Distribution and Status of Rare and Endangered Mussels (Mollusca: Margaritiferidae, Unionidae) in Arkansas

Knowledge of the distribution and population status of freshwater bivalves occurring in Arkansas has increased markedly during the past decade. Sufficient data has become available to delineate species which are rare and/or endangered within the state. Historical and recent records from Arkansas exist for four mussels currently listed as federally endangered species: the fat pocketbook (Potamilus capax), the pink mucket (Lampsilis orbiculata), Curtis\u27 pearly mussel (Epioblasma florentina curtisi), and the turgid-blossom pearly mussel (Epioblasma turgidula). Ten additional mussels which occur or were thought to occur in Arkansas are being considered for federal protection by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Several other taxa may warrant protective status

Statistical Inference and the Plethora of Probability Paradigms: A Principled Pluralism

The major competing statistical paradigms share a common remarkable but unremarked thread: in many of their inferential applications, different probability interpretations are combined. How this plays out in different theories of inference depends on the type of question asked. We distinguish four question types: confirmation, evidence, decision, and prediction. We show that Bayesian confirmation theory mixes what are intuitively “subjective” and “objective” interpretations of probability, whereas the likelihood-based account of evidence melds three conceptions of what constitutes an “objective” probability

Ab Initio Molecular Orbital Investigation of the Unimolecular Decomposition of CH3SiH2+

The potential energy surface for the decomposition of CH3SiH2+ was studied by ub initio electronic structure theory. At the MP2/6-31G(d,p) level of theory, CH3SiH2+ is the only minimum energy structure on the SiCH5+ potential energy surface. Lower levels of theory reported that +CH2SiH3 was also a local minimum, about 40 kcal/mol higher in energy with only a small (ca. 1-2 kcdmol) banier for conversion back to CH3SiH2+. However, at higher levels of theory, the C, structure of +CHzSiH3 has an imaginary frequency, indicating that it is a saddle point rather than a local minimum on the potential energy surface. The 0 K reaction enthalpies for 1,1 -dehydrogenation from silicon, 1,2-dehydrogenation, 1,l -dehydrogenation from carbon, and demethanation were calculated to be 30.2,69.1, 107.3, and 45.3 kcdmol, respectively. Activation energies (0 K) were calculated at the MP4/6-311++G(2df,2pd) level of theory with the classical barriers subsequently adjusted for zero-point vibrational energies. The 0 K activation energies for 1,l-dehydrogenation from silicon, l,Zdehydrogenation, and demethanation are predicted to be 66.6, 72.7, and 73.0 kcavmol, respectively. All attempts to locate a transition state for the insertion of the carbene-like species, CHSiHZ+, into Hz (reverse of the 1,l-dehydrogenation from carbon) were unsuccessful. This is not surprising since analogous carbene insertions are known to occur without a barrier. Thus, we conclude that this 1,l-H2 elimination from carbon proceeds monotonically uphill. The closed-shell structures for the products of the above reactions (CH3Si+, CH2SiH+, and CHSiH2+) were calculated at the MP2/6-31G(p,d) level of theory. Finally, triplet products were also examined

Takeover Bids, Defensive Stock Repurchases, and the Efficient Allocation of Corporate Control

The objective of this paper is to define a simple form of "fair" competition between the manager and the raider for corporate control, and then explore the characteristics of the resulting allocation process. In particular, we let the raider make one any-or-all bid for sharaes in the firm, and allow the manager to respond by declaring support or opposition and if opposition by making a bid to repurchase a fixed number of the outstanding shares. In doing so, we rule out a variety of defensive tactics, such as greenmail, poison pills, or simply imposing endless delays on the process, since these tactics are available only to the manager and so are "unfair." Use of a repurchase bid as a defensive tactic has become more common recently, and we provide a formal analysis of when and why it can be used successfully.Center for Research on Economic and Social Theory, Department of Economics, University of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100709/1/ECON017.pd

Effects of live-bait shrimp trawling on seagrass beds and fish bycatch in Tampa Bay, Florida

The use of live shrimp for bait in recreational fishing has resulted in a controversial fishery for shrimp in Florida. In this fishery, night collections are conducted over seagrass beds with roller beam trawls to capture live shrimp, primarily pink shrimp, Penaeus duorarum. These shrimp are culled from the catch on sorting tables and placed in onboard aerated “live” wells. Beds of turtlegrass, Thalassia testudinum, a species that has highest growth rates and biomass during summer and lowest during the winter (Fonseca et al., 1996) are predominant areas for live-bait shrimp trawling (Tabb and Kenny, 1969). Our study objectives were 1) to determine effects of a roller beam trawl on turtlegrass biomass and morphometrics during intensive (up to 18 trawls over a turtlegrass bed), short-term (3-hour duration) use and 2) to examine the mortality of bycatch finfish following capture by a trawl