Interactions between Pied crows Corvus albus and breeding White-backed vultures Gyps africanus

African White-backed vultures Gyps africanus are Critically Endangered, mainly due to mortality from poisoning, but the species also exhibits variable breeding productivity that may partially be explained by nest failure due to predation. Pied crows Corvus albus have been implicated as nest predators, but because there is no evidence linking Pied crows to low breeding productivity of White-backed vultures, we used a combination of dummy eggs (n = 14) and camera traps on active nests (n = 10), to investigate what species visit White-backed vulture nests (both active and abandoned) and predate on their eggs. We recorded 47 egg predation events, of which 37 (79%) were attributable to Pied crows, while other predators (unidentified large raptors, White-backed vultures and Vervet monkeys) were recorded interacting with eggs five times in total; mobbing by Pied crows of incubating vultures increased the probability vultures would abandon their nest but crows did not eat abandoned eggs as soon as they were available. Further studies are needed across a wider range of vulture breeding areas to contextualise these findings both in terms of breeding productivity and the significant risks of mortality faced by vultures from poisoning and other threats

Companions to peculiar red giants: HR 363 and HR 1105

Recent IUE observations of two Tc-deficient S-type peculiar red giants that are also spectroscopic binaries, HR 363 and HR 1105 are reported. A 675 min SWP exposure of HR 363 shows emission lines of O I 1304 and Si II 1812 and a trace of continuum. Compared to the M giants, the far UV flux may be relatively larger, indicating a possible contribution from a white dwarf companion, but no high temperature emission lines are seen to indicate that this is an interacting system where mass-transfer recently occurred. However, HR 1105 appears to have a highly variable UV companion. In 1982, no UV flux was discerned for this system, but by 1986 C IV was strong, increasing by a factor of 3 in 1987 with prominent lines of Si III, C III, O III, Si IV, and N V. Using orbital parameters, these observations are consistent with high activity occuring when the side of the S-star primary illuminated by the companion faces the Earth, but since the IUE data were taken over 3 orbits, a secular change in the UV component cannot be excluded

The Opinion - Vol. 07, No. 03

Originally published in print for Fuller Theological Seminary\u27s community from 1962 through 1977.https://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/fts-opinion/1109/thumbnail.jp

The Opinion - Vol. 07, No. 01

Originally published in print for Fuller Theological Seminary\u27s community from 1962 through 1977.https://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/fts-opinion/1107/thumbnail.jp

USCID fourth international conference

Presented at the Role of irrigation and drainage in a sustainable future: USCID fourth international conference on irrigation and drainage on October 3-6, 2007 in Sacramento, California.Includes bibliographical references.Crop water use can be estimated from reference evapotranspiration, ETo, calculated from weather station data, and estimated crop coefficients, Kc. However, because Kc varies with crop growth rate, planting density, and management practices, generic Kc curves often don't match actual crop water use. Recent studies have shown that basal crop coefficients, Kcb, are related to crop light interception or canopy cover; and that canopy cover can be estimated for a wide variety of crops from remotely sensed observations of the normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI. Combined, these relationships could provide good estimates of Kcb from satellite or aerial data for a wide variety of crops over large areas. When combined with ground based ETo measurements and general knowledge of irrigation methods, crop water use can be estimated for individual fields and for large regions. Because NDVI data are generally available only intermittently during the season, simple plant growth models can be used to interpolate canopy cover between vegetation index measurements, and to extrapolate crop canopy cover into the future. This system may improve estimates of crop water use compared to traditional FAO-56 methods and provides an alternative to remotely-sensed estimates of ET that use thermal data with surface energy balance calculations

The Opinion - Vol. 07, No. 02

Originally published in print for Fuller Theological Seminary\u27s community from 1962 through 1977.https://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/fts-opinion/1108/thumbnail.jp

Long-range orbitofrontal and amygdala axons show divergent patterns of maturation in the frontal cortex across adolescence.

The adolescent transition from juvenile to adult is marked by anatomical and functional remodeling of brain networks. Currently, the cellular and synaptic level changes underlying the adolescent transition are only coarsely understood. Here, we use two-photon imaging to make time-lapse observations of long-range axons that innervate the frontal cortex in the living brain. We labeled cells in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) and imaged their axonal afferents to the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). We also imaged the apical dendrites of dmPFC pyramidal neurons. Images were taken daily in separate cohorts of juvenile (P24-P28) and young adult mice (P64-P68), ages where we have previously discovered differences in dmPFC dependent decision-making. Dendritic spines were pruned across this peri-adolescent period, while BLA and OFC afferents followed alternate developmental trajectories. OFC boutons showed no decrease in density, but did show a decrease in daily bouton gain and loss with age. BLA axons showed an increase in both bouton density and daily bouton gain at the later age, suggesting a delayed window of enhanced plasticity. Our findings reveal projection specific maturation of synaptic structures within a single frontal region and suggest that stabilization is a more general characteristic of maturation than pruning

External stress-corrosion cracking of a 1.22-m-diameter type 316 stainless steel air valve

An investigation was conducted to determine the cause of the failure of a massive AISI Type 316 stainless steel valve which controlled combustion air to a jet engine test facility. Several through-the-wall cracks were present near welded joints in the valve skirt. The valve had been in outdoor service for 18 years. Samples were taken in the cracked regions for metallographic and chemical analyses. Insulating material and sources of water mist in the vicinity of the failed valve were analyzed for chlorides. A scanning electron microscope was used to determine whether foreign elements were present in a crack. On the basis of the information generated, the failure was characterized as external stress-corrosion cracking. The cracking resulted from a combination of residual tensile stress from welding and the presence of aqueous chlorides. Recommended countermeasures are included

Discovery-led refinement in e-discovery investigations: sensemaking, cognitive ergonomics and system design.

Given the very large numbers of documents involved in e-discovery investigations, lawyers face a considerable challenge of collaborative sensemaking. We report findings from three workplace studies which looked at different aspects of how this challenge was met. From a sociotechnical perspective, the studies aimed to understand how investigators collectively and individually worked with information to support sensemaking and decision making. Here, we focus on discovery-led refinement; specifically, how engaging with the materials of the investigations led to discoveries that supported refinement of the problems and new strategies for addressing them. These refinements were essential for tractability. We begin with observations which show how new lines of enquiry were recursively embedded. We then analyse the conceptual structure of a line of enquiry and consider how reflecting this in e-discovery support systems might support scalability and group collaboration. We then focus on the individual activity of manual document review where refinement corresponded with the inductive identification of classes of irrelevant and relevant documents within a collection. Our observations point to the effects of priming on dealing with these efficiently and to issues of cognitive ergonomics at the human–computer interface. We use these observations to introduce visualisations that might enable reviewers to deal with such refinements more efficiently