Notes on the Life-History of the Hackberry Butterfly, Asterocampa Celtis (Bdvl. & Lec.) on South Bass Island, Lake Erie (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

Author Institution: Department of Zoology and Entomology, The Ohio State University, Columbus 1

Amphibians and Reptiles of the Erie Islands

Author Institution: Department of Zoology and Entomology, The Ohio State University, Columbus 1

Ecological Processes at a Section of Shoreline of South Bass Island, Lake Erie

Author Institution: Department of Zoology and Entomology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210The tombolo at the northeastern end of South Bass Island, and a contiguous till bank on the southeastern shore were studied between 1936 and 1963. The bar of the tombolo represents the line of convergence of waves from the east which had passed on both sides of the dolomitic outcrop at the outer end of the bar. Waves from the west, approaching the bar at right angles, brought to it materials from both sides. Changing levels of Lake Erie alternately submerged and exposed the bar for prolonged periods. During periods of exposure, many plants appeared, which were subjected to overriding sheet-ice and then were eliminated by subsequent prolonged submergence. The adjacent till bank receded by a combination of the effects of shoving ice, frost, rain, waves, and winds (dehydration and sand-blasting). Boulders which washed out of the till bank were moved by waves and ice and accumulated near the landward end of the bar. These changes are illustrated by a set of dated photographs

The Waves of Lake Erie at South Bass Island

Author Institution: Department of Zoology and Entomology, The Ohio State University, Columbus 10South Bass is an island with a two-lobed outline near the southwest end of Lake Erie. It is composed of eastward-dipping dolomite rock. Wave erosion has produced high cliffs, characterized by spurs alternating with coves, which often have small pebble beaches, on the west shore, while low rock ridges separated by banks and beaches occur on the east. Locally on the west, large fallen blocks of dolomite partly protect the cliffs from the waves. On the east shore, flotsam is one of the major factors affecting the nature of the shoreline. Waves are locally dampened by masses of tape grass and, in winter, by water heavy with snow-curds and slush-balls. Cusps and cones of ice and splash-ice structures are also formed on shoals by winter waves

Disease Control and Prevention

— i — Some thoughts about traumatic brain injury (TBI) data… …People are uneducated about traumatic brain injury. They don’t recognize it when it happens to them or their loved ones; they don’t know the extent of the public health problem…. This is my dream for people who will sustain a traumatic brain injury: ….At the time the TBI is diagnosed,…the injured person receives information about the consequences of traumatic brain injury and sources of education and support. ….All traumatic brain injuries will be counted, including mild TBIs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will develop

D-brane potentials in the warped resolved conifold and natural inflation

In this paper we obtain a model of Natural Inflation from string theory with a Planckian decay constant. We investigate D-brane dynamics in the background of the warped resolved conifold (WRC) throat approximation of Type IIB string compactifications on Calabi-Yau manifolds. When we glue the throat to a compact bulk Calabi-Yau, we generate a D-brane potential which is a solution to the Laplace equation on the resolved conifold. We can exactly solve this equation, including dependence on the angular coordinates. The solutions are valid down to the tip of the resolved conifold, which is not the case for the more commonly used deformed conifold. This allows us to exploit the effect of the warping, which is strongest at the tip. We inflate near the tip using an angular coordinate of a D5-brane in the WRC which has a discrete shift symmetry, and feels a cosine potential, giving us a model of Natural Inflation, from which it is possible to get a Planckian decay constant whilst maintaining control over the backreaction. This is because the decay constant for a wrapped brane contains powers of the warp factor, and so can be made large, while the wrapping parameter can be kept small enough so that backreaction is under control.Comment: 41 pages, 3 appendices, 1 figure, PDFLaTex; various clarifications added along with a new appendix on b-axions and wrapped D5 branes;version matches the one published in JHE

Maternal Exposure to Nitrogen Dioxide, Intake of Methyl Nutrients, and Congenital Heart Defects in Offspring

Nutrients that regulate methylation processes may modify susceptibility to the effects of air pollutants. Data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (United States, 1997-2006) were used to estimate associations between maternal exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), dietary intake of methyl nutrients, and the odds of congenital heart defects in offspring. NO2 concentrations, a marker of traffic-related air pollution, averaged across postconception weeks 2-8, were assigned to 6,160 nondiabetic mothers of cases and controls using inverse distance-squared weighting of air monitors within 50 km of maternal residences. Intakes of choline, folate, methionine, and vitamins B6 and B12 were assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. Hierarchical regression models, which accounted for similarities across defects, were constructed, and relative excess risks due to interaction were calculated. Relative to women with the lowest NO2 exposure and high methionine intake, women with the highest NO2 exposure and lowest methionine intake had the greatest odds of offspring with a perimembranous ventricular septal defect (odds ratio = 3.23, 95% confidence interval: 1.74, 6.01; relative excess risk due to interaction = 2.15, 95% confidence interval: 0.39, 3.92). Considerable departure from additivity was not observed for other defects. These results provide modest evidence of interaction between nutrition and NO2 exposure during pregnancy

New possibilities for research on reef fish across the continental shelf of South Africa

[From introduction] Subtidal research presents numerous challenges that restrict the ability to answer fundamental ecological questions related to reef systems. These challenges are closely associated with traditional monitoring methods and include depth restrictions (e.g. safe diving depths for underwater visual census), habitat destruction (e.g. trawling), mortality of target species (e.g. controlled angling and fish traps), and high operating costs (e.g. remotely operated vehicles and large research vessels. Whereas many of these challenges do not apply or are avoidable in the shallow subtidal environment, the difficulties grow as one attempts to sample deeper benthic habitats. This situation has resulted in a paucity of knowledge on the structure and ecology of deep water reef habitats around the coast of South Africa and in most marine areas around the world. Furthermore, the inability to effectively survey deep water benthic environments has limited the capacity of researchers to investigate connectivity between shallow and deep water habitats in a standardised and comparable fashion