Evaluating The Impacts Of Southern Pine Beetle On Pitch Pine Forest Dynamics In A Newly Invaded Region

Southern pine beetle (SPB; Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmerman), a native insect that has historically affected pine ecosystems in the southeastern U.S., has recently expanded northward causing extensive tree mortality in pitch pine (Pinus rigida) and pitch pine-oak (Quercus spp.) forests across much of eastern Long Island, NY. Given the historic lack of SPB within these fire-dependent ecosystems, little is known regarding its impacts to forest composition, forest structure, or fuel loading. This study examined the short-term effects of SPB-induced tree mortality on the structure, composition, and fuel loading of pitch pine and pitch pine-oak communities to inform management recommendations and projections of future forest conditions and fire hazard. Overstory pine basal area declined following SPB infestation and infestation suppression management, particularly in pitch pine forests. These treatments did not impact the density or composition of seedlings and saplings, with hardwood species, including scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea), scrub oak (Quercus ilicifolia), and black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), making up the majority of species in this layer and pine representing \u3c6% of stems. Likelihood of herbivory was influenced partly by species, with pitch pine less likely to be browsed than white oak and scarlet oak. SPB infestation significantly increased the snag component of both forest types, which largely became downed coarse woody debris (CWD) following suppression management. Treatments did not significantly influence understory species assemblages. Understory communities in pitch pine stands were characterized by Vaccinium angustifolium prior to SPB or suppression management, with these disturbances leading to an increase in the diversity of understory communities. In contrast, infestation decreased variation in understory species assemblages in pine-oak forests and encouraged regeneration of pitch pine and scarlet oak, while suppression increased diversity largely through increases in disturbance-adapted species, such as Smilax rotundifolia. SPB infestation decreased the biomass of live fuels and subsequently increased loading of dead fuels in both forest cover types. Suppression management felled preexisting and SPB-generated snags, especially in pitch pine forests, transforming vertical fuels into horizontal CWD. Collectively, results indicate SPB could functionally eliminate pitch pine without additional management intervention to maintain this species. Suppression efforts to reduce SPB impacts may accelerate succession towards hardwood dominance, particularly in pine-oak stand, leading to dramatic shifts in forest conditions across the Long Island Pine Barrens. SPB and suppression management significantly increase dead fuel loading and felling of snags during suppression served to decrease the density of ladder fuels effectively decreasing the risk of crowning. However, heavy CWD loading may also promote volatile fire behavior. Therefore, forest managers must weigh the expected potential impacts of SPB relative to changes to fuel structure and composition generated by suppression management activities. Our results demonstrate short-term effects of SPB and suppression management. Given the limited experience with SPB in these forests and the results of this study, further research on fire behavior effects and patterns of stand development over the long-term are needed

Farm to School programs: is there a connection to the implementation of wellness policies at the elementary school building level?

The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 mandated all schools districts with federal meal programs to establish school local wellness policies (LWP), to be implemented in the 2006-07 school year, in order to provide standards for nutrition education, physical activity, a plan to measure implementation and the assurance that all foods in the school environment were not less restrictive than the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Farm to School is a program that has broad appeal and a growing record of success to introduce healthy nutrition information and healthy food choices through curriculum and many different types of hands-on activities. The question in this research project is whether the Iowa elementary schools that have a Farm to School program find them to be a part of their strategy to meet the objectives of the school LWP. A survey was sent to all Iowa elementary school principals to: confirm the presence of a school LWP and their compliance with all the objectives, to ask about Farm to School participation and its impact on the school LWP, questions about the school environment and culture, and demographic information. The data received from respondents who have a Farm to School program in their school confirm they believe it positively impacts compliance and implementation of their school LWP

Factors Influencing the Performance of German Food SME Formal Networks

The food sector in Europe can be characterized as a complex, global and dynamically changing network of trade streams, food supply network relations and related product flows which offers a big spectrum for economic output and employment. Innovation is important for the competitiveness of the food industry that is to a large extent comprised of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). For them, innovation has grown extremely subordinate to interaction in networks. Network initiatives that could provide appropriate support involve social interaction and knowledge exchange, learning and competence development, and coordination (organization) and management ofimplementation. This paper is designed to assess the factors that affect the performance of German food SME formal networks. It also addresses the consequences at the network and macro level. The analysis was explored by using the laddering technique based on the means‐end chain theory. The findings will help to build up a “network learning toolbox” that is adapted to the particular requirements of the different target groups such as of SMEs, network managers and policy makers. The “network learning toolbox” should improve network learning, which is adriver for improvements in innovation, economic growth and sustainable competitive advantage for food SMEs

Factors Influencing the Performance of German Food SME Formal Networks

The food sector in Europe can be characterised as a complex, global and dynamically changing network of trade streams, food supply network relations and related product flows and offers a big spectrum for economic output and employment.Innovation is important for the competitivenessof the food industry that is to a large extent comprised by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Furthermore innovation has grown extremely subordinate to interaction in networks. Network initiatives that could provide appropriate support involve social interaction and knowledge exchange, learning and competence development, and coordination (organization) and management of implementation.This paper was designed to assess the factors that affect the performance of German food SME formal networks. It also addressed the consequences at the network and macro level. The analysis was explored by using the laddering technique based on means-end chain theory.These findings will help to build up a “network learning toolbox” that is adapted to the particular requirements of the different segments of the target group of SMEs, network managers and policy makers. The “network learning toolbox” should improve the network learning, which drives to raised innovation, economic growth and sustainable competitive advantage for food SMEs

Eine Analyse des Anwendungspotenzials von piezoelektrischen Netzwerken im Maschinenbau - Evaluierung bestehender Techniken und Entwicklung einer Gesamtsystemmodellierung

1979 wurde von Robert L. Forward unter dem Begriff shunt damping erstmals eine Technik vorgestellt, die es erlaubt weitgehend ohne externe Energiezufuhr das strukturdynamische Verhalten über ein piezoelektrisches Netzwerk zu beeinflussen. Aufgrund der nicht oder nur geringen benötigten Versorgungsenergie versprach diese Technologie erhebliche Vorteile gegenüber vollständig aktiven Konzepten und fand seitens der Forschung reges Interesse. Im Laufe der Zeit wurden zahlreiche, heterogene Ansätze entwickelt, die teils schmal-, teils breitbandige Eigenschaften aufweisen. Trotz der umfangreichen Forschungsarbeiten auf diesem Gebiet muss nach mehr als 35 Jahren festgestellt werden, dass die Technologie bislang kaum praktische Anwendung fand. Warum also findet sich im Jahr 2017, trotz wissenschaftlicher Bemühungen, keine weitreichende Verbreitung der Technologie in technischen Produkten? Diese Frage stellt einen zentralen Ausgangspunkt der vorliegenden Arbeit dar. Um sich dieser Frage zu nähern, wird zunächst ein reflektierender Überblick über die verbreitetsten Techniken und Modellierungsansätze gegeben. Es wird dargestellt, dass die entwickelten Schaltungen in ihrer Komplexität und deren Modellierungsgenauigkeit über die Jahre stetig zunahmen. Gleichzeitig zeigt sich, dass der Fokus vieler Forschungsarbeiten oftmals in erster Linie auf der analytischen Beschreibung der jeweiligen speziellen Schaltungsvariante liegt. Es werden also immer komplexere Varianten entwickelt und über unterschiedlichste Ansätze beschrieben. Hinsichtlich der Vollständigkeit der Modelle lässt sich zusammenfassen, dass meist Teilaspekte, wie technikspezifische Stabilitätsgrenzen oder schaltungsinterne elektrische Größen, vernachlässigt werden oder nur oberflächlich Betrachtung finden. Ein allgemeingültiger Modellierungsansatz für die Vielzahl von Techniken, welcher explizit auch technische Anforderungen bezüglich des Gesamtsystemverhaltens und der Leistungselektronik berücksichtigt, existierte bisher nicht, wodurch die Anwendbarkeit der Modelle für die Produktentwicklung stark einschränkt war. Ergänzend zu und aufbauend auf bestehenden Ansätzen wird deshalb ein ganzheitlicher Modellierungsansatz entwickelt, der die Durchführung einer geschlossenen Multidomänensimulation ermöglicht und es erlaubt die elektrotechnischen wie auch mechanischen Teilaspekte im Zusammenspiel aller Komponenten detailliert zu untersuchen. Neben der Darstellung neuer Erkenntnisse für den Entwurf eines piezoelektrischen Gesamtsystems, ist die Zielstellung des Modellierungsansatzes klar darauf ausgerichtet, Entwicklungsingenieuren ein Werkzeug zur Verfügung zu stellen, womit ein Systementwurf zielgerichtet beherrschbar wird und der als Basis für eine Systemoptimierung dienen kann. Für die Darstellung und Validierung der angewandten Methoden und als Basis einer Diskussion wichtiger Parameter wurde eine einfache mechanische Struktur gewählt, die analytisch beschreibbar ist. Es wird aufgezeigt, dass der Modellierungsansatz dazu geeignet ist, die bisher in der Literatur verwendete unzureichende Beschreibung der Stabilitätsgrenze von Schaltungen mit negativer Kapazität genauer abzubilden und gleichzeitig systeminterne elektrische Größen, wie Spannungen und Ströme, beherrschbar zu machen. Der herangezogene Versuchsaufbau eignet sich im passiven Zustand zum Einsatz als mechanischer Tilger und dient somit gleichzeitig als Beispiel einer potentiellen technischen Anwendung, als ein adaptiver Tilger. Dessen Struktureigenschaften, wie Tilgerfrequenz und Dämpfung, können über piezoelektrische Netzwerke beeinflusst werden. Die aus der Systemauslegung gewonnenen Erkenntnisse werden im Weiteren an diesem Tilger geprüft und diskutiert. Ebenso wird der Energieaufwand eines aktiven Netzwerks zur Erhöhung der Strukturdämpfung dem eines aktiven Systems gegenübergestellt. Zur Prüfung der Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der technischen Anwendbarkeit piezoelektrischer Netzwerke im Maschinenbau, wird abschließend ein Design für einen konkreten technischen Anwendungsfall vorgestellt und diskutiert. Im Ergebnis zeigen sich Grenzen bei der Übertragbarkeit und Skalierbarkeit von Systemen mit piezoelektrischen Netzwerken. So sind bei technisch relevanten Schwingungspegeln die Anforderungen an die elektrischen Schaltkreise durchaus im Bereich dessen, was an die Leistungselektronik aktiver Systeme gestellt wird

A Framework to Support Developers in the Integration and Application of Linked and Open Data

In the last years, the number of freely available Linked and Open Data datasets has multiplied into tens of thousands. The numbers of applications taking advantage of it, however, have not. Thus, large portions of potentially valuable data remain unexploited and are inaccessible for lay users. Therefore the upfront investment in releasing data in the first place is hard to justify. The lack of applications needs to be addressed in order not to undermine efforts put into Linked and Open Data. In existing research, strong indicators can be found that the dearth of applications is due to a lack of pragmatic, working architectures supporting these applications and guiding developers. In this thesis, a new architecture for the integration and application of Linked and Open Data is presented. Fundamental design decisions are backed up by two studies: firstly, based on real-world Linked and Open Data samples, characteristic properties are identified. A key finding is the fact that large amounts of structured data display tabular structures, do not use clear licensing and involve multiple different file formats. Secondly, following on from that study, a comparison of storage choices in relevant query scenarios is made. It includes the de-facto standard storage choice in this domain, Triples Stores, as well as relational and NoSQL approaches. Results show significant performance deficiencies of some technologies in certain scenarios. Consequently, when integrating Linked and Open Data in scenarios with application-specific entities, the first choice of storage is relational databases. Combining these findings and related best practices of existing research, a prototype framework is implemented using Java 8 and Hibernate. As a proof-of-concept it is employed in an existing Linked and Open Data integration project. Thereby, it is shown that a best practice architectural component is introduced successfully, while development effort to implement specific program code can be simplified. Thus, the present work provides an important foundation for the development of semantic applications based on Linked and Open Data and potentially leads to a broader adoption of such applications

Theodor Heuss, In der Defensive

Under the National Socialist regime, Theodor Heuss was rapidly forced onto the defensive. He lost nearly all his public offices and posts, yet as a publicist Heuss continued to defend his liberal convictions. We encounter a member of the educated middle classes who attempted to carve out space for himself in a hostile political environment. These 194 selected letters, most of them previously unknown, reflect his gripping biography and the dramatic course of events from the handing over of power to the National Socialists in January 1933 to the end of the war in 1945

Heirloom : An Examination of Value, Family History and Personal Identity

This document is written in support of the creative body of work entitled The Art of Remembering-A Genealogy Project. The focus of my graduate research is the collection and preservation of my own family stories. This research is manifested in a series of objects that illustrate the stories and relationships that make up my family tree.  M.F.A