Simulating Aerial Migrations through Use of Empirical Movement Models

Aerial migrations are historically difficult to observe and quantify, especially the environment in which these migration take place. However, with increasingly accurate tracking methods and international datasets containing remote sensing and weather renalyses, it is becoming easier to observe this environment and find the conditions that mostly affect the migrants. Track annotation is the method of combining the tracking data with the environmental data, and can be used to create models of the animals’ movement. I performed a track annotation of Swainson’s thrush and created an empirical model based on the environmental conditions that mostly affect the flight. A Swainson’s thrush (Catharus ustulatus) is a small songbird that migrates from northeastern North America to Central and South America in the winter. This annual migration involves a 1000-kilometer trip across the Gulf of Mexico. Little is known about the details surrounding this annual flight, including the variables that affect the flight itself. In a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded experiment, the thrushes are tracked by a radio transmitter which allows us to record arrival and departure timestamps of the transGulf flight. The Environmental-Data Automated Track Annotation (Env-DATA) system—a data exploration system developed through Movebank (www.movebank.org) and The Ohio State University allows us to link the movement track with data from global and regional weather reanalysis models and remote sensing. I annotated the movement tracks with several different environmental variables and followed a hierarchal process to build a series of empirical movement models. I concluded that the combination of boundary layer height and wind speed most strongly affect the flight.National Science Foundation (IOS Award #1147096)NASA (grant #NNX11AP61G)National Geographic Society Committee on Research and Exploration (Award # 8971-11)Eastern Illinois University (Research and Creative Activity Awards to J.L.D. and L.S.)University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignNo embargoAcademic Major: Environmental Engineerin

African American Family Members’ Needs and Experiences during a Loved One’s End-of-Life

This study aimed to explore African American family members’ needs and experiences during their loved one’s end-of-life. In Chapter 1, a literature review was conducted to review the current state of the literature regarding African American family members’ needs and experiences during their loved one’s end-of-life. Chapter 2 includes a qualitative exploratory study of African American family members’ needs and experiences during their loved one’s end-of-life. The study sample consisted of family members of African Americans being cared for through services provided by an outpatient palliative care facility in the Southeastern United States. Family members answered five open-ended interview questions via a telephone interview. Inclusion criteria were participants with a significant relationship with a patient at the end of life, including parents, grandson/granddaughter, siblings, children, spouse, or other family relationships, were African American, and were 18 years or older. Four themes emerged from participant responses: Reliance on God, poor communication regarding their loved one’s health, wanting more time and having emotional reactions. Underlying subthemes were identified within each section. Chapter 3 includes a review of policy perspectives and initiatives

Re: America. Architecture, Propaganda, and the Dream

The American Dream is terribly misleading. The phrase implies a singularity, as if all people share precisely the same dream. "The Dream" implied only success and happiness; it did not dictate the form that housed happiness. The form was inconsequential; it was the symptom not the realization of success. The form was meant to encourage living, not project a status. The resulting suburb may be detrimental to the environment, but the suburban lifestyle was not itself detrimental to the evolution of architecture. It was neither a definitive step backwards nor forwards. Now however, the forms and ubiquitous images associated with the suburbs have caused stagnation and no significant architectural development concerning suburban living has rivaled the 1950s propagandized model. The purpose of this thesis is to reinvent the formal concept of "suburban" living in a manner which does justice to the "American Dream" and the individuality of all the "dreamers.

RODENT CONTROL PROBLEMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

None of the so-called developing countries has an adequate rodent control program at present. In only a few of these countries is any rodent control research occurring despite the fact that rodent problems are actually quite serious in many regions and potentially so in others. Expertise, techniques and materials from the developed countries are of limited usefulness because of major differences in rodent species involved, standards for food handling and sanitation, and in the cultural contexts in which rodent control must occur. Trained personnel, both for control work and the basic research needed, are in very short supply. In addition, rodent control is frequently a low priority item in the generally meager budgets of developing countries. To date international agencies, foreign aid programs and foundations have had very limited success in altering this situation, although at present there is an upsurge of interest in rodent control problems

Predicting Urban Reservoir Levels Using Statistical Learning Techniques

Urban water supplies are critical to the growth of the city and the wellbeing of its citizens. However, these supplies can be vulnerable to hydrological extremes, such as droughts and floods, especially if they are the main source of water for the city. Maintaining these supplies and preparing for future conditions is a crucial task for water managers, but predicting hydrological extremes is a challenge. This study tested the abilities of eight statistical learning techniques to predict reservoir levels, given the current hydroclimatic conditions, and provide inferences on the key predictors of reservoir levels. The results showed that random forest, an ensemble, tree-based method, was the best algorithm for predicting reservoir levels. We initially developed the models using Lake Sidney Lanier (Atlanta, Georgia) as the test site; however, further analysis demonstrated that the model based on the random forest algorithm was transferable to other reservoirs, specifically Eagle Creek (Indianapolis, Indiana) and Lake Travis (Austin, Texas). Additionally, we found that although each reservoir was impacted differently, streamflow, city population, and El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) index were repeatedly among the most important predictors. These are critical variables which can be used by water managers to recognize the potential for reservoir level changes

Vallée de l’Eure, de Chartres à Maintenon

Dans le cadre de recherches sur l’occupation humaine de la vallée de l’Eure et de ses abords, des prospections principalement pédestres sont menées de façon (plus ou moins) régulière depuis 1995. Concluant cette série d’opérations concernant 11 communes du nord-est du département d’Eure-et-Loir, l’année 2016 a été consacrée à l’exploitation des données recueillies lors des campagnes précédentes et à l’acquisition d’informations complémentaires sur les sites identifiés. En premier lieu, un tra..

Vallée de l’Eure - Secteur Chartres-Maintenon

La problématique de la campagne de prospections menée en 1997 a été axée sur les objectifs suivants : poursuivre le repérage au 501 de nouvelles structures d'habitat gallo-romain et de vestiges d'occupation pré- et protohistorique ; compléter les informations recueillies sur les sites déjà inventoriés et vérifier sur le terrain la consistance des traces archéologiques ; et enfin, analyser les données déjà collectées en vue d'un bilan de synthèse des trois années de prospections réalisées dans..

Chinese Medicine and the Enticement of Heritage Status

In November 2010, UNESCO included “Acupuncture and moxibustion as part of Chinese traditional medicine” on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Already in 2006, a national list of oral and intangible masterpieces of heritage was drawn up. Nine of them pertained to medicine and traditional pharmacopoeia. Since then, two other national lists have been compiled, containing medical elements. This article analyses the challenges of Chinese medicine’s “patrimonialisation” by retracing the discipline’s recent as well as much older history. Contents of different lists are examined in this perspective. Chinese medicine finds itself in a paradoxical situation, compared in practical terms with biomedicine, in perpetual reclassification, and held up for good or for bad reasons. Its inclusion in the cultural heritage list highlights many problematic issues, such as master-disciple transmission, vague teaching methods, questions as to the scientific nature or otherwise of its practices, and the industrialisation of its pharmacopoeia. In conclusion, questions may be raised over the link between protection and denaturation throughout the heritage designation process