An experimental evaluation of cattail (Typha spp.) cutting depths on subsequent regrowth

Citation: Moorberg, C. & Ahlers, A. (2020). An experimental evaluation of cattail (Typha spp.) cutting depths on subsequent regrowth.Cattail (Typha spp.) expansions can negatively affect both native wetland flora and fauna diversity, and active management is often needed to maintain wetland habitat quality. Cattail removal is often non-permanent, requiring repeated treatments to retard reestablishment. Mechanically cutting cattails is a common management technique, but it is unclear what cutting depths are optimal. We conducted an experiment at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area (Kansas, USA) during 2017-2019 to address this question. We established a randomized complete block design experiment with four blocks and three cutting treatments in July 2017, including cattail cut above water, cut below water, and an uncut control. We hypothesized that cattails cut below water would have reduced gas-exchange capabilities due to flooded aerenchyma. We quantified emergent stem densities in each plot in September 2017 to assess the effectiveness of simulated management actions. The above water treatment had significantly fewer total stems than both the control (p = 0.0003) and the below water treatments (p = 0.0203). The above water treatment also had significantly fewer stems than the control treatment (p = 0.0032). Our results suggest that management efforts focused on cutting cattails below water slow cattail reestablishment

Living Originalism

Originalists routinely argue that originalism is the only coherent and legitimate theory of constitutional interpretation. This Article endeavors to undermine those claims by demonstrating that, despite the suggestion of originalist rhetoric, originalism is not a single, coherent, unified theory of constitutional interpretation, but is rather a disparate collection of distinct constitutional theories that share little more than a misleading reliance on a common label. Originalists generally agree only on certain very broad precepts that serve as the fundamental underlying principles of constitutional interpretation: specifically, that the writtenness of the Constitution necessitates a fixed constitutional meaning, and that courts that see themselves as empowered to give the Constitution some avowedly different meaning are behaving contrary to law. Originalists have been able to achieve agreement on these broad underlying principles, but they have often viewed as unduly narrow and mistaken the understanding held by the original originalists-the framers of originalism, if you will-as to how those principles must be put into action. And originalists disagree so profoundly amongst themselves about how to effectuate those underlying principles that over time they have articulated-and continue to articulate-a wide array of strikingly disparate, and mutually exclusive, constitutional theories. In this regard, originalists have followed a living, evolving approach to constitutional interpretation. Our account of originalism\u27s evolution-and of the extensive disagreement among originalists today-undermines originalists\u27 normative claims about the superiority of their approach. Originalists\u27 claims about the unique and exclusive legitimacy of their theory-that originalism self-evidently represents the correct method of constitutional interpretation-founder when one considers that originalists themselves cannot even begin to agree on what their correct approach actually entails. And their claims that originalism has a unique ability to produce determinate and fixed constitutional meaning, and thus that only originalism properly treats the Constitution as law and properly constrains judges from reading their own values into the Constitution, stumble when one considers the rapid evolution and dizzying array of versions of originalism; because each version has the potential to produce a different constitutional meaning, the constitutional meaning that a committed originalist judge would find turns out to be anything but fixed. As originalism evolves, the constitutional meanings that it produces evolve along with it. Today\u27s originalists not only reach results markedly different from those originalists reached thirty years ago, but also produce widely divergent results amongst themselves. Judges committed to the originalist enterprise thus have significant discretion to choose (consciously or subconsciously) the version of originalism that is most likely to dictate results consistent with their own preferences. As such, originalism suffers from the very flaws that its proponents have identified in its alternatives

Cloning, purification and characterization of the 6-phospho-3-hexulose isomerase YckF from Bacillus subtilis

The enzyme 6-phospho-3-hexulose isomerase (YckF) from Bacillus subtilis has been prepared and crystallized in a form suitable for X-ray crystallographic analysis. Crystals were grown by the hanging-drop method at 291 K using polyethylene glycol 2000 monomethylether as precipitant. They diffract beyond 1.7 A using an in-house Cu Kalpha source and belong to either space group P6(5)22 or P6(1)22, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 72.4, c = 241.2 A, and have two molecules of YckF in the asymmetric unit

A case report of vanishing bile duct syndrome after exposure to pexidartinib (PLX3397) and paclitaxel.

Pexidartinib (PLX3397) is a small molecule tyrosine kinase and colony-stimulating factor-1 inhibitor with FDA breakthrough therapy designation for tenosynovial giant-cell tumor, and currently under study in several other tumor types, including breast cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and glioblastoma. Here, we report a case of severe drug-induced liver injury requiring liver transplantation due to vanishing bile duct syndrome (VBDS) after exposure to pexidartinib in the I-SPY 2 Trial, a phase 2 multicenter randomized neoadjuvant chemotherapy trial in patients with Stage II-III breast cancer. We also review the current literature on this rare, idiosyncratic, and potentially life-threatening entity

Do Homebuyers Care about the 'Quality' of Natural Habitats?

We study if homebuyers in Tucson, Arizona care about the condition of natural habitats and if they have preferences between natural and manmade habitats. Using field work data we examine whether homebuyers willingness to pay is influenced by the biological condition of the neighboring riparian habitat and how homebuyers value alternative manmade green areas, specifically golf courses. We also explore the relationship between the field data and remote sensing vegetation indices. The results of a hedonic analysis of houses that sold within 0.2 miles of 51 stratified-random selected riparian survey sites in Tucson, Arizona reveals that homebuyers significantly value habitat quality and negatively value manmade park-like features. Homebuyers are willing to pay twenty percent more to live near a riparian corridor that is densely vegetated and contains more shrub and tree species, particularly species that are dependent on perennial water flow. These environmental premiums are significant, outweighing structural factors such as an additional garage or swimming pool. Likewise, proximity to a riparian habitat with low biological quality or to a golf course lowers property values.Land Economics/Use,

MONEY ILLUSION, GORMAN AND LAU

Any demand equation satisfying Lau’s (1982) Fundamental Theorem of Exact Aggregation and 0° homogeneity in prices and income will have a Gorman (1981) functional form for each income term. This property does not depend on symmetry or adding up. The implications of this result are illustrated by an extensive example.Demand, exact aggregation, functional form, homogeneity

Effect of ovariectomy on the progression of chronic kidney disease-mineral bone disorder (CKD-MBD) in female Cy/+ rats

Male Cy/+ rats have shown a relatively consistent pattern of progressive kidney disease development that displays multiple key features of late stage chronic kidney disease-mineral bone disorder (CKD-MBD), specifically the development of cortical bone porosity. However, progression of disease in female Cy/+ rats, assessed in limited studies, is more heterogeneous and to date has failed to show development of the CKD-MBD phenotype, thus limiting their use as a practical model of progressive CKD-MBD. Animal and human studies suggest that estrogen may be protective against kidney disease in addition to its established protective effect on bone. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to determine the effect of ovariectomy (OVX) on the biochemical and skeletal manifestations of CKD-MBD in Cy/+ female rats. We hypothesized that OVX would accelerate development of the biochemical and skeletal features of CKD-MBD in female Cy/+ rats, similar to those seen in male Cy/+ rats. Female Cy/+ rats underwent OVX (n = 8) or Sham (n = 8) surgery at 15 weeks of age. Blood was collected every 5 weeks post-surgery until 35 weeks of age, when the rats underwent a 4-day metabolic balance, and the tibia and final blood were collected at the time of sacrifice. OVX produced the expected changes in trabecular and cortical parameters consistent with post-menopausal disease, and negative phosphorus balance compared with Sham. However, indicators of CKD-MBD were similar between OVX and Sham (similar kidney weight, plasma blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, creatinine clearance, phosphorus, calcium, parathyroid hormone, and no cortical porosity). Contrary to our hypothesis, OVX did not produce evidence of development of the CKD-MBD phenotype in female Cy/+ rats

Application of Respondent Driven Sampling to Collect Baseline Data on FSWs and MSM for HIV Risk Reduction Interventions in Two Urban Centres in Papua New Guinea

The need to obtain unbiased information among hard–to-reach and hidden populations for behavioural and biological surveillance, epidemiological studies, and intervention program evaluations has led researchers to search for a suitable sampling method. One method that has been tested among IDU and MSM recently is respondent-driven sampling (RDS). We used RDS to conduct a behavioural survey among FSWs and MSM in two urban centres in Papua New Guinea (PNG). In this paper we present the lessons learned implementing RDS in a developing country setting. We also present comparisons of RDSAT-adjusted versus unadjusted crude estimates of some key socio-demographic indicators as well as comparisons between the estimates from RDS and a hypothetical time–location sample (TLS). Overall, the use of RDS among the MSM and FSWs in PNG had numerous advantages in terms of collecting a required sample size in a short time period, minimizing costs and maximising security for staff and respondents. Although there were a few problems these were easily remedied and we would recommend RDS for other similar studies in PNG and other developing countries

Goals and Social Comparisons Promote Walking Behavior

The effectiveness of a pedometer intervention was affected by manipulating the goals given to participants and by providing social comparison feedback about how participants’ performance compared with others. In study 1 (n = 148), university staff members received a low, medium, or high walking goal (10%, 50%, or 100% increase over baseline walking). Participants walked 1358 more steps per day (95% confidence interval [CI], 729, 1985), when receiving a high goal than when receiving a medium goal, but a medium goal did not increase walking relative to a low goal (554 more steps; 95% CI, –71,1179). In study 2 (n = 64), participants received individual feedback only or individual plus social comparison feedback. Participants walked 1120 more steps per day (95% CI, 538, 1703) when receiving social comparison feedback than when receiving only individual feedback. Goals and the performance of others act as reference points and influence the effect that pedometer feedback has on walking behavior, illustrating the applicability of the principles of behavioral economics and social psychology to the design of health behavior interventions