Effects of Ultra-Violent Light on Diapause and Postdiapause Grasshopper Eggs (Orthoptera)

In the irradiation of Melanoplus differentialis eggs, the entire spectrum of a quartz mercury vapor arc was utilized with the energy input and the distance from the lamp to the eggs kept constant. The dosages were controlled by varying the length of exposure. The eggs were irradiated on moist paper, under quartz plates and at constant temperature. Oxygen consumption and percentage of hatching was determined

An economic analysis of swine production in the Tennessee Valley watershed of Tennessee

The primary objectives of the study were to determine the effect of specific variables on the net returns to swine producers, to determine the competitiveness of swine with other major farm enterprises in the use of farm resources and to determine crop and livestock combinations which will maximize returns to the fixed resources for specified resource situations. The analysis was conducted under various resource and pricing situations for representative-type farms in three study areas of the Tennessee Valley Watershed Area of Tennessee. The representative farm included 160 acres of openland in Area I, 135 acres of openland in Area II, and 125 acres of openland in Area III. The base labor supply included 3,000 hours of annual labor. The land labor ratios were varied by alternatively increasing farm size by 100 and 200 percent and labor to 6,000 and 7,392 hours of available labor. The size of the livestock enterprises were restricted to not more than 120 Grade A dairy cows; 200 brood sows; 3,000 purchased feeder pigs; 500 beef steers; 200 beef cows; and 100 ewes. Standard budgetary techniques were utilized in developing costs and returns, input requirements and estimated output for the major crops and livestock considered in the analysis. Linear programming techniques were used to determine the optimal farm organization which would maximize returns to land, labor, capital, and management for each situation. Optimal farm organizations were developed for each of the resource situations considered when swine was an excluded alternative and when swine was an alternative, and swine prices were varied from $30 to$60 per hundredweight. Variations were also made in grain prices, number of pigs produced per sow, feed conversion ratio for finishing hogs, and in livestock enterprises considered. In general, when swine were priced at $35 per hundredweight and above, the optimal farm organization included either a farrow-to-finish swine production system or the feeding out of purchased feeder pigs to slaughter weights. The number of brood sows varied from 55 to 194 as the land-labor ratios were varied by area. The number of purchased feeder pigs varied from 32 to 2,834. A large volume of grains would be purchased in most situations analyzed. When the price of corn was varied from$1.50 to $4.00 per bushel, the number of hogs produced per sow from 10 to 20 per year, and the feed conversion was varied from 3.2 to 4.8 pounds of feed per pound of gain, the enterprise organization remained relatively stable; however, large changes occurred in the potential net returns to land, labor, capital, and management. When comparisons were made of livestock alternatives, highest potential net returns were realized when the farm organization was restricted to swine. Where grain purchases were not permitted, the returns from swine production were severely reduced. Based on the assumptions and results of the study, farrow-to-finish swine production and feeding out purchased feeder pigs appear to be relatively profitable farm enterprises under a variety of technical conditions and resource situations when the price of slaughter hogs are$35 per hundredweight and above

The Molecular and Morphological Systematics of Subfamily Epidendroideae (Orchidaceae).

The current project undertakes the first molecular-based phylogenetic study of subfamily Epidendroideae (Orchidaceae). Approximately 1,200 nucleotide bases (from the 3\sp\prime half of the ndhF chloroplast gene) for 34 orchid taxa, and a lilioid monocot, Clivia miniata, (Amaryllidaceae) were subjected to phylogenetic analysis using parsimony methods. Oryza sativa (Poaceae), a nonlilioid monocot was designated as outgroup. Using unweighted ndhF sequences, the strict consensus cladogram of 531 most-parsimonious trees supports the hypothesis that the large subfamily Epidendroideae is monophyletic, with Listera (Neottieae) as sister. Although subtribal-level relationships in subfamily Epidendroideae ate well resolved in this analysis, tribal-level relationships are resolved poorly. A set of 13 morphological characters were combined with unweighted ndhF sequences and used in parsimony analyses. Although the addition of these characters brings an increased level of resolution to the intertribal relationships in Epidendroideae, branch support for these relationships is weak. Six taxa in this study exhibit deletions that are not evenly divisible by three which results in extensive sequence frameshifts. This suggests that ndhF may be a pseudogene, in these six taxa. A maximum likelihood analysis was also undertaken to infer phylogenetic relationships for the taxa included in this study. To determine the maximum likelihood tree with the greatest log likelihood, an array of transversion weighing parameters and jumble seeds were used in this analysis. A tree with the greatest log likelihood value ($-$7,473.95) was discovered with a transversion parameter of 1.1. This maximum likelihood tree, suggests that subfamily Epidendroideae is monophyletic with Listera (Neottieae) as sister. Although trees discovered from these two methods of phylogenetic inference are congruent in many respects, topological differences typically occur on branches that define intertribal relationships among the epidendroids. It is hypothesized here that this lack of support is due to a rapid radiation of the epidendroids which coincided with anatomical, morphological, and physiological adaptations that allowed the epidendroids to pioneer xeric epiphytic microhabitats

Cavity Nest Materials of Northern Flying Squirrels, Glaucomys sabrinus, and North American Red Squirrels, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, in a Secondary Hardwood Forest of Southern Ontario

Through deployment of artificial nest boxes, we examined the composition of cavity nest materials used by Northern Flying Squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus) and North American Red Squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) in a secondary hardwood forest of southern Ontario, Canada. We collected 32 nests of known species association and found that 85.7% of G. sabrinus nests and 77.8% of T. hudsonicus nests were constructed almost entirely of shredded bark from Eastern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis). Mean nest depth across all samples was 12.2 cm and showed no significant difference between species or between spring and summer nests. We review the antiparasitic properties of T. occidentalis and suggest that the use of shredded cedar bark by G. sabrinus and T. hudsonicus to line nest cavities may be a behavioural adaptation, which reduces ectoparasite loads in the nest environment

Analysis of database maintenance data using graphical and statistical techniques

In-service data for a large database system at the Rolls-Royce marine business site was analysed to investigate whether easy to obtain metrics from an information system can be used to predict likely future maintenance requirements. Graphical methods were compared and contrasted with more rigorous statistical techniques. It was found that the graphical methods could give a useful insight of possible trends and also helped identify and track the influence of external shocks to the system. The application of regression analysis was less successful with no statistically significant relationships detected. It is concluded that the flexibility and adaptability of the graphical methods are likely to be more useful to project managers

A zoned architecture for large-scale evolution

ABSTRACT This position paper describes our notion of zones to support the incremental evolution of persistent application systems. We focus on the motivation for our work and the basic concepts underlying our zoned architecture (ZEST)

MR253: A Landowner\u27s Guide to Woodcock Management in the Northeast

This report describes the spring migration and courtship, nesting, roosting, fall migration and habitat requirements of the American woodcock. It also presents specific steps that small landowners can take to enhance their property for woodcock by economically feasible methods. The report is designed for the landowner who is not a biologist, but who wants to do something for woodcock on his or her own land.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_miscreports/1002/thumbnail.jp

Simulation of the global ENSO–Tropical cyclone teleconnection by a high-resolution coupled general circulation model

This study assesses the influence of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on global tropical cyclone activity using a 150-yr-long integration with a high-resolution coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model [High-Resolution Global Environmental Model (HiGEM); with N144 resolution: ~90 km in the atmosphere and ~40 km in the ocean]. Tropical cyclone activity is compared to an atmosphere-only simulation using the atmospheric component of HiGEM (HiGAM). Observations of tropical cyclones in the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) and tropical cyclones identified in the Interim ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) are used to validate the models. Composite anomalies of tropical cyclone activity in El Niño and La Niña years are used. HiGEM is able to capture the shift in tropical cyclone locations to ENSO in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. However, HiGEM does not capture the expected ENSO–tropical cyclone teleconnection in the North Atlantic. HiGAM shows more skill in simulating the global ENSO–tropical cyclone teleconnection; however, variability in the Pacific is overpronounced. HiGAM is able to capture the ENSO–tropical cyclone teleconnection in the North Atlantic more accurately than HiGEM. An investigation into the large-scale environmental conditions, known to influence tropical cyclone activity, is used to further understand the response of tropical cyclone activity to ENSO in the North Atlantic and western North Pacific. The vertical wind shear response over the Caribbean is not captured in HiGEM compared to HiGAM and ERA-Interim. Biases in the mean ascent at 500 hPa in HiGEM remain in HiGAM over the western North Pacific; however, a more realistic low-level vorticity in HiGAM results in a more accurate ENSO–tropical cyclone teleconnection