Butterflies (Lepidoptera) on Hill Prairies of Allamakee County, Iowa: A Comparison of the Late 1980s With 2013

In the late 1980s, several hundred butterflies were collected by John Nehnevaj from hill prairies and a fen in Allamakee County, Iowa. Nehnevaj’s collection included 69 species, 14 of which are currently listed in Iowa as species of greatest conservation need (SGCN). The goal of this study was to revisit sites surveyed in the 1980s and survey three additional sites to compare the species present in 2013 to the species found by Nehnevaj. A primary objective was to document the presence of rare prairie specialist butterflies (Lepidoptera), specifically the ottoe skipper (Hesperia ottoe W.H. Edwards; Hesperiidae), which was thought to be extirpated from Iowa. Twelve sites were surveyed 4 to 7 times between June and September 2013 using a meandering Pollard walk technique. A total of 2,860 butterflies representing 58 species were found; eight of these species were SGCN’s, including the hickory hairstreak (Satyrium caryaevorum McDunnough; Lycaenidae), and Leonard\u27s skipper (Hesperia leonardus Harris; Hesperiidae), species not collected in the 1980s, and the ottoe skipper and Baltimore checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton Drury; Nymphalidae), both species also found by Nehnevaj. Species richness for the sites ranged from 14 to 33 species, with SGCNs found at 11 of the 12 sites. Significant landscape changes have occurred to hill prairies in Allamakee County over the past 25 years. Invasion by red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) has reduced hill prairie an average of 55.4% at these sites since the 1980s, but up to 100% on some of the sites surveyed by Nehnevaj. These changes in habitat may have contributed to the overall decrease in species richness. This study provides valuable information about the current status of butterflies present on northeastern Iowa hill prairies that can be used in directing future land management and conservation efforts

Saturating Constructions for Normed Spaces II

We prove several results of the following type: given finite dimensional normed space V possessing certain geometric property there exists another space X having the same property and such that (1) log (dim X) = O(log (dim V)) and (2) every subspace of X, whose dimension is not "too small," contains a further well-complemented subspace nearly isometric to V. This sheds new light on the structure of large subspaces or quotients of normed spaces (resp., large sections or linear images of convex bodies) and provides definitive solutions to several problems stated in the 1980s by V. Milman. The proofs are probabilistic and depend on careful analysis of images of convex sets under Gaussian linear maps.Comment: 35 p., LATEX; the paper is a follow up on math.FA/040723

The Role of Nestling Acoustic Experience in Song Discrimination in a Sparrow

Oscine songbirds are an ideal system for investigating how early experience affects vocal behavior. Young songbirds face a challenging task: how to recognize and selectively learn only their own species’ song, often during a time-limited window. Because birds are capable of hearing birdsong very early in life, early exposure to song could plausibly affect recognition of appropriate models; however, this idea conflicts with the traditional view that song learning occurs only after a bird leaves the nest. Thus, it remains unknown whether natural variation in acoustic exposure prior to song learning affects the template for recognition. In a population where sister species, golden-crowned and white-crowned sparrows, breed syntopically, we found that nestlings discriminate between heterospecific and conspecific song playbacks prior to the onset of song memorization. We then asked whether natural exposure to more frequent or louder heterospecific song explained any variation in golden-crowned nestling response to heterospecific song playbacks. We characterized the amount of each species’ song audible in golden-crowned sparrow nests and showed that even in a relatively small area, the ratio of heterospecific to conspecific song exposure varies from 0 to 20%. However, although many songbirds hear and respond to acoustic signals before fledging, golden-crowned sparrow nestlings that heard different amounts of heterospecific song did not behave differently in response to heterospecific playbacks. This study provides the first evidence that song discrimination at the onset of song learning is robust to the presence of closely related heterospecifics in nature, which may be an important adaptation in sympatry between potentially interbreeding taxa

Distributional effects and individual differences in L2 morphology learning

Second language (L2) learning outcomes may depend on the structure of the input and learners’ cognitive abilities. This study tested whether less predictable input might facilitate learning and generalization of L2 morphology while evaluating contributions of statistical learning ability, nonverbal intelligence, phonological short-term memory, and verbal working memory. Over three sessions, 54 adults were exposed to a Russian case-marking paradigm with a balanced or skewed item distribution in the input. Whereas statistical learning ability and nonverbal intelligence predicted learning of trained items, only nonverbal intelligence also predicted generalization of case-marking inflections to new vocabulary. Neither measure of temporary storage capacity predicted learning. Balanced, less predictable input was associated with higher accuracy in generalization but only in the initial test session. These results suggest that individual differences in pattern extraction play a more sustained role in L2 acquisition than instructional manipulations that vary the predictability of lexical items in the input

Findings from the Nutrition Challenge Program

Obesity is an epidemic in the United States. Over 61% of U.S. adults and 58% of Nevada adults have Body Mass Index’s (BMI) that classify them as either overweight or obese (Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System [BRFSS], 2005). According to a recent article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, obesity was the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States behind tobacco use (Mokdad, Marks, Stroup & Gerberding, 2004). While obesity and overweight are complex, multi-factorial health conditions, an important contributor to the overweight and obesity epidemic is poor dietary habits. One of the major public health nutrition education efforts in the past few years has been to encourage Americans to eat more fruits and vegetables. Current dietary guidelines recommend consuming between 5 and 9 servings of fruits and vegetables each day depending on age and gender. A person’s physical activity level and age determine how many calories they need each day and their calorie needs determine how many servings of fruits and vegetables they should eat each day. Only 23% of adults nationwide and 22% of Nevada adults are currently meeting that recommendation, most at the low end (BRFSS, 2005)

Pork Managers' Perception of Labor Management Practices and Their Risks

Although managing labor has become important for farm operations success, training and education for farm managers focuses on agricultural production management and few studies provide an empirical basis on how agricultural labor management differs from labor management in other industries. With the exception of Hurley et al., little is known about labor management practices in pork production, specifically. This study used the focus group discussion method with four focus group meetings in Michigan and two in Kansas in 2006. The average group size was four participants. All group discussions were tape-recorded and transcribed. The ATLAS-TI software was used to support the data analysis. Labor management topics discussed were as follows (order based on the amount of discussion dedicated to each topic): (1) performance management, (2) compensation, (3) recruitment, (4) training, (5) working conditions and organizational structure of farms, (6) selection, (7) hiring immigrant employees, (8) discipline, (9) performance evaluation, (10) social environment, and (11) labor law. Labor management practices, labor attributes, and work characteristics were analyzed within each category and characterized as risk reducing or risk increasing, according to managers perceptions. An educational pilot workshop was developed based on the focus group discussions and delivered in both Michigan and Kansas. Topics covered in the workshops included recruitment and selection, training, employee evaluation, compensation, conflict management, discipline and termination, communication, and motivation. Workshops were evaluated both immediately afterwards, through written anonymous workshop evaluations and through phone interviews. While most participants were able to point to specific content learned and had started to implement changes, hoping to increase productivity and/or reduce costs, few were able to quantify the monetary value of those changes.Labor and Human Capital, Livestock Production/Industries,

The effect of cyanoacrylate fuming on subsequent protein stain enhancement of fingermarks in blood

This study investigates the effect of cyanoacrylate (CA) fuming, at atmospheric and vacuum conditions, on subsequent protein stain (acid violet 17) enhancement of fingermarks in blood. Fingermark depletions in blood were deposited on three nonporous surfaces (e.g., plastic bag) and aged for a set period of time (up to 28 days) before enhancement with the water-ethanol-acetic acid and methanol formulations of acid violet 17 (AV17). All trials were carried out in duplicate. One depletion was pre-treated with CA fuming followed by the enhancement technique and the other depletion was treated with only the enhancement technique (control).As expected, atmospheric CA fuming hindered the subsequent enhancement of blood with the AV17 water-ethanol-acetic acid formulation but not the methanol formulation. The same observations were also recorded under vacuum CA fuming conditions. Preliminary work with vacuum metal deposition did not hinder subsequent AV17 protein stain enhancement with either formulation