Late-successional and old-growth forests in the northeastern United States: Structure, dynamics, and prospects for restoration.

Abstract Restoration of old-growth forest structure is an emerging silvicultural goal, especially in those regions where old-growth abundance falls below the historic range of variability. However, longitudinal studies of old-growth dynamics that can inform silvicultural and policy options are few. We analyzed the change in structure, including stand density, diameter distribution, and the abundance of large live, standing dead, and downed dead trees on 58 late-successional and old-growth plots in Maine, USA, and compared these to regional data from the U.S. Forest Inventory and Analysis program. Structural dynamics on the late-successional plots reflected orderly change associated with density-dependent growth and mortality, but dynamics on the old-growth plots were more variable. Some plots experienced heavy mortality associated with beech bark disease. Diameter distributions conformed poorly to a classic exponential distribution, and did not converge toward such a distribution at the plot scale. Although large live trees showed a broad trend of increasing density in regional forests, recent harvesting patterns offset a considerable fraction of those gains, while mean diameter was static and the number of large dead trees was weakly declining. Even though forests of the northeast are aging, changes in silviculture and forest policy are necessary to accelerate restoration of old-growth structure

Evidence Based Practice in Recreational and Occupational Therapy

This article explores the need for evidence based practice in the fields of Recreational Therapy and Occupational Therapy. Through the use of various evidence based articles the author explores current research in both fields to validate the effectiveness of different interventions used in treatment. Based on the findings and the use of a case study, the author determines the effectiveness of Recreational and Occupational therapy services in an in-patient psychiatric setting with dual-diagnosis patients. Though the study was short-term, patient goals were met during the case study and treatment interventions were proven effective. The author gives recommendations for the agency as well as therapists in general as there is a large need for more research involving therapy with dual diagnosis patients

Clearing the Mixed-Motive Smokescreen: An Approach to Disparate Treatment Under Title VII

Part I of this Note describes the indirect-evidence inquiry of McDonnell Douglas and its basis in the policies underlying Title VII. Part II presents the various judicial treatments of cases where direct evidence is presented. These three major approaches reflect varying views of the burdens of proof regarding Title VII causation, and assume that the plaintiff has already shown some palpable level of discrimination. Part III describes Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle, in which the Supreme Court first devised an approach to mixed motives. Although the Mt. Healthy analysis was developed for first amendment purposes, the Court has extended it to a number of different areas, such as equal protection and labor-management relations. The analysis also has provided a model for lower courts in Title VII cases because the Court has never ruled on the mixed-motive issue under Title VII, and because Mt. Healthy involved an employment dispute, like Title VII cases. Part IV explains the indeterminacy and unhelpfulness of the mixed-motive characterization, arguing that it obfuscates the critical inquiry into whether the employer intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff. The label ignores the fact that nearly every Title VII case is potentially a mixed-motive case, and that cases so labeled are simply those with facts that are not compelling in favor of either party. Finally, Part V proposes that the direct/indirect evidence approach is a superior method of analyzing the distinction between single- and mixed-motive cases, and suggests abandoning mixed-motive terminology altogether

A Systematic Approach to Human Powered Vehicle Design with an Emphasis on Providing Guidelines for Mentoring Students

The objective of this research is to provide guidebook that approaches the design of a human powered vehicle (HPV) from a systematic view for an ASME competition. The guidebook introduces students to design and enhances their current understanding related to design, general engineering principals, and engineering principals specific to HPVs. In terms of the design process a combination between the traditional design process and the systems engineering design process is discussed. From here the design process in broken into six main sections for the guidebook, and an evaluation section used to emphasis the usefulness of the guidebook. First an overall view of the traditional and system engineering design processes are given, along with an overview of the human powered vehicle competition (HPVC). This is followed by details of project planning and problem development. Next the conceptual stage is introduced where concept generation and evaluation methods and examples are discussed. Embodiment design is given in the following section, where solution variants are modeled in a preliminary layout. Next, methods of how to create a more defined preliminary layout are given in the detail design section were a definitive layout is established. Finally prototyping, testing, redesigns, and final design recommendations are outlined in the last section. In addition, the guidebook provided is meant to serve as a method that can be used to mentor students in the design process of an HPV. As such, the guidebook has been developed through a literature review of design theories, managerial, organizational, and engineering practices that have had beneficial impacts, and past experiences with designing HPVs. In terms of past experiences, the interactions with students involved in a creative inquiry at Clemson University have used as a subjective means to outline some of the important design considerations needed to be discussed. Additionally, Clemson\u27s HPVs have primarily consisted of tadpole tricycles and as such, a more in depth analysis is included for this particular HPV style

Diet and Prey Consumption Rates of Nesting Boreal Owls, Aegolius funereus, in Alaska

Dietary composition and prey consumption rates of nesting Boreal Owls, Aegolius funereus, were investigated during 2004–2006 using two methods. Dietary composition was determined during nest visits through examination of 1882 fresh remains containing at least 11 mammalian and 15 avian species. Consumption rates were calculated based on laboratory examination of seven prey detritus bricks following fledging, yielding 1051 items of five different taxa. During 2003–2006, small mammal snap-trapping was conducted in the vicinity of occupied nest boxes, and relative abundance of potential prey items was estimated. A total of 4020 trap-nights yielded 695 small mammal captures of eight species. Consumption rates of nestling owls ranged from 22.0 to 29.7 g of food per day, averaging 24.2 g (SD = 1.8). Comparisons between availability of small mammals (as indicated by snap-trapping) and consumption (as indicated by nest visits and analysis of prey detritus bricks) showed that Boreal Owls are generally preying on mammals proportionate to their occurrence

Walking the Walk vs. Talking the Talk:

A proposal for a presentation examining the intersection of heterosexism and sexism in interpersonal interaction

Microprogramming a Writeable Control Memory using Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) Compilation Techniques

Microprogrammed Digital Signal Processors (DSP) are frequently used as a solution to embedded processor applications. These processors utilize a control memory which permits execution of the processor\u27s instruction set architecture (ISA). The control memory can take the form of a static, read only memory (ROM) or a dynamic, writeable control memory (WCM), or both. Microcoding the WCM permits redefining the processor\u27s ISA and provides speedup due to its instruction level parallelism (ILP) potential. In the past, code generation efforts for microprogrammable processors focused on creating assembly and microcode as two separate steps. In this thesis an alternative approach was chosen which combines the separate code generation steps into one automated, dual-target compilation process using the advanced techniques of VLIW compiler technology. The architecture chosen for this effort is a microprogrammable DSP being developed by Rome Labs, New York. The prototype compiler developed in this effort has demonstrated the potential for speedup of microcoded program portions over their assembly code counterparts. Therefore, the feasibility of program speedup produced by a dual-target compiler using VLIW compilation techniques has been validated

Complete Albinism in a Northern Red-backed Vole, Myodes rutilus, in Alaska

During a study of small mammal abundance and species composition in interior Alaska, I collected a Northern Red-backed Vole (Myodes rutilus) showing complete albinism. This report documents that extremely rare occurrence, with notes on habitat and morphometrics

Redefining the Supreme Court\u27s Role: A Theory of Managing the Federal Judicial Process

A Review of Redefining the Supreme Court\u27s Role: A Theory of Managing the Federal Judicial Process by Samuel Estreicher and John Sexto