The Purdue University Get Away Special II (PUGAS II)

The Purdue University Get Away Special Project (PUGAS) is a student-run organization dedicated to preparing payloads for flight on NASA's space shuttle. The first such payload (PUGAS I) flew on Challenger in 1983. The second payload (PUGAS II) should be ready by the end of 1988 and will include three experiments. The first experiment will involve the production of tin metal foam under microgravity conditions. The second experiment will focus on the desorption of water from carbon-epoxy composite materials. The third experiment will use a solid polymeric material to detect radiation in space

Ultrasound-Guided Suture Tape Augmentation and Stabilization of the Medial Collateral Ligament

Management of medial collateral ligament (MCL) injuries usually consists of time and conservative management; however, patients are typically immobilized and need extensive time to return to sport. Although the MCL has been shown to have the ability to heal given time, surgical management is still sometimes needed to provide stability to the knee. Operative techniques vary in methodology, but are typically highly invasive and technically demanding. In the event of multiligamentous or severe injuries, reinforcing the MCL with an ultrahigh-strength, 2-mm-wide suture tape allows for early functional rehabilitation, permitting the native MCL tissue to heal and avoiding late reconstructions. This technical report details an ultrasound-guided technique for the percutaneous suture tape augmentation and stabilization of the MCL with or without repair. Ultrasound allows for anatomic percutaneous placement of the sockets, as opposed to landmark palpation guidance that has proven to be unreliable. This is a simple, quick procedure that provides instant stability to the MCL with or without operating on the ligament itself, allowing patients to return to activity faster with the reduced risk of reinjury due to less muscle atrophy and loss of function

Overview of the Distribution, Habitat Association and Impact of Exotic Ants on Native Ant Communities in New Caledonia

Ants are among the most ubiquitous and harmful invaders worldwide, but there are few regional studies of their relationships with habitat and native ant communities. New Caledonia has a unique and diverse ant fauna that is threatened by exotic ants, but broad-scale patterns of exotic and native ant community composition in relation to habitat remain poorly documented. We conducted a systematic baiting survey of 56 sites representing the main New Caledonian habitat types: rainforest on ultramafic soils (15 sites), rainforest on volcano-sedimentary soils (13), maquis shrubland (15), Melaleuca-dominated savannas (11) and Acacia spirorbis thickets (2). We collected a total of 49 species, 13 of which were exotic. Only five sites were free of exotic species, and these were all rainforest. The five most abundant exotic species differed in their habitat association, with Pheidole megacephala associated with rainforests, Brachymyrmex cf. obscurior with savanna, and Wasmannia auropunctata and Nylanderia vaga present in most habitats. Anoplolepis gracilipes occurred primarily in maquis-shrubland, which contrasts with its rainforest affinity elsewhere. Multivariate analysis of overall ant species composition showed strong differentiation of sites according to the distribution of exotic species, and these patterns were maintained at the genus and functional group levels. Native ant composition differed at invaded versus uninvaded rainforest sites, in the absence of differences in habitat variables. Generalised Myrmicinae and Forest Opportunists were particularly affected by invasion. There was a strong negative relationship between the abundance of W. auropunctata and native ant abundance and richness. This emphasizes that, in addition to dominating many ant communities numerically, some exotic species, and in particular W. auropunctata, have a marked impact on native ant communities

Effect of Lasalocid on Weight Gains, Rumen Fermentation and Forage Intake of Stocker Cattle Grazing Winter Wheat Pasture

Animal Scienc

Vertebrates are poor umbrellas for invertebrates: cross-taxon congruence in an Australian tropical savanna

Invertebrates are commonly ignored in conservation planning due to their vast diversity, difficulties with species identification, a poor understanding of their spatial patterns, and the impracticability of carrying out comprehensive sampling. Conservation planning for fauna is therefore often based on patterns of diversity and distribution of vertebrates, under the assumption that these are representative of animal diversity more generally. Here, we evaluate how well vertebrates act as umbrellas for invertebrate diversity and distribution in a highly diverse tropical savanna landscape, and we investigate the effect of vertebrate sampling intensity (i.e., number of surveys) on congruence results. We assessed congruence between each of the four classes of terrestrial vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) and twelve invertebrate families (representing four dominant invertebrate taxa: ants, beetles, flies, and spiders) by applying a range of modeling approaches to analyze patterns of cross‐taxon congruence in species richness and composition across sampling sites. To investigate drivers of congruence, we applied generalized and distance‐based linear models to identify environmental associations of richness and composition for each taxon, then examined variation in environmental associations across taxa. Vertebrate and invertebrate richness was weakly (<30%) associated, and ~60% of the significant associations were negative. Correlations in species composition between vertebrate and invertebrate taxa were also weak, with a maximum of 13% congruence. In most cases, pairwise correlation scores using data from single surveys of vertebrates were only marginally lower than those from multiple surveys. Poor among‐site congruence between vertebrates and invertebrates was reflected by marked variation among taxa in their environmental associations. Our findings show that vertebrates are poor umbrellas for invertebrates in the tropical savannas of northern Australia in terms of geographic patterns of diversity and distribution and that this is not just an artifact of low vertebrate sampling intensity. Our study is one of the most comprehensive regional analyses of the congruence of vertebrate and invertebrate diversity, and it significantly adds to the growing evidence that empirical data on invertebrate diversity and distribution are required for conservation planning that effectively protects all faunal diversity