Abundance and losses of agricultural seeds for waterfowl in Tennessee

Waterfowl acquire high-energy agricultural seeds in harvested and unharvested croplands during migration and winter. Estimates of dry seed mass in agricultural fields are used by biologists and managers to calculate duck-energy days (DEDs) to estimate potential foraging carrying capacity of these fields. However, estimates for corn, grain sorghum and soybean fields do not exist or are outdated for the southeastern United States. Therefore, I estimated seed mass and DEDs in 105 harvested and 59 unharvested corn, grain sorghum and soybean fields across Tennessee, U.S.A., from September--January 2006 and 2007. I also estimated rates of seed loss to germination, decomposition, and depredation and compared seed mass loss between flooded and unflooded fields. Mean seed mass of grain sorghum, corn, and soybean in harvested fields declined 392 to 19, 239 to 39, and 118 to 26 kg ha⁻¹ from post-harvest to January, respectively. Continuous monthly rates of decline were 64% for corn, 84% for soybean, and 74% for grain sorghum. Mean DEDs ha⁻¹ in harvested corn, grain sorghum and soybean fields during January were low (274, 90 and 27), and DEDs were zero in \u3e 85% of fields. In unharvested corn, soybean and grain sorghum fields, mean DEDs ha⁻¹ in January were large (69,000, 18,000 and 26,000), and continuous rates of decline (3%, 7% and 18%) were much lower than for harvested croplands. Scattered corn seed was lost primarily to depredation (37--68%), whereas soybean and grain sorghum seed were lost mostly to decomposition and germination ([greater then equal to]35%).Loss of submersed seed in flooded fields was 40--300% greater than on dry land. I recommend that waterfowl biologists in the southeastern United States should use estimates herein (Table II-3) for DED calculations. I also recommend managers provide unharvested food plots and natural wetlands for waterfowl because seed resources are low in winter in harvested agricultural fields. Given rapid seed loss in harvested and flooded fields, managers should delay harvesting and flooding until immediately prior to the arrival of waterfowl whenever feasible. For agencies interested in modeling fate-based seed loss on a landscape scale, rates of loss in Table III-1 could be used

Partners of the Americas Montana-Patagonia Chapter: Challenges, Directions, and Successes

From the steppe to the Andes, the small towns to the big ranches, outdoor tourism to oil and gas development, Patagonia has a lot in common with Montana.  Partners of the Americas (POA) is a nonprofit organization that pairs regions in North and South America to share culture, foster understanding, identify common ground, and develop unique solutions to local challenges. The projects undertaken by various POA chapters are as diverse as their membership and range from exchanges of professionals (e.g., doctors, lawyers, teachers, law enforcement) to charity activities (e.g., school building, clean water) to language learning.  The Montana-Patagonia chapter of POA is comprised mostly of biologists and the majority of exchanges over the past 25 years have been related to wildlife management.  Last fall,  I traveled to Junín, San Martín, and Bariloche, Argentina and met with over 20 biologists from state and federal agencies, universities, and nonprofits to fortify the Montana-Patagonia partnership and help illuminate a path for the future.  I’ll discuss the history of the Montana-Patagonia partnership, and highlight important biological challenges in Patagonia such as problems with exotic species—especially red deer, mink, trout, and a variety of plants—and declining native species such as the huemul and pudú (deer) and huillín (otter).  Other challenges include conflicts between ranchers and wild felids like the Andean cat, the lack of a public trust doctrine, habitat loss, and poaching.  Finally I’ll talk about where Partners is headed and how to get involved in this exciting partnership

Radiology Education and the Quality of Care: Radiation Dose

The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to analyze whether the education of radiology personnel mandated by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) affects the quality of care delivered to radiology patients. One area of radiology quality of care was focused on the findings presented in this study: radiation dosage. Three groups of study participants were used. The participants were chosen and divided into groups based on their radiology background, non-radiology medical background, or lack of medical background. All study participants were required to complete an assessment asking participants what radiation dosage and shields they would use for a standard set of radiographic examinations. A training video was shown to those participants with no radiology background prior to the assessment. The data provided by each group was compared to determine similarities and variances between the groups and ANOVA calculations were completed. Differences were found between the assessments completed by members of all three groups. The results support the perception that ARRT-mandated education does affect radiation dosage chosen in the care of radiology patients

Biogenic gas nanostructures as ultrasonic molecular reporters.

Ultrasound is among the most widely used non-invasive imaging modalities in biomedicine, but plays a surprisingly small role in molecular imaging due to a lack of suitable molecular reporters on the nanoscale. Here, we introduce a new class of reporters for ultrasound based on genetically encoded gas nanostructures from microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Gas vesicles are gas-filled protein-shelled compartments with typical widths of 45-250 nm and lengths of 100-600 nm that exclude water and are permeable to gas. We show that gas vesicles produce stable ultrasound contrast that is readily detected in vitro and in vivo, that their genetically encoded physical properties enable multiple modes of imaging, and that contrast enhancement through aggregation permits their use as molecular biosensors

Monitoring Greater Sage Grouse Populations and Habitat Use in the Southeast Montana Sage-Grouse Core Area

Sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) core areas support Montana’s highest densities of sage grouse, and are deemed vitally important to sage grouse conservation long term. The Southeast Montana Sage Grouse Core Area (SEMT SGCA) consists of large expanses of intact sagebrush-steppe habitat and is important for connectivity among populations in Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming. Relatively little development has occurred in the area, but there is potential for energy development to have large-scale impacts on the area in the near future. Little was known about sage-grouse use of the area during critical periods outside of the breeding season or factors underlying local sage-grouse population dynamics. Therefore, we radio collared 94 sage grouse hens between 2009-2011 to quantify movements, habitat use, and population vital rates. Overall, hen locations tended to be within the SEMT SGCA during spring-summer and expanded to adjacent areas of Wyoming and South Dakota during winter. Wide annual fluctuations in weather conditions drove annual variation in population demographic rates, habitat conditions, and habitat use. Apparent nest success (34-68%) and average chick production per hen that began the breeding season (0.72-1.12 chicks/hen) varied among years with extreme to mild weather. Annual hen survival varied from a low of 46 percent under extreme winter conditions to > 60 percent under milder weather. Vegetation characteristics at nest, brood-rearing, and winter locations will be presented. Results from this project will aid in land use planning, prioritization of conservation efforts, and provide information to assess the effects of future land use change. The project is conducted by MFWP and funded by the BLM

Mule Deer Management in Southeastern Montana

In 1982, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 7 implemented a five week regionwide general license either-sex plus additional antlerless B license harvest structure for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus).   This harvest strategy implemented three important changes from previous years. First, the regionwide harvest structure eliminated the use of small hunting districts and allows the law of diminishing returns to operate: hunters tend to avoid areas with low deer numbers and focus on areas with higher densities.  Second, general licenses were made either-sex, rather than antlered-only for mule deer.  Third, following natural population declines (e.g., due to severe natural stressors), biologists began increasing antlerless quotas soon after populations began to recover, rather than waiting until populations were at or above long-term averages.  This management system has maximized opportunity and flexibility for hunters while simplifying regulations and enforcement.  In the 30-plus years since implementation, Region 7 has seen a reduction in game damage complaints, and an increase in buck-to-doe ratios.  Mule deer populations and harvest have been stable long-term, and population fluctuations have decreased in magnitude.  This harvest strategy has produced similar results in both Region 7 as a whole (75% private lands) and on the Custer National Forest, a 436,000-ac block of public land

The power of emotional intelligence for facilitating psychologically flexible thinking: a contextual perspective in decision making and workplace flourishing

There is growing support for the value of emotional intelligence and psychological flexibility in multiple life outcomes. Independently, emotional intelligence facilitates decision making and is a strong predictor of work performance. Likewise, psychological flexibility predicts job performance and facilitates decision making consonant with personal values. Notably, the relationship between these variables and their associated benefits are contextually-bound, manifesting to varying degrees for individuals in different circumstances. Despite intuitive connections between adaptive emotional functioning epitomised in emotional intelligence and the range of adaptive abilities comprising psychological flexibility, some theorists propose an inverse relationship. The series of four studies in this thesis aimed to investigate the interaction between emotional intelligence and psychological flexibility in promoting positive outcomes and to identify the primary mechanisms responsible. Given the contextual nature of both these constructs, outcomes were assessed in relation to two applied areas of investigation: decision making and workplace functioning. Both emotional intelligence and psychological flexibility are implicated in promoting positive outcomes in these selected fields and examination within these contexts strengthens the chances of detecting a relationship. Further, decision making and work functioning form pervasive aspects of daily life and applicability of findings in these contexts potentially extends widely throughout the population. The initial study provided preliminary support for the purported relationships between emotional intelligence, psychological flexibility and maximising personality traits relevant to decision making processes and outcomes. Administration of a decision changeability paradigm showed that emotional intelligence predicted higher psychological flexibility, mediated by positive affect, which in turn mitigated ruminative outcomes typical of maximising personalities in changeable decision conditions. A workplace intervention study experimentally assessed the directional nature of the relationship between emotional intelligence and psychological flexibility. Emotional intelligence causally contributed to improved work engagement through enhanced positive affect and work-related psychological flexibility following emotional self-efficacy training. However, conflicting results between global and work-specific measures of psychological flexibility warranted follow-up. Laboratory confirmation of causal components clarified the relationship between emotional intelligence and psychological flexibility to some extent. Emotionally intelligent individuals were adept at maintaining positive affect following induction conditions that resulted in emotional regression for the majority of participants. In these conditions, emotional intelligence was related to higher functioning on a performance proxy indicating features of psychological flexibility. However, the power of emotional intelligence for facilitating flexibility in mood enhancing conditions was equivocal and further research is required to test this relationship using positive induction methods with greater efficacy. The intractability of the global psychological flexibility measure (Acceptance and Action Questionnaire) in conditions commonly considered to facilitate flexibility suggests some limitations in the use of this tool. Future directions should explore alternative measurement methods for capturing psychological flexibility, particularly brief performance measures or positively keyed global self-reports and a range of context-specific assessments. Overall, the thesis offers promising insights on the value of emotional intelligence training and potentially positive affect interventions for promoting psychological flexibility. Ultimately, this could address some of the negative outcomes associated with maximizing tendencies, such as ruminative responding in changeable decision conditions, and promote workplace flourishing

Effects of Sensory Garments on Sleep of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

A grant from the One-University Open Access Fund at the University of Kansas was used to defray the author's publication fees in this Open Access journal. The Open Access Fund, administered by librarians from the KU, KU Law, and KUMC libraries, is made possible by contributions from the offices of KU Provost, KU Vice Chancellor for Research & Graduate Studies, and KUMC Vice Chancellor for Research. For more information about the Open Access Fund, please see http://library.kumc.edu/authors-fund.xml.Objective. The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the use of sensory garments for improving sleep in children with autism spectrum disorder. Method. Using a single-subject ABAB reversal design, the researchers evaluated the effectiveness of a sensory garment on sleep duration, sleep latency, and parental stress related to a child’s sleep. Four children aged 4–10 participated. We measured sleep duration and sleep latency using the Garmin watches and parent-report sleep logs, parent stress using the Parenting Stress Index Short Form, and sleep behaviors using the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire. Results/Discussion. Data showed variable effects on sleep duration and latency across children. The oldest child with the hyposensitive sensory patterns experienced the greatest sleep improvements. All parents experienced stress from daily life, and some reported increased stress due to study participation. Future research is recommended to further investigate the effectiveness of sensory garments on sleep for children with ASD. Therapists are encouraged to evaluate children’s development and sensory preferences prior to recommending sensory garments for sleep

Episodic Memory Measures Complement Structural and Functional MRI for Predicting Cognitive Decline in Apolipoprotein E ε4 Carriers

Apolipo-protein E (APOE) ?4 allele carriers demonstrate greater risk for cognitive decline and Alzheimer\u27s disease than non-carriers. However, factors associated with risk of decline among APOE ?4 carriers are not well-known. In this longitudinal study, we investigated whether discrete aspects of baseline episodic memory performance and structural (sMRI) and function (fMRI) magnetic resonance imaging were associated with cognitive decline in older APOE ?4 carriers and non-carriers. Seventy-eight healthy older adults underwent cognitive testing at baseline and after 18 months, baseline serum APOE genotyping, manually-traced hip-pocampal volume measurement from sMRI, and task-activated fMRI. Cognitive decline was defined as a one SD or greater reduction from baseline on at least one of three cognitive measures at follow-up (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test [AVLT] Delayed Recall and Trials 1-5 Sum, Mattis Dementia Rating Scale-2 Total Score). Declining APOE ?4 carriers (n=14) exhibited reduced hippocampal volume (