Studies of Birds and Mammals in the Baird and Schwatka Mountains, Alaska

In 1963 a joint University of Alaska-Smithsonian Institution crew worked at five locations in the Baird and Schwatka mountains in northwestern Alaska, conducting an ecological reconnaissance and faunal and floral inventory. Standard methods of observation and collection were used. Camps in the Kobuk drainage were located in the Redstone River valley and at Walker Lake, both on the margin of the taiga. The Noatak valley was represented by one camp each in the lower, middle, and upper reaches of the river, all in tundra. A summary of pre-1963 ornithological work in the region is presented. Significant records of distribution and/or breeding were obtained for the following birds: Podiceps grisegena, Anas platyrhynchos, Aythya valisineria, Histrionicus histrionicus, Melanitta perspicillata, Mergus merganser, Aphrizia virgata, Bartramia longicauda, Actitis macularia, Tringa flavipes, Phalaropus fuficarius, Lobipes lobatus, Larus hyperboreus,Xema sabini, Sayornis saya, Nuttalornis borealis, Eremophilia alpestris, Tachycineta thalassina, Riparia riparia, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, Phylloscopus borealis, Dendroica petechia, Leucosticte tephrocotis, Zonotrichia atricapilla, Calcarius pictus; and the mammal, Spermophilus undulatus. Good series of Cletihrionomys rutilius (350) and Microtus miurus (147) have been deposited in the University of Alaska Museum. Severe doubt has been raised regarding the validity of the standard three-night trap grid for population estimation under wet conditions in arctic areas

Reporting Risk, Producing Prejudice How News Reporting on Obesity Shapes Attitudes about Health Risk, Policy, and Prejudice

News reporting on research studies may influence attitudes about health risk, support for public health policies, or attitudes towards people labeled as unhealthy or at risk for disease. Across five experiments (N = 2123) we examined how different news framings of obesity research influence these attitudes. We exposed participants to either a control condition, a news report on a study portraying obesity as a public health crisis, a news report on a study suggesting that obesity may not be as much of a problem as previously thought, or an article discussing weight-based discrimination. Compared to controls, exposure to the public health crisis article did not increase perception of obesity-related health risks but did significantly increase the expression of antifat prejudice in four out of seven comparisons. Across studies, compared to controls, participants who read an article about weight-based discrimination were less likely to agree that overweight constitutes a public health crisis or to support various obesity policies. Effects of exposure to an article questioning the health risks associated with overweight and obesity were mixed. These findings suggest that news reports on the obesity epidemic and, by extension, on public health crises commonly blamed on personal behavior may unintentionally activate prejudice

Brief of Kaiser Permanente as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioners

Brief of Amici Curiae ("friend of the court") submitted by Kaiser Permanente in support of petitioners on petition for a Writ of Certiorari (No. 11-725

Housing--Mobile Homes--Some Legal Questions

Because of the increasing use of the mobile home as a form of housing, practitioners will be handling an ever-increasing number of cases dealing with the problems of the mobile home resident. The four major areas of investigation of mobile home law dealt with here are taxation, zoning, warranties, and fixtures. The purpose of the article is not to reveal any particular deficiencies in West Virginia\u27s mobile home law, but rather to investigate and synthesize the law in a comprehensive review. While there are certain areas where the need for reform has been suggested, compiling the law as a research guide for the practitioner has been the main goal

Cross-link governed dynamics of biopolymer networks

Cytoskeletal networks of biopolymers are cross-linked by a variety of proteins. Experiments have shown that dynamic cross-linking with physiological linker proteins leads to complex stress relaxation and enables network flow at long times. We present a model for the mechanical properties of transient networks. By a combination of simulations and analytical techniques we show that a single microscopic timescale for cross-linker unbinding leads to a broad spectrum of macroscopic relaxation times, resulting in a weak power-law dependence of the shear modulus on frequency. By performing rheological experiments, we demonstrate that our model quantitatively describes the frequency behavior of actin network cross-linked with $\alpha$-Actinin-$4$ over four decades in frequency.Comment: 4 page

Stereoselection in the Prins-Pinacol Synthesis of Acyltetrahydrofurans

Depending upon the nature of the alkene and allylic substituents, acid-promoted rearrangements of acetals derived from anti allylic diols give 12 or stereoisomeric acyltetrahydrofurans 13. Stereoelectronic effects of the allylic substituents and the extent of bonding in the Prins cyclization transition state are central features of a proposed new model for predicting stereoselection in the Prins-pinacol synthesis of acyltetrahydrofurans

Non-equilibrium microtubule fluctuations in a model cytoskeleton

Biological activity gives rise to non-equilibrium fluctuations in the cytoplasm of cells; however, there are few methods to directly measure these fluctuations. Using a reconstituted actin cytoskeleton, we show that the bending dynamics of embedded microtubules can be used to probe local stress fluctuations. We add myosin motors that drive the network out of equilibrium, resulting in an increased amplitude and modified time-dependence of microtubule bending fluctuations. We show that this behavior results from step-like forces on the order of 10 pN driven by collective motor dynamics

A Model for Calculating Desert Aerosol Turbidity Over the Oceans from Geostationary Satellite Data

A technique has been developed to infer the optical thickness of Saharan dust from Synchronous Meteorological Satellite (SMS) brightness measurements at visible wavelengths. The scattering model consists of an air layer, a dust layer and a lower boundary of variable albedo. Single-scatter properties of the dust computed from Mie theory were the basis for calculations by plane-parallel theory of radiative transfer in the dust layer. Radiative interactions between air and dust layers and the lower boundary were calculated with an adding version of the doubling scheme. Optical thickness was determined from satellite brightness measurements through a lookup table produced by the adding program. SMS visible sensors were calibrated from the prelaunch calibration measurements and measurements of sun and space. Error analysis and tests indicate a potential accuracy of ∼0.1 unit of optical thickness. The main limits on accuracy are digitizing resolution of the SMS visible signals, and mistaking clouds for dust in the satellite imagery. This technique of inferring Saharan dust turbidity has been verified and fine-tuned using surface turbidity measurements during GATE and corresponding SMS imagery