Preliminary checklist of the bees of St. Eustatius, Lesser Antilles (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)

We present a preliminary checklist of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) compiled for St. Eustatius, an island located in the Lesser Antilles of the eastern Caribbean. The list has nine species, including six that have not been previously documented on St. Eustatius. One species is exotic to the Caribbean, one species is found only on St. Eustatius and St. Kitts, and five species occur elsewhere in the Lesser and Greater Antilles. Two of the collected specimens could not be assigned to a species; their geographical distributions are unknown

Risk based bridge data collection and asset management and the role of structural health monitoring

Peer reviewedPostprin

Helical tape forming device

Using a device that is not limited to a minimum thickness or width-to-thickness ratio, a very thin metal tape or ribbon is formed into a continuous flat wound helical coil. The device imparts the desired circular shape by squeeze rolling it with an unequal force across its width

Reconstruction subgrid models for nonpremixed combustion

Large-eddy simulation of combustion problems involves highly nonlinear terms that, when filtered, result in a contribution from subgrid fluctuations of scalars, Z, to the dynamics of the filtered value. This subgrid contribution requires modeling. Reconstruction models try to recover as much information as possible from the resolved field Z, based on a deconvolution procedure to obtain an intermediate field ZM. The approximate reconstruction using moments (ARM) method combines approximate reconstruction, a purely mathematical procedure, with additional physics-based information required to match specific scalar moments, in the simplest case, the Reynolds-averaged value of the subgrid variance. Here, results from the analysis of the ARM model in the case of a spatially evolving turbulent plane jet are presented. A priori and a posteriori evaluations using data from direct numerical simulation are carried out. The nonlinearities considered are representative of reacting flows: power functions, the dependence of the density on the mixture fraction (relevant for conserved scalar approaches) and the Arrhenius nonlinearity (very localized in Z space). Comparisons are made against the more popular beta probability density function (PDF) approach in the a priori analysis, trying to define ranges of validity for each approach. The results show that the ARM model is able to capture the subgrid part of the variance accurately over a wide range of filter sizes and performs well for the different nonlinearities, giving uniformly better predictions than the beta PDF for the polynomial case. In the case of the density and Arrhenius nonlinearities, the relative performance of the ARM and traditional PDF approaches depends on the size of the subgrid variance with respect to a characteristic scale of each function. Furthermore, the sources of error associated with the ARM method are considered and analytical bounds on that error are obtained

The effects of soil moisture and plant morphology on the radar backscatter from vegetation

The results of experimental studies on the backscattering properties of corn, milo, soybeans and alfalfa are presented. The measurements were made during the summer of 1973 over the 8 to 18 GHz frequency band. The data indicate that soil moisture estimation is best accomplished at incidence angles near nadir with lower frequencies, while crop discrimination is best accomplished using two frequencies at incidence angles ranging from 30 deg to 65 deg. It is also shown that temporal plant morphology variations can cause extreme variations in the values of the scattering coefficients. These morphological changes can be caused by growth, heavy rain and in the case of alfalfa, harvesting

Perloline, the Forgotten Plant Alkaloid

Perloline, a biologically active plant alkaloid, accumulated in vegetative tissue of tall fescue during the summer months. Perloline content increased with increased available nitrogen and light. Total perloline accumulation was greatest with NO3-N fertilizer, but greatest perloline content per unit of dry wt was measured with NH4-N. In mature plants greatest perloline accumulation occurred in the leaves and immature inflorescences, but was not detected in the seed. Leaves of meadow fescue contained the greatest amounts of perloline, tall fescue was intermediate and giant fescue, and ryegrasses and yellow foxtail had low amounts of the alkaloid. Tryptophan and ornithine were efficient precursors of perloline biosynthesis

An outside-inside view of exclusive practice within an inclusive mainstream school

This article is a reflection on a sabbatical experience in a mainstream school where an inclusive ethos underpinned the curriculum and environmental approaches for all children. The period as Acting Head teacher raised some challenges for me in reconciling inclusion for all children and the exclusive nature of some professional and physical spaces available to the community of adults working in the school. It has highlighted some development opportunities for the senior management of the school and its governing body

Effect of different regimens of early malnutrition on behavioural development and adult avoidance learning in Swiss white mice

1. The effects of perinatal malnutrition on behavioural development and adult shuttle-box avoidance performance were studied in Swiss white mice. 2. Mice were malnourished (a) from the 7th day of gestation until birth, (b) from birth until weaning, or (c) during both gestation and the sucking period. 3. Pups born of protein-restricted mothers had reduced birth weights, retarded development and poor adult avoidance performance, even if reared from birth by well-nourished mothers. 4. Postnatal malnutrition, induced either by restricting maternal diet or by rearing in large litters, retarded development during the second half of lactation and lowered subsequent adult avoidance performanc