509 research outputs found
A study of the transmitting ability of Brown Swiss sires
This bulletin is a report on the Department of Dairy Husbandry research project number 84, entitled 'Dairy Cattle Breeding'. It is a contribution from Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station as a collaborator under North Central Regional Cooperative Research Project No. NC-2, 'Improvement of Dairy Cattle Through Breeding'--P. [3].Includes bibliographical references (pages [43-48])
Microclimate affects landscape level persistence in the British Lepidoptera
Microclimate has been known to drive variation in the distribution and abundance of insects for some time. Until recently however, quantification of microclimatic effects has been limited by computing constraints and the availability of fine-scale biological data. Here, we tested fine-scale patterns of persistence/extinction in butterflies and moths against two computed indices of microclimate derived from Digital Elevation Models: a summer solar index, representing fine-scale variation in temperature, and a topographic wetness index, representing fine-scale variation in moisture availability. We found evidence of microclimate effects on persistence in each of four 20 × 20 km British landscapes selected for study (the Brecks, the Broads, Dartmoor, and Exmoor). Broadly, local extinctions occurred more frequently in areas with higher minimum or maximum solar radiation input, while responses to wetness varied with landscape context. This negative response to solar radiation is consistent with a response to climatic warming, wherein grid squares with particularly high minimum or maximum insolation values provided an increasingly adverse microclimate as the climate warmed. The variable response to wetness in different landscapes may have reflected spatially variable trends in precipitation. We suggest that locations in the landscape featuring cooler minimum and/or maximum temperatures could act as refugia from climatic warming, and may therefore have a valuable role in adapting conservation to climatic change
Exile Vol. XXIX No. 2
Photo by John Taylor 2
Poem by Ezra Pound 3
Photo by James Lundy 4
Balanced Budget by August West 5
The Lighter by John Zarchen 6-7
Photo by Theodore Granberg 8
Uptown by Christopher B. Brougham 9
Photo by Jeff Russell 9
Heartstrings by Pete Waters 10
Spell by Eric Stevenson 10
Mums by Mandy Wilson 10
A New Day by Chad Hussey 11
Photo by Chad Hussey 12
Solitare by Gordon Black 13-14
Photo by James Lundy 15
A Grave Day-Dream by John Zarchen 16
Photo by James Lundy 17
Photo by Pauela Theodotou 18
Reconciliation by R. T. Hayashi 19
Michigan Rt. 37 by Ruth Wick 20
Shenango Valley by August West 20
Photo by James Lundy 21
Drawing by Adrienne Wehr 22
Ultraviolet Blues by Kathy Shelton 23
New Orleans & The Silky Black Seams Of My Stockings by Kate Reynolds 23
Refraction by Pam Houston 23-31
Photo by James Lundy 32
A Midsummer Night\u27s... by R. T. Hayashi 33
Couch sleeping by Eric Stevenson 33
Before We Could Build by Kim Kiefer 34
Photo by Chad Hussey 35
The Legend Of The Bear Mother by Amy Pence 36
Photo by James Lundy 37
Cover Drawing by Peter Brooke -title pag
Off-label Utilization of Antihypertensive Medications in Children
Objective— To examine off-label utilization and costs of antihypertensive drugs in children using a national sample of prescription claims. Design— Cross-sectional study. Setting— 2002 Medstat MarketScan Database, a national sample of outpatient prescription claims of children ≥18 years old enrolled in private, employer-sponsored health plans. Main Outcome Measures— Off-label use of antihypertensive drugs by patient age and costs of
antihypertensives calculated as mean cost per child per 30-day fill.
Results— One-half of the index antihypertensive prescription claims were off-label, based on minimum age criteria. Boys were more likely (56%) than girls (46%) to be prescribed off-label antihypertensives (p<0.001). Children aged ≥12 years were more likely to be prescribed off-label antihypertensives (53%) compared with children aged ≥5 (46%) and 6–11 years (42%, p<0.001). Off-label use varied significantly by class of antihypertensive drugs (p<0.001). Overall, off-label antihypertensives were significantly more expensive than on-label antihypertensives. Conclusions— Despite availability of often less expensive on-label alternatives for the same class of antihypertensive drugs, off-label antihypertensive drugs were prescribed frequently in children. These findings underscore the potential clinical and economic implications of common off-label prescribing, for children, their parents, physicians and payers. Originally published Ambulatory Pediatrics, Vol. 7, No. 4, July 200
Climate change refugia for the flora and fauna of England
A variety of evidence suggests that species have, in the past, been able to withstand the effects of climatic change in localised environments known as refugia, where specific environmental conditions acted as a buffer against broader-scale climatic changes.
Therefore, an important question for conservation is whether refugia might exist under current and future anthropogenic climate change. If there are areas that are likely to remain relatively climatically stable and so enable species to persist despite climate change making surrounding areas unsuitable, identifying and protecting these places will be an important part of future conservation strategies.
This report is part of a project that is investigating this question. The report was commissioned to identify the characteristics of potential refugia, to investigate evidence for the existence of contemporary refugia by analysing patterns of local persistence and disappearance of over 1000 species across a range of taxa, and to identify sites in England with the potential to function as refugia for different taxonomic groups at a range of spatial scales
Renormalization Group Properties of Higher-Derivative Quantum Gravity with Matter in Dimensions
We investigate the phase structure and the infrared properties of
higher-derivative quantum gravity (QG) with matter, in
dimensions. The renormalization group (RG) equations in
dimensions are analysed for the following types of matter: the
-theory, the -theory, scalar electrodynamics, and
the model with scalars. New fixed points for the scalar coupling appear
---one of which is IR stable--- being some of them induced by QG. The IR stable
fixed point perturbed by QG leads to a second-order phase transition for the
theory at non-zero temperature. The RG improved effective potential in the
theory (which can be considered as the confining phase of the standard
model) is calculated at nonzero temperature and it is shown that its shape is
clearly influenced by QG.Comment: Shortened, LaTeX, 2 figure
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A mathematical model of the mevalonate cholesterol biosynthesis pathway
We formulate, parameterise and analyse a mathematical model of the mevalonate pathway, a key pathway in the synthesis of cholesterol. Of high clinical importance, the pathway incorporates rate limiting enzymatic reactions with multiple negative feedbacks. In this work we investigate the pathway dynamics and demonstrate that rate limiting steps and negative feedbacks within it act in concert to tightly regulate intracellular cholesterol levels. Formulated using the theory of nonlinear ordinary differential equations and parameterised in the context of a hepatocyte, the governing equations are analysed numerically and analytically. Sensitivity and mathematical analysis demonstrate the importance of the two rate limiting enzymes 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase and squalene synthase in controlling the concentration of substrates within the pathway as well as that of cholesterol. The role of individual feedbacks, both global (between that of cholesterol and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2; SREBP-2) and local internal (between substrates in the pathway) are investigated. We find that whilst the cholesterol SREBP-2 feedback regulates the overall system dynamics, local feedbacks activate within the pathway to tightly regulate the overall cellular cholesterol concentration. The network stability is analysed by constructing a reduced model of the fall pathway and is shown to exhibit one real, stable steady-state. We close by addressing the biological question as to how farnesyl-PP levels are affected by CYP51 inhibition, and demonstrate that the regulatory mechanisms within the network work in unison to ensure they remain bounded
GUTs in Curved Spacetime: Running Gravitational Constants, Newtonian Potential and the Quantum Corrected Gravitational Equations
The running coupling constants (in particular, the gravitational one) are
studied in asymptotically free GUTs and in finite GUTs in curved spacetime,
with explicit examples. The running gravitational coupling is used to calculate
the leading quantum GUT corrections to the Newtonian potential, which turn out
to be of logarithmic form in asymptotically free GUTs. A comparison with the
effective theory for the conformal factor ---where leading quantum corrections
to the Newtonian potential are again logarithmic--- is made. A totally
asymptotically free GUT with quantum higher derivative gravity is then
constructed, using the technique of introducing renormalization group (RG)
potentials in the space of couplings. RG equations for the cosmological and
gravitational couplings in this theory are derived, and solved numerically,
showing the influence of higher-derivative quantum gravity on the Newtonian
potential. The RG-improved effective gravitational Lagrangian for
asymptotically free massive GUTs is calculated in the strong (almost constant)
curvature regime, and the non-singular De Sitter solution to the quantum
corrected gravitational equations is subsequently discussed. Finally, possible
extensions of the results here obtained are briefly outlined.Comment: LaTeX, 27 pages, 2 uu-figure
Evaluating Promotional Approaches for Citizen Science Biological Recording: Bumblebees as a Group Versus Harmonia axyridis as a Flagship for Ladybirds
Over the past decade, the number of biological records submitted by members of the public have increased dramatically. However, this may result in reduced record quality, depending on how species are promoted in the media. Here we examined the two main promotional approaches for citizen science recording schemes: flagship-species, using one charismatic species as an umbrella for the entire group (here, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) for Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), and general-group, where the group is promoted as a whole and no particular prominence is given to any one species (here, bumblebees, genus Bombus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)). Of the two approaches, the
general-group approach produced data that was not
biased towards any one species, but far fewer records
per year overall. In contrast, the flagship-species
approach generated a much larger annual dataset, but
heavily biased towards the flagship itself. Therefore,
we recommend that the approach for species promotion
is fitted to the result desired
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