Approaches to nonsalmonid small fish passage in arid areas of the American Intermountain West and Great Plains

The American Intermountain West and Great Plains host a myriad of native fish species, many of which are typically less than 50 mm in length and have developed in slow, low sloped, sandy stream environments. While little is known about various species passage performance, what is known is that many species are poor jumpers and swimmers, which complicate providing fish passage where slopes higher than 1% are desired. In addition, what may work for one species may not work for others due to behavioral differences. Various ramp fishways, embedded culverts and small bridges have all been used to facilitate passage, some working better than others depending on the environment with generally more success the more nature-like they are. Current design criteria and approaches will be discussed, case studies presented, data gaps and areas of needed research highlighted. As these little researched, nonsalmonid species populations diminish, understanding what we know and need to know to improve connectivity will become increasingly necessary to sustain them

Differences in Shade Tolerance Help Explain Varying Success of Two Sympatric Alnus Species

Alnus maritima and Alnus serrulata are riparian shrubs that occur in similar habitats in the southern and eastern United States.Alnus serrulata is abundant throughout this range, but A. maritima is rare, occurring only in small populations in Oklahoma and Georgia and on the Delmarva Peninsula. Alnus maritima is more resistant than A. serrulata to water and temperature stresses, but the degree to which insolation influences the restricted distribution of A. maritima is unknown. Our goals were to characterize the shade tolerance of A. maritima and A. serrulata and determine whether differences in shade tolerance could help explain the differing ecological success of the two species. Measurements in nature showed that leaves of A. serrulatahave greater concentrations of chlorophyll than do leaves of A. maritima, and a greater percentage of A. serrulata inhabit shaded sites. Two experiments evaluating the resistance of seedlings to light‐deficit stress revealed that A. maritima had a greater photosynthetic capacity and grew more quickly than A. serrulata in full sunlight. In shade, survival of seedlings was lower and reductions in photosynthesis and growth were greater for A. maritima than for A. serrulata. We conclude that A. serrulata is tolerant and A. maritima is intolerant of shade. Moreover, we conclude that shade intolerance strongly restricts the potential niches of A. maritima within the region where the shade‐tolerant A. serrulata is comparatively abundant

Structure of a Copper Pump Suggests a Regulatory Role for Its Metal-Binding Domain

SummaryP-type ATPases play an important role in Cu homeostasis, which provides sufficient Cu for metalloenzyme biosynthesis but prevents oxidative damage of free Cu to the cell. The PIB group of P-type ATPases includes ATP-dependent pumps of Cu and other transition metal ions, and it is distinguished from other family members by the presence of N-terminal metal-binding domains (MBD). We have determined structures of two constructs of a Cu pump from Archaeoglobus fulgidus (CopA) by cryoelectron microscopy of tubular crystals, which reveal the overall architecture and domain organization of the molecule. By comparing these structures, we localized its N-terminal MBD within the cytoplasmic domains that use ATP hydrolysis to drive the transport cycle. We have built a pseudoatomic model by fitting existing crystallographic structures into the cryoelectron microscopy maps for CopA, which suggest a Cu-dependent regulatory role for the MBD

Transgenic Bt Corn: Is This the Future of Insect Pest Management?

In a few short years, it is expected that a dramatically different management tactic will be ready for field corn producers to combat the ravages of the European com borer. This new tactic currently goes by a variety of names including genetically-engineered com, transgenic com, Bt com, or transgenic Bt com. But whatever name eventually is used, it offers a hope that biotechnology will deliver a corn plant that is resistant to leaf feeding, stalk tunneling, dropped ears and reduced grain yields caused by the European corn borer

Changes in recreational behaviors of outdoor enthusiasts during the COVID-19 pandemic: analysis across urban and rural communities

The COVID-19 pandemic presents not only a global health crisis but has also disrupted the daily lives of people around the world. From a leisure perspective, urban outdoor enthusiasts are one group particularly impacted by the pandemic and the subsequent institutional response. Stay-at-home orders and physical distancing recommendations serve as potential inhibitors to outdoor recreation activities central to the lifestyles and wellbeing of outdoor enthusiasts. In urban areas, where these orders and recommendations are most restrictive, the potential impacts on recreation behavior are most consequential. This study provides an empirical analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the recreational behaviors of outdoor enthusiasts across urban and rural communities. Results suggest that the frequency of outdoor recreation participation, distance travelled to participate in outdoor recreation and distance travelled beyond roads during outdoor recreation have declined significantly more among outdoor enthusiasts residing in urban areas than urban clusters or rural areas

Beef production from feedstuffs conserved using new technologies to reduce negative environmental impacts

End of project reportMost (ca. 86%) Irish farms make some silage. Besides directly providing feed for livestock, the provision of grass silage within integrated grassland systems makes an important positive contribution to effective grazing management and improved forage utilisation by grazing animals, and to effective feed budgeting by farmers. It can also contribute to maintaining the content of desirable species in pastures, and to livestock not succumbing to parasites at sensitive times of the year. Furthermore, the optimal recycling of nutrients collected from housed livestock can often be best achieved by spreading the manures on the land used for producing the conserved feed. On most Irish farms, grass silage will remain the main conserved forage for feeding to livestock during winter for the foreseeable future. However, on some farms high yields of whole-crop (i.e. grain + straw) cereals such as wheat, barley and triticale, and of forage maize, will be an alternative option provided that losses during harvesting, storage and feedout are minimised and that input costs are restrained. These alternative forages have the potential to reliably support high levels of animal performance while avoiding the production of effluent. Their production and use however will need to advantageously integrate into ruminant production systems. A range of technologies can be employed for crop production and conservation, and for beef production, and the optimal options need to be identified. Beef cattle being finished indoors are offered concentrate feedstuffs at rates that range from modest inputs through to ad libitum access. Such concentrates frequently contain high levels of cereals such as barley or wheat. These cereals are generally between 14% to 18% moisture content and tend to be rolled shortly before being included in coarse rations or are more finely processed prior to pelleting. Farmers thinking of using ‘high-moisture grain’ techniques for preserving and processing cereal grains destined for feeding to beef cattle need to know how the yield, conservation efficiency and feeding value of such grains compares with grains conserved using more conventional techniques. European Union policy strongly encourages a sustainable and multifunctional agriculture. Therefore, in addition to providing European consumers with quality food produced within approved systems, agriculture must also contribute positively to the conservation of natural resources and the upkeep of the rural landscape. Plastics are widely used in agriculture and their post-use fate on farms must not harm the environment - they must be managed to support the enduring sustainability of farming systems. There is an absence of information on the efficacy of some new options for covering and sealing silage with plastic sheeting and tyres, and an absence of an inventory of the use, re-use and post-use fate of plastic film on farms. Irish cattle farmers operate a large number of beef production systems, half of which use dairy bred calves. In the current, continuously changing production and market conditions, new beef systems must be considered. A computer package is required that will allow the rapid, repeatable simulation and assessment of alternate beef production systems using appropriate, standardised procedures. There is thus a need to construct, evaluate and utilise computer models of components of beef production systems and to develop mathematical relationships to link system components into a network that would support their integration into an optimal system model. This will provide a framework to integrate physical and financial on-farm conditions with models for estimating feed supply and animal growth patterns. Cash flow and profit/loss results will be developed. This will help identify optimal systems, indicate the cause of failure of imperfect systems and identify areas where applied research data are currently lacking, or more basic research is required

Nuclear safety policy working group recommendations on nuclear propulsion safety for the space exploration initiative

An interagency Nuclear Safety Working Group (NSPWG) was chartered to recommend nuclear safety policy, requirements, and guidelines for the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) nuclear propulsion program. These recommendations, which are contained in this report, should facilitate the implementation of mission planning and conceptual design studies. The NSPWG has recommended a top-level policy to provide the guiding principles for the development and implementation of the SEI nuclear propulsion safety program. In addition, the NSPWG has reviewed safety issues for nuclear propulsion and recommended top-level safety requirements and guidelines to address these issues. These recommendations should be useful for the development of the program's top-level requirements for safety functions (referred to as Safety Functional Requirements). The safety requirements and guidelines address the following topics: reactor start-up, inadvertent criticality, radiological release and exposure, disposal, entry, safeguards, risk/reliability, operational safety, ground testing, and other considerations