Vegetation Effects on Fish Distribution in Impounded Salt Marshes

We compared the density and biomass of resident fish in vegetated and unvegetated flooded habitats of impounded salt marshes in the northern Indian River Lagoon (IRL) Estuary of east-central Florida. A 1-m2 throw trap was used to sample fish in randomly located, paired sample plots (n = 198 pairs) over 5 seasons in 7 impoundments. We collected a total of 15 fish taxa, and 88% of the fishes we identified from the samples belonged to three species: Cyprinodon variegatus (Sheepshead Minnow), Gambusia holbrooki (Eastern Mosquitofish), and Poecilia latipinna (Sailfin Molly). Vegetated habitat usually had higher density and biomass of fish. Mean fish density (and 95% confidence interval) for vegetated and unvegetated sites were 8.2 (6.7–9.9) and 2.0 (1.6–2.4) individuals m-2, respectively; mean biomass (and 95% confidence interval) for vegetated and unvegetated sites were 3.0 (2.5–3.7) and 1.1 (0.9–1.4) g m-2, respectively. We confirmed previous findings that impounded salt marshes of the northern IRL Estuary produce a high standing stock of resident fishes. Seasonal patterns of abundance were consistent with fish moving between vegetated and unvegetated habitat as water levels changed in the estuary. Differences in density, mean size, and species composition of resident fishes between vegetated and unvegetated habitats have important implications for movement of biomass and nutrients out of salt marsh by piscivores (e.g., wading birds and fishes) via a trophic relay

Scale-Dependent Habitat Selection of Nesting Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets

Foraging habitat selection of nesting Great Egrets ( Ardea alba ) and Snowy Egrets ( Egretta thula ) was investigated within an estuary with extensive impounded salt marsh habitat. Using a geographic information system, available habitat was partitioned into concentric bands at five, ten, and 15 km radius from nesting colonies to assess the relative effects of habitat composition and distance on habitat selection. Snowy Egrets were more likely than Great Egrets to depart colonies and travel to foraging sites in groups, but both species usually arrived at sites that were occupied by other wading birds. Mean flight distances were 6.2 km (SE = 0.4, N = 28, range 1.8-10.7 km) for Great Egrets and 4.7 km (SE = 0.48, N = 31, range 0.7-12.5 km) for Snowy Egrets. At the broadest spatial scale both species used impounded (mostly salt marsh) and estuarine edge habitat more than expected based on availability while avoiding unimpounded (mostly fresh water wetland) habitat. At more local scales habitat use matched availability. Interpretation of habitat preference differed with the types of habitat that were included and the maximum distance that habitat was considered available. These results illustrate that caution is needed when interpreting the results of habitat preference studies when individuals are constrained in their choice of habitats, such as for central place foragers

Workplace Stress: Implications for Employees and Organizations

Stressors are ubiquitous in today’s society, impacting the personal and professional lives of most people on a daily basis. In terms of stress in organizational settings, employees must deal with an array of workplace stressors, including: Role conflict or ambiguity; Task overload; Difficult relationships with co-workers or supervisor; Harsh environmental conditions; Lack of clear communication or direction; Insufficient resources needed to perform a job; Inadequate pay and benefits; Hostile work environment, including bullying or harassment; Job instability or uncertainty of the organization’s future. It is in the best interest of an organization to establish practices and programs to help reduce or eliminate stressors from the work environment. Employees who are able to perform their jobs with minimal stressors will demonstrate greater engagement, as well as productivity. This will enable an organization to sustain a high level of performance for achieving short and long-term objectives and overall success

A Calibrated Method of Massage Therapy Decreases Systolic Blood Pressure Concomitant With Changes in Heart Rate Variability in Male Rats.

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to develop a method for applying calibrated manual massage pressures by using commonly available, inexpensive sphygmomanometer parts and validate the use of this approach as a quantitative method of applying massage therapy to rodents.MethodsMassage pressures were monitored by using a modified neonatal blood pressure (BP) cuff attached to an aneroid gauge. Lightly anesthetized rats were stroked on the ventral abdomen for 5 minutes at pressures of 20 mm Hg and 40 mm Hg. Blood pressure was monitored noninvasively for 20 minutes following massage therapy at 5-minute intervals. Interexaminer reliability was assessed by applying 20 mm Hg and 40 mm Hg pressures to a digital scale in the presence or absence of the pressure gauge.ResultsWith the use of this method, we observed good interexaminer reliability, with intraclass coefficients of 0.989 versus 0.624 in blinded controls. In Long-Evans rats, systolic BP dropped by an average of 9.86% ± 0.27% following application of 40 mm Hg massage pressure. Similar effects were seen following 20 mm Hg pressure (6.52% ± 1.7%), although latency to effect was greater than at 40 mm Hg. Sprague-Dawley rats behaved similarly to Long-Evans rats. Low-frequency/high-frequency ratio, a widely-used index of autonomic tone in cardiovascular regulation, showed a significant increase within 5 minutes after 40 mm Hg massage pressure was applied.ConclusionsThe calibrated massage method was shown to be a reproducible method for applying massage pressures in rodents and lowering BP

A new family of non-local priors for chain event graph model selection

Chain Event Graphs (CEGs) are a rich and provenly useful class of graphical models. The class contains discrete Bayesian Networks as a special case and is able to depict directly the asymmetric context-specific statements in the model. But bespoke efficient algorithms now need to be developed to search the enormous CEG model space. In different contexts Bayes Factor scored search algorithm using non-local priors (NLPs) has recently proved very successful for searching other huge model spaces. Here we define and explore three different types of NLP that we customise to search CEG spaces. We demonstrate how one of these candidate NLPs provides a framework for search which is both robust and computationally efficient. It also avoids selecting an overfitting model as the standard conjugate methods sometimes do. We illustrate the efficacy of our methods with two examples. First we analyse a previously well-studied 5-year longitudinal study of childhood hospitalisation. The second much larger example selects between competing models of prisoners’ radicalisation in British prisons: because of its size an application beyond the scope of earlier Bayes Factor search algorithms

Aptitud anaerobia en deportistas de combate del sexo femenino

Se estudia en nivel de preparación anaerobia en tres selecciones femeninas de deportes de combate de alta calificación: 15 judocas, 7 esgrimistas de la modalidad sable y 16 taekwondoistas. Fueron medidos indicadores neuromusculares, al final de la preparación especial, utilizando los tests de ergosalto y de saltabilidad de Bosco, Se determinan las estadísticas descriptivas, significación de las diferencias entre deportes y la correlación entre indicadores. Se obtienen los resultados: Pala (15,7 ± 2,1-19,2 ± 1,5 W/Kg), Pana (14,5 ± 1,9-17,7 ± 1,2 W/Kg), Los SCAB, SSAB, SCPD, SCPCD y SDPC mas altos fueron los de las esgrimistas y la mejor coordinación se encontró en las competidoras de esgrima, mientras que los mayores valores de CELAS fueron los de las judocas. Los resultados obtenidos se corresponden con las características del gesto deportivo que prevalece en cada uno de los deportes estudiados

Theory of the "honeycomb chain-channel" reconstruction of Si(111)3x1

First-principles electronic-structure methods are used to study a structural model for Ag/Si(111)3x1 recently proposed on the basis of transmission electron diffraction data. The fully relaxed geometry for this model is far more energetically favorable than any previously proposed, partly due to the unusual formation of a Si double bond in the surface layer. The calculated electronic properties of this model are in complete agreement with data from angle-resolved photoemission and scanning tunneling microscopy.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett (the ugly postscript error on page 4 has now been repaired