Consumption of Whole Cottonseed by White-Tailed Deer and Nontarget Species

Supplementing diets of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) with pelleted rations is an increasingly common practice aimed at increasing deer antler size on rangelands in Texas. Feed loss to consumption by various nontarget species (e.g., raccoons [Procyon lotor] and feral pigs [Sus scrofa]) raises both ecological and economic concerns. Whole cottonseed is a feedstuff that may afford a more targeted supplemental feeding effort. Accordingly, we determined: (1) consumption rates of whole cottonseed by feral pigs and raccoons in captivity; and (2) species visitation at feed sites and preference for whole cottonseed relative to whole corn under field conditions. For experiments 1 and 2, we trapped subadult feral pigs and raccoons (n = 16 for each) and randomly assigned them to 4 feed treatments. We weighed and took blood to assess gossypol levels from both pigs and raccoons every 2 weeks for 2 months. Pigs were adept at sorting cottonseed from their feed ration in the laboratory trial. Raccoons consumed cottonseed only under severe dietary stress (i.e., diets reduced to 60% of maintenance requirements). To supplement laboratory findings we used motion-triggered video camera systems to monitor species visitation and feeding behaviors in the field. Video surveillance (125 hours of recorded events) of feeders supported our observations from laboratory trials that cottonseed was unpalatable to feral pigs and raccoons, whereas white-tailed deer consumed cottonseed readily. Given our results, we believe that whole cottonseed merits further consideration as a supplement for free-ranging deer

An Ice-Core-Based, Late Holocene History for the Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica

Ice core records (major anions and cations, MSA, oxygen isotopes and particles) developed from two shallow (~200 m depth) sites in the Transantarctic Mountains provide documentation of much of the Holocene paleoenvironmental history of this region. From the more southerly site, Dominion Range, an ~7000-year-long record reveals change in the influence of tropospheric transport to the region. At this site, milder conditions and increased tropospheric inflow prior to ~1500 yr BP are characterized by increased seasalt (ss), terrestrial and marine biogenic inputs. Increased persistence and/or extent of polar stratospheric clouds accompanying generally cooler conditions characterize much of the period since ~1500 yr BP. From the more northerly site, Newall Glacier, the dramatic influence of the retreat of grounded ice from McMurdo Sound dated at[Denton et al., 1989] dominates much of the ice core record. This regional environmental change is documented by massive influxes to the core site of evaporitic salts from areas exposed during low lake level stands. During the past ~150 yr, both Dominion Range and Newall Glacier appear to be experiencing an overall increase in the exposure of ice-free terrain

Modelling Long Term Disability following Injury: Comparison of Three Approaches for Handling Multiple Injuries

BACKGROUND: Injury is a leading cause of the global burden of disease (GBD). Estimates of non-fatal injury burden have been limited by a paucity of empirical outcomes data. This study aimed to (i) establish the 12-month disability associated with each GBD 2010 injury health state, and (ii) compare approaches to modelling the impact of multiple injury health states on disability as measured by the Glasgow Outcome Scale - Extended (GOS-E). METHODS: 12-month functional outcomes for 11,337 survivors to hospital discharge were drawn from the Victorian State Trauma Registry and the Victorian Orthopaedic Trauma Outcomes Registry. ICD-10 diagnosis codes were mapped to the GBD 2010 injury health states. Cases with a GOS-E score >6 were defined as "recovered." A split dataset approach was used. Cases were randomly assigned to development or test datasets. Probability of recovery for each health state was calculated using the development dataset. Three logistic regression models were evaluated: a) additive, multivariable; b) "worst injury;" and c) multiplicative. Models were adjusted for age and comorbidity and investigated for discrimination and calibration. FINDINGS: A single injury health state was recorded for 46% of cases (1-16 health states per case). The additive (C-statistic 0.70, 95% CI: 0.69, 0.71) and "worst injury" (C-statistic 0.70; 95% CI: 0.68, 0.71) models demonstrated higher discrimination than the multiplicative (C-statistic 0.68; 95% CI: 0.67, 0.70) model. The additive and "worst injury" models demonstrated acceptable calibration. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of patients survived with persisting disability at 12-months, highlighting the importance of improving estimates of non-fatal injury burden. Additive and "worst" injury models performed similarly. GBD 2010 injury states were moderately predictive of recovery 1-year post-injury. Further evaluation using additional measures of health status and functioning and comparison with the GBD 2010 disability weights will be needed to optimise injury states for future GBD studies

Video and Photometric Observations of a Sprite in Coincidence with a Meteor-triggered Jet Event

Video and photometric observations of a meteor-triggered “jet” event in association with the occurrence of a sprite were collected during the SPRITES \u2798 campaign. The event raises interest in the question of possible meteoric triggering of upper atmospheric transients as originally suggested by Muller [1995]. The event consisted of three stages: (1) the observation of a moderately bright meteor, (2) the development of a sprite in the immediate vicinity of the meteor as the meteor reached no lower than ∼70 km altitude, and (3) a slower-forming jet of luminosity that appeared during the late stages of the sprite and propagated back up the ionization trail of the meteor. The event is analyzed in terms of its geometry, its relevance to the meteor, and the implications to existing theories for sprite formation

Learning to Detect Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder with Language and Speech in Non-Clinical Interviews

Bipolar disorder (BD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) are both chronic psychiatric disorders. However, their overlapping symptoms and common comorbidity make it challenging for the clinicians to distinguish the two conditions on the basis of a clinical interview. In this work, we first present a new multi-modal dataset containing interviews involving individuals with BD or BPD being interviewed about a non-clinical topic . We investigate the automatic detection of the two conditions, and demonstrate a good linear classifier that can be learnt using a down-selected set of features from the different aspects of the interviews and a novel approach of summarising these features. Finally, we find that different sets of features characterise BD and BPD, thus providing insights into the difference between the automatic screening of the two conditions

A Method to have Multi-Layer Thermal Insulation Provide Damage Detection

Design and testing of a multi-layer thermal insulation system that also provides debris and micrometeorite damage detection is presented. One layer of the insulation is designed as an array of passive open-circuit electrically conductive spiral trace sensors. The sensors are a new class of sensors that are electrically open-circuits that have no electrical connections thereby eliminating one cause of failure to circuits. The sensors are powered using external oscillating magnetic fields. Once electrically active, they produce their own harmonic magnetic fields. The responding field frequency changes if any sensor is damaged. When the sensors are used together in close proximity, the inductive coupling between sensors provides a means of telemetry. The spiral trace design using reflective electrically conductive material provides sufficient area coverage for the sensor array to serves as a layer of thermal insulation. The other insulation layers are designed to allow the sensor s magnetic field to permeate the insulation layers while having total reflective surface area to reduce thermal energy transfer. Results of characterizing individual sensors and the sensor array s response to punctures are presented. Results of hypervelocity impact testing using projectiles of 1-3.6 millimeter diameter having speeds ranging from 6.7-7.1 kilometers per second are also presented

Culturable Root Endophyte Communities are Shaped by Both Warming and Plant Host Identity in the Rocky Mountains, USA

Understanding the biogeographic patterns of root-associated fungi and their sensitivity to temperature may improve predictions of future changes in terrestrial biodiversity and associated ecosystem processes, but data are currently limited. Anticipating change will require combining observational data, which predict how climatic factors limit current species distributions, with direct manipulations of climate, which can isolate responses to specific climate variables. Root endophytes are common symbionts of plants, particularly in arctic and alpine environments, yet their responses to climate warming are not resolved. Here, we directly cultured endophytic fungi from roots collected along altitudinal gradients in replicated mountain watersheds and from a 27 y field warming experiment in the Rocky Mountains, USA, to improve understanding of climate impacts on fungal root endophytes. Fungal taxa that were common at high elevations declined most under climate warming, whereas low elevation dominants responded neutrally or increased with experimental warming. Altitudinal gradients in fungal communities were strongly specific to the plant host species. Specifically, Poa species had 25–60% greater fungal isolate abundance and 25–38% greater fungal diversity at high elevations than at low elevation sites. In contrast, Festuca thurberi had 64% lower fungal diversity on roots at high elevation than at low elevation. Our results help to improve understanding of the potential for climate change to alter plant-fungal interactions in mountain ecosystems

Understanding Business Travel Time and Its Place in the Working Day

This article argues that there is a need to understand business travel time in the context of the wider organization of work time. It considers why travel time use is potentially changing with the use of mobile technologies by the increasing number of individuals engaged in ‘knowledge work’, and examines existing evidence that indicates that travel time use is part of a wider work-related ‘taskscape’. However, it not only considers material productive output, but suggests that travel time as ‘time out’ from work-related activities also plays a vital role for employees. It also suggests that business travel time use that is not of benefit to the employer may not be at the employer's expense. This is contrasted with the assumptions used in UK transport appraisal. Data gathered from the autumn 2004 wave of the National Rail Passenger Survey (GB) is used to illustrate some key issues concerning productivity and ‘anti-activity’. A case study of an individual business traveller then points towards the need for a new approach to exploring the role played by travel time in the organization of work practices to be considered. © 2008, Sage Publications. All rights reserved

A sex-chromosome mutation in Silene latifolia

Silene latifolia is dioecious, yet rare hermaphrodites have been found, and such natural mutants can provide valuable insight into genetic mechanisms. Here, we describe a hermaphrodite-inducing mutation that is almost certainly localized to the gynoecium-suppression region of the Y chromosome in S. latifolia. The mutant Y chromosome was passed through the megaspore, and the presence of two X chromosomes was not necessary for seed development in the parent. This result supports a lack of degeneration of the Y chromosome in S. latifolia, consistent with the relatively recent formation of the sex chromosomes in this species. When crossed to wild-type plants, hermaphrodites performed poorly as females, producing low seed numbers. When hermaphrodites were pollen donors, the sex ratio of offspring they produced through crosses was biased towards females. This suggests that hermaphroditic S. latifolia would fail to thrive and potentially explains the rarity of hermaphrodites in natural populations of S. latifolia. These results indicate that the Y chromosome in Silene latifolia remains very similar to the X, perhaps mostly differing in the primary sex determination regions