Abundance and distribution of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) in central and northern California during 1998 and summer 1999

The abundance and distribution of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) in central and northern California was studied to allow future evaluation of their impact on salmonids, the ecosystem, and f isheries. Abundance at-sea was estimated by using the strip transect method from a fixed-wing aircraft with a belly viewing port. Abundance on land was estimated from 126-mm-format aerial photographs of animals at haulouts between Point Conception and the California−Oregon border. The sum of these two estimates represented total abundance for central and northern California. Both types of survey were conducted in May−June 1998, September 1998, December 1998, and July 1999. A haulout survey was conducted in July 1998. The greatest number of sea lions occurred near Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay for all surveys. Abundance was high in central and northern California in 1998 when warm water from the 1997−98 El Niño affected the region and was low in July 1999 when cold water La Niña conditions were prevalent. At-sea abundance estimates in central and northern California ranged from 12,232 to 40,161 animals, and haulout abundance was 13,559 to 36,576 animals. Total abundance of California sea lions in central and northern California was estimated as 64,916 in May−June 1998, 75,673 in September 1998, 56,775 in December 1998, and 25,791 in July 1999. The proportion of total abundance to animals hauled-out for the four complete surveys ranged from 1.77 to 2.13, and the mean of 1.89 was used to estimate a total abundance of 49,697 for July 1998. This multiplier may be applicable in the future to estimate total abundance of California sea lions off central and northern California if only the abundance of animals at haulout sites is known

A validation of the model for effluent disposal using land irrigation (MEDLI)

Biological waste produced by intensive livestock farming is a valuable and useful product used in the agricultural industry for irrigation of crops. Manure and liquid effluent contains nutrients that can be effectively utilised in commercial cropping of livestock feed. It provides farmers with a low cost organic material and fertilizer, resulting in high yielding crops if carefully managed. The downside of using effluent in crop irrigation is the potentially high concentrations of chemicals and pathogens in effluent can, if mismanaged, reach toxic levels in the soil. This can lead to crop failure and in worst cases, land and water contamination. It is a requirement of Queensland law that before an enterprise irrigates with effluent it must first obtain a regulation certificate. To fulfil this obligation an effluent irrigation scheme must be designed and modelled to the satisfaction of the regulatory authority. There are tools available which aid the designer of the effluent irrigation scheme in conducting water and nutrient balances. The software package recommended by the Queensland Government is; The Model for Effluent Disposal using Land Irrigation (MEDLI). The purpose of this program is to model; effluent volumes, concentrations of chemical constituents in effluent, point of deposition soil chemistry and nutrient uptake by plants. Due to the absence of previously completed program validation, this research aimed to conduct validation of MEDLI software. Modelling scenarios were entered into the program using input variables that had been established from data collected from three beef cattle feedlots. Scenarios were set-up to try and best mimic site conditions, so a comparisons could be drawn between the simulated and observed datasets. Results of the comparisons for all three sites found, often significant variation in the values of simulated and observed conditions. Weak correlation of the datasets could not be conclusively attributed to systematic errors in the model. Analytical errors such as; improperly defined inputs and inadequacy of sample sizing may have contributed to the bias found between datasets. A particularly notable conclusion of the analysis was that far greater definition is required around the required estimations of the pre-treatment and anaerobic pond chemistry inputs. A recommendation is; MEDLI literature which is supplied with the program, should provide considerably more detailed guidance on deriving accurate estimation of these input variables

Magnetic resonance studies of reactively sputtered amorphous silicon-hydrogen alloys

Proton magnetic resonance and electron paramagnetic resonance measurement results are presented for several reactively sputtered amorphous silicon-hydrogen alloys and for a few amorphous silicon-hydrogen-deuterium alloys. Proton NMR absorption measurements made on a series of samples with controlled and varied amounts of hydrogen have been interpreted as evidence for significant inhomogeneity in the local hydrogen density: there is a phase of the material, in which the hydrogen bonded to Si is randomly distributed with average local density 3.39 x 10(\u2721) cm(\u27-3); there is a hydrogen cluster defect with average local hydrogen density 4.34 x 10(\u2722) cm(\u27-3); in the lower hydrogen samples there is a third phase of the material which has no H;Proton NMR spin-lattice relaxation measurements as a function of both temperature and H concentration have been interpreted, consistent with the above conclusions. The mechanism of spin-lattice relaxation in both cases involves spin diffusion to relaxation centers. In the low H concentration samples the relaxation centers are dangling bond electrons, while the centers in the high H samples appear to be three-center Si-H-Si bonds;EPR measurements on the dangling bond electrons are consistent with all of the above conclusions. Furthermore, a new very broad ((TURN).1 Tesla) resonance has been detected in all of the samples. It is tentatively interpreted in support of the existence of three-center bonds;The implications these results may have for the electronic device properties of this material are discussed

The Perceptual Northwest

Our goal is to survey cultural perceptions defining the U.S. Northwest region. As geographers, we should concern ourselves with mental constructs of regions, as they can easily impede or facilitate communication. Assumptions of others’ regional boundaries and images may be erroneous. Over the past several decades, a handful of geographers have begun to examine these perceptual (or vernacular) maps and regions. Students at 21 colleges and universities were asked to identify: (1) boundaries of the U.S. Northwest region; (2) Northwest regional characteristics and symbols; and (3) what cities or other places best represent the Northwest. Nationally, student respondents largely followed the “official” area of the region regarding state boundaries, with Washington, Oregon, and Idaho as the core area. Student perception of characteristic cities and places followed this pattern, with referenced population centers spread across the threestate landscape. Regarding descriptive words and symbols, more emphasis is placed on Garreau’s coastal perception of the Northwest through terms such as rainy, trees, and mountainous. Regional differences showed up in perception of area, descriptive words, and symbols of the Northwest. Proximity led to different perceptions. Northwest students showed the smallest perception of the Northwest in geographic area, while those farthest away (Southeast students) mapped the largest Northwest. Difference from the home region also led to different perceptions. Students from less-forested regions emphasized trees more than students from more forested regions, who emphasized open and vast characteristics of the Northwest

Privacy fatigue: The effect of privacy control complexity on consumer electronic information disclosure

When online social networks change privacy control features (i.e. methods of sharing consumer information), the result is often media attention and public outcry. Facebook introduced new privacy controls in 2009 causing the Electronic Frontier Foundation to accuse them of pushing users to disclose more information than ever before. However, there is little research to indicate that such practices are effective. Although research on privacy control designs is emerging, few studies adopt theoretical bases or empirically test the results of the design. This study fills a theoretical and methodological gap in the context of privacy controls. We adopt feature fatigue theory from the marketing literature to explain the effects of privacy control complexity on consumer self-disclosure behavior. We test our model with a unique longitudinal field experiment wherein participants are randomly assigned to various treatments of privacy control complexity. We found support for our theoretical extension we term privacy fatigue

The Effect of the Yield Curve on a Bond\u27s Call Premium

Much of today\u27s corporate debt is callable, and the value of the call provision attached to a corporate debt instrument is a function of the likelihood of the call provision\u27s being exercised by the bond issuer. This study examines the effect of the shape of the yield curve on the value of the call premium placed on callable bonds over similar non-callable bonds. Since a bond issuer will only call a bond when interest rates are lower than they were at the time of the bond\u27s issue; the likelihood of a call being exercised will increase as interest rates are expected to decline over time. The market conveys its expectations about the future direction of interest rates by the way it prices fixed-income securities. This expectation is reflected in the shape of the yield curve on government debt. If the yield curve is upward sloping, then the market is conveying its expectation that, over time, interest rates will rise. This would represent a set of expectations that reduces the likelihood that a call would be exercised, reduces the value of the call premium, and drives the price of the callable issue closer to the price of similar non-callable issues. Conversely, if the yield curve is downward sloping, then the market is conveying its expectation that, over time, interest rates will decline. This would represent a set of expectations that increases the likelihood that a call would be exercised, increases the value of the call premium, and drives the price of the callable issue below the price of similar non-callable issues

Molecular Analyses of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Embryonic Stem Cells

SummaryRecent work from our group and others has argued that human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) generated by the introduction of four viruses bearing reprogramming factors differ from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) at the level of gene expression (Chin et al., 2009). Many of the differences seen were common across independent labs and, at least to some extent, are thought to be a result of residual expression of donor cell-specific genes (Chin et al., 2009; Ghosh et al., 2010; Marchetto et al., 2009). Two new reports reanalyze similar expression data sets as those used in Chin et al. (2009) and come to different conclusions (Newman and Cooper, 2010; Guenther et al., 2010). We compare various approaches to perform gene expression meta-analysis that all support our original conclusions and present new data to demonstrate that polycistronic delivery of the reprogramming factors and extended culture brings hiPSCs transcriptionally closer to hESCs

Detecting Specific Saccharides via a Single Indicator

An improved synthesis of a rhodamine boronic acid indicator is reported. This compound is used in an optimized data collection protocol for wavelength- and time-dependent selectivity of sugars such as fructose and ribose derivatives. One indicator is thus used to selectively distinguish structurally related sugar analytes