Improving regulatory standards for clearing facilities

Clearinghouses (Banking) ; Payment systems

Response of a native bamboo [Arundinaria gigantea (Walt.) Muhl.] in a wind-disturbed forest

Numerous bamboos are known to form extensive single-species stands, including species in the United States. Formerly prominent in the southeastern US, canebrakes are dense stands of the bamboos collectively called cane [Arundinaria (Michx)]. Canebrakes are now a critically endangered component of the bottomland hardwood forest ecosystem. Cane still occurs in its historic range, primarily in small remnant patches. A poor understanding of the ecological processes that generated large canebrakes limits their restoration and management. We hypothesize that cane\u27s spreading clonal structure enables these bamboos to persist beneath a forest canopy and then respond rapidly to large-scale wind disturbances. We quantified patterns of clonal growth in one cane species, giant cane [Arundinaria gigantea (Walt.) Muhl.], in a very large tornado-generated canopy gap and in surrounding bottomland hardwood forest in Louisiana. We tested these four hypotheses over a 12-month study period in the large canopy gap: (1) production of new culms should be greater, (2) clonal expansion should be greater, (3) culm damage rate should be reduced, and (4) culm size should be reduced compared to giant cane stands under forest canopy. We found that new culm production in tornado-blowdown plots was twice that in forest plots. Accordingly, culms were younger on average in the tornado blowdown than under forest. Rate of clonal expansion was similar between the two environments, suggesting clonal spread was not disturbance-dependent. With fewer branch-fall impacts, culms in the tornado blowdown were less often damaged. Culms were smaller in tornado-blowdown plots than in forest plots. Giant cane\u27s clonal plasticity should enable it to persist in old-growth bottomland forests by responding to local light conditions. Genets should increase culm production in small gaps and senesce as gaps fill in. Giant cane stands could thereby shift location over time. Wind disturbance that opens forest canopy should trigger redevelopment of denser stands that could merge with other expanding stands into expansive canebrakes. Giant cane\u27s clonal ecology may be a useful model for understanding spreading bamboos and other forest-growing clonal perennials. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The 2011 Draconid Shower Risk to Earth-Orbiting Satellites

Current meteor shower forecast models project a strong Draconid outburst, possibly a storm, on October 8, 2011, with a duration of approximately 7 hours and peaking between 19 and 21 hours UT. Predicted rates span an order of magnitude, with maximum Zenithal Hourly Rates (ZHRs) ranging from a few tens to several hundred. Calibration of the NASA MSFC Meteoroid Stream Model 1 to radar and optical observations of past apparitions, particularly the 2005 Draconid outburst 2, suggest that the maximum rate will be several hundreds per hour. Given the high spatial density of the Draconid stream, this implies a maximum meteoroid flux of 5-10 Draconids km(exp -2)/hr (to a limiting diameter of 1 mm), some 25-50 times greater than the normal sporadic flux of 0.2 km(exp -2)/ hr for particles of this size. Total outburst fluence, assuming a maximum ZHR of 750, is 15.5 Draconids km(exp -2), resulting in an overall 10x risk increase to spacecraft surfaces vulnerable to hypervelocity impacts by 1 mm particles. It is now established that a significant fraction of spacecraft anomalies produced by shower meteoroids (e.g. OLYMPUS and LandSat 5) are caused by electrostatic discharges produced by meteoroid impacts. In these cases, the charge generated is roughly proportional to v(exp 3.5(4)), giving a Draconid moving at 20 km/s approximately 1/80th the electrical damage potential of a Leonid of the same mass. In other words, a Draconid outburst with a maximum ZHR of 800 presents the same electrical risk as a normal Leonid shower with a ZHR of 15, assuming the mass indices and shower durations are the same. This is supported by the fact that no spacecraft electrical anomalies were reported during the strong Draconid outbursts of 1985 and 1998. However, the lack of past anomalies should not be taken as carte blanche for satellite operators to ignore the 2011 Draconids, as the upcoming outburst will constitute a period of enhanced risk for vehicles in near-Earth space. Each spacecrft is unique, and components have differing damage thresholds; programs are encouraged to conduct analyses to determine whether or not mitigation strategies are necessary for their vehicles

Modeling the Impact of Cross-Pollination and Low Toxin Expression in Corn Kernels on Adaptation of European Corn Borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) to Transgenic Insecticidal Corn

We used a mathematical model with processes reflecting larval mortality resulting from feeding on cross-pollinated ears or Bt ears of corn to analyze the risk of evolution of Cry-toxin resistance in Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner). In the simulations, evolution of resistance was delayed equally well by both seed mixtures and blocks with the same proportion of refuge. Our results showed that Bt-pollen drift has little impact on the evolution of Bt resistance in O. nubilalis. However, low-toxin expression in ears of transgenic corn can reduce the durability of transgenic corn expressing single toxin, whereas durability of pyramided corn hybrids is not significantly reduced. The toxinsurvival rate of heterozygous larvae in Bt-corn ears expressing one or two proteins has more impact on evolution of Bt resistance in O. nubilalis than the parameters related to larval movement to Bt ears or the toxin-survival rate of the homozygous susceptible larvae in Bt ears. Bt resistance evolves slower when toxin mortality is distributed across the first two larval stadia than when only the first instars are susceptible to Bt toxins. We suggest that stakeholders examine toxin-survival rates for insect pests and take into account that instars may feed on different parts of Bt corn

Leeches (Annelida: Hirudinida) of Northern Arkansas

Twenty-one lotic and lentic environments throughout central and northern Arkansas were surveyed for the presence of leeches during June 2004 and April, July - October 2005. Fourteen species of leeches {Helobdella elongata, Helobdella papillata, Helobdella stagnalis, Placobdella cryptobranchii, Placobdella multilineata, Placobdella ornata, Placobdella papillifera, Placobdella parasitica, Placobdella phaler a, Placobdella picta, Haemopis marmorata, Erpobdella fervida, Erpobdella microstoma, and Erpobdella punctata) representing 3 families were collected. Five species (H. elongata, P. cryptobranchii, P. multilineata, H. marmorata, and E. fervida) are reported from Arkansas for the first time. The natural history of the 22 species of leeches now known from Arkansas is reviewed

Lunar Meteoroid Impact Observations and the Flux of Kilogram-sized Meteoroids

Lunar impact monitoring provides useful information about the flux of meteoroids in the tens of grams to kilograms size range. The large collecting area of the night side of the lunar disk, approximately 3.4x10(exp 6) sq km in our camera field-of-view, provides statistically significant counts of the meteoroids. Nearly 200 lunar impacts have been observed by our program in roughly 3.5 years. Photometric calibration of the flashes along with the luminous efficiency (determined using meteor showers1,2,3) and assumed velocities provide their sizes. The asymmetry in the flux on the evening and morning hemispheres of the Moon is compared with sporadic and shower sources to determine their most likely origin. The asymmetry between the two hemispheres seen in Figure 1 is due to the impact rate and not to observational bias. Comparison with other measurements of the large meteoroid fluxes is consistent with these measurements as shown in Figure 2. The flux of meteoroids in this size range has important implications for the near-Earth object population and for impact risk for lunar spacecraf

The Vehicle, 1967, Vol. 9 no. 1

Vol. 9, No. 1 Table of Contents Commentarypage 3 PoofMolly J. Evanspage 4 PreludeMike Baldwinpage 5 UntitledMike Baldwinpage 5 Where is Tomorrow?Paula Bresnanpage 6 Could It Be Or NotMary Hoeggerpage 7 PsalmAnthony Griggspage 7 Where Am I Going?William A. Framepage 8 Out of DarknessMarilyn Henry Hoodpage 9 She CriedMolly J. Evanspage 12 When I MoveAnthony Griggspage 13 Hi Ya, MorningWilliam A. Framepage 13 Summer Twilight ThoughtsSteve Allenpage 14 Too MuchBill Moserpage 16 Ink SketchWilliam A. Framepage 17 No. 1Molly J. Evanspage 18 Youth, So Hated and DamnedJeff Hendrickspage 18 GoneJackie Jaquespage 19 The JesterWilliam A. Framepage 20 ReflectionMike Baldwinpage 20 No. 3Molly J. Evanspage 21 EpitaphBill Moserpage 22 I Take A Long-Out-of-Use BookAnthony Griggspage 23https://thekeep.eiu.edu/vehicle/1016/thumbnail.jp

The Vehicle, 1967, Vol. 9 no. 1

Vol. 9, No. 1 Table of Contents Commentarypage 3 PoofMolly J. Evanspage 4 PreludeMike Baldwinpage 5 UntitledMike Baldwinpage 5 Where is Tomorrow?Paula Bresnanpage 6 Could It Be Or NotMary Hoeggerpage 7 PsalmAnthony Griggspage 7 Where Am I Going?William A. Framepage 8 Out of DarknessMarilyn Henry Hoodpage 9 She CriedMolly J. Evanspage 12 When I MoveAnthony Griggspage 13 Hi Ya, MorningWilliam A. Framepage 13 Summer Twilight ThoughtsSteve Allenpage 14 Too MuchBill Moserpage 16 Ink SketchWilliam A. Framepage 17 No. 1Molly J. Evanspage 18 Youth, So Hated and DamnedJeff Hendrickspage 18 GoneJackie Jaquespage 19 The JesterWilliam A. Framepage 20 ReflectionMike Baldwinpage 20 No. 3Molly J. Evanspage 21 EpitaphBill Moserpage 22 I Take A Long-Out-of-Use BookAnthony Griggspage 23https://thekeep.eiu.edu/vehicle/1016/thumbnail.jp

When the Sky Falls: Performing Initial Assessments of Bright Atmospheric Events

The 2013 Chelyabinsk super bolide was the first "significant" impact event to occur in the age of social media and 24 hour news. Scientists, used to taking many days or weeks to analyze fireball events, were hard pressed to meet the immediate demands (within hours) for answers from the media, general public, and government officials. Fulfilling these requests forced many researchers to exploit information available from various Internet sources - videos were downloaded from sites like Youtube, geolocated via Google Street View, and quickly analyzed with improvised software; Twitter and Facebook were scoured for eyewitness accounts of the fireball and reports of meteorites. These data, combined with infrasound analyses, enabled a fairly accurate description of the Chelyabinsk event to be formed within a few hours; in particular, any relationship to 2012 DA14 (which passed near Earth later that same day) was eliminated. Results of these analyses were quickly disseminated to members of the NEO community for press conferences and media interviews. Despite a few minor glitches, the rapid initial assessment of Chelyabinsk was a triumph, permitting the timely conveyance of accurate information to the public and the incorporation of social media into fireball analyses. Beginning in 2008, the NASA Meteoroid Environments Office, working in cooperation with Western's Meteor Physics Group, developed processes and software that permit quick characterization - mass, trajectory, and orbital properties - of fireball events. These tools include automated monitoring of Twitter to establish the time of events (the first tweet is usually no more than a few seconds after the fireball), mining of Youtube and all sky camera web archives to locate videos suitable for analyses, use of Google Earth and Street View to geolocate the video locations, and software to determine the fireball trajectory and object orbital parameters, including generation of animations suitable for popular media and presentations. This presentation will give a short description of the characterization procedure and show applications of the tools, which have become vital to answering the question of "What was that bright light in the sky?" in the post-Chelyabinsk, 24/7 news world