Unusual Foraging Behavior by an Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciuridae: Sciurus carolinensis) in an Urban Habitat

A unique observation of foraging by an Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is described. The squirrel was observed consuming insects that had been impacted on automobile radiators

FINISHING OR WINNING? THE VARIABLES THAT IMPACTED THE NASCAR CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE CHASE I FORMAT (2004-2013)

Since 2004 NASCAR has evolved its championship format in an effort to put more emphasis on wins, thus encouraging drivers to take more risk to get the race win. Past research has shown that drivers taking a conservative approach, by completing laps rather than going for wins, results in championships. This research attempts to determine if previous models are robust in predicting factors that influence individual points accumulation towards winning the championship and if driver consistency, rather than winning, remains the dominant factor in predicting NASCAR\u27s championship standings

Next generation software environments : principles, problems, and research directions

The past decade has seen a burgeoning of research and development in software environments. Conferences have been devoted to the topic of practical environments, journal papers produced, and commercial systems sold. Given all the activity, one might expect a great deal of consensus on issues, approaches, and techniques. This is not the case, however. Indeed, the term "environment" is still used in a variety of conflicting ways. Nevertheless substantial progress has been made and we are at least nearing consensus on many critical issues.The purpose of this paper is to characterize environments, describe several important principles that have emerged in the last decade or so, note current open problems, and describe some approaches to these problems, with particular emphasis on the activities of one large-scale research program, the Arcadia project. Consideration is also given to two related topics: empirical evaluation and technology transition. That is, how can environments and their constituents be evaluated, and how can new developments be moved effectively into the production sector

Tusk or Bone? An Example of Ivory Substitute in the Wildlife Trade

Bone carvings (and other ivory substitutes) are common in the modern-day lucrative international ivory trade.  Souvenirs for unknowing travelers and market shoppers can be made of non-biological material (plastic "ivory" beads) or skillfully crafted natural objects made to resemble something other than their true origin.  Many of these items are received at the U. S. National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory (NFWFL) for species identification as part of law enforcement investigations.  Morphologists at the Lab often receive uniquely carved ivory items that have been imported with little or no documentation.  In recent years, analysts examined several purported ivory tusks suspected to be walrus, a protected marine mammal.  After examination, the Lab determined their origin as carved leg bones of cattle using principles and methods of zooarchaeology and ancient DNA analysis.  The naturally long and straight ungulate metapodials had been cut, carved, filled, stained, and polished to closely resemble unmodified ivory tusks.  Morphological species identification of these bones proved to be a challenge since diagnostic characters of the bones had been altered and country of origin was unknown. Genetic analysis showed that the bones originated from cattle.  While bone is commonly used as a substitute for ivory, this style of artifact was not previously documented in the wildlife trade prior to our analysis.  Archaeological ethnobiologists commonly encounter bone tools and other forms of material culture from prehistoric and historic contexts; in this case bone tools come from a modern context, thus the application of methods common in zooarchaeology are situated in wildlife forensics.  In addition, results reported here pertain to cross-cultural ivory trade and conservation science.</p

Expression of the Flp proteins by Haemophilus ducreyi is necessary for virulence in human volunteers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Haemophilus ducreyi</it>, the causative agent of the sexually transmitted disease chancroid, contains a <it>flp </it>(fimbria like protein) operon that encodes proteins predicted to contribute to adherence and pathogenesis. <it>H. ducreyi </it>mutants that lack expression of Flp1 and Flp2 or TadA, which has homology to NTPases of type IV secretion systems, have decreased abilities to attach to and form microcolonies on human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF). A <it>tadA </it>mutant is attenuated in its ability to cause disease in human volunteers and in the temperature dependent rabbit model, but a <it>flp1flp2 </it>mutant is virulent in rabbits. Whether a <it>flp </it>deletion mutant would cause disease in humans is not clear.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We constructed 35000HPΔ<it>flp1-3</it>, a deletion mutant that lacks expression of all three Flp proteins but has an intact <it>tad </it>secretion system. 35000HPΔ<it>flp1-3 </it>was impaired in its ability to form microcolonies and to attach to HFF in vitro when compared to its parent (35000HP). Complementation of the mutant with <it>flp1-3 </it>in trans restored the parental phenotype. To test whether expression of Flp1-3 was necessary for virulence in humans, ten healthy adult volunteers were experimentally infected with a fixed dose of 35000HP (ranging from 54 to 67 CFU) on one arm and three doses of 35000HPΔ<it>flp1-3 </it>(ranging from 63 to 961 CFU) on the other arm. The overall papule formation rate for the parent was 80% (95% confidence interval, CI, 55.2%-99.9%) and for the mutant was 70.0% (95% CI, 50.5%-89.5%) (<it>P </it>= 0.52). Mutant papules were significantly smaller (mean, 11.2 mm²) than were parent papules (21.8 mm²) 24 h after inoculation (<it>P </it>= 0.018). The overall pustule formation rates were 46.7% (95% CI 23.7-69.7%) at 30 parent sites and 6.7% (95% CI, 0.1-19.1%) at 30 mutant sites (<it>P </it>= 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data suggest that production and secretion of the Flp proteins contributes to microcolony formation and attachment to HFF cells in vitro. Expression of <it>flp1-3 </it>is also necessary for <it>H. ducreyi </it>to initiate disease and progress to pustule formation in humans. Future studies will focus on how Flp proteins contribute to microcolony formation and attachment in vivo.</p

Football in the community schemes: Exploring the effectiveness of an intervention in promoting healthful behaviour change

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of a Premier League football club’s Football in the Community (FitC) schemes intervention in promoting positive healthful behaviour change in children. Specifically, exploring the effectiveness of this intervention from the perspectives of the participants involved (i.e. the researcher, teachers, children and coaches). A range of data collection techniques were utilized including the principles of ethnography (i.e. immersion, engagement and observations), alongside conducting focus groups with the children. The results allude to the intervention merely ‘keeping active children active’ via (mostly) fun, football sessions. Results highlight the important contribution the ‘coach’ plays in the effectiveness of the intervention. Results relating to working practice (i.e. coaching practice and coach recruitment) are discussed and highlighted as areas to be addressed. FitC schemes appear to require a process of positive organizational change to increase their effectiveness in strategically attending to the health agenda

101 Dothideomycetes genomes: A test case for predicting lifestyles and emergence of pathogens.

Dothideomycetes is the largest class of kingdom Fungi and comprises an incredible diversity of lifestyles, many of which have evolved multiple times. Plant pathogens represent a major ecological niche of the class Dothideomycetes and they are known to infect most major food crops and feedstocks for biomass and biofuel production. Studying the ecology and evolution of Dothideomycetes has significant implications for our fundamental understanding of fungal evolution, their adaptation to stress and host specificity, and practical implications with regard to the effects of climate change and on the food, feed, and livestock elements of the agro-economy. In this study, we present the first large-scale, whole-genome comparison of 101 Dothideomycetes introducing 55 newly sequenced species. The availability of whole-genome data produced a high-confidence phylogeny leading to reclassification of 25 organisms, provided a clearer picture of the relationships among the various families, and indicated that pathogenicity evolved multiple times within this class. We also identified gene family expansions and contractions across the Dothideomycetes phylogeny linked to ecological niches providing insights into genome evolution and adaptation across this group. Using machine-learning methods we classified fungi into lifestyle classes with &gt;95&nbsp;% accuracy and identified a small number of gene families that positively correlated with these distinctions. This can become a valuable tool for genome-based prediction of species lifestyle, especially for rarely seen and poorly studied species