Vegetation above a feral pig barrier fence in rain forests of Kilauea's East Rift, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Reports were scanned in black and white at a resolution of 600 dots per inch and were converted to text using Adobe Paper Capture Plug-in.Immediately after the 1993 construction of a barrier fence to block the movements of feral pigs in forests of Kilauea's East Rift within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (HAVO), a systematic framework of transects and plots was established for collection of baseline vegetation data upslope of the fence. Distribution and estimated abundance of the most invasive alien plant species were determined. The most widespread alien grass species was Hilo grass (Paspalum conjugatum); although it typically had low estimated cover values, this grass was almost ubiquitous. The most common invasive alien tree species was strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum); it was found along transects in the western half of the study area, where its cover was estimated as 5-25% or 25-50%. Firetree (Myrica faya) occurred less frequently and had lower cover values than strawberry guava. Two other invasive woody species were found at low frequency or in limited areas; yellow Himalayan raspberry (Rubus ellipticus) was restricted to the slopes of Kane Nui o Hamo, and cane tibouchina (Tibouchina herbacea) occurred infrequently at widely scattered localities. Alien plant frequencies from the current survey were compared with those from a previous plant survey in 1988. A third of the alien plant species along transects, including firetree, yellow raspberry, and strawberry guava, had very similar frequencies on both surveys. Frequency of Hilo grass and scaly swordfern (Nephrolepis multiflora) increased greatly in the study area between the two surveys. Some of the observed changes in vegetation may have been influenced by recent disturbance to the forests by cinder deposits from Pu'u '0'o, in an earlier phase of the current eruption. The locations of rare native plants were mapped along transects, and numbers were compared with those from the previous survey of 1988. The endangered pendent kihi fern (Adenophorus periens) was not relocated on Park transects; this species may have disappeared from the slopes of Kane Nui o Hamo in the last five years. Koli'i (Trematolobelia grandifolia), a "species of concern" has persisted on Kane Nui o Hamo, and its current size class structure indicates a stable population. The 12 rare plant species that were observed on East Rift transects were concentrated in several sites, including Kane Nui o Hamo, forests south and west of Napau crater, relatively open forest southeast of the 1840 flow, and the southwest corner of the study area near the Naulu Trail. Frequencies of 'oha (Clermontia spp.), indicator species for pig damage in Hawai'i, were relatively high overall in the study area, although the impact of pig predation was indicated by the paucity of terrestrial plants and a low freqeuncy of large Clermontia. Remonitoring a subset of transects after 1.5 years revealed that terrestrial Clermontia declined in frequency, while epiphytic plants increased over the same period. Tree fern density in the study area was 38/100m2, and the trunk height class of 1-2 m was well represented in East Rift forests. A higher density of tree ferns was observed in the western half of the study area, primarily due to the greater number of tree ferns >1m. There were fewer tree ferns on the lower halves of three main transects than were found on the upper reaches, farthest away from the barrier fence and upslope from uluhe-dominated forest. 'Olapa (Cheirodendron trigynum) appeared to be an inconsistent indicator species for pig activity. This important rain forest tree was maintaining a stable population in East Rift forests, despite the long-term presence of feral pigs there. Differences in 'olapa density were noted in the western versus the eastern, unprotected part of the study area, where lower numbers of terrestrial 'olapa saplings were seen. When compared with the upper transect reaches, fewer 'olapa saplings were found along the lower portions of the three main transects, in the area near the open end of the barrier fence. Vegetation cover and woody plant density of recently pig-disturbed sites were examined in 1994 using 39 vegetation plots, and a subset of 26 plots was remonitored 1.5-2 years later. The vegetation of disturbed East Rift forests was found to be poor in native woody plant species, and ground cover was very sparse. In the interval between monitoring, the cover of two alien species (Hilo grass and scaly swordfern) increased dramatically. Early succession indicates that these two plants will become dominant components of ground cover in pig-disturbed areas. Little change was noted in native woody plant density overall, but several native species, including tree ferns, displayed increases over the 1.5 year monitoring period. Feral pig density, estimated from frequency of pig activity, was low in the East Rift study area (averaging 1.9 pig/km2), even before systematic control efforts began. Quarterly pig activity monitoring revealed an increase in activity along Park transects until the end of 1993, followed by a steady decline to 2.4 pig/km2 by the end of the study in January 1996. Data from this study suggest that the park's snaring efforts reduced the feral pig population in the most protected, interior part of the forest upslope of the barrier fence within two years of the project initiation. Success in lowering pig density was not observed on transects at or beyond the open terminus of the barrier fence, indicating that pig ingress continued throughout the study. The current survey may only be considered a baseline study of vegetation and pig activity in managed East Rift forests. Future remonitoring may be needed to evaulate the success of this management effort in promoting long-term recovery of native vegetation.National Park Service Cooperative Agreement 8010 2 900

The structural and scaling properties of nearby galaxy clusters: I - The universal mass profile

We present the integrated mass profiles for a sample of ten nearby (z<=0.15), relaxed galaxy clusters, covering a temperature range of [2-9]keV, observed with XMM-Newton. The mass profiles were derived from the observed gas density and temperature profiles under the hypothesis of spherical symmetry and hydrostatic equilibrium. All ten mass profiles are well described by an NFW-type profile over the radial range from 0.01 to 0.5 R_200, where R_200 is the radius corresponding to a density contrast of 200 with respect to the critical density at the cluster redshift. A King model is inconsistent with these data. The derived concentration parameters and total masses are in the range c_200=4-6 and M_200=1.2 10^14-1.2 10^15 Msol, respectively. Our qualitative and quantitative study of the mass profile shape shows, for the first time, direct and clear observational evidence for the universality of the total mass distribution in clusters. The mass profiles scaled in units of R_200 and M_200 nearly coincide, with a dispersion of less than 15% at 0.1 R_200. The c_200--M_200 relation is consistent with the predictions of numerical simulations for a LCDM cosmology, taking into account the measurement errors and expected intrinsic scatter. Our results provide further strong evidence in favour of the Cold Dark Matter cosmological scenario and show that the dark matter collapse is well understood at least down to the cluster scale.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in A&

The X-ray Properties of Optically Selected Clusters of Galaxies

We present the results of Chandra and Suzaku X-ray observations of nine moderate-redshift (0.16 < z < 0.42) clusters discovered via the Red-sequence Cluster Survey (RCS). Surface brightness profiles are fitted to beta models, gas masses are determined, integrated spectra are extracted within R2500, and X-ray temperatures and luminosities are inferred. The Lx-Tx relationship expected from self-similar evolution is tested by comparing this sample to our previous X-ray investigation of nine high-redshift (0.6 < z < 1.0) optically selected clusters. We find that optically selected clusters are systematically less luminous than X-ray selected clusters of similar X-ray temperature at both moderate and high-z. We are unable to constrain evolution in the Lx-Tx relation with these data, but find it consistent with no evolution, within relatively large uncertainties. To investigate selection effects, we compare the X-ray properties of our sample to those of clusters in the representative X-ray selected REXCESS sample, also determined within R2500. We find that while RCS cluster X-ray properties span the entire range of those of massive clusters selected by other methods, their average X-ray properties are most similar to those of dynamically disturbed X-ray selected clusters. This similarity suggests that the true cluster distribution might contain a higher fraction of disturbed objects than are typically detected in X-ray selected surveys.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures; accepted for publication in MNRAS. Figure quality reduced to comply with arXiv file size requirement

Fescue toxicity and horses

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Electronic relaxation of 1B3u(nπ*) pyrazine in a supersonic jet:Rotational state dependence of the nonradiative rate leading to biexponential decay

The decay of single rotational levels of the vibrationless first excited singlet state of pyrazine (1,4‐diazabenzene) following expansion in a helium supersonic jet and excitation with a pulse dye laser is biexponential, as it is for single vibronic level excitation in the bulk gas phase. However, both the relative contribution and the lifetime of the fast, ’’nonradiative’’, component are strongly dependent on the initial rotational state. A fit to the data shows that the rate of nonradiative decay is proportional to K2, where K is the projection of the rotational angular momentum vector on the (near‐symmetric) top axis. Both the interpretation of these results and their implications with respect to the theory of radiationless transitions are discussed briefly.(AIP

Extracting particle freeze-out phase-space densities and entropies from sources imaged in heavy-ion reactions

The space-averaged phase-space density and entropy per particle are both fundamental observables which can be extracted from the two-particle correlation functions measured in heavy-ion collisions. Two techniques have been proposed to extract the densities from correlation data: either by using the radius parameters from Gaussian fits to meson correlations or by using source imaging, which may be applied to any like pair correlation. We show that the imaging and Gaussian fits give the same result in the case of meson interferometry. We discuss the concept of an equivalent instantaneous source on which both techniques rely. We also discuss the phase-space occupancy and entropy per particle. Finally, we propose an improved formula for the phase-space occupancy that has a more controlled dependence on the uncertainty of the experimentally measured source functions.Comment: 14 pages, final version, to appear PRC. Fixed typos, added refs. for last section, added discussions of imaging and d/p ratio

Telomere dysfunction accurately predicts clinical outcome in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, even in patients with early stage disease

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Defining the prognosis of individual cancer sufferers remains a significant clinical challenge. Here we assessed the ability of high-resolution single telomere length analysis (STELA), combined with an experimentally derived definition of telomere dysfunction, to predict the clinical outcome of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). We defined the upper telomere length threshold at which telomere fusions occur and then used the mean of the telomere 'fusogenic' range as a prognostic tool. Patients with telomeres within the fusogenic range had a significantly shorter overall survival (P  <  0·0001; Hazard ratio [HR] = 13·2, 95% confidence interval [CI]  = 11·6-106·4) and this was preserved in early-stage disease patients (P  <  0·0001, HR=19·3, 95% CI = 17·8-802·5). Indeed, our assay allowed the accurate stratification of Binet stage A patients into those with indolent disease (91% survival at 10 years) and those with poor prognosis (13% survival at 10 years). Furthermore, patients with telomeres above the fusogenic mean showed superior prognosis regardless of their IGHV mutation status or cytogenetic risk group. In keeping with this finding, telomere dysfunction was the dominant variable in multivariate analysis. Taken together, this study provides compelling evidence for the use of high-resolution telomere length analysis coupled with a definition of telomere dysfunction in the prognostic assessment of CLL

Entropy scaling in galaxy clusters: insights from an XMM-Newton observation of the poor cluster A1983

An XMM-Newton observation of the cool (kT=2.1 keV) cluster A1983, at z=0.044, is presented. Gas density and temperature profiles are calculated for the inner 500 h_{50}^{-1} kpc (~0.35 r_200). The outer regions of the surface brightness profile are well described with a beta model with beta=0.74, but the central regions require the introduction of a second component. The temperature profile is flat at the exterior with a slight dip towards the centre. The total mass profile, calculated assuming hydrostatic equilibrium, is consistent with an NFW profile, but with a low concentration parameter c=3.75 +/- 0.74. The M/L_B ratio profile shows that, at large scale, light traces mass to a reasonable extent, and the M/L_B ratio at 0.35 r_200 is consistent with the trends with mass observed in the optical. The M_Fe/L_B ratio is about two times less than that observed for a cluster at 5 keV. The gas mass fraction rises rapidly to level off at ~200 kpc; the value at 0.35 r_200 is ~8%. The scaling properties of the emission measure profile are consistent with the empirical relation \mgas \propto \Tx^{1.94}, and not with the self-similar relation \mgas \propto \Tx^{1.5}. Comparison of the entropy profile of A1983 with that of the hot cluster A1413 shows that the profiles are well scaled using the empirically determined relation S \propto \Tx^{0.65}, suggesting that the slope of the S-T relation is shallower than in the self-similar model. The form of the entropy profiles is remarkably similar, and there is no sign of a larger isentropic core in the cooler cluster. These data provide powerful agruments against preheating models. In turn, there is now increasing observational support for a trend of f_gas with system mass, which may go some way towards explaining the observed scaling behaviour. (Abridged.)Comment: Final refereed version to appear in A&A; Figs 2, 7, 11 and 12 are low re