Analysis of Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) Fur Harvests in Arkansas

An investigation was conducted on gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) fur harvest in Arkansas. Data were gathered from a mail survey of Arkansas trappers and from Arkansas Game and Fish Commission fur harvest records from 1939 to 1983. Analyses of these data demonstrated: 1) gray fox were abundant statewide with lower levels in the Delta region; 2) there was a need for fox trappers to keep better records on their trapping efforts, success and composition of catch, including sex and age data; 3) market price: harvest correlation was high (r = 0.956, p \u3c .001); 4) over the past 10 years, the Ozark Mountain region provided the greatest contribution to annual fox harvests, the Ouachita Mountain and Gulf Coastal Plain regions were similar to each other, but lower than the Ozarks, and the Delta region contributed the least, but with a generally stable harvest

At the Green Blade\u27s End: Jose Pedro Diaz Allegorizes Uruguay in Crisis

The purpose of the research was to study Uruguay through an examination of social, political and economic themes in Uruguayan narrative literature during the 1960s. The novel Partes de naufragios was selected after the consideration of many alternatives. Jose Pedro Diaz has achieved a synthesis of the messages contained in the narrative fiction of the sixties. Exhibiting consummate skill, the author has constructed a novel whose architecture possesses dynamic esthetic appeal. Publication of Partes de naufragios in December of 1969 coincided with the termination of a decade of crisis in Uruguay. Drawing upon events of the twentieth century, Diaz allegorizes the process of the nation\u27s disintegration

Sounding out ecoacoustic metrics: avian species richness is predicted by acoustic indices in temperate but not tropical habitats

Affordable, autonomous recording devices facilitate large scale acoustic monitoring and Rapid Acoustic Survey is emerging as a cost-effective approach to ecological monitoring; the success of the approach rests on the de- velopment of computational methods by which biodiversity metrics can be automatically derived from remotely collected audio data. Dozens of indices have been proposed to date, but systematic validation against classical, in situ diversity measures are lacking. This study conducted the most comprehensive comparative evaluation to date of the relationship between avian species diversity and a suite of acoustic indices. Acoustic surveys were carried out across habitat gradients in temperate and tropical biomes. Baseline avian species richness and subjective multi-taxa biophonic density estimates were established through aural counting by expert ornithol- ogists. 26 acoustic indices were calculated and compared to observed variations in species diversity. Five acoustic diversity indices (Bioacoustic Index, Acoustic Diversity Index, Acoustic Evenness Index, Acoustic Entropy, and the Normalised Difference Sound Index) were assessed as well as three simple acoustic descriptors (Root-mean-square, Spectral centroid and Zero-crossing rate). Highly significant correlations, of up to 65%, between acoustic indices and avian species richness were observed across temperate habitats, supporting the use of automated acoustic indices in biodiversity monitoring where a single vocal taxon dominates. Significant, weaker correlations were observed in neotropical habitats which host multiple non-avian vocalizing species. Multivariate classification analyses demonstrated that each habitat has a very distinct soundscape and that AIs track observed differences in habitat-dependent community composition. Multivariate analyses of the relative predictive power of AIs show that compound indices are more powerful predictors of avian species richness than any single index and simple descriptors are significant contributors to avian diversity prediction in multi-taxa tropical environments. Our results support the use of community level acoustic indices as a proxy for species richness and point to the potential for tracking subtler habitat-dependent changes in community composition. Recommendations for the design of compound indices for multi-taxa community composition appraisal are put forward, with consideration for the requirements of next generation, low power remote monitoring networks

Life in a warm deep sea: routine activity and burst swimming performance of the shrimp Acanthephyra eximia in the abyssal Mediterranean

Measurements of routine swimming speed, "tail-flip'' escape responses, and oxygen consumptions were made of the deep-sea shrimp Acanthephyra eximia using autonomous landers in the Rhodos Basin at depths of up to 4,400 m and temperatures of 13 - 14.5 degrees C. Routine swimming speeds at 4,200 m averaged 0.18 m s(-1) or 3.09 body lengths s(-1), approximately double those of functionally similar oceanic scavengers. During escape responses peak accelerations of 23 m s(-2) or 630.6 body lengths s(-2) were recorded, with animals reaching speeds of 1.61 m s(-1) or 34.8 body lengths s(-2). When compared to shallow-water decapods at similar temperatures these values are low for a lightly calcified shrimp such as A. eximia despite a maximum muscle mass specific power output of 90.0 W kg(-1). A preliminary oxygen consumption measurement indicated similar rates to those of oceanic crustacean scavengers and shallower-living Mediterranean crustaceans once size and temperature had been taken into account. These animals appear to have high routine swimming speeds but low burst muscle performances. This suite of traits can be accounted for by high competition for limited resources in the eastern Mediterranean, but low selective pressure for burst swimming due to reductions in predator pressure

Firm finances, weather derivatives and geography

This paper considers some intellectual, practical and political dimensions of collaboration between human and physical geographers exploring how firms are using relatively new financial products – weather derivatives – to displace any costs of weather-related uncertainty and risk. The paper defines weather derivatives and indicates how they differ from weather insurance products before considering the geo-political, cultural and economic context for their creation. The paper concludes by reflecting on the challenges of research collaboration across the human–physical geography divide and suggests that while such initiatives may be undermined by a range of institutional and intellectual factors, conversations between physical and human geographers remain and are likely to become increasingly pertinent. The creation of a market in weather derivatives raises a host of urgent political and regulatory questions and the confluence of natural and social knowledges, co-existing within and through the geography academy, provides a constructive and creative basis from which to engage with this new market and wider discourses of uneven economic development and climate change

Imaging three-dimensional rotational diffusion of plasmon resonant gold nanorods using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

We demonstrate depth-resolved viscosity measurements within a single object using polarized optical scattering from ensembles of freely tumbling plasmon resonant gold nanorods (GNRs) monitored with polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography. The rotational diffusion coefficient of the GNRs is shown to correlate with viscosity in molecular fluids according to the Stokes-Einstein relation. The plasmon resonant and highly anisotropic properties of GNRs are favorable for microrheological studies of nanoscale properties

Scallop swimming kinematics and muscle performance: modelling the effects of "within-animal" variation in temperature sensitivity

Escape behaviour was investigated in Queen scallops (Aequipecten opercularis) acclimated to 5, 10 or 15 degrees C and tested at their acclimation temperature. Scallops are active molluscs, able to escape from predators by jet-propelled swimming using a striated muscle working in opposition to an elastic hinge ligament. The first cycle of the escape response was recorded using high-speed video ( 250 Hz) and whole-animal velocity and acceleration determined. Muscle shortening velocity, force and power output were calculated using measurements of valve movement and jet area, and a simple biomechanical model. The average shortening speed of the adductor muscle had a Q(10) of 2.04, significantly reducing the duration of the jetting phase of the cycle with increased temperature. Muscle lengthening velocity and the overall duration of the clap cycle were changed little over the range 5 - 15 degrees C, as these parameters were controlled by the relatively temperature-insensitive, hinge ligament. Improvements in the average power output of the adductor muscle over the first clap cycle ( 222 vs. 139 W kg(-1) wet mass at 15 and 5 degrees C respectively) were not translated into proportional increases in overall swimming velocity, which was only 32% higher at 15 degrees C ( 0.37m s(-1)) than 5 degrees C (0.28 m s(-1))

Effect of increasing intraperitoneal infusion rates on bupropion hydrochloride-induced seizures in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is not known if there is a relationship between input rate and incidence of bupropion-induced seizures. This is important, since different controlled release formulations of bupropion release the active drug at different rates.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We investigated the effect of varying the intraperitoneal infusion rates of bupropion HCl 120 mg/kg, a known convulsive dose₅₀(CD₅₀), on the incidence and severity of bupropion-induced convulsions in the Swiss albino mice. A total of 69 mice, approximately 7 weeks of age, and weighing 21.0 to 29.1 g were randomly assigned to bupropion HCl 120 mg/kg treatment by intraperitoneal (IP) administration in 7 groups (9 to 10 animals per group). Bupropion HCl was infused through a surgically implanted IP dosing catheter with infusions in each group of 0 min, 15 min, 30 min, 60 min, 90 min, 120 min, and 240 min. The number, time of onset, duration and the intensity of the convulsions or absence of convulsions were recorded.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results showed that IP administration of bupropion HCl 120 mg/kg by bolus injection induced convulsions in 6 out of 10 mice (60% of convulsing mice) in group 1. Logistic regression analysis revealed that infusion time was significant (p = 0.0004; odds ratio = 0.974) and increasing the IP infusion time of bupropion HCl 120 mg/kg was associated with a 91% reduced odds of convulsions at infusion times of 15 to 90 min compared to bolus injection. Further increase in infusion time resulted in further reduction in the odds of convulsions to 99.8% reduction at 240 min.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In conclusion, the demonstration of an inverse relationship between infusion time of a fixed and convulsive dose of bupropion and the risk of convulsions in a prospective study is novel.</p

Nature of the mixed-oxide interface in ceria-titania catalysts: Clusters, chains, and nanoparticles

The ceria-titania mixed metal oxide is an important component of catalysts active for the production of hydrogen through the water-gas shift reaction (CO + H2O → H2 + CO2) and the photocatalytic splitting of water (H2O + hv → H2 + 0.5O 2). We have found that ceria-titania catalysts prepared through wet chemical methods have a unique hierarchal architecture. Atomic resolution imaging by high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF STEM) reveals that ceria supported on titania exhibits a range of morphologies. One can clearly identify ceria structures involving clusters, chains, and nanoparticles, which are distributed inhomogeneously on the titania support. These structures are often below the sensitivity limit of techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), which in this case identifies the average particle size of the ceria and titania nanoparticles (via the Debye-Scherer equation) to be 7.5 and 36 nm, respectively. The fluorite-structured ceria grows epitaxially on the anatase-structured titania, and this epitaxial growth influences the morphology of the nanoparticles. The presence of defects in the ceria - such as dislocations and surface steps - was routinely observed in HAADF STEM. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate an energetic preference for the formation of O vacancies and the corresponding Ce 3+ sites at the ceria-titania interface. Experimental corroboration by soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (SXAS) does suggest the presence of Ce3+ sites at the interface. © 2013 American Chemical Society.The research carried out at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials and the Chemistry Department of Brookhaven National Laboratory was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886. The theoretical studies were funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain, grants MAT2012-31526 and CSD2008-0023) and EU FEDER. Computational resources were provided by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center/Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (Spain).Peer Reviewe