Palaeoecology of corals and stromatoporoids in a late Silurian biostrome in Estonia

A middle Ludlow biostrome at Katri, western Estonia, the richest accumulation of corals and stromatoporoids in Estonia, is partly exposed in a coastal section ca. 1 m high, 150 m long. The fully marine biostrome consists of 5 layers of skeletal carbonate, grouped into Facies 1 (grainstone-packstone, layers 1, 3 & 5) and Facies 2 (wackestone, interbedded layers 2 & 4). Pressure solution degraded original sedimentary relationships and morphologies of stromatoporoids, tabulates and rugosans which constructed the biostrome, but the two facies have major faunal differences. Facies 1 is rich in stromatoporoids “Stromatopora” bekkeri and Plectostroma scaniense (low to high domical up to ca. 30 cm basal length); and tabulate Favosites forbesi (bulbous to high domical up to ca. 25 cm wide). In Facies 2, all three taxa are less common and much smaller. Instead, the most abundant stromatoporoid is laminar Syringostromella borealis up to 30 cm basal length; the most abundant coral is erect branching Laceripora cribrosa, as scattered fragments up to 24 cm long. Neither occurs in Facies 1. Six other stromatoporoid taxa, 5 other tabulate and 5 rugosan taxa occur uncommonly in the biostrome, mostly in both facies. The Katri biostrome is slightly younger than, but similar facies to, biostromes in the middle Ludlow Hemse Group on Gotland ca. 250 km WSW, with well-known stromatoporoid faunas. Corals are abundant in Hemse biostromes, but taxonomy awaits full study. Several key stromatoporoids occur in both the Hemse biostromes and Katri, but two abundant taxa in Hemse biostromes are absent in Katri and two tabulate corals abundant in Katri are missing in Hemse biostromes. Thus there was wide distribution of such biostromes in the central Baltic large shallow marine carbonate platform, but with previously unreported variable assemblages presumed due to facies features not recognised in the sediments

Population trends and priority conservation sites for Mexican Duck Anas diazi

Little is known about Mexican Duck Anas diazi biology and populations. We analyse long-term (1960–2000) trends of Mexican Duck numbers in Mexico and employ contemporary count data (1991–2000) from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service midwinter surveys to identify key sites for conservation using a complementarity approach. The overall Mexican Duck population showed a significant long-term increase of 2.5% per year, with large fluctuations throughout the study period. The Northern highlands population increased at an annual rate of 7.7%, while the Central highlands population showed no significant long-term trend. During the last decade, counts in both the Northern and Central highlands exhibited no significant change. At the site level, significant long-term increases occurred in four localities in the Northern highlands (Laguna Babícora +13.9% annually, Laguna Bustillos +25.9%, Laguna Mexicanos +20.4% and Laguna Santiaguillo +16.9%) and in three localities in the Central highlands (Languillo +15.3% annually, Presa Solís +8.9%, Zacapu +13.4%). Two sites in the Central highlands showed significant declines, in the long term (Lago de Chapala, -5.2% per year) and during the last decade (Lerma, -11.8% per year). The Northern highlands held 16% and the Central highlands 84% of the Mexican Duck population in the period 1960–2000; during the last decade, these figures were 31% and 69%, respectively. A set of priority sites for conservation of the Mexican Duck was identified, consisting of 15 sites holding more than 70% of the midwinter Mexican Duck counts in Mexico. Ten sites from the priority set also qualify for designation as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, by holding [greater-than-or-equal] 1% of the estimated population. Four of the priority sites are in the Northern highlands and 11 in the Central highlands, of which eight are distributed along the Rio Lerma drainage. The most urgent actions that need to be undertaken are to estimate the current minimum population size in Mexico; to establish a programme for monitoring populations in the priority sites, especially those located within the highly degraded Rio Lerma drainage; and to determine the most feasible management actions for the species, concentrating efforts around the priority sites

Palaeobiology, ecology, and distribution of stromatoporoid faunas in biostromes of the mid-Ludlow of Gotland

Six well exposed mid−Ludlow stromatoporoid−dominated reef biostromes in four localities from the Hemse Group in southeastern Gotland, Sweden comprise a stromatoporoid assemblage dominated by four species; Clathrodictyon mohicanum, “Stromatopora” bekkeri, Plectostroma scaniense, and Lophiostroma schmidtii. All biostromes investigated in this area (of approximately 30 km2) are interpreted to belong to a single faunal assemblage forming a dense accumulation of fossils that is probably the best exposed stromatoporoid−rich deposit of the Silurian. The results from this comprehensive study strengthen earlier interpretations of a combination of genetic and environmental control on growth−forms of the stromatoporoids. Growth styles are similar for stromatoporoids in all six biostromes. Differences in biostrome fabric are due to variations in the degree of disturbance by storms. The uniformity of facies and the widespread low−diversity fauna support the view that palaeoenvironmental conditions were similar across the area where these biostromes crop out, and promoted the extraordinary growth of stromatoporoids in this shallow shelf area

The investigation of a lowland peat bog in County Durham

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Patient Profile: A Comprehensive Study of the Reasons for Visit As Well As the Sex and Age Distributions of Patients Seen in a Kankakee General Practicioner\u27s Office Between the Months of May and July

The goal of this project was to examine the patients that a general practitioner (GP) sees in a given time period and to chart their characteristics in order to better understand the mosaic of patients seen in such a practice. Comprising this profile are answers to the following questions: Are females or males seen more frequently in the GP’s office? What is the distribution of ages seen most frequently? What are the most common presenting symptoms? Data was collected via survey from the office of Dr. Rodney Alford in Kankakee, IL between May 10, 2010 and July 10th, 2010. When weighing decisions regarding specialty training, medical students often have little personal knowledge of medical practice environments upon which to make sound decisions. The goal of this study is to provide additional data for this decision making process. Such data might also guide topic selection for certification exams at the end of training for new practitioners as well as postgraduate continuing medical education courses for established physicians. This study was limited by small sample size, low survey participation and failure of participants to answer questions in context. However, the following observations seem instructive and are generally similar to available national data on age, ethnicity and presenting symptoms. These observations are that the most common reason for visit is check-ups, the most commonly seen age group is 61 years old and older, and females are seen more frequently than males

Finitely-generated modules over Special Biserial Algebras:A combinatorial model using strips and belts

We present a discrete model of band modules of special biserial (SB) algebras; complementing existing models for string modules. We provide efficient theoretical algorithms for calculating syzygies of band modules in terms of this discrete model, along with other functors relating to the delooping level for both string and band modules.We first use these tools to prove some small results about the delooping levels of string and band modules for a general SB algebra; then we use these ideas specifically with radical-cube-zero SB algebras, where we show that all such algebras are either syzygy-finite or satisfy a very strict structural condition.We also use these ideas to characterise, for a given SB algebra A, the string and band modules, M ∈ mod-A, with Ext1A(M, A) = 0, which (along with the syzygy algorithms for these models) can be used when the algebra has small dimension to identify all Gorenstein-projective modules. For example, we classify the Gorenstein-projective modules for a handful of example SB algebras of dimension ≤ 20. We build on this by classifying the Gorenstein-projective band modules for any SB algebra, and then we determine some sufficient and/or necessary conditions for certain Gorenstein-homological properties, including an equivalent condition for an SB algebra to have finitely many indecomposable Gorenstein-projective modules.</div

Towards an Establishment Theory of Gay Personhood

Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.\u27 The Catholic Church remains, like so many institutions, troubled by its inability to explain the origins of homosexuality. In the face of its confusion, the Church has justified continuing condemnation of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals as living in opposition to natural law. It was the Church itself, led by figures such as Augustine, that popularized a natural law outlook in medieval Western society and originated the view that engaging in sexual activity is immoral unless it occurs within the confines of marriage to an opposite-sex partner and for the purpose of procreation. A significant proportion of Americans today share this natural law stance; a majority, while eschewing a distinction between procreative and nonprocreative sex, disapprove of homosexual sex under any circumstances. Such views can be justified in part because homosexuality\u27s genesis remains largely unexplained despite the fact that various disciplines, including biology, psychology, and sociology, have had more than one hundred years to wrestle with the issue. The inability to answer these questions, however, stems more from cultural assumptions and biases rooted in the United States\u27 Judeo- Christian tradition, which obscure genuine scientific understanding. These biases have also played a role in the development of our legal tradition, although it was not until the last century that legislators in many jurisdictions shifted their focus from general sexual immorality to the regulation of homosexual conduct. This shift corresponded with the invention of homosexuality as a distinct category of person. In Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court held that the Constitution protects private, consensual, homosexual conduct. The petitioners in that case made a tactical decision to argue for the unconstitutionality of Texas\u27 sodomy laws by relying on the right to privacy embedded in the substantive due process guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment. Given the development of the Supreme Court\u27s jurisprudence in this area, and in particular the predilections of the more moderate members of the Court, this was probably the wisest course, and it achieved the desired result. Yet our nation\u27s efforts to exclude gays from the protections afforded other groups in the context of civil rights, marriage, and, until recently, consensual sexual relations, also violate the Constitution\u27s Establishment Clause. It is upon this basis that questions regarding the status of gays should ultimately be resolved if gays are to achieve full personhood under the law. Part II of this Note describes the Court\u27s past and present approaches to the status of gays, highlighting the profound shift that occurred in Lawrence. Part III explores the Court\u27s somewhat convoluted establishment jurisprudence and argues for Lemon\u27s survival through modification. Part IV asserts that Judeo-Christian morality, while an important part of our cultural traditions and a powerful force in our legal thinking, is an illegitimate foundation upon which to build a stable legal regime, especially in light of the Establishment Clause. Since Muller v. Oregon, the Supreme Court has entertained so-called Brandeis briefs, documents containing data and other information to help the Court achieve a reasoned result. Accordingly, Part V examines scientific research regarding homosexuality and homosexual behavior, which reveals that the line between gay and straight is much more tenuous than antigay advocates would claim, undercutting the otherness of gays and further delegitimizing arguments that they should be denied full personhood under the law. Finally, Part VI asserts that a context- specific modification of the Lemon test applied in the face of legislation motivated solely or primarily by moral concerns serves as a more legitimate ground for decisionmaking than substantive due process, which, while effective in protecting privacy, may need to be expanded significantly by courts to strike down antigay marriage legislation and ensure gays full civil rights. Although much of the Supreme Court\u27s substantive due process jurisprudence discusses the illegitimacy of naked morality as a basis for law, such assertions function at the periphery of the clause\u27s core individual liberty concerns. An establishment approach provides a more logical, stable, and legitimate answer to the issues of gay marriage and civil rights waiting over the horizon