‘Possibilities in a Collaboration’: Boxwood in Context

A biographical reminiscence by Sylvia Townsend Warner describing a moment in her early childhood when she awoke to the power of language, and recalling some of her glimpses of the nuns living nearby in the Convent of the Visitation

Edge Influence on Reproductive Success of Symphoricarpos orbiculatus

With continued forest fragmentation, edge effects play an important role in shaping the structure and composition of plant communities. Some forest plant species exhibit increased abundance at forest edges, while other species have a negative edge response. Despite welldocumented edge effects, there are few studies that document the underlying effects on population dynamics of individual species that result in edge responses. Two mechanisms may generate differential distribution of a species across an edge. Edges may 1) alter population demographics by influencing the plant’s uptake and allocation of resources, or may 2) influence the spatial pattern of seed dispersal. Coral berry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus) is a fleshy-fruited native shrub present at both forest edge and interior habitats. In order to assess spatial demographic responses of S. orbiculatus, reproductive success was determined for individuals occurring along transects perpendicular to the forest edge. Following light gradients, population density of S. orbiculatus declined with distance into the forest, with few individuals occurring eight meters into the forest. Similarly, total fruit production by each individual was positively correlated with light intensity and negatively correlated with distance from the edge. The quality of offspring produced was unaffected by the edge as the weight of individual seeds and fruits did not change significantly with distance from the edge. Seeds produced were ~99% viable across the entire population with no edge effects. For this species, increased growth and reproductive 3 performance at forest edges appears sufficient to generate the observed spatial pattern of the species. With increasing forest fragmentation, these data suggest that populations of this understory shrub could see rapid growth at edges and that the high seed production of edge plants may increase seed availability even beyond edges

DAIRY GRAZING FINANCES IN MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN, 1999

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate possible outcomes and problems of merging farm data sets from multiple states in order to build a statistically sound body of financial information that will help individual farmers analyze their own situations. This paper is in support of a grant titled "Regional/Multi-State Interpretation of Small Farm Financial Data" recently funded by USDA - IFAFS - Farm Efficiency and Profitability. Financial data sets came from dairy farms using management intensive grazing (MIG) strategies during 1999. There were 12 farms from Michigan and 19 farms from Wisconsin. Finpack and Finansum were used to process the data from all farms. Definitions and formulas are not given in this paper as they can be found in Finpack users' guides and manuals. The averages for all 31 farms are given in Tables 1 through 10 plus Figures 1 and 2. The averages for farms with less than 70 milk cows are given in Tables 11 through 20. Averages for farms with over 70 cows are in Tables 21 through 30. Towards the end of the paper is a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the data set and what should be considered as more states' data are merged into the grant project. The last page, Table 32, gives some income and expense categories on a per cow basis which may be useful in doing an individual farm comparative analysis.Agricultural Finance, Livestock Production/Industries,

Structure and Rheology of the Defect-gel States of Pure and Particle-dispersed Lyotropic Lamellar Phases

We present important new results from light-microscopy and rheometry on a moderately concentrated lyotropic smectic, with and without particulate additives. Shear-treatment aligns the phase rapidly, except for a striking network of oily-streak defects, which anneals out much more slowly. If spherical particles several microns in diameter are dispersed in the lamellar medium, part of the defect network persists under shear-treatment, its nodes anchored on the particles. The sample as prepared has substantial storage and loss moduli, both of which decrease steadily under shear-treatment. Adding particles enhances the moduli and retards their decay under shear. The data for the frequency-dependent storage modulus after various durations of shear-treatment can be scaled to collapse onto a single curve. The elasticity and dissipation in these samples thus arises mainly from the defect network, not directly from the smectic elasticity and hydrodynamics.Comment: 19 pages inclusive of 12 PostScript figures, uses revtex, psfrag and epsfig. Revised version, accepted for publication in Euro. Phys. J. B, with improved images of defect structure and theoretical estimates of network elasticity and scalin

Theory of Suspension Segregation in Partially Filled Horizontal Rotating Cylinders

It is shown that a suspension of particles in a partially-filled, horizontal, rotating cylinder is linearly unstable towards axial segregation and an undulation of the free surface at large enough particle concentrations. Relying on the shear-induced diffusion of particles, concentration-dependent viscosity, and the existence of a free surface, our theory provides an explanation of the experiments of Tirumkudulu et al., Phys. Fluids 11, 507-509 (1999); ibid. 12, 1615 (2000).Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys Fluids (Lett) 10 pages, two eps figure

Pharmacokinetics of Octreotide in Patients With Cirrhosis and Portal Hypertension; Relationship Between the Plasma Levels of the Analogue and the Magnitude and Duration of the Reduction in Corrected Wedged Hepatic Venous Pressure

In healthy subjects octreotide is largely metabolised by the liver suggesting that the plasma half-life of the somatostatin analogue may be prolonged in patients with hepatic dysfunction. The aim of this study was therefore (a) to determine the pharmacokinetics of octreotide following its subcutaneous injection in 6 patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension and (b) compare the magnitude and duration of the effects of intravenous administration of 250 μg somatostatin and 50 μg octreotide on corrected wedged hepatic venous pressure (WHVP) and to relate the findings to the plasma levels of the analogue 1h after administration in 13 patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension. Following subcutaneous administration of 50 μg octreotide the circulating half life (range 2.4 to 4.79 h) was prolonged whereas the clearance (range 2.101 to 4.775 L/h) was decreased compared to healthy controls. Intravenous bolus administration of 25 μg somatostatin or 50 μg octreotide resulted in a reduction in WHVP of approximately the same magnitude and duration despite appreciable quantities of the analogue in the blood lh after administration (1944 ± 226 pg/ml). These results indicate that the circulating half-life of octreotide is prolonged in cirrhotics suggesting that the dosage regimens should be modified in such patients to avoid accumulation of the analogue in the blood which may result in undesirable side-effects or toxicity. Furthermore, since the magnitude and duration of the reduction in WHVP elicited by IV octreotide is similar to that obseved with somatostatin, the analogue, like the native hormone, must be administered by continuous IV infusion to produce a sustained response and hence a therapeutic effect in the management of acute variceal bleeding

Variable Selection and Model Averaging in Semiparametric Overdispersed Generalized Linear Models

We express the mean and variance terms in a double exponential regression model as additive functions of the predictors and use Bayesian variable selection to determine which predictors enter the model, and whether they enter linearly or flexibly. When the variance term is null we obtain a generalized additive model, which becomes a generalized linear model if the predictors enter the mean linearly. The model is estimated using Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation and the methodology is illustrated using real and simulated data sets.Comment: 8 graphs 35 page

Irrigation management transfer in Turkey: Early experience with a national program under rapid implementation

Irrigation managementPrivatizationOperationsIrrigation systemsParticipatory managementLocal managementCost recoveryConflictAgricultural productionCotton