Creativity: Harmony, Not Noise

A break-press operator boosted the output of crimped, formed machinery shields 10 per cent daily by changing the way he inserted the sheet steel

Residence Hall Program and Perception of University Environment

I have always maintained that at-risk students were often blamed for their lack of success, rather than supported to overcome their prior educational challenges. As a second year residence hall director I had the privilege of working in a building with two distant wings. With the support of my mentor, Dr. Eugene J. Cech, Director of Testing, we developed a residence life program designed to assist summer lower-quarter high school graduates to be successful in college. The quality of residence life does make a difference. The journal, College Student Survey, no longer appears to be published

Mass Marking of Mosquitofish: Preliminary Results

Three marking techniques were tested to determine their applicability for mosquitofish. Tetracycline drugs and DC Ar administered in the diet successfully marked laboratory-cultured mosquitofish, but exposure to direct sunlight in outdoor tanks resulted in the rapid disappearance of the marks. Preliminary data on fluorescent marks from a polystyrene pigment in a melamine-sulfonamide-formaldehyde resin forced into the dermal ,tissue with compressed air are more promising. A t an optimal deliver pressure of 7.3 m Hg (140 p.s.i.) and spraying time of 15 sec., marking percentage is maximized and fish mortality is minimized. Mark retention time was up to 80 days in outdoor tanks at this writing, Long retention times and the availability of four colors increases the potential of this marking technique as a useful tool in field population studies of mosquito fish

Effect of Fish Size on Prey Size Selection in Gambusia Affinis

Food size selection of the mosquitofish , Gambusia affinis affinis. was measured in aquaria using juvenile stages of the mosquito, Clllex tarsalb;, as prey. Fish size varied from recently born fry to large adult females. Food size selection was positively correlated with fish size. Mosquitofish fry (6-8 111m standard length) attacked and ate primarily first and second instar larvae. Fry attacked larger instars, but attack success on these was low (0 - 50%). Fish larger than 20 mm attached primarily pupae and third and fourth instar larva. No first instar mosquitoes were eaten. Attack success for these fish was above 65\u27Yr) for all instars

Behavioural Salinity Preferences of Juvenile Green Sturgeon \u3ci\u3eAcipenser medirostris\u3c/i\u3e Acclimated to Fresh Water and Full-Strength Salt Water

To quantify the salinity preference of juvenile green sturgeon Acipenser medirostris, two groups of A. medirostris [140 days post hatch (dph); total length (LT) 38.0–52.5 cm] were acclimated to either near fresh water (mean ± S.E. salinity = 3.2 ± 0.6) or full-strength salt water (34.1 ± 1.2) over 8 weeks. Following acclimation, the two groups were divided into experimental and control groups, where experimental A. medirostris from both freshwater and saltwater acclimations were individually introduced (200–220 dph) into a rectangular salinity-preference flume (maximum salinity gradient: 5–33). Control A. medirostris were presented with only their acclimation water (fresh water or salt water) on both sides of the flume. It was demonstrated that A. medirostris acclimated to both salt water and fresh water spent a significantly greater amount of time on the side of the testing area with the highest salinity concentration (P \u3c 0.05 and P \u3c 0.001, respectively) while control A. medirostris spent an equal amount of time on each side of the flume. These findings indicate that juvenile A. medirostris are not only capable of detecting salt water within the first year of their lives but perhaps are actively seeking out saline environments as they move through a watershed. Establishing A. medirostris salinity preferences provides a better understanding of the early life history of this threatened species, shedding light on possible outmigration timing

Growth and Activity of Juvenile Mosquitofish: Temperature and Ration Effects

The effects of constant temperatures (10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 C) and ration size on the growth rates and activity of juvenile mosquitofish Gambusia affinis (mean wet weight, about 20 mg) were measured in laboratory experiments. On ad libitum rations of Tubifex spp. worms, food-consumption rates of mosquitofish were very high, ranging from 7% dry body weight/day at 10 C to 83%/day at 35 C. Growth increased from 0% dry body weight/day at 10 C to 21%/day at 30 C and declined slightly at 35 C. Gross efficiencies (100 growth/food consumption) increased from 0 at 10 C to a peak of 28% at 30 C and declined slightly at 35 C. On reduced rations (20% of dry body weight/day) maximum growth rates occurred at 25 C. Weight loss of starved fish varied from 1.5%/day at 10 C to approximately 13%/day at 35 C. Fish activity increased significantly with temperature and was generally highest at intermediate feeding levels

Efficacy of a sensory deterrent and pipe modifications in decreasing entrainment of juvenile green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) at unscreened water diversions.

Water projects designed to extract fresh water for local urban, industrial and agricultural use throughout rivers and estuaries worldwide have contributed to the fragmentation and degradation of suitable habitat for native fishes. The number of water diversions located throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin watershed in California's Central Valley exceeds 3300, and the majority of these are unscreened. Many anadromous fish species are susceptible to entrainment into these diversions, potentially impacting population numbers. In the laboratory, juvenile green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) have been shown to have high entrainment rates into unscreened diversions compared with those of other native California fish species, which may act as a significant source of mortality for this already-threatened species. Therefore, we tested the efficacy of a sensory deterrent (strobe light) and two structural pipe modifications (terminal pipe plate and upturned pipe configuration) in decreasing the entrainment of juvenile green sturgeon (mean mass ± SEM = 162.9 ± 4.0 g; mean fork length = 39.4 ± 0.3 cm) in a large (>500 kl) outdoor flume fitted with a water-diversion pipe 0.46 m in diameter. While the presence of the strobe light did not affect fish entrainment rates, the terminal pipe plate and upturned pipe modifications significantly decreased the proportion of fish entrained out of the total number tested relative to control conditions (0.13 ± 0.02 and 0.03 ± 0.02 vs. 0.44 ± 0.04, respectively). These data suggest that sensory deterrents using visual stimuli are not an effective means to reduce diversion pipe interactions for green sturgeon, but that structural alterations to diversions can successfully reduce entrainment for this species. Our results are informative for the development of effective management strategies to mitigate the impacts of water diversions on sturgeon populations and suggest that effective restoration strategies that balance agricultural needs with conservation programmes are possible