Cougar Dispersal and Natal Homing in a Desert Environment

We present a review of cougar dispersal literature and the first evidence of natural (i.e., unmanipulated) homing behavior by a dispersing male cougar (Puma concolor) that sustained severe injuries crossing the northern Mojave Desert. Based on Global Positioning System and ground tracking data, the male traveled a total distance of 981.1 km at 5.03 km/d, including 170.31 km from the Desert National Wildlife Refuge to the northwestern Grand Canyon, where he sustained severe injuries. The interkill interval increased from 7.1 ± 2.7 d while he was in his natal range to 17.5 ± 4.9 d during dispersal. While homing, the male appeared to consume only reptiles until he died, 33.7 km from his capture site. In desert environments where prey availability is low, homing behavior may be an important strategy for dispersing cougars, providing a mechanism for persistence when the best quality habitats they encounter are already occupied by adult residents. Therefore, managing for habitat connectivity can ensure successful homing as well as dispersal on a greater scale than has been previously suggested. Elucidating the mechanisms that trigger homing during dispersal may provide critical insight into animal movements often overlooked as mundane behavior

Confederates at the Keyboard, Piano Music During the Civil War Era

The Civil War Round Table of Cobb County in partnership with Kennesaw State University Civil War Center and Kennesaw State University School of Music present Confederates at the Keyboard, Piano Music During the Civil War Era.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1307/thumbnail.jp

Diagnosing magnetars with transient cooling

Transient X-ray emission, with an approximate t^{-0.7} decay, was observed from SGR 1900+14 over 40 days following the the giant flare of 27 Aug 1998. We calculate in detail the diffusion of heat to the surface of a neutron star through an intense 10^{14}-10^{15} G magnetic field, following the release of magnetic energy in its outer layers. We show that the power law index, the fraction of burst energy in the afterglow, and the return to persistent emission can all be understood if the star is composed of normal baryonic material.Comment: 9 pages, 1 eps figur

Variation in Piglet Weights: Relationship to Suckling Behavior, Parity Number and Farrowing Crate Design

Suckling behavior and weight change of piglets were studied during the first 2 wk after birth. Thirty-six litters comprised a balanced comparison of parity number (first or second), litter size (8, 10 or 12), and two farrowing crate designs, one of which had a low horizontal bar that tended to impede the piglets\u27 access to the udder. Piglets showed the expected preference for the anterior teats although the preference was more apparent in the second parity than in the first. Teat fidelity was most pronounced at the two ends of the udder; piglets occupying the middle positions did more fighting during suckling and missed the milk ejection more often. Within litter variation in 14-day weight increased with increasing parity number of the dam. Initial weight explained 30-40% of within-litter variation in 14-day weight. Behavioral variables explained 2.6% of additional variation in first-parity litters, 18.1% in second-parity litters, and 22.9% in litters of older sows. Suckling position (anterior to posterior) and teat fidelity (consistency of suckling position) were the two behavioral factors most closely associated with 14-day weight. Mean litter 14-day weight showed the expected effect of litter size, but showed no differences attributable to parity number or farrowing crate design. However, within-litter variation in 14-day weight was greater (P \u3c 0.025) in the type of crate that impeded access to the udder. This may have been due to the somewhat higher levels of fighting, and to higher within-litter variance in fighting scores, seen in these crates

Optical Spectroscopy of K-selected Extremely Red Galaxies

We have obtained spectroscopic redshifts for 24 red galaxies from a sample with median Ks=18.7 and F814W - Ks > 4, using the Keck telescope. These EROshave high resolution morphologies from HST (Yan & Thompson 2003). Among the 24 redshifts, the majority (92%) are at $0.9 < z < 1.5$. We derived the rest-frame J-band luminosity function at $z_{median} =1.14$. Our result suggests that the luminosity evolution between bright EROs at $z\sim 1$ and the present-day $>$L$^*$ massive galaxies is at most about 0.7 magnitude. Combining the morphologies and deep spectroscopy revealed the following properties: (1) 86% of the spectra have absorption features from old stars, suggesting that the dominant stellar populations seen in the rest-frame UV are old stars. 50% of the sources have pure absorption lines, while the remaining 50% have emission lines, indicating recent star formation. We conclude that the color criterion for EROs is very effective in selecting old stellar populations at $z \sim 1$, and a large fraction of these systems with prominent old stellar populations also have recent star formation. (2) The 12 emission line systems have the same number of disk and bulge galaxies as in the remaining 12 pure absorption line systems. We conclude that spectral classes do not have a simple, direct correspondence with morphological types. (3) Three EROs could be isolated, pure passively evolving early-type galaxies at $z\sim 1$. This implies that only a small fraction (10%--15%) of early-type galaxies are formed in a rapid burst of star formation at high redshifts and evolved passively since then. (Abridged).Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomical Journal, issue March 200

A numerical study of the correspondence between paths in a causal set and geodesics in the continuum

This paper presents the results of a computational study related to the path-geodesic correspondence in causal sets. For intervals in flat spacetimes, and in selected curved spacetimes, we present evidence that the longest maximal chains (the longest paths) in the corresponding causal set intervals statistically approach the geodesic for that interval in the appropriate continuum limit.Comment: To the celebration of the 60th birthday of Rafael D. Sorki

Selective Tooth Clipping in the Management of Low-Birth-Weight Piglets

A study was designed to test the potential benefits of selective tooth clipping (the practice of leaving the eye teeth intact in the smallest piglets of a litter to make them more competitive) under commercial conditions. A total of 346 litters were assigned to either the control treatment where all piglets had their teeth clipped, or the experimental treatment where one or more piglets of low birth weight had their teeth left intact. Piglets were weighed within 24 h of birth and at 7, 21 and 56 d. In litters of 12-14 animals, but not in smaller litters, the lower-birth-weight piglets had lower mortality in experimental than in control litters (32.0 vs. 39.8%), whereas higher-birth-weight piglets showed a trend in the opposite direction, with 14.4% mortality in experimental vs. 13.2% in control litters (P = 0.05. The weight gain of lower-birth-weight piglets was greater (166 vs. 143 g d‒1) in experimental than in control litters of 9-11 piglets, but the heavier piglets competing against the small litter-mates with intact teeth had lower weight gains than the controls (177 vs. 187 g d‒1) (P \u3c 0.02). Within-litter variance of 21-d weights was about 15% smaller (P \u3c 0.005) in experimental than in control litters. Thus, selective tooth-clipping does not improve overall growth and survival, but it contributes to more uniform weaning weights and may help the most vulnerable piglets to remain alive until fostering or other intervention can be accomplished

Sow Preference for Farrowing-Crate Width

A preference-testing apparatus was designed to provide sows with continuous access to three farrowing crates of different widths. The crates radiated from a central hub area sufficiently large for sows to enter or leave any crate freely. In exp. 1, nine sows were offered crates of 450-, 600- and 750-mm width at standing height. In exp. 2, 12 sows were offered widths of 450, 750 and 1200 mm, the largest being of sufficient width for the sow to turn around. Video recording was used to determine sow position from 3 d before to 6 d after farrowing. In exp. 1, sows showed a preference for the widest crate of 750 mm during and after farrowing (P \u3c 0.05) but not before. ln exp. 2, the 1200-mm width was preferred before, during and after farrowing (P \u3c 0.005) over the widths that were too narrow to permit turning. Sufficient space for turning appears to be preferred by sows around the time of farrowing

Integrative genomic mining for enzyme function to enable engineering of a non-natural biosynthetic pathway.

The ability to biosynthetically produce chemicals beyond what is commonly found in Nature requires the discovery of novel enzyme function. Here we utilize two approaches to discover enzymes that enable specific production of longer-chain (C5-C8) alcohols from sugar. The first approach combines bioinformatics and molecular modelling to mine sequence databases, resulting in a diverse panel of enzymes capable of catalysing the targeted reaction. The median catalytic efficiency of the computationally selected enzymes is 75-fold greater than a panel of naively selected homologues. This integrative genomic mining approach establishes a unique avenue for enzyme function discovery in the rapidly expanding sequence databases. The second approach uses computational enzyme design to reprogramme specificity. Both approaches result in enzymes with &gt;100-fold increase in specificity for the targeted reaction. When enzymes from either approach are integrated in vivo, longer-chain alcohol production increases over 10-fold and represents &gt;95% of the total alcohol products

Use of Water by Piglets in the First Days after Birth

Use of drinking water was determined for 51 litters of piglets by weighing and refilling a water dispenser each day for the first 4 d after farrowing. Measures of spillage, evaporation, and piglet drinking behavior indicated that most disappearance of water represented actual drinking by the piglets. Water use varied greatly among litters with an average of 46 g d‒1 per piglet over the 4 d, and a range of negligible use to about 200 g d‒1. Water use, especially on day 2, was correlated negatively with the average weight gain of the litter during the first 2 d (r = ‒0.45, P \u3c 0.001). Litters that lost weight or gained very little on days 1 and 2 showed a pronounced peak of water use on day 2 (averaging about 100 g d‒1 per piglet), with declining use on days 3 and 4. In contrast, litters with high initial weight gains drank little water on days 1 and 2 but showed a steady increase in water use to day 4. The results suggest that piglets will drink appreciable amounts of water on the first days after birth especially if their milk intake is limited. We speculate that under these circumstances water intake may help to prevent dehydration and promote survival of piglets with low early milk intake