Current and Historical Aquatic Food Webs of the Middle Rio Grande, NM

The Rio Grande has been identified as one of the most endangered rivers in the United States by American Rivers. Biologically, the consequences of the massive anthropogenic alterations of this river have been substantial. The overall aim of this study was to characterize the ecological implications of these alterations in the aquatic food web of the middle Rio Grande (MRG) of New Mexico. Our approach was to analyze the stable isotope composition of current food web components and of historical museum preserved fish specimens. After determining that we could use stable isotope analyses of historical museum preserved fish specimens (chapter 1), we proceeded with our study on the current food web of the MRG. The results of this study allowed us to develop a food web model of the MRG. Regardless of sample site or season, autochthonous production was the dominant carbon source in our system. Fishes sampled from the MRG are not supported directly by primary producers, but instead by an intermediate step consisting of either macro- or micro-invertebrates. Omnivory is evident in the contemporary fish food web, as fishes used similar resources regardless of nominal dietary differences. In addition, we observed enhanced food web dependence on autotrophic production at one of our sites (Bernardo), which may be linked to anthropogenic inputs of nutrients. In the final portion of this study, we characterized the historical food web, and found many similarities with our current-day food web results. Omnivory has dominated the fish food web for the past 60 years, and may be contributing to food web stability in the face of anthropogenic change. Overall, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values of fish changed little over time. The exception to this is at our Bernardo site, which displays enhanced autotrophy in the later years, similar to our results in the current food web. The timing of the switch to autotrophy at Bernardo coincides with an expansion of the Albuquerque Wastewater Treatment Plant, which may be contributing soluble nutrients and driving eutrophication

Transformation of E. coli and regulation of GFP in pGLO

Research Question: Will the presence of pGLO plasmid containing GFP gene produce glowing cells? Hypothesis: In the presence of pGLO plasmid containing GFP gene, the production of glowing cells will occur

Tales from the wild East: Traiding with Central and Eastern Europe

In the former system of trade in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe the State controlled imports and exports. Firms, both domestic and foreign, now have the potential to respond directly to local demand. The aim of the research was to identify how small firms in the South East of England who are exporting to Central and Eastern Europe, have responded to these developments. In particular the authors wanted to explore the stories respondents told about how they become involved in exporting and what their experience of this was

Custodianship of wildlife on private land to support conservation-an Australian model

A large proportion of the world's extinctions have occurred in Australia, and threatened species lists continue to grow, notwithstanding government and philanthropic efforts. Most losses have been on private land, so relying on national parks and reserves is not enough to reverse trends and meet Australia's responsibilities. This paper proposes a model that could increase abundance and distribution of Australia's biodiversity, while providing financial incentives to private landholders to do so. It addresses the question, can landholder management of wildlife, and a form of private ownership, remedy shortfalls in government funding for biodiversity conservation and the resulting consequences of vast biodiversity losses? Landholders currently invest in propagating introduced livestock species, but they are prevented by current regulations from investing in a similar manner in threatened Australian native species. Market-based incentives could increase the distribution and abundance of species on private land and help protect the habitat of other biodiversity. The enabling changes would be contentious to some people but are consistent with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Sustainable Use policy. Different versions of wildlife privatisation have been successfully applied internationally: there is urgency for Australia to draw on these experiences and develop its own model to encourage and support wildlife on private freehold land. The model proposed in this paper focuses on: identifying locally overabundant populations or captive-bred populations as sources of supply; finding landholders and philanthropists who would like to have custodianship of species; enabling entrepreneurs to respond to demand; and bringing the two together where there is scope for a market-based sharing economy. Encouraging wildlife custodianship on private freehold land would be mutually beneficial, as it would not only result in an increase in biodiversity, but the economic value of wildlife could provide an income to landholders as well as enhancing Australia's conservation system

Use Of A Unique Long Pre-curved Sheath To Facilitate Femoral Placement Of Coronary Sinus Catheters

Methods: Catheterization of the coronary sinus (CS) from the femoral vein is widely used during electrophysiologic procedures. Access to the CS may be difficult. To address this problem we explored the utility of a long pre-formed (SAFL™) sheath in a cohort of consecutive patients requiring CS cannulation in the electrophysiology laboratory. This unique sheath has distal curvatures in 2 planes, potentially facilitating CS cannulation.Results: 68 patients were studied with an average age of 63±16 years. In twelve patients (18%), standard femoral CS cannulation was ineffective. In six of these patients, the SAFL™ sheath allowed for cannulation, and in six the subclavian approach was required. There were no significant differences in age, left ventricular ejection fraction, or echocardiographically estimated pulmonary artery systolic pressure between the various subgroups. There was a trend towards a larger left atrial size in the atrial flutter group (46mm±7.9) versus all others (40.6mm±6.3, P=.076). Left atrial size was 37 mm in the femoral sheath-requiring group versus 44 mm in all others (P=NS).Conclusion: Utilization of a unique commercially available long preformed sheath helps to provide femoral CS catheter access in selected cases in the electrophysiology laboratory

The effects of substituting autumn nitrogen fertiliser with gibberellic acid on feed supply and milk production

The aim of this study was to investigate the use of gibberellic acid (GA) to improve feed supply and milk yield in late lactation. A grazing study at Lincoln used 36 lactating, mixed-age, Friesian-Jersey cross dairy cows balanced over three un-replicated treatments of perennial-ryegrass and white-clover pasture treated with nitrogen (N) fertiliser as urea (50 kg N/ha), GA as ProGibb® SG (8 g GA/ha) or untreated (Control). Treatments were applied in late March 2014 and grazed over 12 days in May. There was no effect of treatment on herbage pre-grazing pasture mass (2058±6.9 kg DM/ha, P=0.20), clover (3.6±0.86%, P=0.53), ryegrass (88.0±2.33%, P=0.24) or crude protein (CP) content (17.8±1.60%, P=0.31). All milk yield components: 14.6±0.40 L/day, 1.4±0.09 kg MS/cow/day, 5.4±0.33% fat and 4.4±0.21% protein were similar among treatment groups (P=0.71, 0.14, 0.16 and 0.06, respectively). Although faecal-N content of cows on GA pasture (3.72% N) was higher (P0.05) on urinary-N content (0.4 ± 0.02% N) or N excretion in milk (101±4.4 g N/cow/d). The lack of response to GA or N fertiliser highlights the importance of timing of growth promotants for late lactation

Genotypic and phenotypic characterization of response to aflatoxin and secondary traits in maize

One major problem facing maize producers in the southern US is contamination with the mycotoxin aflatoxin, produced by Aspergillus flavus (Link:fr). Aflatoxin is a serious threat to human and animal health, with no resistant commercial hybrid available. Development of resistance to aflatoxin production has several major limitations. Aflatoxin is highly variable both across and within environments, even under inoculation, requiring several locations and replications for breeding. Additionally, there is no screening method that is reliable, rapid, inexpensive, and allows for high throughput. Several secondary traits, such as kernel texture, kernel integrity, husk cover, and visible ear rot, have previously shown to be related to aflatoxin accumulation. These traits are easily characterized in the field and are candidates for indirect selection if they are correlated to aflatoxin concentration. Root lodging, a plantÂ’s inability to maintain upright stature, is another complex characteristic of root related traits that traditionally is selected for indirectly. It can greatly reduce harvestable yield. It is affected by morphological traits and environmental conditions, but its genetic components are little understood. This dissertation comprises three studies presented in chapters II, III, and IV. Chapter II involved white and yellow hybrid maize trials as well as quality protein maize trials from several years across Texas environments. Data was analyzed both per and across location to determine repeatability of response to aflatoxin. Additionally, aflatoxin levels were correlated to several secondary characteristics (female flowering, endosperm texture, husk cover, and ear rot ratings) to determine usefulness in indirect selection. Chapter III was a phenotypic evaluation of a recombinant inbred line (RIL) mapping population, which was derived from divergent parental inbreds Tx811 and CML176. The trials were conducted in two Texas locations, and phenotypic data for aflatoxin concentration, kernel integrity, endosperm texture, female flowering date, and root lodging was collected. Variance components for these traits and genetic and phenotypic correlations were determined. Chapter IV was a genotypic evaluation of the Tx811/CML176 mapping population using simple sequence repeat markers. Genotypic and phenotypic data were combined to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) and epistatic interactions for response to aflatoxin and for root lodging

Nuclear and chloroplast diversity of Pacific Northwest wheat (Triticum aestivum) breeding germplasm

Wheat breeders must effectively maintain and manage existing genetic diversity in order to continue the development of superior genotypes. It is therefore fundamental that the genetic relationships and diversity within the germplasm pools be thoroughly characterized and understood. Recently, DNA-based markers have provided powerful tools for genetic diversity analysis. This study investigates the usefulness of nuclear and chloroplast simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers in characterizing Pacific Northwest wheat (Triticum aestivum) breeding germplasm, and explores the patterns of genetic relatedness revealed by these markers. The 15 chloroplast SSRs were effective in differentiating between B-type, D-type, and barley (Hordeum vulgare) cytoplasms. Genetic distance estimates were determined for each pair of lines studied and analyzed using UPGMA clustering. The markers revealed five plastomic types within the B-type cytoplasm studied. Several lines of wheat in this germplasm, including important PNW cultivars like Madsen, were found to contain D-type cytoplasm rather than the B cytoplasm of wheat. Nuclear SSR assays using 24 markers revealed three major clusters of germplasms: PNW soft white winter wheat, Western European-derived lines, and Great Plains accessions, as well as two clusters of more distantly related lines and genetic stocks. The primary defining characteristic of these clusters was regional adaptation. Subgroups of these major groups often clustered together on the basis of pedigree and market class. When nuclear and chloroplast SSR data was combined in analysis, the primary defining characteristic of the dendrogram became the type of cytoplasm rather than regional adaptation, with secondary divisions based on pedigree relationships. Cultivars released prior to 1950 were found to have a minimum of 20% of alleles in common for nuclear and chloroplast data combined, despite being unrelated via pedigree information. Heterogeneity was 2.3% for all marker/variety combinations. Overall, these sets of markers were found to be effective in characterizing the genetic relatedness of PNW wheat breeding germplasm