Predicting Occupancy of Wintering Migratory Birds: Is Microhabitat Information Necessary?

Information regarding microhabitat, here defined as small-scale vegetation structure, is often useful in predicting use of habitat by birds. Quantifying microhabitat, however, is expensive and labor intensive compared to assessment of habitat at a larger scale, possibly from remotely sensed imagery. To assess the importance of microhabitat information in constructing predictive models of habitat occupancy, we compared occupancy models built on the basis of macro- and microhabitat together and separately. We based our models on counts of wintering migratory bird species and vegetation surveys within Tuskegee National Forest, Alabama, completed during winter 2009. Models built from macrohabitat data only outperformed models built from microhabitat data only for five of the six species analyzed. However, the best model for every focal species included both macro- and microhabitat covariates. Pine forests—excluding plantation—were the only land-cover classification important to our focal species, and measures of density of vegetation were important in predicting occupancy. Our results suggest that migrants wintering at our study site select habitat at multiple scales—specializing in certain types of cover and then preferring specific structural aspects of vegetation within them. We conclude that microhabitat information is important for inference into use of habitat by wintering migratory birds

Revitalizing Distressed Older Suburbs

Reviews literature on strategies for revitalizing distressed older suburbs. Based on case studies of the most distressed minority suburbs, examines the effectiveness of and best practices for revitalization programs and investments. Makes recommendations

Passive Tracking System and Method

System and methods are disclosed for passively determining the location of a moveable transmitter utilizing a pair of phase shifts at a receiver for extracting a direction vector from a receiver to the transmitter. In a preferred embodiment, a phase difference between the transmitter and receiver is extracted utilizing a noncoherent demodulator in the receiver. The receiver includes antenna array with three antenna elements, which preferably are patch antenna elements placed apart by one-half wavelength. Three receiver channels are preferably utilized for simultaneously processing the received signal from each of the three antenna elements. Multipath transmission paths for each of the three receiver channels are indexed so that comparisons of the same multipath component are made for each of the three receiver channels. The phase difference for each received signal is determined by comparing only the magnitudes of received and stored modulation signals to determine a winning modulation symbol

Methods to Minimize Confounding Effects of Hematocrit and Hemoglobin when using Dried Blood Spots

Dried blood spots (DBS) are an alternative method of collecting venous blood samples that can be used to measure blood biomarkers. Two confounding factors, hemoglobin and hematocrit, limit the validity of DBS in comparison to the gold standard serum sample. The saturation of biomarkers on DBS filter paper is affected by the sample’s hematocrit and hemoglobin. Also hemoglobin contamination is known to confounder for antibody binding in assay systems. The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) to evaluate a DBS punching technique designed to limit the effects of hematocrit whilst minimizing sample volume and 2) to evaluate a novel device designed to remove hemoglobin from plasma during DBS collection (Seraform™). A bead-based multiplex assay of nine cardiovascular disease risk (CVD) biomarkers (C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, L-selectin, Haptoglobin, serum amyloid protein, von Willebrand factor, adipsin, α2-macroglobulin, and α1-acid glycoprotein) was measured and compared using the various DBS treatments. Outcomes were compared using linear regression analysis examining the R2 change with hematocrit and hemoglobin as covariates. Significance was set at

Evidence Suggesting that Ivory-billed Woodpeckers (Campephilus principalis) Exist in Florida

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) disappeared from the forests of southeastern North America in the early 20th Century and for more than 50 years has been widely considered extinct. On 21 May 2005, we detected a bird that we identified as an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the mature swamp forest along the Choctawhatchee River in the panhandle of Florida. During a subsequent year of research, members of our small search team observed birds that we identified as Ivory-billed Woodpeckers on 14 occasions. We heard sounds that matched descriptions of Ivory-billed Woodpecker acoustic signals on 41 occasions. We recorded 99 putative double knocks and 210 putative kent calls. We located cavities in the size range reported for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers and larger than those of Pileated Woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) that have been reported in the literature or that we measured in Alabama. We documented unique foraging signs consistent with the feeding behavior of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. Our evidence suggests that Ivory-billed Woodpeckers may be present in the forests along the Choctawhatchee River and warrants an expanded search of this bottomland forest habitat

The Increase in Oxygen Demand During Severe Intensity Exercise Must be Included in Calculation of Oxygen Deficit

International Journal of Exercise Science 13(4): 645-655, 2020. A contentious element in the traditional method of calculating accumulated oxygen deficit (AOD) is the assumption that the oxygen demand remains constant throughout a bout of exercise. The purpose of this study was to investigate the appropriateness of this assumption. Twelve women and eight men volunteered for the study and completed cycle ergometer tests that resulted in exhaustion after ~4 min and ~8 min. In each test, AOD was calculated by subtracting accumulated oxygen uptake (in mL∙kg–1) from estimated total oxygen cost (in mL∙kg–1), which was estimating two ways: (i) assuming that oxygen demand (in mL∙kg–1∙min–1) increases over the course of the exercise bout and (ii) assuming it remains constant. Values for AOD in the 4-min and 8-min tests were expected to be the same (maximal). Mean values for AOD in the 4-min and 8-min tests were similar (79.1 ± 7.6 mL∙kg–1 and 79.6 ± 8.3 mL∙kg–1) when calculated assuming an increase in oxygen demand, but different (71.0 ± 7.9 mL∙kg–1 and 42.5 ± 7.6 mL∙kg–1) when the demand was kept constant. These results support the hypothesis that oxygen demand increases during exhaustive severe intensity cycling exercise. This increase must be included in calculation of AOD

Determining MAOD Using a Single Exhaustive Severe Intensity Test

International Journal of Exercise Science 13(4): 702-713, 2020. Maximal accumulated oxygen deficit (MAOD) provides a measure of anaerobic capacity. However, its measurement is a time-consuming process. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a measure of anaerobic capacity that avoids contentious assumptions and demands of the MAOD method. Twelve women and eight men volunteered for the study and completed cycle ergometer tests that resulted in exhaustion after ~4 min and ~8 min. In each test, anaerobic capacity was determined as (i) the MAOD and (ii) the sum of the phosphocreatine and glycolytic contributions (PCr+glycolysis). MAOD was determined by subtraction of the accumulated oxygen uptake from the total oxygen cost. Phosphocreatine and glycolytic contributions were calculated from post-exercise VO2 and blood lactate responses. MAOD in the 4-min and 8-min tests (79.1 ± 7.6 mL∙kg–1 and 79.6 ± 7.4 mL∙kg–1) and PCr+glycolysis in these tests (80.0 ± 7.3 mL∙kg–1 and 79.0 ± 6.9 mL∙kg–1) were correlated (r ≥ 0.91) and not significantly different. These results support the use of post-exercise measures to quantify the phosphocreatine and glycolytic contributions and to provide an alternative to MAOD for measurement of anaerobic capacity

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor Stars. I. A SOAR/OSIRIS Pilot Study

We report on an abundance analysis for a pilot study of seven Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor (CEMP) stars, based on medium-resolution optical and near-infrared spectroscopy. The optical spectra are used to estimate [Fe/H], [C/Fe], [N/Fe], and [Ba/Fe] for our program stars. The near-infrared spectra, obtained during a limited early science run with the new SOAR 4.1m telescope and the Ohio State Infrared Imager and Spectrograph (OSIRIS), are used to obtain estimates of [O/Fe] and 12C/13C. The chemical abundances of CEMP stars are of importance for understanding the origin of CNO in the early Galaxy, as well as for placing constraints on the operation of the astrophysical s-process in very low-metallicity Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars. This pilot study includes a few stars with previously measured [Fe/H], [C/Fe], [N/Fe],[O/Fe], 12C/13C, and [Ba/Fe], based on high-resolution optical spectra obtained with large-aperture telescopes. Our analysis demonstrates that we are able to achieve reasonably accurate determinations of these quantities for CEMP stars from moderate-resolution optical and near-infrared spectra. This opens the pathway for the study of significantly larger samples of CEMP stars in the near future. Furthermore, the ability to measure [Ba/Fe] for (at least the cooler) CEMP stars should enable one to separate stars that are likely to be associated with s-process enhancements (the CEMP-s stars) from those that do not exhibit neutron-capture enhancements (the CEMP-no stars).Comment: 27 pages, including 5 tables, 6 figures, accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journa

FUSE Measurements of Far Ultraviolet Extinction. I. Galactic Sight Lines

We present extinction curves that include data down to far ultraviolet wavelengths (FUV; 1050 - 1200 A) for nine Galactic sight lines. The FUV extinction was measured using data from the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer. The sight lines were chosen for their unusual extinction properties in the infrared through the ultraviolet; that they probe a wide range of dust environments is evidenced by the large spread in their measured ratios of total-to-selective extinction, R_V = 2.43 - 3.81. We find that extrapolation of the Fitzpatrick & Massa relationship from the ultraviolet appears to be a good predictor of the FUV extinction behavior. We find that predictions of the FUV extinction based upon the Cardelli, Clayton & Mathis (CCM) dependence on R_V give mixed results. For the seven extinction curves well represented by CCM in the infrared through ultraviolet, the FUV extinction is well predicted in three sight lines, over-predicted in two sight lines, and under-predicted in 2 sight lines. A Maximum Entropy Method analysis using a simple three component grain model shows that seven of the nine sight lines in the study require a larger fraction of grain materials to be in dust when FUV extinction is included in the models. Most of the added grain material is in the form of small (radii < 200 A) grains.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. 31 pages with 7 figure