Nutritive Levels in Plants from Stripmined Areas in Eastern Ohio

Author Institution: Ohio Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, The Ohio State UniversityData on nutritive quality of vegetation for stripmined lands were obtained in 1972-73 from 2 Ohio counties, one having generally acidic spoil banks and the other having calcareous spoils. Proximate analysis of water, ash, crude protein, ether extract, cell-wall constituents, and nitrogen-free extract revealed few significant differences between plants growing on stripped and undisturbed (control) plots. Plants also were analyzed for 6 essential elements by emission spectrography. Levels of potassium were significantly higher in plants from control plots. Calcium levels were higher in plants from alkaline spoils, and manganese levels were higher in plants from acidic mined plots. Manganese levels exceeded 600 ppm in some plant samples from acidic spoil banks. Even when plants from stripped plots contained significantly less of a given element, levels were generally not low enough to indicate nutrient deficiency

Variability of Annual Iowa Precipitation During the Past 95 Years

With increased consumption of fossil fuels has come warnings that the global atmosphere could be overtaxed with carbon dioxide and other combustion byproducts. The most popular scenario suggests a warming of the subpolar area with an extension of the grain belt. This warming could place the present grain belt in a warmer and drier climate. Each time a portion of the grain belt experiences a temperature or precipitation anomaly, the suggestion of a climatic change is raised. The present paper addresses the question of medium-term, 95-year change in Iowa annual precipitation as well as linkage between precipitation and temperature anomalies. Similar studies in Europe and the United Kingdom, where unbroken precipitation records extend back almost 300 years, show periods up to 50 or 75 years where a jump in the annual mean has occurred. The fact that such anomalies extend back before the industrial revolution suggests other factors may cause such changes. With only about 100 years of climatological records here in the grain belt, it may not be possible to identify long-term, natural oscillations or a true, long-term trend. Records at four sites, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Dubuque, and Storm Lake, were analyzed in search of true jumps or trends in the climatic record. There was no question that the record had dry and wet periods, some extending over a period of ten or fifteen years. The conclusions were that, although extended periods seemed to be above or below the long-term mean, these anomalies had tenuous linkage between sites across the state. Possibly because of the sample size, no statistically significant trends were observed between sites through the years 1890-1984. Several poorly defined single site jumps were observed in the precipitation record, however, these were not clearly linked to companion temperature perturbations

Survey of Medium and Large Mammals in an Urban Park (Murray Park), Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas

Because of increased environmental awareness by city planning commissions, there are more urban parks and greenbelt areas. These areas often result in increased human and wildlife contacts, thus resulting in the need for management plans regarding urban wildlife. From September 1998 to March 1999, we conducted mammal surveys of the urban greenspace Murray Park, Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas. Surveys were conducted using five methods: direct observations; spot lighting; live trapping; animal sign; and scent posts. Species recorded included, opossum (Didelphis virginiana), nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), beaver (Castor canadensis), woodchuck (Marmota monax), muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus), swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus), coyote (Canis latrans), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), raccoon (Procyon lotor), mink (Mustela vison), river otter (Lontra canadensis), bobcat (Lynx rufus), skunk sp., white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and domestic dog (Canis familiaris) and cat (Felis sylvestris). These species represent 19 of the 23 mammals expected in surrounding natural areas. Management plans for urban wildlife need to include all mammals that potentially occur in the area

Tidal Habitats Support Large Numbers of Invasive Blue Catfish in a Chesapeake Bay Subestuary

The introduction of a non-native freshwater fish, blue catfish Ictalurus furcatus, in tributaries of Chesapeake Bay resulted in the establishment of fisheries and in the expansion of the population into brackish habitats. Blue catfish are an invasive species in the Chesapeake Bay region, and efforts are underway to limit their impacts on native communities. Key characteristics of the population (population size, survival rates) are unknown, but such knowledge is useful in understanding the impact of blue catfish in estuarine systems. We estimated population size and survival rates of blue catfish in tidal habitats of the James River subestuary. We tagged 34,252 blue catfish during July–August 2012 and 2013; information from live recaptures (n = 1177) and dead recoveries (n = 279) were used to estimate annual survival rates and population size using Barker’s Model in a Robust Design and allowing for heterogeneity in detection probabilities. The blue catfish population in the 12-km study area was estimated to be 1.6 million fish in 2013 (95% confidence interval [CI] adjusted for overdispersion: 926,307–2,914,208 fish). Annual apparent survival rate estimates were low: 0.16 (95% CI 0.10–0.24) in 2012–2013 and 0.44 (95% CI 0.31– 0.58) in 2013–2014 and represent losses from the population through mortality, permanent emigration, or both. The tagged fish included individuals that were large enough to exhibit piscivory and represented size classes that are likely to colonize estuarine habitats. The large population size that we estimated was unexpected for a freshwater fish in tidal habitats and highlights the need to effectively manage such specie

Immune Response Testing of Electrospun Polymers: An Important Consideration in the Evaluation of Biomaterials

Due primarily to cell sourcing issues, many in the field of tissue engineering have opted to create scaffolds that promote in situ regeneration, using the body as both the bioreactor and the cell source for the remodeling of scaffolds, resulting in the formation of native tissue. This practice raises many concerns, with the body’s immune response to such an implant often being neglected as a potential problem in preliminary design and biocompatibility testing. More importantly, what happens over time in terms of the immune responses as the biodegradable scaffold structures being utilized to promote in situ regeneration begin to degrade, forming structural fragments and degradation products? In summary, immune response evaluations are critical considerations that must be conducted when evaluating bioresorbable scaffolds. In addition, it is essential that these evaluations analyze materials for their potential dose-response and time-course effects on the various components of innate and acquired immunity

Collaborating between Writing and STEM: Teaching Disciplinary Genres, Researching Disciplinary Interventions, and Engaging Science Audiences

Collaborating between Writing and STEM: Teaching Disciplinary Genres, Researching Disciplinary Interventions, and Engaging Science Audiences This poster describes a multi-pronged effort to build a writing curriculum in Physics and other STEM fields at the George Washington University, USA. These efforts include curricular collaboration, a research study conducted by the Physicists and Writing Scholars, and external funding initiatives. This project first began as a curricular collaboration through our Writing in the Disciplines (WID) curriculum, initiated by observations among Physics faculty that undergraduate students lack Physics specific writing skills. Writing faculty responded to this observation by introducing Physics faculty to the idea that writing can and must be taught, that the genres of Physics can be taught by Physics faculty, and that a focus on the writing process can improve student writing. Our curricular goal was to demonstrate to faculty who are unfamiliar with writing studies that writing is a means to learn in Physics (Anderson et al., 2017). The first phase of our effort was to persuade Physics faculty that writing contributes to learning in Physics; we describe a collaboration between Physics and Writing faculty that developed assignments and made curricular interventions. This collaboration built upon scholarship in writing studies that argues genre instruction develops capacities and skills for student writing (Swales, 1990; Winsor, 1996). While genre is not a new concept in Writing Studies, for many Physics faculty the idea that they can teach – and have students learn – how to write in disciplinary genres is novel. Collaboration around curricular revisions enabled Writing and Physics faculty to teach students that learning how to write in a new genre is a skill that can be practiced (Ericsson, 2006; Kellogg & Whiteford, 2009). We developed a process for students to follow when faced with types of writing common to Physics, but potentially new to them, such as the abstract (written), lab research notebook (written), article summary (oral), letter to colleague (written), cover letter and resumé (written), elevator pitch (oral), proposal (written and oral), presentation on issues of ethics and equity in STEM (oral), research presentation (oral), poster (written), poster presentation (oral), final research report (written), and Symposium presentation (oral). The collaboration thus created pedagogical exchange between faculty as well as scholarly synergy between the disciplines of Physics and Writing Studies. Physics faculty have observed that the curricular collaboration has had measurable results for students. Physics student participation in the campus research day has increased dramatically. We attribute this rise partly to the increased, explicit attention in classroom settings to how to engage with Physics genres of writing, especially abstracts and research posters. While the collaboration successfully brought together a small but solid group of Writing and Physics faculty, it also raised questions about how to persuade a broader range of Physics faculty, and other science faculty, that teaching disciplinary genres can improve student writing, and that writing is a means of learning. Given that faculty in STEM disciplines find empirical research persuasive, our next step was to undertake a collaborative research project to measure the impact of the teaching of writing in Physics. The new curricular focus on genre asked students to conceptualize themselves as scientific writers in relation to specific Physics or STEM audiences. The collaborative research therefore investigates if teaching Physics genres improves writing and enables students to conceptualize themselves as emerging scientists engaged in professional communication (Poe et al., 2010; Winsor, 1996). Our longitudinal analysis of student writing in Physics evaluates writing from three sequenced courses, the first before faculty-developed genre assignments, and then after genre assignments. We developed a rubric that evaluates general outcomes – audience, genre, structure, style – and a rubric that evaluates specialized learning outcomes – acknowledgement of past scholarship, working with models, incorporating scholarship, articulation of research questions, working with graphs, and articulation of methods. Preliminary research analysis shows that explicitly teaching Physics genres increases student’s abilities to write successfully in Physics, enabling students to understand how knowledge is communicated persuasively to audiences. Our goal with this research is to show STEM faculty through research by Physicists and Writing Studies scholars that teaching writing socializes students into the discipline of Physics, leading them to identify as professional scientists (Allie et al, 2010; Gere et al., 2019). This increase is exemplified by the large number of students volunteering to present a poster during the University wide research day, giving them experience presenting to an educated audience outside of Physics. Thus, a combination of strategies – curricular collaboration and intervention, collaborative research from within the discipline of Physics, and successful external funding – are what demonstrate to scientists that teaching genre and teaching writing are central to science education. Based on this experience, our contribution is that shared pedagogical and research collaborations, and funding, are what make the knowledge of Writing Studies persuasive to scientists. We have seen success with these efforts. At George Washington, other STEM faculty have observed successes in the Physics curriculum, and have joined efforts to bring writing more explicitly into their curriculum. This year, we began a Writing in STEM symposium that has grown to include faculty in Chemistry, Systems Engineering, Mathematics, Geography, Mechanical Engineering, and other fields. We have also seen an uptick in STEM courses in the WID curriculum. The Physics and Writing research collaboration has led to a National Science Foundation (NSF) submission on genre, and an NSF award for a study of writing and engineering judgement, being conducted by Writing faculty and Systems Engineering faculty. References Allie, S., Armien, M.N., Burgoyne, N, Case, J.M., Collier-Reed, B.I, Craig, T.S., Deacon, A, Fraser, D.M.,Geyer, Z, Jacobs, C., Jawitz, J., Kloot, B., Kotta, L., Langdon, G., le Roux, K., Marshall, D, Mogashana,D., Shaw,C., Sheridan, G., & Wolmarans, N. (2009). Learning as acquiring a discursive identity through participation in a community: improving student learning in engineering education. European Journal of Engineering Education, 34(4), 359-367. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043790902989457 Anderson, P., Anson, C. M., Fish, T., Gonyea, R. M., Marshall, M., Menefee-Libey, W Charles Paine, C., Palucki Blake, L. & Weaver, S. (2017). How writing contributes to learning: new findings from a national study and their local application. Peer Review, 19(1), 4. Ericsson, K. A. (2009). The Influence of experience and deliberate practice on the development of superior expert performance. In K. A. Ericsson, R. R. Hoffman, A. Kozbelt & A. M Williams (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance (pp 685–705). Cambridge University Press. Gere, A. R., Limlamai, N., Wilson, E., Saylor, K., & Pugh, R. (2019). Writing and conceptual learning in science: an analysis of assignments. Written communication, 36(1), 99–135. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088318804820 Kellogg, R., & Whiteford, A. (2009). Training advanced writing skills: the case for deliberate practice. Educational psychologist, 44(4), 250–266. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520903213600 Poe, M., Lerner, N., & Craig, J. (2010). Learning to communicate in science and engineering: Case studies from MIT. MIT Press. Swales, J. (1990). Discourse analysis in professional contexts. Annual review of applied linguistics, 11, 103–114. Winsor, D. A.(1996) Writing like an engineer: A rhetorical education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Population Size and Survival Rates of Blue Catfish in Chesapeake Bay Tributaries

This report comprises two studies conducted from 2012 to 2015 to estimate population size, survival rates, and movements of invasive blue catfish in Chesapeake Bay tributaries. The first study of population-size and survival was conducted in the James River, VA (Population Size and Survival Rates of Invasive Blue Catfish in Tidal Waters of the James River Subestuary). The second study on movement and survival of blue catfish was conducted in the Potomac River, the natural boundary between Maryland and Virginia (Movement Patterns and Survival Rate of Blue Catfish in a Non-Native Habitat Estimated with a Tagging Study). The Executive Summary of this report provides a synopsis of both studies

Diagnosing space telescope misalignment and jitter using stellar images

Accurate knowledge of the telescope's point spread function (PSF) is essential for the weak gravitational lensing measurements that hold great promise for cosmological constraints. For space telescopes, the PSF may vary with time due to thermal drifts in the telescope structure, and/or due to jitter in the spacecraft pointing (ground-based telescopes have additional sources of variation). We describe and simulate a procedure for using the images of the stars in each exposure to determine the misalignment and jitter parameters, and reconstruct the PSF at any point in that exposure's field of view. The simulation uses the design of the SNAP (http://snap.lbl.gov) telescope. Stellar-image data in a typical exposure determines secondary-mirror positions as precisely as $20 {\rm nm}$. The PSF ellipticities and size, which are the quantities of interest for weak lensing are determined to $4.0 \times 10^{-4}$ and $2.2 \times 10^{-4}$ accuracies respectively in each exposure, sufficient to meet weak-lensing requirements. We show that, for the case of a space telescope, the PSF estimation errors scale inversely with the square root of the total number of photons collected from all the usable stars in the exposure.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figs, submitted to PAS

SkyMapper Southern Survey: First Data Release (DR1)

We present the first data release (DR1) of the SkyMapper Southern Survey, a hemispheric survey carried out with the SkyMapper Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. Here, we present the survey strategy, data processing, catalogue construction and database schema. The DR1 dataset includes over 66,000 images from the Shallow Survey component, covering an area of 17,200 deg$^2$ in all six SkyMapper passbands $uvgriz$, while the full area covered by any passband exceeds 20,000 deg$^2$. The catalogues contain over 285 million unique astrophysical objects, complete to roughly 18 mag in all bands. We compare our $griz$ point-source photometry with PanSTARRS1 DR1 and note an RMS scatter of 2%. The internal reproducibility of SkyMapper photometry is on the order of 1%. Astrometric precision is better than 0.2 arcsec based on comparison with Gaia DR1. We describe the end-user database, through which data are presented to the world community, and provide some illustrative science queries.Comment: 31 pages, 19 figures, 10 tables, PASA, accepte