Small Mammals of Ford County, Kansas

A study of the small mammals of Ford County, Kansas was made between January 23, 1958, and December 30, 1958. Four principal methods were employed to study the small mammals of Ford County. Snap trapping: Seventy-four sites were selected at various sections of the county representing ever type of available habitat. Areas were selected for trapping on the basis of: (1) plant communities, (2) soil types and (3) areas which were relatively undisturbed, except in the case of farm land. Trap lines were established across the selected areas, with 30 clusters of three traps at 50 foot intervals. Two regular mouse traps and one museum special trap were set in each cluster, and placed in the best possible position to catch the small mammals. Traps were baited with a rolled oats-peanut butter paste and were maintained at each site for three consecutive nights. Traps were run early each morning, the specimens removed, weighed, measured and stomach contents removed. A total of 17,280 trap nights gave a catch of 2,288 specimens representing 13 species. Road kills: Road-killed specimens were collected whenever possible. The animals were weighed, measured, and stomach contents removed. Observation: Observations were made whenever possible and the actions and behavior of small mammals in their natural habitats were recorded. Scat and pellet analyses: Scat, pellets and fecal pellets were collected in the field and analyzed in the laboratory to determine the food habits and predators of several mammals. Remains of small mammals found in the scat and pellets were identified. Food habits of the small mammals were determined, from an analysis of stomach contents, fecal material and from the literature

Analysis of Semantic Relation in Short Story: Semantics Approach

This research entitled Analysis of Semantic Relation in Short Story: Semantics Approach discussed the semantic relation used in the short stories by Kate Chopin. The objective of this study is to find and identify the kinds of semantic relation used in the short stories written by Kate Chopin and compare the semantic relation found in each short story. The research method for this research is qualitative descriptive. The data for this research will be the three of the short stories written by Kate Chopin: The Story of an Hour, Regret, and A Respectable Women. The method for this research will include collecting the words or phrases that have semantic relation and those words will be later categorized in their kind of semantic relation to compare the semantic relation used in Kate Chopin’s short stories

Past and future perspectives on mathematical models of tick-borne pathogens

Ticks are vectors of pathogens which are important both with respect to human health and economically. They have a complex lifecycle requiring several blood meals throughout their life. These blood meals take place on different individual hosts and potentially on different host species. Their lifecycle is also dependent on environmental conditions such as the temperature and habitat type. Mathematical models have been used for the more than 30 years to help us understand how tick dynamics are dependent on these environmental factors and host availability. In this paper we review models of tick dynamics and summarise the main results. This summary is split into two parts, one which looks at tick dynamics and one which looks at tick borne-pathogens. In general, the models of tick dynamics are used to determine when the peak in tick densities is likely to occur in the year and how that changes with environmental conditions. The models of tick borne pathogens focus more on the conditions under which the pathogen can persist and how host population densities might be manipulated to control these pathogens. In the final section of the paper we identify gaps in the current knowledge and future modelling approaches

Cost-effectiveness of eye care services in Zambia.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of cataract surgery and refractive error/presbyopia correction in Zambia. METHODS: Primary data on costs and health related quality of life were collected in a prospective cohort study of 170 cataract and 113 refractive error/presbyopia patients recruited from three health facilities. Six months later, follow-up data were available from 77 and 41 patients who had received cataract surgery and spectacles, respectively. Costs were determined from patient interviews and micro-costing at the three health facilities. Utility values were gathered by administering the EQ-5D quality of life instrument immediately before and six months after cataract surgery or acquiring spectacles. A probabilistic state-transition model was used to generate cost-effectiveness estimates with uncertainty ranges. RESULTS: Utility values significantly improved across the patient sample after cataract surgery and acquiring spectacles. Incremental costs per Quality Adjusted Life Years gained were US$259 for cataract surgery and US$ 375 for refractive error correction. The probabilities of the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios being below the Zambian gross national income per capita were 95% for both cataract surgery and refractive error correction. CONCLUSION: In spite of proven cost-effectiveness, severe health system constraints are likely to hamper scaling up of the interventions

Comparison of the performance of friction pendulums with uniform and variable radii

The paper presents research done by means of numerical simulation on a rigid structure isolated with friction pendulums. To this aim, we design friction pendulums which differ by the shape and dimension of the cylindrical sliding surface, respectively by the friction coefficients. Our target was to find out how the structure responds to a given excitation when the structure is equipped with diverse friction pendulums. A sinusoidal excitation with the frequency of 1 Hz is applied and the response in terms of displacements is captured. We found that the frequency of the structure does not change with the FP radius but the amplitude of the displacement is strongly dependent on this parameter. Because the circular and elliptical sections of the FP provide the structure with different natural frequencies, the resonance is achieved at other radii

The lectotype for the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus Linnaeus, 1758 (Mammalia, Proboscidea) and comments on ‘primary, secondary and tertiary syntypes’ and ‘virtual lectotype designation’

Last November a group of colleagues and ourselves designated a lectotype for the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus Linnaeus, 1758, having used morphology and genetic and proteomic sequencing to confirm that Linnaeus’s syntypes included both Asian and African elephants. The article was published (Cappellini et al., 2013) online in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, together with eight items of Supplementary Information, and appeared on paper in the ZJLS in January 2014. The paper and SI items are available online at DOI:10.1111/zoj.12084. The lectotype is a very nearly complete mounted skeleton on display in the Natural History Museum of the University of Florence. John Ray described the specimen in 1673 and 1693 and Linnaeus cited Ray’s 1693 publication. The lectotype designation is available and valid. Dubois, Nemésio & Bour, however, have criticised our choice of selected specimen (published in Bionomina, June 2014; a preview is available online at http://mapress.com/bionomina/content.htm). We are concerned because they have demonstrated misunderstanding or ignorance of a number of aspects of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclatur