Wood Duck Investigations W-118-R-4-5-6 Final Report

W-118-R-4-5-6 (Final Report); issued November 20, 1998; Study I: Aerial helicopter surveys of breeding wood ducks in bottomland forest.Report issued on: November 20, 1998INHS Technical Report prepared for Illinois Department of Natural Resource

Aerial Inventories of Waterfowl in Illinois and Estimation of Moist-soil Plant Seed Abundance for Waterfowl on Lands Managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Grant/Contract No: W-43-R 53-54-55Reports on progress and results of inventories of waterfowl along the Illinois and central Mississippi rivers during fall and winter and estimation of moist-soil plant seed abundance for waterfowl on lands managed by Illinois Department of Natural ResourcesINHS Technical Report Prepared for U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Illinois Department of Natural Resource

MODELLING ELASTICITY OF INJECTION MOULDED SHORT FIBRE REINFORCED POLYMERS: COMPARISON BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL APPROACHES

In this work we analysed a sample of short fibre reinforced polyamide extracted from an injection moulded plate. We derived local values of the elastic constants by two different numerical methods, one based on simulation and one based on the reconstruction of the sample's microstructure by micro - CT. Results were compared in terms of moduli of elasticity, assuming an orthotropic material model. Fibre orientation was first simulated by process simulation and results were checked against experimental data obtained by the optical section method. Then, fibre orientation data were used for micro-mechanical modelling of the elastic behaviour by means of mean field homogenisation tools. The experimentally based approach was based on micro computed tomography reconstructions of the inner structure of samples extracted from the injection moulded plate. Using numerical models based on the Cell Method, the elastic behaviour of the reconstructed volume was simulated and results were compared with analytical models based on process simulations and homogenization

Electrostatic considerations affecting the calculated HOMO-LUMO gap in protein molecules.

A detailed study of energy differences between the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (HOMO-LUMO gaps) in protein systems and water clusters is presented. Recent work questioning the applicability of Kohn-Sham density-functional theory to proteins and large water clusters (E. Rudberg, J. Phys.: Condens. Mat. 2012, 24, 072202) has demonstrated vanishing HOMO-LUMO gaps for these systems, which is generally attributed to the treatment of exchange in the functional used. The present work shows that the vanishing gap is, in fact, an electrostatic artefact of the method used to prepare the system. Practical solutions for ensuring the gap is maintained when the system size is increased are demonstrated. This work has important implications for the use of large-scale density-functional theory in biomolecular systems, particularly in the simulation of photoemission, optical absorption and electronic transport, all of which depend critically on differences between energies of molecular orbitals.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Waterbird and Wetland Monitoring at The Emiquon Preserve Annual Report 2017

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) identified key ecological attributes (hereafter, KEAs) of specific biological characteristics or ecological processes that evaluate restoration success and trajectory at The Emiquon Preserve (hereafter Emiquon; The Nature Conservancy 2006). Because of the historic importance of the Illinois River valley (IRV) to waterfowl and other waterbirds, several conservation targets and associated KEAs at Emiquon were related to waterbird communities and their habitats (Appendix A). Indeed, use of wetlands by waterbirds may serve as an indicator of landscape condition or a measure of restoration success (Austin et al. 2001, Gawlik 2006, Hagy et al. 2017). Therefore, we monitored the response of wetland vegetation and waterbirds to restoration efforts at Emiquon during 2017 to evaluate restoration success relative to desired conditions under the relevant KEAs. Our primary efforts included evaluating: 1) abundance and diversity of waterfowl and other waterbirds through spring and autumn aerial counts; 2) productivity by waterfowl and other waterbirds through brood counts and nest searches; 3) plant seed biomass to estimate energetic carrying capacity for waterfowl during autumn migration; 4) biomass of wetland plants and seeds emigrating from Emiquon through the water control structure; and 5) composition and arrangement of wetland vegetation communities and associated cover types through geospatial covermapping and soil properties in response to water management. Herein, we report results of our monitoring efforts and interpret them as a means of evaluating restoration activities at Emiquon with respect to desired conditions under the KEAs.The Nature Conservancy Contract Number: C07-032unpublishednot peer reviewedOpe