Crustal structure of the Borderland-Continent Transition Zone of southern California adjacent to Los Angeles

We use data from the onshore-offshore component of Los Angeles Region Seismic Experiment (LARSE) to model the broad-scale features of the midcrust to upper mantle beneath a north-south transect that spans the continental borderland in the Los Angeles, California, region. We have developed an analysis method for wide-angle seismic data that consists primarily of refractions, lacks near-offset recordings, and contains wide gaps in coverage. Although the data restrict the analysis to the modeling of broad-scale structure, the technique allows one to explore the limits of the data and determine the resolving power of the data set. The resulting composite velocity model constrains the crustal thickness and location and width of the continent-Borderland transition zone. We find that the mid to lower crust layer velocities of the Inner Borderland are slightly lower than the corresponding layers in the average southern California crust model, while the upper mantle velocity is significantly higher. The data require the Moho to deepen significantly to the north. We constrain the transition zone to initiate between the offshore slope and the southwest Los Angeles Basin. If the Inner Borderland crust is 22 km thick, then the transition zone is constrained to initiate within a 2 km wide region beneath the southwest Los Angeles Basin, and have a width of 20–25 km. The strong, coherent, and continuous Pn phase suggests the Moho is coherent and laterally continuous beneath the Inner Borderland and transition zone. The Inner California Borderland seems to be modified and thickened oceanic crust, with the oceanic upper mantle intact beneath it

Lymphocytes: not useless after all

Half a century ago, an immunologist named N. Avrion Mitchison showed that lymphocytes—then thought to be useless—triggered tumor rejection in mice

Polymer/carbon nanotube composites, methods of use and methods of synthesis thereof

Novel transparent composites composed of single wall carbon nanotubes incorporated into the matrix of a polymer are utilized in services wherein the composites are exposed to ionizing radiation, including galactic cosmic radiation. Accordingly, the composites are useful in deep space applications like space vehicles, space stations, personal equipment as well as applications in the biomedical arts and atom splitting research. The composites can be modified with organic dyes containing at least one phenyl ring and the resulting doped composite is useful as a radiation detector. The preferred polymer is poly(4-methyl-1-pentene)

An examination of the organisational commitment of financial planners

This paper sets out to determine whether the demographic variables of age, gender, length of service can be shown to be related to the organisational commitment (OC) of financial planners in Australia. The financial planners were surveyed using an instrument derived from established questionnaires. It was mailed nationally to 312 financial planners. A response rate of 36% was achieved, equating to 113 useable responses. The analyses revealed statistically significant results at the 95% confidence level (p=0.05), that female respondents demonstrated a statistically significant higher level of OC than did their male counterparts.Such findings contribute to our understanding of the organisational commitment of Financial Planners, and have implications for employers in terms of hiring and retention of employees. The analyses are also important from a public policy perspective in an era of increasing attention given to, and likely increased regulation of, the financial planning industry.<br /

Professional commitment of financial planners in Australia: an examination

The purpose of this paper is to examine the demographic variables of age and gender in conjunction with three independent variables: Internal versus external locus of control personality dimension, individualist versus collectivist personality dimension, and perceived environmental uncertainty and to relate same to the professional commitment (PC) of financial planners in Australia. A questionnaire was used to survey a sample of 312 financial planners nationally, with a 36% response rate and statistically significant results. At the 95% confidence level (p=0.05) respondents over the age of 35 demonstrated no difference between their levels of professional commitment than did those under the age of 35, while at the same level of confidence, females demonstrated no statistically significant difference in their level of PC than did their male counterparts. Respondents with an external locus of control displayed lower levels of PC (p=0.05), than those with an internal locus of control but these were not statistically significant. These findings contribute to our understanding of the professional commitment of financial planners, and are important from a public policy perspective in an era of increasing attention to, and likely increased regulation of, the financial planning industry. <br /

Organisational commitment of financial planners in Australia

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the demographic variables of age, gender and length of service can be shown to be related to the organisational commitment (OC) of financial planners in Australia. The financial planners were surveyed using an instrument derived from established questionnaires. It was mailed nationally to 312 financial planners. A response rate of 36% was achieved, equating to 113 useable responses. The analyses revealed statistically significant results at the 90% confidence level (p=0.10), that respondents over the age of 35 demonstrated a significantly higher level of OC than did those under the age of 35, and at the same level of confidence, females demonstrated a statistically significant higher level of OC than did their male counterparts.Such findings contribute to our understanding of the organisational commitment of Financial Planners, and have implications for employers in terms of hiring and retention of employees. The analyses are also important from a public policy perspective in an era of increasing attention given to, and likely increased regulation of, the financial planning industry.<br /

After 70 Years of Data: What Do We Know and What Do We Think We Know About Elk Habitat and Vegetation in the Gallatin Canyon?

Many agency biologists use wildlife exclosures to draw inferences about wildlife habitat relative to herbivore population densities and the effect of soil and vegetation manipulation on plant community recovery. When herbivore density is high, vegetative suppression  is expected, and even erosion and soil loss may be suggested. As herbivore populations decrease, cascading trophic effects on trees, shrubs, and grasses may be hypothesized. In  a case study using nearly 100 years of elk (Cervus elaphus) data and 70 yrs of vegetation data from wildlife exclosures in the Gallatin Canyon, we present qualitative and quantitative assessments of a series of hypotheses about elk relationships to the landscape.  When elk numbers were high, USDA Forest Service and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks performed experimental vegetative treatments to improve range conditions: red fescue seeding, planting caragena, contour plowing to limit soil loss, sagebrush removal, and testing snow fences to trap snow to retain moisture.  Several exclosures were equipped with soil traps to monitor soil erosion, hypothesized to come from range overuse by elk. After the 1990s, multiple landscape-level changes, including wolf reintroduction, resulted in substantial elk population declines. Wintering elk numbers decreased from a long-term average of 1600 to fewer than 500. Given elk numbers declined by 2/3, biologists hypothesized a trophic cascade would release to later vegetation series or climax communities. We examined the results of the early habitat manipulations and discuss their implications. We describe how several of the hypotheses were not borne out in the data when examining the entire ecological picture

The measurement of approximate number system acuity across the lifespan is compromised by congruency effects

Recent studies have highlighted the influence of visual cues such as dot size and cumulative surface area on the measurement of the approximate number system (ANS). Previous studies assessing ANS acuity in ageing have all applied stimuli generated by the Panamath protocol, which does not control nor measure the influence of convex hull. Crucially, convex hull has recently been identified as an influential visual cue present in dot arrays, with its impact on older adults’ ANS acuity yet to be investigated. The current study therefore investigated the manipulation of convex hull by the Panamath protocol, and its effect on the measurement of ANS acuity in younger and older participants. Firstly, analyses of the stimuli generated by Panamath revealed a confound between numerosity ratio and convex hull ratio. Secondly, although older adults were somewhat less accurate than younger adults on convex hull incongruent trials, ANS acuity was broadly similar between the groups. These findings have implications for the valid measurement of ANS acuity across all ages, and suggest that the Panamath protocol produces stimuli that do not adequately control for the influence of convex hull on numerosity discrimination