Cougar genetic variation and gene flow in a heterogeneous landscape

Management of game species requires an understanding not just of population abundance, but also the structure of and connections between populations. Like other large-bodied carnivores, the cougar (Puma concolor) exhibits density -dependent dispersal and is capable of long-distance movement; in the absence of barriers to movement, these traits should lead to high connectivity between individuals and a lack of genetic differentiation across areas of continuous habitat. Previous research has suggested that cougar movement may be influenced by landscape variables such as forest cover, elevation, human population density, and highways. I assessed the population structure of cougars (Puma concolor) in Washington and southern British Columbia by examining patterns of genetic variation in 17 microsatellite loci, and the contribution of landscape variables to this genetic variation. I evaluated population structure using genetic clustering algorithms and spatial principal components analysis. I quantified the effect of distance on genetic variation by calculating the correlation between the genetic distance and geographic distance between every pair of individuals, as well as the spatial autocorrelation of genetic distances. To compare the observed pattern of genetic differentiation with that which would arise solely from isolation by distance, I simulated allele frequencies across the study area where the cost to movement between individuals was proportional to the distance between them. I also evaluated the support for evidence of male-biased dispersal in allele frequencies. Bayesian clustering analyses identified four populations in the study area, corresponding to the Olympic Peninsula, Cascade Mountains, northeastern Washington and Blue Mountains; these clusters were supported by patterns of genetic differentiation revealed with spatial PCA. Although I found a significant relationship between the geographic and genetic distance between individuals, simulated allele frequencies displayed no meaningful spatial pattern of differentiation, suggesting that male dispersal would be adequate within the scale of the study area to prevent genetic isolation from occurring if the only factor to affect dispersal was geographic distance. While cougars are capable of long-distance dispersal movements, dispersal in heterogeneous landscapes may be mediated by the resistance of the landscape to movement. I derived resistance surfaces for forest canopy cover, elevation, human population density and highways based on GIS data and estimated the landscape resistance between pairs of individuals using circuit theory. I quantified the effect of the resistance to movement due to each landscape factor on genetic distance using multiple regression on distance matrices and boosted regression tree analysis. Both models indicated that only forest canopy cover and the geographic distance between individuals had an effect on genetic distance, with forest cover exhibiting the greatest relative influence. The boundaries between the genetic clusters I found largely corresponded with breaks in forest cover, showing agreement between population structure and landscape variable selection. The greater relative influence of forest cover may also explain why a significant relationship was found between geographic and genetic distance, yet geographic distance alone could not explain the observed pattern of allele frequencies. While cougars inhabit unforested areas in other parts of their range, forested corridors appear to be important for maintaining population connectivity in the northwest

Tracking Control for FES-Cycling based on Force Direction Efficiency with Antagonistic Bi-Articular Muscles

A functional electrical stimulation (FES)-based tracking controller is developed to enable cycling based on a strategy to yield force direction efficiency by exploiting antagonistic bi-articular muscles. Given the input redundancy naturally occurring among multiple muscle groups, the force direction at the pedal is explicitly determined as a means to improve the efficiency of cycling. A model of a stationary cycle and rider is developed as a closed-chain mechanism. A strategy is then developed to switch between muscle groups for improved efficiency based on the force direction of each muscle group. Stability of the developed controller is analyzed through Lyapunov-based methods.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted to ACC201

Stationary Cycling Induced by Switched Functional Electrical Stimulation Control

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is used to activate the dysfunctional lower limb muscles of individuals with neuromuscular disorders to produce cycling as a means of exercise and rehabilitation. However, FES-cycling is still metabolically inefficient and yields low power output at the cycle crank compared to able-bodied cycling. Previous literature suggests that these problems are symptomatic of poor muscle control and non-physiological muscle fiber recruitment. The latter is a known problem with FES in general, and the former motivates investigation of better control methods for FES-cycling.In this paper, a stimulation pattern for quadriceps femoris-only FES-cycling is derived based on the effectiveness of knee joint torque in producing forward pedaling. In addition, a switched sliding-mode controller is designed for the uncertain, nonlinear cycle-rider system with autonomous state-dependent switching. The switched controller yields ultimately bounded tracking of a desired trajectory in the presence of an unknown, time-varying, bounded disturbance, provided a reverse dwell-time condition is satisfied by appropriate choice of the control gains and a sufficient desired cadence. Stability is derived through Lyapunov methods for switched systems, and experimental results demonstrate the performance of the switched control system under typical cycling conditions.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ACC 201

Analysing online teaching and learning systems using MEAD

The review of literature pertaining to systems analysis and design and the design of systems for online teaching and learning has identified some &ldquo;gaps&rdquo; and has shown the need for a more specialised and specific method for the design of such systems. This paper presents research that was conducted to collect information to assist in the filling of the gaps of the systems analysis and design knowledge within Australia and also presents a method for the development of online teaching and learning systems. Currently design is done in an ad-hoc fashion with little formal input from the student users; this research aims to rectify this. The paper puts forwards an educational design approach based upon Soft Systems Methodology (SSM). The outcome of the research is a practical method &ndash; the Method for Educational Analysis and Design (MEAD).<br /

Protection of Australia in the cyber age

Australia has developed sophisticated national security policies and physical security agencies to protect against current and future security threats associated with critical infrastructure protection and cyber warfare protection. In this paper, the authors examine some common security risks that face Australia and how government policies and strategies have been developed and changed over time, for example, the proposed Australian Homeland Security department. This paper discusses the different steps that Australia has undertaken in relation to developing national policies to deal with critical infrastructure protection.<br /

IT security certifications : stakeholder evaluation and selection

Information technology (IT) security certifications have proliferated in recent years. However they differ in regards to stakeholder considerations of credibility, accessibility and relevance. Key stakeholders with an interest in selecting an IT security certification (IT security professionals, employers, governments and higher education institutes) lack a systematic approach for differentiating between candidate certifications and selecting the &ldquo;best&rdquo; certification to satisfy requirements. The paper focuses on reporting a confirmatory focus group from a recent research project. It provides a framework for supporting stakeholder evaluation and selection of IT security certifications and discusses key implications for the IT security industry, IT security certifications, and the higher education sector.<br /