Does Low-Density Grazing Affect Butterfly (Lepidoptera) Colonization of a Previously Flooded Tallgrass Prairie Reconstruction?

Conservation of wildlife in managed landscapes can be facilitated by partnering with livestock producers to introduce grazing disturbances. The effects of grazing in grassland systems, however, are often a function of other disturbances that may occur simultaneously. The goal of this study was to determine how grazing and flooding disturbances interacted to affect butterfly communities on wetland reserve program easements. We sampled butterflies from 2008-2011 in two large grassland habitats, one exposed to low density cow-calf grazing and one maintained as a control. Both grassland habitats were severely flooded in 2008. Repeated-measures ANOVA suggested that time since flooding and the interaction between flooding and grazing were important predictors of butterfly richness at these sites. Grazing may have delayed the post-flood recolonization by butterflies, but by 2011, the grazed system contained a slightly higher species richness of butterflies than the ungrazed system. The grazed and ungrazed grasslands converged in butterfly species composition over the course of four years. Our results suggest that grazing may be a useful tool for managing wetland reserve program easement habitats and that both flood- ing and grazing did not appear to have lasting negative impacts on butterfly communities at our sites

The Sword of North Carolina\u27s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act : Combating North Carolina Businesses Who Undercut Competition by Hiring Illegal Immigrants

The legal issue explored in this Comment is whether a cause of action is available to North Carolina business owners that have been put at an economic disadvantage by competing companies that hire illegal immigrants

The Sword of North Carolina\u27s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act : Combating North Carolina Businesses Who Undercut Competition by Hiring Illegal Immigrants

The legal issue explored in this Comment is whether a cause of action is available to North Carolina business owners that have been put at an economic disadvantage by competing companies that hire illegal immigrants

Who\u27s Afraid of the CISG? Why North Carolina Practitioners Should Learn a Thing or Two About the 1980 United Nations Convention on the Contracts for the International Sale of Goods

Part I of this article will discuss the history and purpose of the CISG. Part II will consider the applicability of the CISG to international commercial contracts where one contracting party is from the United States. Part III will discuss some notable differences between the CISG and North Carolina law. Finally, Part IV will consider situations in which the CISG may better serve the interests of parties to a contract for the international sale of goods than the U.C.C. or North Carolina common law

Incorporation of a nanotechnology-based additive in cementitious products for clay stabilisation

The mechanical performances and water retention characteristics of clays, stabilised by partial substitution of cement with by-products and inclusion of a nanotechnology-based additive called RoadCem (RC), are studied in this research. The unconfined compression tests and one-dimensional oedometer swelling were performed after 7 d of curing to understand the influence of addition of 1% of RC material in the stabilised soils with the cement partially replaced by 49%, 59% and 69% of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GBBS) or pulverised fuel ash (PFA). The moisture retention capacity of the stabilised clays was also explored using the soil-water retention curve (SWRC) from the measured suctions. Results confirmed an obvious effect of the use of RC with the obtained strength and swell properties of the stabilised clays suitable for road application at 50% replacement of cement. This outcome is associated with the in-depth and penetrating hydration of the cementitious materials by the RC and water which results in the production of needle-like matrix with interlocking filaments – a phenomenon referred to as the ‘wrapping’ effect. On the other hand, the SWRC used to describe the water holding capacity and corresponding swell mechanism of clays stabilised by a proportion of RC showed a satisfactory response. The moisture retention of the RC-modified clays was initially higher but reduced subsequently as the saturation level increased with decreasing suction. This phenomenon confirmed that clays stabilised by including the RC are water-proof in nature, thus ensuring reduced porosity and suction even at reduced water content. Overall, the stabilised clays with the combination of cement, GGBS and RC showed a better performance compared to those with the PFA included

Interhemispheric comparison of atmospheric circulation features as evaluated from NIMBUS satellite data

Findings are presented for IRIS data from NIMBUS 3 in mapping the global ozone distribution. The seasonal and regional variations of ozone, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, reveal features that were not evident from the sparse ground-based ozone observation network in this hemisphere. A regression analysis was undertaken for temperature and height fields on radiance data. Spectrum analyses of upper wind data from the North American section and Australia were completed

Antifungal Activity Assessment of Selected Locally Sold Over-The-Counter Azole against Candida Isolates from Hospital and Community Settings of Rivers State, Nigeria

There seems to be multiple factors that could affect the performance of a drug which may range widely from measurements to packaging, storage, handling and standardization. Candida species are ubiquitous in nature and are found at different parts of the body, with some present as normal flora. However, drug abuse as mostly associated with the conscious intake of drugs without the guide or prescription of a physician, poses enormous challenge to personal and public health. Hence, this study was designed for comparative analysis of the antifungal activity of over the counter azole and standardized fluconazole disc on the Candida species isolated from community and hospital settings in Rivers State. All Candida isolates were inoculated onto a Sarbouraud dextrose agar plate to obtain a pure culture and then used for normal saline microscopy, germ tube test and carbohydrate assimilation tests to confirm Candida species. Antifungal susceptibility testing using the Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method was carried out and the data generated were type-set in Microsoft Excel version 2003, and transferred into statistical package for social sciences (SPSS), IBM version 21 for statistical analysis. The study results showed 59 Candida isolates with 11.9% Candida isolated testing negative to germ tube test while 88.1% of the tested positive to germ tube test. However, distribution of germ tube positive Candida species from hospital and community settings showed that the community setting had 90.6% germ tube positive Candida isolates and 9.4% germ tube negative Candida isolates while hospital settings showed 85.2% germ tube positive isolates and 14% germ tube negative isolates. In this study, 28.6% Non-albicans Candida (NAC) were susceptible to clotrimazole, 14.3% NAC were susceptible dose dependent while 57.1% were resistant to clotrimazole. However, fluconazole recorded 0% susceptibility dose dependence by Non-albicans Candida, 42.9% susceptibility and 57.1% resistance. Similarly, 63.5%, 15.4%, and 21.2% of Candida albicans were susceptible, susceptibility dose dependent and resistant respectively to fluconazole. While, 30.8%, 34.6% and 34.6% of Candida albicans were susceptible, susceptibility dose dependent and resistant to itraconazole. In conlusion, fluconazole had the best efficacy on non-albicans Candida while clotrimazole was best for killing Candida albicans It is believed that a change in attitude from self medication is very crucial as it remains a key factor that could be responsible for increased incidence of Candida species’ resistance to azole therapy. Furthermore, change towards adherence to antifungal drug regimes when encouraged and cultivated as a positive habit for all patients, could enhance monitoring of drug efficacy and clinical/treatment outcomes

Development of strength models for prediction of unconfined compressive strength of cement/byproduct material improved soils

© 2017 ASTM International. All rights reserved. This paper presents the possible inclusion of pulverized fuel ash (PFA) and ground granulated blast slag (GGBS) in cement deep soil mixing for enhancement of unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of weak soil materials for construction purposes. The main focus of this paper was to investigate the UCS of cement-, cement/PFA-and cement/PFA/GGBS-improved soils, and development of mathematical and graphical models for prediction of UCS for use in design and construction. Samples of cement, blends of cement and PFA, and cement/PFA/GGBS were prepared using 5 %, 10 %, 15 %, and 20 % by weight of dry soil and tested for UCS after 7, 14, 28, and 56 days. A multiple regression analysis was conducted using the SPSS computer program. The results showed that soil materials with lower plasticity show higher strength development compared to those of higher plasticity for cement improvement. The study has also revealed that the inclusion of PFA and GGBS can cause a reduction in the amount of cement in deep soil mixing, which can result to reduced cost and emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) during construction. The developed mathematical and graphical models could give reliable predictions of UCS for weak soil materials with initial UCS less than or equal to 25 kPa and for water to binder ratio of unity based on the observed agreement between experimental and predicted data. The developed multiple regression models have also been validated using different mixtures of 6 %, 8 %, 12 %, and 16 % of binders

The State, the UDHR, and the Social Construction of Family in Human Rights: The Case of the Scarborough 11

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (UN 1947:34) declares in Article 16(3) that “the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to the full protection by society and the state.” However, the UDHR does not define family, but rather presumes it is defined by traditional heteronormative marriage in a nuclear family. The failure of the UDHR to consider a more expansive view of family leaves the definition of family centrally in the hands of the state, and affects the ability of all but traditional nuclear family forms to access other human rights. We add to the scholarship on the role of the state in defining and maintaining family and family inequality through an examination of the case of the Scarborough 11, an intentional family sued by the city of Hartford, CT for violations of residential zoning ordinance based on family. This case challenges hegemonic constructions of family and illustrates the limits of the UDHR to protect all families. The case demonstrates the importance of the related questions: 1) how legal definitions of family create the capacity for local residents to understand non-nuclear families living among them, 2) whether the end-goal of this problem should be to expand the state’s definition of family or remove that power from the state in total (a question of reform vs. abolition) and, 3) what might a case concerning white middle-class professionals’ struggles to thrive tell us about boundary maintenance and the struggles of the poor to survive