EVIDENCE OF COMMUNAL OVIPOSITION AND NEST ABANDONMENT IN THE NORTHERN TWO-LINED SALAMANDER (EURYCEA BISLINEATA, (GREEN, 1818)) IN NORTHEASTERN CONNECTICUT

Most plethodontid salamanders oviposit their eggs in an individual nest and attend the clutch until hatching. Here, we describe aspects of the reproduction of Eurycea bislineata (Northern Two-lined Salamander) from three field sites in northeastern Connecticut that contrast with the typical plethodontid reproductive behavior. Rocks used as oviposition sites contained up to 296 eggs, with an average of more than 100. These numbers exceed the maximum ovarian egg counts for this species, indicating that communal oviposition is common. The lack of correlation between rock size and number of eggs, as well as the lack of discrete clutches when eggs are laid in large clusters, suggests that communal oviposition may be caused by something other than nest site limitation. Additionally, the rate of maternal attendance at nests was low. Thus, communal oviposition with high rates of nest abandonment is the dominant reproductive strategy in E. bislineata at these sites

Configurations and relative efficiencies of shrimp trawls employed in southeastern United States waters

Common shrimp trawl designs employed in the southeastern United States shrimp fishery are the flat, balloon, semiballoon, jib, and super X-3. Recent innovations in trawl design and rigging, including the twin trawl rigging and tongue trawl design, have improved the efficiency of shrimp trawling gear. A description of the construction techniques for the different designs indicate differences which affect gear performance. Measurements of horizontal spread and vertical opening for 76 trawl configurations indicate the relative efficiencies of the different designs. Maximum horizontal spreading efficiency was achieved by the "twin" and "tongue" trawl designs followed by the super X-3, jib, balloon, and semiballoon designs. Designs having the greatest vertical openings were the tongue and flat trawl designs followed by the semiballoon. Maximum total gape dimension was demonstrated by the "Mongoose" tongue trawl. Comparison of trawl spreading efficiency and door area to headrope length ratio indicates that a range of 70-80 in square (per door) of door area is required for each foot of trawl headrope length for maximum efficiency with conventional trawl designs and 66-75 in square per foot of headrope for tongue trawl designs. (PDF file contains 18 pages.

Reionization and Cosmology with 21 cm Fluctuations

Measurement of the spatial distribution of neutral hydrogen via the redshifted 21 cm line promises to revolutionize our knowledge of the epoch of reionization and the first galaxies, and may provide a powerful new tool for observational cosmology from redshifts 1<z<4 . In this review we discuss recent advances in our theoretical understanding of the epoch of reionization (EoR), the application of 21 cm tomography to cosmology and measurements of the dark energy equation of state after reionization, and the instrumentation and observational techniques shared by 21 cm EoR and post reionization cosmology machines. We place particular emphasis on the expected signal and observational capabilities of first generation 21 cm fluctuation instruments.Comment: Invited review for Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics (2010 volume

SOLVENT HOLD TANK SAMPLE RESULTS FOR MCU-13-1403/1404/1405/1406/1407/1408: QUARTERLY SAMPLE FROM SEPTEMBER 2013

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) analyzed solvent samples from the Modular Caustic-Side Solvent Extraction Unit (MCU) in support of continuing operations. A quarterly analysis of the solvent is required to maintain solvent composition within specifications. Analytical results of the analyses of Solvent Hold Tank (SHT) samples MCU-13-1403, MCU-13-1404, MCU-13-1405, MCU-13-1406, MCU-13-1407, and MCU-13-1408 received on September 17, 2013 are reported. This sample was taken after the addition of the Next Generation Solvent (NGS) cocktail to produce a NGS-MCU blended solvent. The results show that the solvent contains a slight excess of Isopar� L and a deficit concentration of modifier and TiDG when compared to the target composition. Addition of TiDG trim is recommended. SRNL also analyzed the SHT sample for {sup 137}Cs content and determined the measured value is within tolerance and that the value has returned to levels observed in 2011. In contrast to what was observed in the heel prior to adding the NGS cocktail, no organic impurities were detected in these solvent samples

Finite Size Effects in the Anisotropic \lambda/4!(\phi^4_1 + \phi^4_2)_d Model

We consider the $\frac{\lambda}{4!}(\phi^{4}_{1}+\phi^{4}_{2})$ model on a d-dimensional Euclidean space, where all but one of the coordinates are unbounded. Translation invariance along the bounded coordinate, z, which lies in the interval [0,L], is broken because of the boundary conditions (BC's) chosen for the hyperplanes z=0 and z=L. Two different possibilities for these BC's boundary conditions are considered: DD and NN, where D denotes Dirichlet and N Newmann, respectively. The renormalization procedure up to one-loop order is applied, obtaining two main results. The first is the fact that the renormalization program requires the introduction of counterterms which are surface interactions. The second one is that the tadpole graphs for DD and NN have the same z dependent part in modulus but with opposite signs. We investigate the relevance of this fact to the elimination of surface divergences.Comment: 33 pages, 2 eps figure