Landowner Attitudes Toward Elk Management in the Pine Ridge Region of North-Western Nebraska

Little is known about attitudes of landowners toward elk (Cervus elaphus) on privately-owned land. We mailed questionnaires to agricultural landowners in the Pine Ridge region of northwestern Nebraska in both 1995 and 1997 to determine attitudes toward elk populations and management of elk. Fifty-six percent (n = 214) of respondents in 1995 and 57% (n = 461) in 1997 were in favor of free-ranging elk. Motivation for those in favor of elk was utilitarian (opportunity to view and hunt elk), ecological (return of a native species), and economic (benefits from increased tourism and leased land for elk hunting). Reasons for opposition to elk were largely economic (damage to crops, competition with livestock, transmission of diseases to livestock) and convenience (dealing with elk hunters). Attitudes toward free-ranging elk were not affected by year or presence of elk on landowners’ property. Attitudes were affected by region and experience with damage from elk. The mean reported cost of damage was $832 and$929 in 1995 and 1997, respectively, with 75 to 80% of landowners reporting damage as minor or tolerable. Respondents who reported damage felt that the population of elk was too high, while landowners who favored elk wanted the population to increase. Most landowners (54 to 63%) were in favor of elk-hunting seasons. Fifty-five percent of respondents in 1995 reported that they would allow elk hunting on their property, compared to 75% in 1997. Management recommendations that stem from this research may apply to landscapes east of the Rocky Mountains in areas that are largely privately-owned and have been recolonized by elk

Magnetic Field Strength in the Upper Solar Corona Using White-light Shock Structures Surrounding Coronal Mass Ejections

To measure the magnetic field strength in the solar corona, we examined 10 fast (> 1000 km/s) limb CMEs which show clear shock structures in SOHO/LASCO images. By applying piston-shock relationship to the observed CME's standoff distance and electron density compression ratio, we estimated the Mach number, Alfven speed, and magnetic field strength in the height range 3 to 15 solar radii (Rs). Main results from this study are: (1) the standoff distance observed in solar corona is consistent with those from a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model and near-Earth observations; (2) the Mach number as a shock strength is in the range 1.49 to 3.43 from the standoff distance ratio, but when we use the density compression ratio, the Mach number is in the range 1.47 to 1.90, implying that the measured density compression ratio is likely to be underestimated due to observational limits; (3) the Alfven speed ranges from 259 to 982 km/s and the magnetic field strength is in the range 6 to 105 mG when the standoff distance is used; (4) if we multiply the density compression ratio by a factor of 2, the Alfven speeds and the magnetic field strengths are consistent in both methods; (5) the magnetic field strengths derived from the shock parameters are similar to those of empirical models and previous estimates.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 11 Figures, 1 Tabl

SURVEILLANCE OF SELECTED DISEASES IN FREE-RANGING ELK (\u3ci\u3eCERVUS ELAPHUS NELSONI\u3c/i\u3e) IN NEBRASKA, 1995-2009

Sera samples were collected from 21 free-ranging, captured female elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) in 1995- 96, and tissue and sera samples were collected from 415 hunter-harvested elk from 1995 to 2006 and tested for selected diseases. Titers for Anaplasma marginale were detected in 81 of 436 (19%) elk. Occurrence of antibodies to anaplasmosis increased from 4 to 40 elk from 2002 to 2006. Titers for bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) were detected in 18 of 346 (5%) samples. Titers for Leptospira interrogans serovars were detected in 21 of 289 (7%) of samples from 1995 to 2004. Titers for bluetongue virus (BTV) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) were detected in 65 of 370 (18%) sampled elk during 1995-2006. Biologists collected obex tissues from 566 elk from 1997 to 2009 and found evidence of chronic wasting disease (CWO) in one elk in 2009. No brucellosis was detected. Due to the prevalence of several diseases in elk in Nebraska, we recommend that surveillance efforts continue

SURVEILLANCE OF SELECTED DISEASES IN FREE-RANGING ELK (\u3ci\u3eCERVUS ELAPHUS NELSONI\u3c/i\u3e) IN NEBRASKA, 1995-2009

Sera samples were collected from 21 free-ranging, captured female elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) in 1995- 96, and tissue and sera samples were collected from 415 hunter-harvested elk from 1995 to 2006 and tested for selected diseases. Titers for Anaplasma marginale were detected in 81 of 436 (19%) elk. Occurrence of antibodies to anaplasmosis increased from 4 to 40 elk from 2002 to 2006. Titers for bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) were detected in 18 of 346 (5%) samples. Titers for Leptospira interrogans serovars were detected in 21 of 289 (7%) of samples from 1995 to 2004. Titers for bluetongue virus (BTV) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) were detected in 65 of 370 (18%) sampled elk during 1995-2006. Biologists collected obex tissues from 566 elk from 1997 to 2009 and found evidence of chronic wasting disease (CWO) in one elk in 2009. No brucellosis was detected. Due to the prevalence of several diseases in elk in Nebraska, we recommend that surveillance efforts continue

Galactic Cosmic Ray Origins and OB Associations: Evidence from SuperTIGER Observations of Elements 26_{26}Fe through 40_{40}Zr

We report abundances of elements from $_{26}$Fe to $_{40}$Zr in the cosmic radiation measured by the SuperTIGER (Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder) instrument during 55 days of exposure on a long-duration balloon flight over Antarctica. These observations resolve elemental abundances in this charge range with single-element resolution and good statistics. These results support a model of cosmic-ray origin in which the source material consists of a mixture of 19$^{+11}_{-6}$\% material from massive stars and $\sim$81\% normal interstellar medium (ISM) material with solar system abundances. The results also show a preferential acceleration of refractory elements (found in interstellar dust grains) by a factor of $\sim$4 over volatile elements (found in interstellar gas) ordered by atomic mass (A). Both the refractory and volatile elements show a mass-dependent enhancement with similar slopes.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables, accepted by Ap

Landau-Zener-Stueckelberg effect in a model of interacting tunneling systems

The Landau-Zener-Stueckelberg (LZS) effect in a model system of interacting tunneling particles is studied numerically and analytically. Each of N tunneling particles interacts with each of the others with the same coupling J. This problem maps onto that of the LZS effect for a large spin S=N/2. The mean-field limit N=>\infty corresponds to the classical limit S=>\infty for the effective spin. It is shown that the ferromagnetic coupling J>0 tends to suppress the LZS transitions. For N=>\infty there is a critical value of J above which the staying probability P does not go to zero in the slow sweep limit, unlike the standard LZS effect. In the same limit for J>0 LZS transitions are boosted and P=0 for a set of finite values of the sweep rate. Various limiting cases such as strong and weak interaction, slow and fast sweep are considered analytically. It is shown that the mean-field approach works well for arbitrary N if the interaction J is weak.Comment: 13 PR pages, 15 Fig

The national telephone plan - numbering [1959]

This article was originally published in the Telecommunication Journal of Australia Volume 12 No 1, 1959. It describes one of the basic elements in the design of the system for the long-term development of the Australian telephone service the national numbering plan

Quantum Nonlinear Switching Model

We present a method, the dynamical cumulant expansion, that allows to calculate quantum corrections for time-dependent quantities of interacting spin systems or single spins with anisotropy. This method is applied to the quantum-spin model \hat{H} = -H_z(t)S_z + V(\bf{S}) with H_z(\pm\infty) = \pm\infty and \Psi (-\infty)=|-S> we study the quantity P(t)=(1-_t/S)/2. The case V(\bf{S})=-H_x S_x corresponds to the standard Landau-Zener-Stueckelberg model of tunneling at avoided-level crossing for N=2S independent particles mapped onto a single-spin-S problem, P(t) being the staying probability. Here the solution does not depend on S and follows, e.g., from the classical Landau-Lifshitz equation. A term -DS_z^2 accounts for particles' interaction and it makes the model nonlinear and essentially quantum mechanical. The 1/S corrections obtained with our method are in a good accord with a full quantum-mechanical solution if the classical motion is regular, as for D>0.Comment: 4 Phys. Rev. pages 2 Fig

Measurement of the cosmic-ray antiproton spectrum at solar minimum with a long-duration balloon flight over Antarctica

The energy spectrum of cosmic-ray antiprotons from 0.17 to 3.5 GeV has been measured using 7886 antiprotons detected by BESS-Polar II during a long-duration flight over Antarctica near solar minimum in December 2007 and January 2008. This shows good consistency with secondary antiproton calculations. Cosmologically primary antiprotons have been investigated by comparing measured and calculated antiproton spectra. BESS-Polar II data show no evidence of primary antiprotons from evaporation of primordial black holes.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Feedback Effect on Landau-Zener-Stueckelberg Transitions in Magnetic Systems

We examine the effect of the dynamics of the internal magnetic field on the staircase magnetization curves observed in large-spin molecular magnets. We show that the size of the magnetization steps depends sensitively on the intermolecular interactions, even if these are very small compared to the intra-molecular couplings.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Postscript figures; paper reorganized, conclusions modifie