Maternal Characteristics and Child Problem Behaviors: A Comparison of Foster and Biological Mothers

The purpose of this exploratory study was to compare the parenting behavior, stress and support of foster mothers and biological mothers of young children. A sample of 60 mothers of young children (30 foster mothers, 30 biological mothers) completed measures of parenting behavior, parenting stress, child problem behaviors, and perceived social support. Findings indicated that biological mothers were single and younger than foster mothers. In addition, biological mothers utilized more verbal and corporal discipline than foster mothers, experienced greater parental distress and received less social support for their parenting. Implications of these findings are discussed

The Generation and comparison of multispectral synthetic textures

The Musique Multispectral Texture (MMT) model is a method of adding realistic multispectral textures to synthetic images created using DIRSIG (Digital Imaging and Remotes Sensing laboratories Image generation Model). This method relies on an input texture image and a large family of reflectance curves which represent the desired texture material. This thesis has two main objectives. The first is to determine the best method of generating the input textures, and the second is to test the quality of the multispectral textures generated by the MMT model. The testing will involve both statistical and human visual analysis. The thesis intends to prove whether the MMT model can be used to create statistically accurate multispectral textures from a single band input texture and which input texture leads to the best output texture

GIS & Middle Earth

Did Frodo take the best path to destroy the One Ring? With the right spatial data layers and utilizing the power of a geographic information system, a least cost path analysis could reveal whether there was a better route that Frodo could have taken from the Shire to Mount Doom to destroy the ring of power. After several years of development, the Center for Geospatial Analysis at William & Mary, has developed an extensive list of GIS layers of Middle Earth, including a 50 meter elevation model, roads, rivers, realms and many others. These data formed the basis for an advanced GIS course where students expanded their GIS skills through a creative mapping and analysis set in Middle Earth. This GIS & Middle Earth course is designed to allow teams of students to integrate their GIS skill with their interest in Tolkien’s Middle Earth to develop the cost layers needed to run a least cost path analysis from the Shire to Mount Doom. Each team sets out to develop a minimum of three threat layers and three cost-of-travel layers that are combined using a weighted sum analysis into the final cost layer. Example threat layers included proximity to orcs, danger levels within different realms, and the likelihood of being seen by Sauron. Cost-to-travel layers include the slope and ruggedness of the terrain, ease of travel across different land cover types, and width of rivers based on derived stream order. The final cost layer is then used in a least cost path analysis to map a better route for Frodo. Students then develop a story map to share their work at the end of the semester. The data shared below include the complete set of vector layers in wither shapefile or Esri geodatabase format and the 50 meter DEM of middle earth as four quadrants (geo tiff format). All downloads are compressed into *.zip files to reduce the download size. In addition, you can download, through the download button, a short presentation developed about the project and course. In addition, you can read more about this class and see some of the final story maps here: https://bit.ly/3aYLc0

Stereospecific four-bond phosphorus-phosphorus spin couplings in phosphazenyl-phosphazenes

Four-bond phosphorus-phosphorus coupling constants have been measured from the 31P NMR spectra of phosphazenylcyclophosphazenes. Their magnitude appears to be related to the conformation adopted by the phosphazenyl-group relative to the phosphazene ring

MODELING ALTERNATIVE POLICIES FOR GHG MITIGATION FROM FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURE

A key consideration for development of energy and climate policy affecting the forestry and agricultural sectors is that the selection of specific mechanisms implemented to achieve bioenergy production and/or greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation targets may have substantial effects on landowner incentives to adopt alternative practices. For instance, the prices of allowances and offsets are expected to diverge under some policies being considered where there is a binding cap on the quantity of offsets from the agricultural and forest sectors. In addition, provisions that limit or exclude specific practices from receiving carbon payments will affect the quantity and cost of GHG mitigation opportunities available. In this study, the recently updated Forest and Agriculture Sector Optimization Model with GHGs (FASOMGHG) was used to estimate GHG mitigation potential for private land in the contiguous U.S. under a variety of GHG price policies. Model scenarios suggest that U.S. forestry and agriculture could provide mitigation of 200 – 1000 megatons carbon dioxide equivalent per year (Mt CO2e/year) at carbon prices of $15 to$50/tCO2e. Binding limits on offsets have increasingly large effects on both the total magnitude and distribution of GHG mitigation across options over time. In addition, discounting or excluding payments for forest sinks can reduce annualized land-based mitigation potential 37-90 percent relative to the full eligibility scenario whereas discounting or excluding agricultural practices reduces mitigation potential by less than 10 percent.Climate policy, energy policy, FASOMGHG, GHG mitigation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, C61, Q42, Q54,

Growth and Survival in a Northern Population of Hispid Cotton Rats

Using data from a 28-month capture–mark–recapture study that included 3 winters, we compared rates of body growth and survival for a population of hispid cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) in eastern Virginia with another marginal population in eastern Kansas, and where possible, with southern populations in coastal Texas and central Florida. Patterns of seasonal growth were similar in Virginia and Kansas, being low, often near 0, in winter but moderate in other seasons, unlike the uniform seasonal growth rates in Texas. Survival rates were similar between the sexes in both Virginia and Kansas but the overall monthly survival rate in Kansas (0.75) was much higher than the means for Virginia (0.69 for females and 0.62 for males). In sum, despite mild and mostly snow-free winters in eastern Virginia, the patterns of body mass and rates of growth and survival were more similar to those of Kansas populations than to those of cotton rat populations from Texas or Florida

Seasonal Variation in Diet of a Marginal Population of the Hispid Cotton Rat, Sigmodon hispidus

Cotton rats live in oldfields, habitats with a variety of mostly herbaceous plants. Based on other studies, the hispid cotton rat, Sigmodon hispidus, eats many kinds of herbaceous plants but grasses predominate. In contrast, our population of cotton rats ate many monocots but mostly they were not grasses. Our study sought to determine the diet of the cotton rat in eastern Virginia, near the northern limit of distribution on the Atlantic Coast. Fecal samples, collected each month during an on-going capture-mark-release demographic study of the rodent community, were analyzed using a standard method. A greater variety of foods (including insects) was eaten in the summer and autumn than in winter and spring. In winter, when much herbaceous vegetation is standing dead, cotton rats supplemented their diets with pine bark. Cotton rats ate significantly greater proportions of monocots in winter and spring, an apparent response to the need for more calories to compensate for greater heat loss. In summer and autumn, cotton rats enhanced their diets with significantly greater proportions of the more nutritious but harder to digest dicots. Reproductive females ate significantly more dicots and less monocots than males and non-reproductive females, whose diets were similar

Reproductive Correlates of a Perineal Gland in the Hispid Cotton Rat

During studies of the annual cycle of reproduction in the hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) in southeastern Virginia, we discovered an anal (more specifically, perineal) gland that is present only in males during the breeding season. The perineal gland encircles the lower end of the rectum and has ductal connections to the urethra, through which its secretions likely are delivered. This fatty gland is highly developed in breeding males but, like the testes and seminal vesicles, regresses during the winter non-breeding season. The prominence and cyclicity of the perineal gland suggests that it somehow facilitates normal reproduction. The combined mass of testes, seminal vesicles, and perineal gland constitutes only about 0.01 percent of the body mass of large males during the non-breeding season, but as much as 4.8 percent of body mass during the breeding season. Thus, males devote a large amount of energy to growing and maintaining these glands in anticipation of and during the breeding season. Despite two field trials, the function of the perineal gland and the nature of its secretion are unknown

The Population Dynamics of Two Rodents in Two Coastal Marshes in Virginia

The communities of small mammals were evaluated for 13 months with capture-mark-recapture methods in two Spartina-Juncus marshes of the Atlantic coast in Northampton County, Virginia. Small mammals were trapped for three days each month using live traps placed on floats on two study grids. Two rodents were numerically dominant (~90% of small mammals) there: marsh rice rat, Oryzomys palustris, and meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus. Monthly estimates of population density were greater for rice rats (peak: 45/ha) than for those of meadow voles (peak: 30/ha). Survival rates were generally low, especially for rice rats, indicating highly vagile populations. Both species had greatest breeding activity in spring and autumn, with lower rates in summer and winter. Sex ratios favored males in rice rats but were unity in meadow voles. Although marsh rice rats, being semi-aquatic and capable swimmers, are more highly adapted to living in flooded marsh environments, meadow voles can thrive there too

Breeding Biology of Oryzomys Palustris, the Marsh Rice Rat, in Eastern Virginia

The objectives of our study were to determine the age of maturity, litter size, and the timing of the breeding season of marsh rice rats (Oryzomys palustris) of coastal Virginia. From May 1995 to May 1996, monthly samples of rice rats were live-trapped in two coastal tidal marshes of eastern Virginia, and then necropsied. Sexual maturity was attained at 30-40 g for both sexes. Mean litter size of 4.63 (N= 16) did not differ among months or in mass or parity classes. Data from two other studies conducted in the same county, one of them contemporaneous, also were examined. Based on necropsy, rice rats bred from March to October; breeding did not occur in December-February. By contrast, rice rats observed during monthly trapping on nearby live-trap grids were judged, using external indicators, to be breeding year-round except January. Compared to internal examinations, external indicators of reproductive condition were not reliable for either sex in predicting breeding status in the marsh rice rat