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Initial

reports included unintentional poisoning of birds from

ingestion of spent lead shot and predator control agents,

alkali poisoning of waterbirds, and die-offs from maritime

oil spills. With the advent of synthetic pesticides in the

1930s and 1940s, effects of DDT and other pesticides were

investigated in free-ranging and captive wildlife. In

response to research findings in the US and UK, and the

publication of Silent Spring in 1962, public debate on the

hazards of pollutants arose and national contaminant

monitoring programs were initiated. …

Climate Trends Of The North American Prairie Pothole Region 1906–2000, Bruce Millett, W. Carter Johnson, Glenn Guntenspergen

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is unique to North America. Its millions of wetlands and abundant ecosystem goods and services are highly sensitive to wide variations of temperature and precipitation in time and space characteristic of a strongly continental climate. Precipitation and temperature gradients across the PPR are orthogonal to each other. Precipitation nearly triples from west to east from approximately 300 mm/year to 900 mm/year, while mean annual temperature ranges from approximately 1°C in the north to nearly 10°C in the south. Twentieth-century weather records for 18 PPR weather stations representing 6 ecoregions revealed several trends. The climate generally …

Climate Trends Of The North American Prairie Pothole Region 1906–2000, Bruce Millett, W. Carter Johnson, Glenn R. Guntenspergen

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is unique to North America. Its millions of wetlands and abundant ecosystem goods and services are highly sensitive to wide variations of temperature and precipitation in time and space characteristic of a strongly continental climate. Precipitation and temperature gradients across the PPR are orthogonal to each other. Precipitation nearly triples from west to east from approximately 300 mm/year to 900 mm/year, while mean annual temperature ranges from approximately 1◦C in the north to nearly 10◦C in the south. Twentieth-century weather records for 18 PPR weather stations representing 6 ecoregions revealed several trends. The climate generally …

A Metaheuristic For The Pickup And Delivery Problem With Split-Loads And Its Extension, Dai Yao

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In this dissertation, we study improvements in the Pickup and Delivery Problem that can be achieved by allowing multiple vehicle trips to serve a common load. We explore how costs can be reduced through the elimination of the constraint that a load must be served by only one vehicle trip. Specifically, we investigate the problem of routing vehicles to serve loads that have distinct origins and destinations, with no constraint on the amount of a load that a vehicle may serve at a time. We develop a metaheuristic to solve large scale practical size problems in this form and apply …

The Effect Of Concentrated Institutional Portfolio On Stock Returns, Hao Li Zhang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This paper examines whether stock return is related to the extent of portfolio concentration on the part of institutional fund managers. There is evidence that large firms are preferred for both concentrated and well-diversified funds. Also, a trading strategy based on concentrated ownership generates positive abnormal return. This implies that informational effect (implied in an increase in concentrated capital) has significant impacts and predictability on returns. Meanwhile, we do not find diversified ownership has predictability on future stock returns.

Reactive Exploration With Self-Reconfigurable Systems, Eric Fabricant

Theses

Modular self-reconfigurable robots (MSR) are robots composed of modules that translate over one another to permit reconfiguration and locomotion. This construction allows them to traverse a broader range of environments than legged or wheeled robots. MSR also posses the ability to split apart to parallelize their efforts or combine with each other to produce a larger robot capable of navigating more diverse terrain. In this paper we discuss a state-based reactive architecture for the distributed control of cooperative MSR teams in unknown environments. The MSR use local sensory data from the environment and a model of the team to select …

Come For The Content, Stay For The Community, Hilary J. Eppley

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Cube Attacks On Cryptographic Hash Functions, Joel Lathrop

Theses

Cryptographic hash functions are a vital part of our current computer sys- tems. They are a core component of digital signatures, message authentica- tion codes, file checksums, and many other protocols and security schemes. Recent attacks against well-established hash functions have led NIST to start an international competition to develop a new hashing standard to be named SHA-3. In this thesis, we provide cryptanalysis of some of the SHA-3 candidates. We do this using a new cryptanalytical technique introduced a few months ago called cube attacks. In addition to summarizing the technique, we build on it by providing a framework …

Hunting For Undetectable Metamorphic Viruses, Da Lin

Master's Projects

Commercial anti-virus scanners are generally signature based, that is, they scan for known patterns to determine whether a file is infected by a virus or not. To evade signature-based detection, virus writers have adopted code obfuscation techniques to create highly metamorphic computer viruses. Since metamorphic viruses change their appearance from generation to generation, signature-based scanners cannot detect all instances of such viruses. To combat metamorphic viruses, detection tools based on statistical analysis have been studied. A tool based on hidden Markov models (HMMs) was previously developed and the results are encouraging—it has been shown that metamorphic viruses created by a …

A Running Time Improvement For Two Thresholds Two Divisors Algorithm, Bingchun Chang

Master's Projects

Chunking algorithms play an important role in data de-duplication systems. The Basic Sliding Window (BSW) algorithm is the first prototype of the content-based chunking algorithm which can handle most types of data. The Two Thresholds Two Divisors (TTTD) algorithm was proposed to improve the BSW algorithm in terms of controlling the variations of the chunk-size. In this project, we investigate and compare the BSW algorithm and TTTD algorithm from different factors by a series of systematic experiments. Up to now, no paper conducts these experimental evaluations for these two algorithms. This is the first value of this paper. According to …