The Morphology and Histology of New Sex Pheremone Glands in Male Scorpionflies, Panorpa and Brachypanorpa (Mecoptera: Panorpidae and Panorpodidae)

The n~orphology and histology of a previously undescribed sex pheromone gland in male scorpionflies of the genus Panorpa (Mecoptera: Panorpidae) and a morphologically similar gland in Brachypanorpa (Mecoptera: Panorpodidae) are described and discussed. The gland and the associated pheromone dispersing structure consist of an eversible pouch that lies in the ventral part of the male genital bulb at the point where the basistyles diverge. The glandular layer of epithelium is composed of three types of cells that vary in size between species of Panorpa and between Panorpa and Brachyponorpa. It is suggested that the gland may have evolved from a structure that is everted by the male during copulation and used to push the female\u27s terminal abdominal segments out of the way and/or open the female genital aperture

The Mecoptera of Michigan

(excerpt) To date, no one has published on the Mecoptera of Michigan. A comprehensive taxonomic paper on the Mecoptera of Illinois, by Donald W. Webb, Illinois Natural History Survey, and Norman D. Penny, University of Kansas, is in preparation and will include keys to and descriptions of the midwestern species of Mecoptera. It is hoped that the present paper will supplement the publication by Webb and Penny and enable interested persons in Michigan to easily identify adult Mecoptera

Wildland inventory and resource modeling for Douglas and Carson City Counties, Nevada, using LANDSAT and digital terrain data

The potential of using LANDSAT satellite imagery to map and inventory pinyon-juniper desert forest types in Douglas and Carson City Counties, Nevada was demonstrated. Specific map and statistical products produced include land cover, mechanical operations capability, big game winter range habitat, fire hazard, and forest harvestability. The Nevada Division of Forestry determined that LANDSAT can produce a reliable and low-cost resource data. Added benefits become apparent when the data are linked to a geographical information system (GIS) containing existing ownership, planning, elevation, slope, and aspect information

Mutant Weeds of Iowa: V. S-triazine Resistant Setaria faberi Herrm

S-triazine resistance in giant foxtail (Setaria faberi Herrm.) has been reported previously, but not in the midwestern U.S. corn belt or Iowa. A study was conducted using a chlorophyll fluorescence assay to confirm the presence of resistance in one S. faberi population in Iowa. Variable chlorophyll fluorescence assays confirmed that a population of this species with this type of resistance exists in Iowa. This is the first report of s-triazine resistance in S. faberi, and the fourth species with this type of herbicide resistance, found in an Iowa agroecosystem

Non-stationary discrete convolution kernel for multimodal process monitoring

Data-driven process monitoring has benefited from the development and application of kernel transformations, especially when various types of nonlinearity exist in the data. However, when dealing with the multimodality behavior which is frequently observed in process operations, the most widely used Radial Basis Function kernel has limitations in describing process data collected from multiple normal operating modes. In this paper, we highlight this limitation via a synthesized example. In order to account for the multimodality behavior and improve fault detection performance accordingly, we propose a novel Non-stationary Discrete Convolution kernel, which derives from the convolution kernel structure, as an alternative to the RBF kernel. By assuming the training samples to be the support of the discrete convolution, this new kernel can properly address these training samples from different operating modes with diverse properties, and therefore can improve the data description and fault detection performance. Its performance is compared with RBF kernels under a standard kernel PCA framework and with other methods proposed for multimode process monitoring via numerical examples. Moreover, a benchmark data set collected from a pilot-scale multiphase flow facility is used to demonstrate the advantages of the new kernel when applied to an experimental data set

Kerrville Ponding Dam, Guadalupe River, Texas

Kerrville Ponding Dam is a relatively small channel dam in the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas. The dam is 22 feet (6.7M) high and 600 feet (183M) long and provides a water supply for the City of Kerrville. The dam was constructed during 1979-1980. Seepage problems in the abutments were observed during the initial filling of the reservoir. Some minor corrections to the problems were made at that time. In June 1981, after a moderate flood flow passed over the dam, additional seepage problems occurred. The downstream slope protection was displaced to the extent that cracks appeared in the concrete. This damage lead to a more significant amount of repair. On December 31, 1984 the dam was overtopped by a flood to a depth of 10.5 feet (3.2M) above the spillway elevation. The dam suffered severe damage including loss of a portion of the concrete cap and significant erosion of the clay core over approximately one-third of the length of the dam, and seepage related damage at both the abutment areas. Figure 1 shows the conditions of the structure in January 1985. The dam suffered a “Type 1 Accident” as defined according to International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD)

Human kin detection

Natural selection has favored the evolution of behaviors that benefit not only one's genes, but also their copies in genetically related individuals. These behaviors include optimal outbreeding (choosing a mate that is neither too closely related, nor too distant), nepotism (helping kin), and spite (hurting non-kin at a personal cost), and all require some form of kin detection or kin recognition. Yet, kinship cannot be assessed directly; human kin detection relies on heuristic cues that take into account individuals' context (whether they were reared by our mother, or grew up in our home, or were given birth by our spouse), appearance (whether they smell or look like us), and ability to arouse certain feelings (whether we feel emotionally close to them). The uncertainties of kin detection, along with its dependence on social information, create ample opportunities for the evolution of deception and self-deception. For example, babies carry no unequivocal stamp of their biological father, but across cultures they are passionately claimed to resemble their mother's spouse; to the same effect, neutral' observers are greatly influenced by belief in relatedness when judging resemblance between strangers. Still, paternity uncertainty profoundly shapes human relationships, reducing not only the investment contributed by paternal versus maternal kin, but also prosocial behavior between individuals who are related through one or more males rather than females alone. Because of its relevance to racial discrimination and political preferences, the evolutionary pressure to prefer kin to non-kin has a manifold influence on society at large

<i>Schistosoma mansoni</i> cercariae experience influx of macromolecules during skin penetration

We have observed that when cercariae penetrate the skin of mice, there is influx into their tissues of Lucifer Yellow and certain labelled molecules of up to 20 kDa molecular weight. This observation was made using a variety of fluorescent membrane-impermeant compounds injected into the skin before the application of cercariae. This unexpected phenomenon was investigated further by transforming cercariae in vitro in the presence of the membrane-impermeant compounds and examining the distribution by microscopy. In schistosomula derived from this procedure, the nephridiopore and surface membrane were labelled while the pre- and post-acetabular glands were not labelled. The region associated with the oesophagus within the pharyngeal muscle clearly contained the fluorescent molecules, as did the region adjacent to the excretory tubules and the germinal mass. We used cercariae stained with carmine to aid identification of regions labelled with Lucifer Yellow. Although the mechanism of this influx is unclear, the observation is significant. From it, we can suggest an hypothesis that, during skin penetration, exposure of internal tissues of the parasite to external macromolecules represents a novel host-parasite interfac

Third Best Brief, 2007 ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition

The ABA Law Student Division\u27s National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC) emphasizes the development of oral advocacy skills through a realistic appellate advocacy experience. Competitors participate in a hypothetical appeal to the United States Supreme Court. The competition involves writing a 40-page brief as either respondent or petitioner and then arguing the case in front of the mock court. This year the teams argued the case McCarthy v. United States, a fictional appeal, to the Supreme Court. Second-year students Shunta R. Harmon, Leslie B. Horne and Rebecca captured the regional championship and third best brief. Third-year student Stephen A. Shea and second-year students Jennifer S. Blakely and Ellen H. Persons were regional finalists. Serving as coaches were third-year students Cristine L. Patterson and Phillip R. Green, and Holly A. Pierson, Esq., served as advisor. The ABA competition routinely features approximately 180 teams from across the country participating in regional competitions with only 20 teams advancing to the national tier of the competition each spring. Over the past 10 years, Georgia Law has captured eight ABA regional championships