Hold That Tie!

Engineer John Wentz appeals to your sense of originality in shopping for his gift

The inheritance of germless seeds in maize

1. The character known as germless in maize is described. Data are presented on its occurrance and the manner of inheritance and linkage relations of the genetic factors causing the character, together with data on other linkage relations in group II. 2. It is shown that germless seeds commonly occur in our commercial varieties of corn. 3. Data are presented on the inheritance of two different factors, gm2 and gm1, which cause germless seeds. 4. Linkage relations of gm2 and gm1 with factors in linkage group II were determined. 5. The factor gm2 was found to be linked with R with 27.11 percent of crossing over as compared to 31 percent previously reported by Demerec (6). 6. The gm2 factor, however, did not show, in the F2 data, evidences of linkage with G or Pg1 . The lack of evidence of linkage with G is explained by assuming gm2 to be located to the left of R, while G has been shown by Lindstrom (9 and 10) to be located to the right of R with a crossover percentage of 20. The lack of evidence of linkage with Pg1 is explained in the same way after the presentation of data to show that Pg1 is also located to the right of R near G with 14.57 percent of crossing over between G and Pg1. 7. Data presented show no linkage between gm1 and r or c. 8. There is some evidence of linkage between gm1 and G but not sufficient to be conclusive. 9. Data on gm1 and Pr showed no linkage of these two factors. 10. Rather extensive data on R and Pr showed conclusively that there is no linkage between these two factors as reported by Hayes and Brewbaker (8). 11. Some data are also presented which show that there is no linkage between Pr and G. 12. Linkage data on R and G show a crossover percentage of about 20 which checks with data previously reported by Lindstrom (9 and 10). 13. The percentage of crossing over between R and Pg1 was found to be 23.39 which checks with Brunson\u27s (3) data on these two factors

Mussel Inventory and Population Status of the Federally Endangered Potamilus capax (Green 1832) in the Tyronza River, Arkansas

Currently, few data exist for the mussel assemblages of the Tyronza River, Arkansas. The goal of this project was to inventory the freshwater mussel assemblages of the Tyronza River and determine the status of the federally endangered Potamilus capax. We qualitatively and quantitatively sampled mussel assemblages and documented the occurrence of S1 (extremely rare), S2 (very rare), and S3 (rare to uncommon) species. A total of 70.4 river kilometers were sampled in 2006 and 2007 resulting in 363 sampling sites, 4030 live individuals, and 25 species. We observed a total of 1 S1, 2 S2, and 9 S3 species. Mean catch-per-unit-of-effort was 0.9 (1.2 SD) individuals / min. and mean species richness and individual abundance were 3.4 (2.7 SD) species / site and 11.1 (15.1 SD) individuals / site, respectively. Thirteen Potamilus capax were collected during this survey, with only 1 gravid female and 2 juveniles. Quantitative survey mean densities per site ranged from 1.0 to 1.9 mussels / m2 with an overall mean of 1.4 individuals / m2 (0.3 SD). A total of 7 Potamilus capax were observed during quantitative sampling. Community Numerical Standing Crop estimates ranged from 70 ± 30 to 22,986 ± 7,905 individuals. The data collected from this survey provide a valuable baseline on the mussel assemblages of an altered-alluvial river and the location and status of all S1, S2 and S3 species. This information is essential to the management of this imperiled fauna in the Tyronza River

Multi-satellite observed responses of precipitation and its extremes to interannual climate variability

The consistency of precipitation variability estimated from the multiple satellite-based observing systems is assessed. There is generally good agreement between TRMM TMI, SSM/I, GPCP and AMSRE datasets for the inter-annual variability of precipitation since 1997 but the HOAPS dataset appears to overestimate the magnitude of variability. Over the tropical ocean the TRMM 3B42 dataset produces unrealistic variabilitys. Based upon deseasonalised GPCP data for the period 1998-2008, the sensitivity of global mean precipitation (P) to surface temperature (T) changes (dP/dT) is about 6%/K, although a smaller sensitivity of 3.6%/K is found using monthly GPCP data over the longer period 1989-2008. Over the tropical oceans dP/dT ranges from 10-30%/K depending upon time-period and dataset while over tropical land dP/dT is -8 to -11%/K for the 1998-2008 period. Analyzing the response of the tropical ocean precipitation intensity distribution to changes in T we find the wetter area P shows a strong positive response to T of around 20%/K. The response over the drier tropical regimes is less coherent and varies with datasets, but responses over the tropical land show significant negative relationships over an interannual time-scale. The spatial and temporal resolutions of the datasets strongly influence the precipitation responses over the tropical oceans and help explain some of the discrepancy between different datasets. Consistency between datasets is found to increase on averaging from daily to 5-day time-scales and considering a 1o (or coarser) spatial resolution. Defining the wet and dry tropical ocean regime by the 60th percentile of P intensity, the 5-day average, 1o TMI data exhibits a coherent drying of the dry regime at the rate of -20%/K and the wet regime becomes wetter at a similar rate with warming

Restrictions impeding web-based courses: a survey of publishers' variation in authorising access to high quality on-line literature

BACKGROUND: Web-based delivery of educational programmes is becoming increasingly popular and is expected to expand, especially in medicine. The successful implementation of these programmes is reliant on their ability to provide access to web based materials, including high quality published work. Publishers' responses to requests to access health literature in the context of developing an electronic Master's degree course are described. METHODS: Two different permission requests were submitted to publishers. The first was to store an electronic version of a journal article, to which we subscribe, on a secure password protected server. The second was to reproduce extracts of published material on password protected web pages and CD Rom. RESULTS: Eight of 16 publishers were willing to grant permission to store electronic versions of articles without levying charges additional to the subscription. Twenty of 35 publishers gave permission to reproduce extracts of published work at no fee. Publishers' responses were highly variable to the requests for access to published material. This may be influenced by vague terminology within the 'fair dealing' provision in the copyright legislation, which seems to leave it open to individual interpretation. Considerable resource costs were incurred by the exercise. Time expended included those incurred by us: research to identify informed representatives within the publishing organisation, request 'chase-ups' and alternative examples being sought if publishers were uncooperative; and the publisher when dealing with numerous permission requests. Financial costs were also incurred by both parties through additional staffing and paperwork generated by the permission process, the latter including those purely borne by educators due to the necessary provision of photocopy 'course packs' when no suitably alternative material could be found if publishers were uncooperative. Finally we discuss the resultant bias in material towards readily available electronic resources as a result of publisher's uncooperative stance and encourage initiatives that aim to improve open electronic access. CONCLUSIONS: The permission request process has been expensive and has resulted in reduced access for students to the relevant literature. Variations in the responses from publishers suggest that for educational purposes common policies could be agreed and unnecessary restrictions removed in the future

The Iowa Homemaker vol.19, no.4

Art, page 1 Caroling Through Christmas, page 3 Personality Packages, page 4 Mask-Making, page 5 Chimes of Christmas, page 6 Fashion in Feasting, page 7 Sally Cheers, page 8 For a Festive Home, page 10 Hold That Tie!, page 11 What’s New in Home Economics, page 12 Packages Go Sophisticated, page 14 Silver Secrets for Santa, page 16 The Plight Before Christmas, page 18 Your Child’s Food, page 19 From Journalistic Spindles, page 20 Alums in the News, page 21 Behind Bright Jackets, page 22 Art with Practice, page 23 Biography of a Home Economist, page 2

Seasonal evolution of Aleutian low pressure systems: Implications for the North Pacific subpolar circulation

The seasonal change in the development of Aleutian low pressure systems from early fall to early winter is analyzed using a combination of meteorological reanalysis fields, satellite sea surface temperature (SST) data, and satellite wind data. The time period of the study is September–December 2002, although results are shown to be representative of the long-term climatology. Characteristics of the storms were documented as they progressed across the North Pacific, including their path, central pressure, deepening rate, and speed of translation. Clear patterns emerged. Storms tended to deepen in two distinct geographical locations—the Gulf of Alaska in early fall and the western North Pacific in late fall. In the Gulf of Alaska, a quasi-permanent “notch” in the SST distribution is argued to be of significance. The signature of the notch is imprinted in the atmosphere, resulting in a region of enhanced cyclonic potential vorticity in the lower troposphere that is conducive for storm development. Later in the season, as winter approaches and the Sea of Okhotsk becomes partially ice covered and cold, the air emanating from the Asian continent leads to enhanced baroclinicity in the region south of Kamchatka. This corresponds to enhanced storm cyclogenesis in that region. Consequently, there is a seasonal westward migration of the dominant lobe of the Aleutian low. The impact of the wind stress curl pattern resulting from these two regions of storm development on the oceanic circulation is investigated using historical hydrography. It is argued that the seasonal bimodal input of cyclonic vorticity from the wind may be partly responsible for the two distinct North Pacific subarctic gyres

Observed multivariable signals of late 20th and early 21st century volcanic activity

The relatively muted warming of the surface and lower troposphere since 1998 has attracted considerable attention. One contributory factor to this “warming hiatus” is an increase in volcanically induced cooling over the early 21st century. Here we identify the signals of late 20th and early 21st century volcanic activity in multiple observed climate variables. Volcanic signals are statistically discernible in spatial averages of tropical and near-global SST, tropospheric temperature, net clear-sky short-wave radiation, and atmospheric water vapor. Signals of late 20th and early 21st century volcanic eruptions are also detectable in near-global averages of rainfall. In tropical average rainfall, however, only a Pinatubo-caused drying signal is identifiable. Successful volcanic signal detection is critically dependent on removal of variability induced by the El Nino–Southern Oscillation.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant AGS-1342810