Diversity and Community Structure of Stream Insects in a Minimally Disturbed Forested Watershed in Southern Illinois

The Lusk Creek Watershed, located in Pope County, IL, long has been rec- ognized as a high quality area of biological significance, but surveys of the stream macroinvertebrate fauna have been limited. Thus, a survey of the benthic insect community at 11 sites in the upper portion of Lusk Creek was conducted from May 2003 to April 2005. A total of 20,888 specimens, mostly immatures, were examined during the study and represented eight orders. The Diptera, by far, was the most abundant order, with 18,590 specimens, almost all of which were members of the Chironomidae or Simuliidae. Members of the EPT (Ephemer- optera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) contributed 1,550 specimens. The Coleoptera was represented by 647 specimens, most of which were members of Stenelmis (Elmidae) (n = 612). The Shannon diversity index (H ́) ranged from 1.07-2.01 for individual sites and was indicative of relatively undisturbed streams in this region. Jackknife analyses of richness estimated that as many as 37 taxa were unobserved in this survey. Results provide information on reference conditions in the region and a foundation for future monitoring

A KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE FLIGHT PHASE OF SKI JUMPING

The purpose of this study was to identify and quantify selected kinematic variables of the flight phase of ski jumping. Secondly, this study attempted to determine the statistical contribution of specific kinematic variables during the flight to the distance jumped. The subjects for the investigation were 51 highly skilled competitors participating in the 1995 Springer tournee K-110 World Cup event. Forty six jumps were used from the first competitive round for the subsequent analyses. Data were collected using a Panasonic video camera equipped with a high speed shutter. Data for the distance jumped were collected from the competition records published following the completion of the event. The 2D Peak Performance Analysis System was used to extract the horizontal and vertical coordinates for a 3 link segmental model. The data was smoothed using a second order Butterworth digital filter and processed to compute the path of the centre of mass, linear displacements and velocities, and angular displacement values. Further measurements and calculations were performed to calculate a variety of angles involving the ski, leg, direction of flight, truck, and flight curve as well as the vertical distance of the centre of mass to the jump hill. A correlation analysis was conducted to determine the existence and strength of any relationships between the selected variables and distance jumped. The results suggest that for jumpers who want to increase their distance jumped they should increase their ski and leg angle, decrease the trunk and ski angle throughout the flight phase, and maintain an angle between the ski and the direction of flight of approximately 40 degrees. The angle between the trunk and direction of flight should also be approximately 40 degrees with a small leg and direction of flight angle during the second part of the flight phase. Additional studies should focus on the effect of the previous ski jumping phases upon the variables associated with a good flight position

OFFSET SKATING CHARACTERISTICS OF WORLD CUP LEVEL CROSS-COUNTRY SKIERS

The cross-country ski skating techniques have been evolving steadily over the past several years. Previous kinematic and temporal studies conducted by Smith, McNitt-Gray, & Nelson (1988); Smith & Nelson (1988); Smith, Nelson, Feldrnan, & Rankinen (1989); and McPherson (1991) have documented this evolution. A kinematic and temporal study was conducted during the 1994 Men's World Cup Cross-Country Ski Relay competition in Thunder Bay. The study was used to develop a current kinematic and temporal profile of the World Cup level competitors based on a multiple correlation and regression analysis of selected variables. The Peak 2D Motion Analysis System was used to digitize video footage of 24 competitors offset skating on a 9 degree slope. A significant positive relationship was found between the dependent variable cycle velocity and cycle length (ec.01,2-tailed). Further significant positive relationships (ec.05, 2-tailed) were found between the dependent variable race velocity and cycle velocity, and percentage of cycle time skating on the downhill leg. In addition there were other significant correlations found among the selected variables. Cycle length increased as the uphill pole angle at pole plant decreased (ec.05, 2-tailed), and the cycle velocity increased (ec.01, 2-tailed). Cycle time decreased as the percentage of the cycle time skating on the uphill leg and the cycle velocity increased (

Eastern Range Extension of \u3ci\u3eLeptoglossus Occidentalis\u3c/i\u3e With a Key to Leptoglossus Species of America North of Mexico (Heteroptera: Coreidae)

Leptoglossus occidentalis is reported for the first time from Illinois and Michigan, and confirmed for Indiana. A key to the species of Leptoglossus occurring in America north of Mexico is presented

Staying in the science stream: patterns of participation in A-level science subjects in the UK.

This paper describes patterns of participation and attainment in A-level physics, chemistry and biology from 1961 to 2009. The A-level has long been seen as an important gateway qualification for higher level study, particularly in the sciences. This long term overview examines how recruitment to these three subjects has changed in the context of numerous policies and initiatives that seek to retain more young people in the sciences. The results show that recruitment to the pure sciences has stagnated, general trends have hardly varied and the track record of government policy in influencing change is not strong. There is no evidence for increasing achievement gaps between the sexes at A-level and even national policy requiring that all young people study science up to the age of 16 appears to have had little impact on recruitment at this leve

The Social and Local Dimensions of Governance of Energy Poverty: Adaptive Responses to State Remoteness

Energy poverty is a huge social problem. Academic and policy deliberations about energy poverty focus repeatedly on the same issues: the lack of a shared definition,who is responsible for the problem, and how best to measure it through indicators. We argue that debates at EU and national level do not address the daily reality of people living in energy poverty. The preliminary findings of our ESRC funded project suggest that local actors (e.g. NGOs) make a substantial contribution to bridging the gap between top-down policy and the energy poor. We argue that these actors represent an adaptive response to the inherent limitations of state and supra-national action and, therefore, play a key role in the governance of energy poverty. In presenting this argument, we suggest, as an avenue for future research, nodal governance as a lens through which to understand the role local actors play in the governing order for tackling energy poverty. The article provides an exploratory analysis of these issues, discussed through the selection of four illustrative examples in Italy, France, Catalonia, and England

Multirelational Organization of Large-scale Social Networks in an Online World

The capacity to collect fingerprints of individuals in online media has revolutionized the way researchers explore human society. Social systems can be seen as a non-linear superposition of a multitude of complex social networks, where nodes represent individuals and links capture a variety of different social relations. Much emphasis has been put on the network topology of social interactions, however, the multi-dimensional nature of these interactions has largely been ignored in empirical studies, mostly because of lack of data. Here, for the first time, we analyze a complete, multi-relational, large social network of a society consisting of the 300,000 odd players of a massive multiplayer online game. We extract networks of six different types of one-to-one interactions between the players. Three of them carry a positive connotation (friendship, communication, trade), three a negative (enmity, armed aggression, punishment). We first analyze these types of networks as separate entities and find that negative interactions differ from positive interactions by their lower reciprocity, weaker clustering and fatter-tail degree distribution. We then proceed to explore how the inter-dependence of different network types determines the organization of the social system. In particular we study correlations and overlap between different types of links and demonstrate the tendency of individuals to play different roles in different networks. As a demonstration of the power of the approach we present the first empirical large-scale verification of the long-standing structural balance theory, by focusing on the specific multiplex network of friendship and enmity relations.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in PNA

Use of Stimulan absorbable calcium sulphate beads in revision lower limb arthroplasty: Safety profile and complication rates.

AIMS: Calcium sulphate has traditionally been used as a filler of dead space arising during surgery. Various complications have been described following the use of Stimulan bio-absorbable calcium sulphate beads. This study is a prospective observational study to assess the safety profile of these beads when used in revision arthroplasty, comparing the complication rates with those reported in the literature. METHODS: A total of 755 patients who underwent 456 revision total knee arthroplasties (TKA) and 299 revision total hip arthroplasties (THA), with a mean follow-up of 35 months (0 to 78) were included in the study. RESULTS: A total of 32 patients (4.2%) had wound drainage, and this was higher with higher bead volumes and in McPherson grade C patients. There was also a significantly higher bead volume in the 41 patients who developed hypercalcaemia, two of which were symptomatic (p < 0.0001). A total of 13 patients (1.7%) had heterotopic ossification (HO). There was no statistically significant relationship between the development of HO and bead volume (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The strength of this study lies in the large number of patients and the detailed data collection, making it the most comprehensive report available in the literature on the use of calcium sulphate-based bone substitutes.Cite this article: R. Kallala, W. Edwin Harris, M. Ibrahim, M. Dipane, E. McPherson. Use of Stimulan absorbable calcium sulphate beads in revision lower limb arthroplasty: Safety profile and complication rates. Bone Joint Res 2018;7:570-579. DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.710.BJR-2017-0319.R1

Diversity and Abundance of Club and Coral Fungi in the Upper Lane Cove Valley

The Kingdom Fungi are central players in the ecology and biogeochemistry of terrestrial ecosystems. Despite this importance, the diversity, distribution and abundance of fungal species are poorly known. Here, we undertook an intensive survey of club and coral fungi in the Upper Lane Cove Valley, Sydney, Australia. Over a two-year period, we collected more than 1100 specimens, and identified these to genus using a combination of DNA barcoding and morphology. The majority of specimens did not match any sequences in GenBank at more than 95% similarity, meaning that many of these fungi are either poorly represented in DNA databases, or are potentially novel species. A number of hotspots for fungal diversity and abundance were identified, largely along creek lines draining southwest through coachwood dominated vegetation. Notably, these hotspots all lie outside the adjacent Lane Cove National Park