NHEP Support for DES Shellfish Program 2005

For the past three years, Great Bay Coast Watch (GBCW) volunteers have provided the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) Shellfish Program with significant assistance in performing tasks necessary in managing shellfish resources for human safety. This report describes a continuation of this mutually beneficial partnership

Foraging Behavior of Swainson\u27s Thrushes (Catharus ustulatus) During Spring Migration through Arkansas

Foraging behavior of Swainson’s Thrushes on spring migration was studied in western Arkansas in the spring of 2013 and 2014. Observations were made in two forested field sites, one of them urban and the other suburban. The former had a significantly higher woody stem area (cm2) than the latter. For each foraging observation, the following three parameters were noted: Foraging Stratum (Ground, Shrub, Sapling, Sub canopy, and Canopy); Foraging Substrate (Ground/Litter, Herb, Foliage, Bark, and Air); and Foraging Maneuver (Glean, Probe, Dive/Glean, Hover, Jump Hover, and Hawking). We tested the hypotheses that these foraging variables differed significantly between the urban and suburban sites, and between the two years. These hypotheses were rejected for all three parameters. The consolidated data from both the sites and years revealed that a significantly higher proportion (67%) of the observations were on the Ground stratum, compared to the Shrub (13.7%) and Sapling strata (13%). Similarly, a significantly higher proportion (66%) of the foraging substrate used was Ground/Litter, followed by Foliage (16.7%) and Bark (15.8%). Gleaning was the most common foraging maneuver used (71.5%), and was significantly higher than Probing (12.3%) and Dive Gleaning (8.4%)

Time Series Analysis and Prediction Intervals

This paper will examine the fitting of time series to data and test the effectiveness of different prediction intervals for determining the range of future values of the series

Milk Intake and Total Dairy Consumption: Associations with Early Menarche in NHANES 1999-2004

Several components of dairy products have been linked to earlier menarche.This study assessed whether positive associations exist between childhood milk consumption and age at menarche or the likelihood of early menarche (<12 yrs) in a U.S sample. Data derive from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2004. Two samples were utilized: 2657 women age 20-49 yrs and 1008 girls age 9-12 yrs. In regression analysis, a weak negative relationship was found between frequency of milk consumption at 5-12 yrs and age at menarche (daily milk intake β = -0.32, P<0.10; "sometimes/variable milk intake" β = -0.38, P<0.06, each compared to intake rarely/never). Cox regression yielded no greater risk of early menarche among those who drank milk "sometimes/varied" or daily vs. never/rarely (HR: 1.20, P<0.42, HR: 1.25, P<0.23, respectively). Among the 9-12 yr olds, Cox regression indicated that neither total dairy kcal, calcium and protein, nor daily milk intake in the past 30 days contributed to early menarche. Girls in the middle tertile of milk intake had a marginally lower risk of early menarche than those in the highest tertile (HR: 0.6, P<0.06). Those in the lowest tertiles of dairy fat intake had a greater risk of early menarche than those in the highest (HR: 1.5, P<0.05, HR: 1.6, P<0.07, lowest and middle tertile, respectively), while those with the lowest calcium intake had a lower risk of early menarche (HR: 0.6, P<0.05) than those in the highest tertile. These relationships remained after adjusting for overweight or overweight and height percentile; both increased the risk of earlier menarche. Blacks were more likely than Whites to reach menarche early (HR: 1.7, P<0.03), but not after controlling for overweight.There is some evidence that greater milk intake is associated with an increased risk of early menarche, or a lower age at menarche

The effects of explicit morphology instruction on vocabulary skills in four struggling middle school readers

The intervention program created for this case study was centered on teaching four middle school students, from an urban, public school in the Midwest. Three of the participating students were identified as students with specific learning disabilities. One student was identified as having a health impairment. The Upper Level Spelling Inventory assessment from the Words Their Way program (Flanigan, Hayes, Templeton, Bear, Invernizzi & Johnston, 2011) and a teacher created spelling test was used as a pretest and posttest. The intervention group met over the course of six weeks, for thirty minutes, twice a week. The students who participated in this study demonstrated a moderate increase in spelling common words with prefixes and suffixes

Extended flight evaluation of a near-term pitch active control system

Fuel savings can be achieved by moving the center of gravity of an aircraft aft which reduces the static stability margin and consequently the trim drag. However, flying qualities of an aircraft with relaxed static stability can be significantly degraded. The flying qualities can be restored by using a pitch active control system (PACS). This report documents the work accomplished during a follow-on program (see NASA CR-165951 for initial program report) to perform extended flight tests of a near-term PACS. The program included flying qualities analyses, piloted flight simulation tests, aircraft preparation and flight tests to demonstrate that the near-term PACS provided good flying qualities within the linear static stability envelope to a negative 3% static stability margin