Polar Bear Studies During 1966

Polar bear migratory habits and population dynamics are relatively unknown and to learn more about these aspects, the Arctic Institute of North America (AINA) is supporting a long-range, research project. With funds from the Office of Naval Research the Institute sent Dr. Martin W. Schein to the Arctic Research Laboratory at Point Barrow during April 1965 and he returned to ARL with Dr. Vagn Flyger in March 1966. With the help of the able pilots at the Arctic Research Laboratory and their small ski equipped airplanes, they developed the following technique for capturing bears. When weather permitted they flew out over the ice in the general area north of Point Barrow with Cessna 180 airplanes. While one airplane flew at an elevation of about 100 feet and searched for polar bear tracks, the other airplane, containing Flyger and Schein, flew slightly behind and at an altitude of about 500 feet. Upon finding polar bear tracks, the planes followed them until they came upon the bear. The plane containing the biologists went on ahead about two or three miles in the direction the bear was travelling and deposited Flyger and Schein on the ice where they hid behind a pressure ridge. The plane then took off and the two planes drove the bear to the waiting biologists. When the bear got to within approximately 50 yards, it was shot with an automatic projectile syringe from a rifle. Syringes contained the drug succinylcholine chloride which paralyzed the bear within a few minutes. While the bears were immobile, they were examined, measured, and marked with ear tags and dye so that they could be recognized later if seen. Five bears were captured but of these four died because of a combination of overdoses of the drug and circumstances connected with chasing the bear with aircraft. Much, however, was learned from these animals which made it possible to be more successful in capturing and marking bears in Svalbard during August 1966. The Norsk Polarinstitutt invited Dr. Flyger, supported by AINA, and Dr. Albert W. Erickson, supported by the New York Zoological Society, to accompany them on a polar bear capturing expedition to Svalbard during the summer of 1966. This expedition under the direction of Mr. Thor Larsen from the University of Oslo, operating in the pack ice near Kong Karls Land in a seal hunting vessel was able to capture four bears, mark them, and release them alive. This time a different drug was used: M-99, a synthetic opiate. Working from a ship was much easier than with aircraft because it was possible to observe the bear closely before shooting it with a projectile syringe, thus lessening the chance of an overdose. Plans are now under way for a large scale program to mark polar bears over the entire Arctic. ... The feasibility of studying bear movements with radio transmitter-receivers is being explored with the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA). Telemetric methods which have been used on other animals including brown and black bears are not applicable to arctic conditions. Recently developments in satellite technology have raised the possibility that perhaps polar bears can be studied by employing a Nimbus B satellite. Such a satellite would pick up messages (giving location, heartbeat, respiration rate, internal temperature, and external temperature) from a transmitter-receiver on a collar around the neck of the bear and relay them to a tracking station on earth. The practicability of this is being studied at present with NASA

The Polar Bear: A Matter for International Concern

Discusses the decline in polar bear population, in part associated with recession of the polar ice cap, but also with excessive hunting. Annual worldwide harvest (ca 1200 reported) is about 5-10% of the population. An international commission is needed to coordinate study of population dynamics and movement patterns of these bears, and to regulate harvesting in the polar seas

VARIABILITY IN COMPETITIVE PERFORMANCE OF ELITE TRACK CYCLISTS

This study calculated the individual variation in performance times for cyclists competing in international track cycling events as Typical Error and attempted to express that variation in terms of power. Performance times were collated from six international events during the 2005/06 UCI Track Season and log transformed. Typical Error was calculated via the back transformation of the RMSE from a two-way ANOVA excluding the interaction term. The average Typical Error over all events was 1.0% (0.8 – 1.3 95% CL). Theoretically when performance is expressed as average power, the variation is approximately 3%. Modelling of power output for typical male and female pursuit cyclists appears to confirm this relationship under typical race conditions. These results can be used to assess the suitability of a field-based aerodynamic test for measuring the smallest worthwhile performance enhancing change in drag, whether a cyclist has shown worthwhile improvements in power during a laboratory performance test or in performance time during a competitive season

Wildlife Damage Control in Eastern Cities and Suburbs

The topics covered in this paper are based mainly on experiences with people seeking help from the University of Maryland and the National Institute for Urban Wildlife. Although most residents of cities and suburbs enjoy and appreciate wildlife, we are frequently reminded that some do not, other people only tolerate and enjoy selected animal species, provided that these animals \u27\u27behave - they don\u27t make noise, keep their distance, don\u27t damage ornamentals, and are not messy. Some people are so intolerant of wildlife that they even complain about frog choruses from nearby ponds. Response to wildlife varies such that one resident may detest squirrels and seek to destroy all that visit his property, while his neighbor, on the other hand, enjoys having them in his yard and may even provide them with food and nesting shelters

ANALYSIS OF PERFORMANCE OF THE KARATE PUNCH (GYAKU-ZUKI).

Variation in the movement sequence of the reverse punch (Gyaku-zuki) could affect kinematic variables such as punch time, distance and joint velocities. The reverse punches of nine elite Malaysian karate athletes were imaged in 3D at 150 Hz for two conditions (Jodan and Counter-chudan). Based on the linear resultant joint velocities of the shoulder and elbow two clusters are identified. One cluster is characterized by a more simultaneous movement sequence and the other by a more sequential movement sequence. The first cluster is mostly associated with female performances (87%) and the second cluster mostly with male performances (83%). It is found that the mostly male cluster achieved longer punch distance and higher peak linear resultant joint velocities for shoulder, elbow and wrist. Furthermore subgroups within the two clusters are identified and are associated with Jodan and Counter-chudan punches. The mostly female cluster achieves longer punch distance and higher peak linear resultant velocities in the subgroup associated with Jodan punches. However, the mostly male cluster achieves similar results for the subgroup associated with the Counter-chudan. Conclusion: the females tend to punch with a simultaneous sequence and men tend to punch with a sequential sequence with regard to the shoulder and elbow movements. Additionally women and men seem to have optimal performances in terms of punch distance and peak linear resultant joint velocities in different punching conditions

MODELLING TRACK CYCLING STANDING START PERFORMANCE: COMBINING ENERGY SUPPLY AND ENERGY DEMAND

To date there has been limited practical application of energy supply models to sprint cycling performance due to difficulties in determining complex physiological parameters or oversimplifications limiting relevance to steady state performance. Here an energy supply and demand model is presented for track cycling drawing on research incorporating forward integration energy demand modelling, the Power-Cadence relationship in maximal sprint cycling, rate of fatigue per revolution relative to maximum power and the critical power model. All input parameters can be determined from simple field or laboratory testing and even training data. The model successfully predicted an elite cyclist’s timed 250-m performance from stationary start to within 0.31%

DNA content analysis of colorectal cancer defines a distinct ‘microsatellite and chromosome stable’ group but does not predict response to radiotherapy

Colorectal cancers (CRC) are thought to have genetic instability in the form of either microsatellite instability (MSI) or chromosomal instability (CIN). Recently, tumours have been described without either MSI or CIN, that is, microsatellite and chromosome stable (MACS) CRCs. We investigated the (i) frequency of the MACS-CRCs and (ii) whether this genotype predicted responsiveness to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. To examine the frequency of MACS-CRCs, DNA content (ploidy) was examined in 89 sporadic microsatellite-stable CRCs using flow cytometry. The tumours were also screened for mutations in KRAS/BRAF/TP53/PIK3CA by QMCPCR. To examine the value of tumour ploidy in predicting response to chemoradiotherapy, DNA content was tested in a separate group of 62 rectal cancers treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Fifty-one of 89 CRCs (57%) were aneuploid and 38 (43%) were diploid. There was no significant association between mutations in TP53/KRAS/BRAF/PIK3CA and ploidy. Testing of association between mutations revealed only mutual exclusivity of KRAS/BRAF mutation (P < 0.001). Of the 62 rectal cancers treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, 22 had responded (Mandard tumour regression grade 1/2) and 40 failed to respond (Grade 3–5). Twenty-five of 62 (40%) tumours were diploid, but there was no association between ploidy and response to therapy. We conclude that MACS-CRCs form a significant proportion of microsatellite-stable CRCs with a mutation profile overlapping that of CRCs with CIN. A diploid genotype does not, however, predict the responsiveness to radiotherapy