Summary of Workshop to Review an OMB Report on Regulatory Risk Assessment and Management

Summary of the results of an invitational workshop conducted to peer review the 1990 OMB report, CURRENT REGULATORY ISSUES IN Risk ASSESSMENT AND Risk MANAGENMENTIN REGULATORY PROGRAM OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, APRIL 1, 1990 - MARCH 31, 1991

Omnivory by the Small Cosmopolitan Hydromedusa Aglaura Hemistoma

We investigated the feeding of the small hydromedusa, Aglaura hemistoma (bell diameter \u3c 4 mm), to determine if it occupies a trophic position similar to that of large medusae. Feeding was examined using gut-content analysis of preserved and unpreserved medusae and by analyzing prey-capture events using microvideographic techniques. Analysis of gut contents and prey-capture events revealed that A. hemistoma fed heavily on protistan prey and that it possessed a prey-capture mechanism, specifically a feeding current,that is effective at entraining and capturing protists with low motility. We suggest that many species of small hydromedusae possess prey-capture mechanisms adapted to capture small protistan prey and that many of these small hydromedusae feed omnivorously on microplanktonic prey. The trophic roles of small hydromedusae in different systems are not understood and more studies are needed. However, based on their often high abundances and the cosmopolitan nature, if small hydromedusae are primarily omnivores, they need to be considered when estimating the impact of zooplankton on primary production and, more generally, protistan community dynamics

Diving in Two Marine Lakes in Croatia

We describe the diving methods used for in-situ observations of the scyphozoan medusa, Aurelia sp., in two marine lakes on the island of Mljet, Croatia. Both lakes have a strong pycnocline at approximately 15 m. During this study (May, 2004) surface temperature was about 20o C; bottom temperature about 10o C. Visibility was 15 m to 30 m. Tide and currents were negligible. A dense resident population of Aurelia sp. and a predictable environment made this an ideal study site. Aurelia was most abundant in mid-water around the pycnocline. There were several dive objectives: specimen collection for laboratory analysis, population census, discrete plankton tows and direct observation of flow around swimming medusae. We used several methods for maintaining our orientation underwater including working from an anchor line, towing a tethered buoy, and use of a blue water rig. Because the environment was relatively benign we allowed the rig to drift free while the boat was standing by at a short distance. Often a tether was not required. This plan allowed the most freedom and provided an excellent reference throughout the dive

Recruitment for the Future -- A New Approach, before The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants 83rd Annual Meeting, September 23, 1970, New York, New York

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_assoc/2055/thumbnail.jp

Breeding for improved nitrogen use efficiency in oilseed rape

Oilseed rape has a high requirement for nitrogen (N) fertiliser relative to its seed yield. This paper uses published and unpublished work to explore the extent to which the N use efficiency (seed yield ÷ N supply) of oilseed rape could be improved without reducing seed yield. It was estimated that if the concentration of N in the stem and pod wall at crop maturity could be reduced from 1.0 to 0.6%, the root length density increased to 1 cm/cm3 to 100 cm soil depth and the post flowering N uptake increased by 20 kg N/ha then the fertiliser requirement could be reduced from 191 to 142 kg N/ha and the N use efficiency could be increased from 15.2 to 22.4 kg of seed dry matter per kg N. Genetic variation was found for all of the traits that were estimated to be important for N use efficiency. This indicates that there is significant scope for plant breeders to reduce N use efficiency in oilseed rape

The application of time-series MODIS NDVI profiles for the acquisition of crop information across Afghanistan

We investigated and developed a prototype crop information system integrating 250 m Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data with other available remotely sensed imagery, field data, and knowledge as part of a wider project monitoring opium and cereal crops. NDVI profiles exhibited large geographical variations in timing, height, shape, and number of peaks, with characteristics determined by underlying crop mixes, growth cycles, and agricultural practices. MODIS pixels were typically bigger than the field sizes, but profiles were indicators of crop phenology as the growth stages of the main first-cycle crops (opium poppy and cereals) were in phase. Profiles were used to investigate crop rotations, areas of newly exploited agriculture, localized variation in land management, and environmental factors such as water availability and disease. Near-real-time tracking of the current years’ profile provided forecasts of crop growth stages, early warning of drought, and mapping of affected areas. Derived data products and bulletins provided timely crop information to the UK Government and other international stakeholders to assist the development of counter-narcotic policy, plan activity, and measure progress. Results show the potential for transferring these techniques to other agricultural systems

Utility Cost of Formal Privacy for Releasing National Employer-Employee Statistics

National statistical agencies around the world publish tabular summaries based on combined employer-employee (ER-EE) data. The privacy of both individuals and business establishments that feature in these data are protected by law in most countries. These data are currently released using a variety of statistical disclosure limitation (SDL) techniques that do not reveal the exact characteristics of particular employers and employees, but lack provable privacy guarantees limiting inferential disclosures. In this work, we present novel algorithms for releasing tabular summaries of linked ER-EE data with formal, provable guarantees of privacy. We show that state-of-the-art differentially private algorithms add too much noise for the output to be useful. Instead, we identify the privacy requirements mandated by current interpretations of the relevant laws, and formalize them using the Pufferfish framework. We then develop new privacy definitions that are customized to ER-EE data and satisfy the statutory privacy requirements. We implement the experiments in this paper on production data gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau. An empirical evaluation of utility for these data shows that for reasonable values of the privacy-loss parameter ϵ≥1, the additive error introduced by our provably private algorithms is comparable, and in some cases better, than the error introduced by existing SDL techniques that have no provable privacy guarantees. For some complex queries currently published, however, our algorithms do not have utility comparable to the existing traditiona

Approaching the Heisenberg limit in an atom laser

We present experimental and theoretical results showing the improved beam quality and reduced divergence of an atom laser produced by an optical Raman transition, compared to one produced by an rf transition. We show that Raman outcoupling can eliminate the diverging lens effect that the condensate has on the outcoupled atoms. This substantially improves the beam quality of the atom laser, and the improvement may be greater than a factor of 10 for experiments with tight trapping potentials. We show that Raman outcoupling can produce atom lasers whose quality is only limited by the wave function shape of the condensate that produces them, typically a factor of 1.3 above the Heisenberg limit

Survey and monitoring of opium poppy and wheat in Afghanistan: 2003-2009

An integrated application of remote-sensing technology was devised and applied in Afghanistan during 2003–2009 providing critical information on cereal and poppy cultivation and poppy eradication. The results influenced UK and international policy and counter-narcotics actions in Afghanistan