A comparative study of the egg-white proteins of passerine birds

The avian order Passeriformes contains more than 5000 of the approximately 8600 species of living birds….https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/peabody_museum_natural_history_bulletin/1031/thumbnail.jp

The Dark Duo of Post-Colonial Ideology: A Model of Symbolic Exclusion and Historical Negation

Post-colonial nations experience a specific set of socio-structural conditions that foster a unique duo of ideologies. These are the ideology of Historical Recognition versus Negation (or HRN) and the ideology of Symbolic Projection versus Exclusion (or SPE). These ideologies operate in tandem to legitimize material and symbolic inequality in response to specific and contested aspects of post-colonial social structure and history. HRN is promoted by the dominant group to legitimize inequality in outcomes experienced by Indigenous peoples in post-colonial societies where historical injustice is objective fact (objective historical injustice). SPE is promoted by the dominant group to claim ownership of the national category in post-colonial societies where there is an inability to logically deny that Indigenous peoples "belong" to the nation (undeniable belongingness). I present the Post-Colonial Ideology Scale (PCIS-2D), which assesses these two distinct "dark" ideologies. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses validated the factor structure of the PCIS-2D in undergraduate (N = 373; Study 1) and community (N = 447; Study 2) samples of New Zealand (NZ) citizens. The PCIS-2D evidenced good construct validity, as SPE and HRN predicted unique variance in voting preferences and social policy attitudes controlling for demographics, Big Five personality, and System Justification ideology (Study 2). These results indicate that HRN and SPE are distinct ideologies that explain unique variance in support for a range of social and political issues. At the systemic level, HRN and SPE form a joint ideological system that legitimates inequality in two critical social domains: one relating to resource allocations, the other relating to representation and ownership of the national category

The relationships of the “wren-thrush”, Zeledonia coronata Ridgway

Comparisons of the electrophoretic pattern of the egg-white proteins of Zeledonia coronata with the patterns of most groups of passerine birds indicate that this species is not a thrush, but a nine-primaried oscine , probably allied most closely to, and possibly a member of, the wood warblers (Parulidae of Wetmore, 1960). Investigation of the taxonomic history of Zeledonia suggests that an early combination of bias, errors, and incomplete comparative studies conspired to divert the attention of later investigators from the ample anatomical evidence indicating the true relationships of Zeledonia

Letter, G. Sibley to Peleg Clarke Jr., December 5, 1863

This handwritten letter, dated December 5, 1863, is written from G. Sibley to Peleg Clarke, Jr. informing him that his claim for payment of corn was forwarded to third auditor of the treasury on November 23, 1863. The letter is written on Quartermaster General\u27s Office letterhead.https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/fvw-manuscripts-clarke/1047/thumbnail.jp

Location-aware alert system for mobile devices

Being able to react fast to campaign events such as missing persons or disaster preventions, is of paramount importance. In these situations narrowing down the search area to a targeted and accurate location is imperative. Nowadays, modern mobile devices have the location awareness capabilities that can be used to determine the users Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates. However in order to determine if a user is located within a specific area, complex floating point calculations are required. Moreover if the area is determined by a polygon, this calculation is further complicated. In this paper we propose a novel algorithm which makes use of spatial indices to determine if a mobile is located within a predefined polygon shape area. The algorithm determines the optimal length of the spatial index such as to ensure accuracy-processing time-memory trade-off. We build a prototype system, using free and open source software, to deliver alerts to mobile devices within a predetermined geographical area. The system is assessed in terms of accuracy, processing time and memory usage

Field-scale validation of an automated soil nitrate extraction and measurement system

One of the many gaps that needs to be solved by precision agriculture technologies is the availability of an economic, automated, on-the-go mapping system that can be used to obtain intensive and accurate ‘real-time’ data on the levels of nitrate nitrogen (NO3–N) in the soil. A soil nitrate mapping system (SNMS) has been developed to provide a way to collect such data. This study was done to provide extensive field-scale validation testing of the system’s nitrate extraction and measurement sub-unit (NEMS) in two crop (wheat and carrot) production systems. Field conditions included conventional tillage (CT) versus no tillage (NT), inorganic versus organic fertilizer application, four soil groups and three points in time throughout the season. Detailed data analysis showed that: (i) the level of agreement, as measured by root mean squared error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE) and coefficient of efficiency (CE), between NEMS soil NO3–N and standard laboratory soil NO3–N measurements was excellent; (ii) at the field-scale, there was little practical difference when using either integer or real number data processing; (iii) regression equations can be used to enable field measurements of soil NO3–N using the NEMS to be obtained with laboratory accuracy; (iv) future designs of the SNMS’s control system can continue to use cheaper integer chip technology for processing the nitrate ion-selective electrode (NO3 -–ISE) readings; and (v) future designs of the SNMS would not need a soil moisture sensor, ultimately saving on manufacturing costs of a more simple syste

Religion, deprivation and subjective wellbeing: Testing a religious buffering hypothesis

The buffering effect of religion upon wellbeing has been well demonstrated; however, the question of whether this buffering effect also extends to protecting the religious against material hardship still requires investigation. We present a Bayesian linear regression model showing that religious affiliation provides a protective buffer against the corrosive effects on subjective wellbeing of living in impoverished conditions. Results from a national probability sample tested with an objective indicator of the deprivation of participants’ local neighbourhood, derived from census data, indicated that religious people living in deprived neighbourhoods were higher in subjective wellbeing than their non-religious counterparts living in those same neighbourhoods (N = 5,984 New Zealanders). It was in impoverished conditions that the difference in wellbeing between religious and non-religious people was apparent; those living in affluent neighbourhoods showed comparably high levels of subjective wellbeing regardless of whether or not they were religious. Our results explore new ground by showing for the first time that the buffering effect of religion is readily apparent within New Zealand

The relationships of the Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) and the alleged slowdown in the rate of macromolecular evolution in birds

The taxonomic relationships of the Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) have been uncertain since its discovery more than 200 years ago. Although usually considered to be a New World wood warbler (Parulini) it possesses structural and behavioral characteristics that seem aberrant in comparison with the typical members of that group. The relationships of Icteria were investigated by comparing its single-copy DNA sequences with those of other New World nine-primaried oscines and representatives of other oscine families, using the technique of DNA-DNA hybridization. The data indicate that Icteria is a paruline warbler and it should continue to be included within that group. The study of Icteria provided the basis for an examination of the suggestion by several authors that the proteins of birds and, by extension, their DNAs, evolve more slowly than do those of other animals. Evidence is presented indicating that the alleged differences are due, at least in part, to differences in the human perception of the boundaries of taxonomic categories in birds versus most other organisms. Birds are taxonomically oversplit at all supraspecific levels, but small, nocturnal mammals and other groups are probably overlumped at all levels. The lack of equivalence between the taxonomic categories of birds and those of other animals results in an erroneous evaluation of their rates of macromolecular evolution. DNA hybridization data indicate that the vireos (Vireoninae) are not closely related to the wood warblers, or to other New World nine-primaried oscines. We have shown elsewhere that the vireos are members of a large, varied corvine assemblage

Narcissistic self-esteem or optimal self-esteem? A Latent Profile Analysis of self-esteem and psychological entitlement

Research into the relationship between self-esteem and narcissism has produced conflicting results, potentially caused by hidden subpopulations that exhibit distinct positive or negative associations. This research uses Latent Profile Analysis to identify profiles within a national panel study (N = 6,471) with differing relationships between psychological entitlement and self-esteem. We identified a narcissistic self-esteem profile (9%) characterised by high entitlement and high self-esteem, an optimal self-esteem (38.4%) profile characterised by high self-esteem but low entitlement, and three profiles that reported low entitlement but different levels of self-esteem. We additionally predicted profile membership using Big-Five personality. Results indicate that self-esteem is a necessary but not sufficient condition for high entitlement, and entitlement is not highly prevalent in New Zealand