DEVELOPING THE NATURE-BASED TOURISM SECTOR IN SOUTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA

The purpose of this study was to: 1) identify opportunities for expanding the tourism sector in southwestern North Dakota, 2) identify challenges and obstacles facing the area's tourism businesses, and 3) frame key issues and outline potential options for area decision makers (the primary clientele for the study). The findings reveal some basic characteristics of businesses in the region's tourism sector, identify some of the key constraints to expansion and development, and identify respondents' perceptions of opportunities for growth and expansion.nature-based tourism, agritourism, North Dakota, economic development, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

CHARACTERISTICS AND EXPENDITURES OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE POTHOLES AND PRAIRIE BIRDING FESTIVAL

North Dakotans are well aware of the abundance of the state's natural resources. Fishing and hunting are part of the culture of North Dakota, and more recently nature-based tourism has grown in popularity. National surveys illustrate growth trends in nature tourism, soft adventure, and heritage and historical tours. Several studies identify birders as a substantial source of economic activity in other parts of the country; these estimates, however, may not accurately reflect conditions in North Dakota. While anecdotal evidence suggests that nature-based tourism has economic development potential in North Dakota, little research exists describing the characteristics or expenditures of visitors participating in nature-based tourism activities in North Dakota. Accordingly, the objective of this research was to identify the basic characteristics of participants attending the 2004 Potholes and Prairie Birding Festival, estimate average expenditures per participant, and estimate the direct and secondary economic impacts of the Birding Festival on the local economy, in order to quantify the economic development potential of birding in rural North Dakota.birding, nature tourism, economic development, wildlife viewing, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Population structure, growth and reproduction properties of barbel (Barbus plebejus Bonaparte, 1832) living in Çığlı stream, Van, Turkey

This study was carried out to determine population structure, growth and reproduction properties of barbel. A total of 198 individuals were sampled. Ages of samples were found between I and VI years, fork lengths between 4.3 and 16.6 cm and total weights between 1.2 and 65.8 g. Length-weight relationship was calculated as W=0.0146×L^2.934. Munro’s phi prime index was estimated as 1.95, L∞ as 26.42 cm, W∞ as 216.92 g, and condition factor as 1.265±0.01. First sexual maturation was determined in 6.0-6.9 cm-group males, and second sexual maturity was recorded in 10.0-10.9 cm-group females. Individual fecundity was defined between 568 and 4171 eggs/female and relative fecundity was calculated as 64964.55±5855.49 eggs/kg female. Barbel did not show good growth and reproduction performance in the stream, because of fishing pressure

Beethoven\u27s Thematic Processes in the Piano Sonata in G Major, Op. 14: An Illusion of Simplicity

During the latter part of the Classic Period, Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his Piano Sonata in G Major, Op. 14, No. 2, I. It appears as though the composer is merely following the guidelines of a traditional sonata-form movement, creating a remarkable “illusion of simplicity” appropriate for the time. Upon further investigation, however, Beethoven has created a highly complex plan of musical action through his use of key schemes that allows for smooth transitions from theme to theme and from section to section throughout the movement

A NuSTAR observation of disk reflection from close to the neutron star in 4U 1608-52

Studying the reflection of X-rays off the inner edge of the accretion disk in a neutron star low-mass X-ray binary, allows us to investigate the accretion geometry and to constrain the radius of the neutron star. We report on a NuSTAR observation of 4U 1608-52 obtained during a faint outburst in 2014 when the neutron star, which has a known spin frequency of 620 Hz, was accreting at ~1-2% of the Eddington limit. The 3-79 keV continuum emission was dominated by a Gamma~2 power law, with a ~1-2% contribution from a kTbb~0.3-0.6 keV black body component. The high-quality NuSTAR spectrum reveals the hallmarks of disk reflection; a broad iron line peaking near 7~keV and a Compton back-scattering hump around ~20-30 keV. Modeling the disk reflection spectrum points to a binary inclination of i~30-40 degrees and a small `coronal' height of h<8.5 GM/c2. Furthermore, our spectral analysis suggests that the inner disk radius extended to Rin~7-10 GM/c2, close to the innermost stable circular obit. This constrains the neutron star radius to R<21 km and the redshift from the stellar surface to z>0.12, for a mass of M=1.5 Msun and a spin parameter of a=0.29.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, MNRAS Letters in pres

Introduction: John Gower\u27s Twenty-First Century Appeal

This is the introductory essay to a special issue of the South Atlantic Review focusing on John Gower. Guest editor for this issue is Kara L. McShane with the assistance of R. F. Yeager

Extraction of Transcriptional Regulators for the Polyhydroxyalkanoate Depolymerase Gene from Streptomyces nymphaeiformis

Plastic waste has become an increasingly prevalent environmental pollutant. This problem is exacerbated by the inability of plastic to degrade under most natural conditions. In contrast, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biologically produced, plastic-like polymers that can be broken down and metabolized by bacteria. The bacterium Streptomyces nymphaeiformis can degrade the PHA, polyhydroxybutrate (PHB), using an extracellular PHB depolymerase, which is encoded by the phaZ gene. PHB depolymerase is synthesized only in the presence of PHB or its monomer, but not glucose, suggesting that transcription of phaZ is regulated, presumably by transcriptional regulatory proteins that bind to its promoter region. The DNA base sequence of phaZ has previously been determined. In the predicted promoter region, there are sequences with homology to binding sites for known transcriptional regulators from other bacteria. A modified pull-down assay using streptavidin magnetic beads was evaluated for success in elucidating potential regulatory DNA-binding proteins for the phaZ gene. However, the method was unsuccessful

A theoretical review of interpersonal emotion regulation in eating disorders: Enhancing knowledge by bridging interpersonal and affective dysfunction

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Individuals with eating disorders (EDs) frequently report interpersonal and affective dysfunction. A useful lens for uniting these ideas is through the framework of interpersonal emotion regulation (IER), which consists of the ways others assist a distressed individual and how this shapes his or her subsequent emotional, behavioral, and cognitive responses. In this theoretical review, we provide an overview of the rationale for exploring IER and review IER processes in this population using the framework of the Process Model of Emotion Regulation. Finally, we offer suggestions for next steps in conducting research. IER offers a parsimonious way to explore social and emotional constructs related to ED pathology and may provide potential targets for prevention and intervention in these difficult-to-treat disorders.NIMH grant K23MH11286