Assessing Vehicle-Related Mortality of Mule Deer in Utah

Roads are essential in modern societies, but as populations grow and traffic volumes rise, roads will continue to be built and expanded. As a result, the effects that roads have on wildlife will likely intensify, making it imperative that managers understand those effects so mitigation can be directed accordingly. In Utah, considerable areas of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) habitat have been bisected by roads. Mule deer are commonly involved in vehicle collisions and there is concern that roads and vehicle traffic are impacting populations. This project was conducted to determine the number and demographic effects of deer-vehicle collisions, to examine how movements and survival of deer were impacted by roads, and to develop a smartphone-based reporting system for wildlife-vehicle collisions. Accurate estimates of DVCs are needed to effectively mitigate the effects of roads, but great uncertainty exists with most deer-vehicle collision estimates. I estimated the number of deer-vehicle collisions using carcass surveys, while accounting for several sources of bias to improve accuracy. I estimated that 2-5 % of the statewide deer population was killed in vehicle collisions annually. The effect that vehicle collisions have on deer abundance depended not only on the number of deer killed but also on the demographic groups removed. I found that 65 % of deer killed in vehicle collisions were female and 40 % were adult females. As female deer are the primary drivers of population growth, my data suggest vehicle collisions could significantly affect population abundance. However I was unable to detect a decreasing trend in deer abundance. Deer have distinct movement patterns that affect their distribution in relationship to roads. I analyzed deer movements during two consecutive winters (2010-11 & 2011-12) to determine what effect climate had on deer movements and vehicle collision rates. I observed that as snow depth decreased, the distance that deer occurred from roads increased. As a result road crossing rates declined, as did the number of vehicle collisions. This suggests a causal mechanism by which winter conditions influence vehicle collision rates. Currently there is a need for an efficient wildlife-vehicle collision data collection. I envisioned and, working with colleagues, helped develop a smartphone-based system for reporting wildlife-vehicle collision data. The WVC Reporter system consisted of a mobile web application for data collection, a database for centralized storage of data, and a desktop application for viewing data. The system greatly improved accuracy and increased efficiency of data collection efforts, which will likely result in improved mitigation and ultimately increased safety for motorists and deer

Feeding poultry litter to beef cattle (2005)

Beef cattle have the ability to digest low-cost feedstuffs that are not usable by other livestock species. One such feedstuff is poultry litter, which provides opportunities or both the poultry producer and the beef cattle producer.New 2/01/5M; Revised 10/0

Driven vortices in 3D layered superconductors: Dynamical ordering along the c-axis

We study a 3D model of driven vortices in weakly coupled layered superconductors with strong pinning. Above the critical force $F_c$, we find a plastic flow regime in which pancakes in different layers are uncoupled, corresponding to a pancake gas. At a higher $F$, there is an ``smectic flow'' regime with short-range interlayer order, corresponding to an entangled line liquid. Later, the transverse displacements freeze and vortices become correlated along the c-axis, resulting in a transverse solid. Finally, at a force $F_s$ the longitudinal displacements freeze and we find a coherent solid of rigid lines.Comment: 4 pages, 3 postscript figure

Development of the Adherence Predictive Index (API) for Medication Taking

The objective for this study was to explore if characteristics of personality type using the Preferred Communication Style Questionnaire, in concert with the demographic characteristics of age, education, and race/ethnicity, are associated with, and help predict, individuals’ medication adherence behavior. Data were collected via an on-line survey, sent to a sample of adults residing in the United States, between April 28 and June 22, 2015. Out of 26,173 responses to the survey, 16,736 reported taking one or more medications and were eligible for inclusion in this study. The development of the Adherence Predictive Index (API) used mean Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) scores for each of eight personality types as a starting point. API scores were calculated by adding or subtracting specific values to each group’s mean MMAS-8 score based on personality type, age, education and race/ethnicity characteristics which were demonstrated to have significant effects on adherence. The weighting system was informed by linear regression, logistic regression, personality type literature, researcher experience, and previous qualitative and quantitative research. The resultant score was converted to an API score that ranged from 1 to 5 so that it would be feasible for health care providers to understand and use. The findings showed that an Adherence Predictive Index (API) could be developed based upon a relatively small number of questions that focus on personality type and generational, educational, and cultural experiences. It was developed in order to be a component of a comprehensive program that has the goals of (1) identifying and describing specific behavioral strategies individuals are most likely to successfully employ, (2) motivating patients by using their preferred communication style, and (3) predicting each patient’s propensity to adhere. Future research is needed to evaluate the index’s validity, sensitivity, and effectiveness in actual practice compared with other risk indices

Development of the Adherence Predictive Index (API) for Medication Taking

The objective for this study was to explore if characteristics of personality type using the Preferred Communication Style Questionnaire, in concert with the demographic characteristics of age, education, and race/ethnicity, are associated with, and help predict, individuals’ medication adherence behavior. Data were collected via an on-line survey, sent to a sample of adults residing in the United States, between April 28 and June 22, 2015. Out of 26,173 responses to the survey, 16,736 reported taking one or more medications and were eligible for inclusion in this study. The development of the Adherence Predictive Index (API) used mean Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) scores for each of eight personality types as a starting point. API scores were calculated by adding or subtracting specific values to each group’s mean MMAS-8 score based on personality type, age, education and race/ethnicity characteristics which were demonstrated to have significant effects on adherence. The weighting system was informed by linear regression, logistic regression, personality type literature, researcher experience, and previous qualitative and quantitative research. The resultant score was converted to an API score that ranged from 1 to 5 so that it would be feasible for health care providers to understand and use. The findings showed that an Adherence Predictive Index (API) could be developed based upon a relatively small number of questions that focus on personality type and generational, educational, and cultural experiences. It was developed in order to be a component of a comprehensive program that has the goals of (1) identifying and describing specific behavioral strategies individuals are most likely to successfully employ, (2) motivating patients by using their preferred communication style, and (3) predicting each patient’s propensity to adhere. Future research is needed to evaluate the index’s validity, sensitivity, and effectiveness in actual practice compared with other risk indices.   Type: Original Researc

Functional Heterologous Expression of an Engineered Full Length Cipa from Clostridium Thermocellum in Thermoanaerobacterium Saccharolyticum

Background: Cellulose is highly recalcitrant and thus requires a specialized suite of enzymes to solubilize it into fermentable sugars. In C. thermocellum, these extracellular enzymes are present as a highly active multi-component system known as the cellulosome. This study explores the expression of a critical C. thermocellum cellulosomal component in T. saccharolyticum as a step toward creating a thermophilic bacterium capable of consolidated bioprocessing by employing heterologously expressed cellulosomes. Results:We developed an inducible promoter system based on the native T. saccharolyticum xynA promoter, which was shown to be induced by xylan and xylose. The promoter was used to express the cellulosomal component cipA*, an engineered form of the wild-type cipAfrom C. thermocellum. Expression and localization to the supernatant were both verified for CipA*. When a ΔcipA mutant C. thermocellum strain was cultured with a CipA*-expressing T. saccharolyticum strain, hydrolysis and fermentation of 10 grams per liter SigmaCell 101, a highly crystalline cellulose, were observed. This trans-species complementation of a cipA deletion demonstrated the ability for CipA* to assemble a functional cellulosome. Conclusion: This study is the first example of an engineered thermophile heterologously expressing a structural component of a cellulosome. To achieve this goal we developed and tested an inducible promoter for controlled expression in T. saccharolyticum as well as a synthetic cipA . In addition, we demonstrate a high degree of hydrolysis (up to 93%) on microcrystalline cellulose

Semi-Classical Description of Antiproton Capture on Atomic Helium

A semi-classical, many-body atomic model incorporating a momentum-dependent Heisenberg core to stabilize atomic electrons is used to study antiproton capture on Helium. Details of the antiproton collisions leading to eventual capture are presented, including the energy and angular momentum states of incident antiprotons which result in capture via single or double electron ionization, i.e. into [He$^{++}\,\bar p$ or He$^{+}\,\bar p$], and the distribution of energy and angular momentum states following the Auger cascade. These final states are discussed in light of recently reported, anomalously long-lived antiproton states observed in liquid He.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures may be obtained from authors, Revte

Atypical Glycolysis in Clostridium Thermocellum

Cofactor specificities of glycolytic enzymes in Clostridium thermocellum were studied with cellobiose-grown cells from batch cultures. Intracellular glucose was phosphorylated by glucokinase using GTP rather than ATP. Although phosphofructokinase typically uses ATP as a phosphoryl donor, we found only pyrophosphate (PPi)-linked activity. Phosphoglycerate kinase used both GDP and ADP as phosphoryl acceptors. In agreement with the absence of a pyruvate kinase sequence in the C. thermocellum genome, no activity of this enzyme could be detected. Also, the annotated pyruvate phosphate dikinase (ppdk) is not crucial for the generation of pyruvate from phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), as deletion of the ppdk gene did not substantially change cellobiose fermentation. Instead pyruvate formation is likely to proceed via a malate shunt with GDP-linked PEP carboxykinase, NADH-linked malate dehydrogenase, and NADP-linked malic enzyme. High activities of these enzymes were detected in extracts of cellobiose-grown cells. Our results thus show that GTP is consumed while both GTP and ATP are produced in glycolysis of C. thermocellum. The requirement for PP i in this pathway can be satisfied only to a small extent by biosynthetic reactions, in con- trast to what is generally assumed for a PPi-dependent glycolysis in anaerobic heterotrophs. Metabolic network analysis showed that most of the required PPi must be generated via ATP or GTP hydrolysis exclusive of that which happens during biosynthesis. Experimental proof for the necessity of an alternative mechanism of PPi generation was obtained by studying the glycolysis in washed-cell suspensions in which biosynthesis was absent. Under these conditions, cells still fermented cellobiose to ethanol

Hall noise and transverse freezing in driven vortex lattices

We study driven vortices lattices in superconducting thin films. Above the critical force $F_c$ we find two dynamical phase transitions at $F_p$ and $F_t$, which could be observed in simultaneous noise measurements of the longitudinal and the Hall voltage. At $F_p$ there is a transition from plastic flow to smectic flow where the voltage noise is isotropic (Hall noise = longitudinal noise) and there is a peak in the differential resistance. At $F_t$ there is a sharp transition to a frozen transverse solid where the Hall noise falls down abruptly and vortex motion is localized in the transverse direction.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure