Ponderosa Pine Revisited

We here recognize a new variety, Pinus ponderosa var. pacifica, in the Pacific portion of the species\u27 distribution and present a new combination for Washoe pine as a variety, Pinus ponderosa var. washoensis. In this treatment, we reject the neotype of Pinus ponderosa selected by Lauria and designate instead the branch collected by David Douglas with mistletoe (Arceuthobium campylopodum) as lectotype for Pinus ponderosa. Table 1 compares the distinguishing characters of the North Plateau (typical) variety, the Pacific variety, and the Washoe variety of Pinus ponderosa with a closely related species, Pinus jeffreyi. Figure 1 illustrates the cones of the three varieties of Pinus ponderosa discussed here and the cone of Pinus jeffreyi

Drifting vertical current meter, moored aanderaa thermistor chain, and XBT data : Jasin 1978 Atlantis-II cruise (102)

The report presents summaries of three data sets taken at and in the vicinity of the oceanographic moorings deployed in the 1978 Joint Air-Sea Inte raction Project (JASIN). The data sets are: (1) the temperature, pressure and vertical motion records from the freely drifting Vertical Current Meters (VCMs) deployed from the ATLANTIS II, (2) the temperature data from the Aanderaa thermistor chains on W.H.O.I. mooring 653, designated as JASIN mooring W3, and (3) the expendable bathythermograph (XBT) data collected from the ATLANTIS II while participating in the JASIN Project.Prepared for the Office of Naval Research under Contract N00014-76-C-0197; NR 083- 400 and for the National Science Foundation under Grant OCE 77-25803

Distribution, Habitat Partitioning, and Abundance of Atlantic Spotted Dolphins, Bottlenose Dolphins, and Loggerhead Sea Turtles on the Eastern Gulf of Mexico Continental Shelf

We surveyed cetaceans and marine turtles from Nov. 1998 to Nov. 2000 along a series of prescribed transects between Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor, Florida, and between the coast and the 180-m isobath. Vertical profiles of temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll concentration were collected at 65 stations, and continuous surface data on these variables and transmittance were collected while underway. Habitat partitioning among Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis), bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), and loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) was examined by canonical correspondence analyses of environmental characteristics at sighting locations. Environmental characteristics and primary productivity of S. frontalis and T. truncatus habitat on the eastern Gulf of Mexico continental shelf significantly differed. In shelf waters shallower than 20 m, T. truncatus were the dominant cetacean species, whereas S. frontalis were the most common shelf species at depths of 20-180 m. Environmental preferences of C. caretta were intermediate between the two dolphin species and showed no apparent relationship with depth. The continental shelf in the eastern Gulf of Mexico is broad, with distances from coast to slope as great as 200 km. Although S. frontalis habitat has elsewhere been described as ubiquitous over the shelf, our data suggest that S. frontalis in the eastern Gulf of Mexico prefer midshelf habitat

Consumer Bankruptcy Reform: Debtors\u27 Prison without Bars or Just Desserts For Deadbeats?

This article provides an overview of current bankruptcy law and filing trends in the United States. It then provides an overview of the major changes to consumer bankruptcy and further analyzes several of the more controversial areas of the new law, placing them in historical context and exploring the possible ramifications of these dramatically sweeping changes. Such changes are illustrated by the journey of hypothetical debtors, Ura and Ima Broke, through the new bankruptcy maze. This illustration shows the complexity and inconsistency of the amended Bankruptcy Code. Examining the reform from the vantage point of hypothetical debtors shows how the reform can be viewed from two very different perspectives: as a return to debtors\u27 prisons and early bankruptcy laws that treated debtors as offenders or as just desserts for deadbeat debtors

Reading Instruction for Children who use AAC: Considerations in the Pursuit of Generalizable Results

Our purpose was to review evidence-based literacy instruction for children with severe speech impairment (SSI) who communicate with AAC. This review focuses on three issues important to researchers in this area: participant heterogeneity, assessment and instruction, and research design. We found 8 articles that reported attempts to teach phonological awareness and individual-word reading to a total of 26 children with SSI who used AAC. We evaluated these studies based on reporting of participant characteristics, assessment and instruction modifications, and the strength of research designs. We conclude by highlighting the need for standard assessments that can be used across studies, discussing strategies for facilitating metaanalyses, and suggesting the creation of an online database for researchers to share results on literacy instruction for this population

Queen Conch (Strombus gigas) Testis Regresses during the Reproductive Season at Nearshore Sites in the Florida Keys

BACKGROUND: Queen conch (Strombus gigas) reproduction is inhibited in nearshore areas of the Florida Keys, relative to the offshore environment where conchs reproduce successfully. Nearshore reproductive failure is possibly a result of exposure to environmental factors, including heavy metals, which are likely to accumulate close to shore. Metals such as Cu and Zn are detrimental to reproduction in many mollusks. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Histology shows gonadal atrophy in nearshore conchs as compared to reproductively healthy offshore conchs. In order to determine molecular mechanisms leading to tissue changes and reproductive failure, a microarray was developed. A normalized cDNA library for queen conch was constructed and sequenced using the 454 Life Sciences GS-FLX pyrosequencer, producing 27,723 assembled contigs and 7,740 annotated transcript sequences. The resulting sequences were used to design the microarray. Microarray analysis of conch testis indicated differential regulation of 255 genes (p<0.01) in nearshore conch, relative to offshore. Changes in expression for three of four transcripts of interest were confirmed using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis indicated changes in biological processes: respiratory chain (GO:0015992), spermatogenesis (GO:0007283), small GTPase-mediated signal transduction (GO:0007264), and others. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry analysis indicated that Zn and possibly Cu were elevated in some nearshore conch tissues. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Congruence between testis histology and microarray data suggests that nearshore conch testes regress during the reproductive season, while offshore conch testes develop normally. Possible mechanisms underlying the testis regression observed in queen conch in the nearshore Florida Keys include a disruption of small GTPase (Ras)-mediated signaling in testis development. Additionally, elevated tissue levels of Cu (34.77 ng/mg in testis) and Zn (831.85 ng/mg in digestive gland, 83.96 ng/mg in testis) nearshore are similar to reported levels resulting in reproductive inhibition in other gastropods, indicating that these metals possibly contribute to NS conch reproductive failure