An Accounting of the Sources of Steller Sea Lion, Eumetopias jubatus, Mortality

During 1991–2000, the west-are additional mortalities that fueled the ern stock of Steller sea lions, Eumetopias decline. We tabulated the levels of reported jubatus, declined at 5.03% (SE = 0.25%) anthropogenic sources of mortality (sub- per year, statistically significant rates (P 8.2% partition the various sources of “additional” per year). Using a published correction mortalities as anthropogenic and as addifactor, we estimated the total non-pup pop-tional mortality including some predation. ulation size in Alaska of the western stock We classified 436 anthropogenic mortalities of Steller sea lions to be about 33,000 ani-and 769 anthropogenic plus some predation mals. Based on a published life table and mortalities as “mortality above replace-the current rate of decline, we estimate that ment”; this accounted for 26% and 46% of the total number of mortalities of non-pup the estimated total level of “mortality above Steller sea lions during 1991–2000 was replacement”, respectively. The remaining about 6,383 animals; of those, 4,718 (74%) mortality (74% and 54%, respectively) was are mortalities that would have occurred if not attributed to a specific cause and may be the population were stable, and 1,666 (26%) the result of nutritional stress

Anti-Predator Responses of Squid Throughout Ontogeny

Multiple sensory modalities and a complex array of escape behaviors have evolved as components of anti-predator responses in squids. The goals of this study include: (1) examine the role of the lateral line analogue and vision in successful predator evasion; (2) measure kinematics of escape jetting; (3) document how chromatic patterning, posturing and inking in squid change in response to predators; and (4) investigate escape jet hydrodynamics of squid. Given that squids undergo considerable morphological, ecological, and behavioral changes throughout ontogeny, the goals above were all investigated across different life history stages. To test the respective roles of vision and the lateral line analogue, squid of different life stages were recorded in the presence of natural predators under light and dark conditions with their lateral line analogue intact and ablated via a pharmacological technique. Anti-predator behaviors of squid throughout ontogeny were studied in a series of predator-prey trials using high-speed videography. Additionally, the hydrodynamics and kinematics of high velocity escape jets in squid were examined using a combination of 2D/3D velocimetry. The lateral line analogue played a role in initiation of an escape response at the earliest life stages, and continued to contribute to successful evasion by aiding visual cues in juvenile/adult squid. Paralarvae relied heavily on stereotyped swimming behaviors and translucent coloration to avoid capture, while juvenile and adults used multiple cues associated with the predator’s approach to determine whether posturing or inking and escape jetting is the most suitable anti-predator behavior. Throughout ontogeny, squid produced two escape jet patterns: (1) escape jet I characterized by short rapid pulses resulting in vortex ring formation and (2) and escape jet II characterized by long high volume jets, often with a leading edge vortex ring. Paralarvae exhibited significantly higher propulsive efficiency (94.55%) than adult squid (87.71%) during jet ejection. These results indicate that all life stages of squid are well adapted for predator avoidance; they employ multiple sensory modalities for predator detection, use a variety of anti-predator behavioral responses, and utilize a highly efficient and flexible escape jet to maximize escape from predation

Master of Science

thesisSince the discovery of carbon nanotubes in the 1950s, scientists and engineers have been working on applications that utilize their unique properties. Carbon nanotubes possess extreme conductivity, strength and stiffness which can be used to provide composite materials with improved properties. Cost effective large-scale production is a major challenge for the widespread adoption of carbon nanotubes. A Utah pilot industrial plant has been built to make industrial grade carbon nanotubes. This work seeks to develop appropriate methods for this testing these industrial grade carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes can be studied using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), which is an incredibly powerful tool, however, SEM analysis struggles to provide properties that can be attributed to the bulk powder properties due to the small number observed. The carbon nanotube testing protocols developed in this thesis are devoted to bulk powder methods including: bulk, tap and particle density by helium pyncometry, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, BET, surface area, temperature programmed oxidation to determine the oxidation temperatures of different types of carbon and the percentage of impurities after oxidation, bulk heat capacity, Raman spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and viscosity. The results of these analytical methods are provided for various types of industrial carbon materials including carbon nanotubes. The analytical results demonstrate that these bulk analytical methods can be used to differentiate various qualities of carbon nanotubes from other types of carbon. Carbon nanotubes show hybridized sp2 bonds with an open p orbital similar to that of graphene. However, the curvature of the nanotube structure allows an analytical distinction between the two using spectroscopy. This curvature and bonding gives the carbon nanotubes a higher level of structure which results in a higher temperature of oxidation, a larger specific heat capacity, and a higher surface area to volume ratio than other carbon species. Carbon nanotubes have an extremely large aspect ratio, the ratio of their length to their diameter. This will cause a unique distortion in the viscosity measurements at a particular volume fraction

All their eggs in one basket: a rocky reef nursery for the longnose skate (Raja rhina Jordan & Gilbert, 1880) in the southern California Bight

Skates (family Rajidae) are oviparous and lay tough, thick-walled eggs. At least some skate species lay their eggs in spatially restricted nursery grounds where embryos develop and hatch (Hitz, 1964; Hoff, 2007). After hatching, neonates may quickly leave the nursery grounds (Hoff, 2007). Egg densities in these small areas may be quite high. As an example, in the eastern Bering Sea, a site <2 km2 harbored eggs of Alaska skate (Bathyraja parmifera) exceeding 500,000/km2. All skate nursery grounds have been identified over soft sea floors (Lucifora and García, 2004; Hoff, 2007)

Information Technology Adoption by Small Businesses in Minority and Ethnic Communities

Information systems adoption by small businesses often is viewed as a basic building block of economic development. Yet, the components that impact business success and thus economic development are mostly unexplored, especially within the context of minority and ethnic communities, both domestically and internationally. Given that IT adoption in small businesses is very often the domain of the business owner, an investigation of how the attributes of individual business owners and the context in which they are embedded is essential. This paper develops an integrative model of the role that IT adoption plays in business success and the economic development process within minority and ethnic communities. The contribution of this paper lies in providing an integrative model of IT adoption that is relevant to small businesses in minority and ethnic communities and a set of theoretical propositions to facilitate adoption of IT in these communities

Religious Beliefs And Wealth Accumulation

One of the more interesting findings in the research on household wealth is the relationship between religion and wealth accumulation. In contrast to previous studies that use denominational affiliation, we use a more precise measure of religious belief constructed from responses to survey questions regarding interpretation of the Bible. Regression results indicate that households with more literalist Biblical beliefs have lower net worth overall. Additional analysis using quantile regression reveals that this relationship holds only for the upper half of the wealth distribution. There is no relationship at lower levels of wealth. Finally, while more literalist households are less likely to have an investment account or to have ever received an inheritance, they are more likely to own a home and to have a positive net worth

Dickens' presentation of major villains between 1836-1850: A convention used, developed, and transcended

This thesis explores Dickens' early use of the conventional melodramatic pattern of villain versus hero/heroine. Dickens increasingly focused on aspects of that pattern that he could alter and adapt to his own personal interests and experience. The traditional role of the villain, discrediting the hero and separating him from his family and friends, gave Dickens the opportunity to focus on isolation as an evil; he had particular reason to feel interest in this as a result of his own days in the blacking warehouse; and the traditional role of the villain in sexually threatening the heroine gave Dickens an opportunity to explore the ambivalent aspects of his own sexual attitude and that of his age. The major villains from The Pickwick Papers to David Copperfield dramatize these aspects of villainy made uniquely Dickensian, along with other personally felt evils such as the vindictive impulse and crimes against children. Oliver Twist highlights the evil and fear of isolation as The Old Curiosity Shop highlights the inability to reconcile the sexual impulse with decency and duty. It is not surprising that in these two novels, Dickens creates his two most diabolical villains, Fagin and Quilp. Dickens' imagination, free from restraint of the conscious mind, as it characteristically is in the early novels, providing the spontaneity and improvisation that so mark these books, is compared in this thesis to the way in which the imagination functions in dream. Giving support to this comparison are the fantastic atmospheres of these two novels as well as descriptions of Oliver and Nell constantly sleeping, dreaming, or in a state of unconsciousness, with Fagin and Quilp pursuing them like demons in a nightmare. In David Copperfield Dickens utilizes the themes of isolation, vengeance, crime against the child, and sexual ambivalence to the best thematic advantage, and with Murdstone, Steerforth, and Heep, gives his most skillfully achieved realization of the childhood fear of the destruction of the home and the fear of growing up.<p

Book Reviews

Reviews of the following books: The First Century: A History of the University of Maine, 1865-1965 by David C. Smith; Suthin (It\u27s the Opposite of Nothin\u27): An Oral History of Grover Morrison\u27s Woods Operation at Little Musquah Lake, 1945-1947 by Stephen Ballew, Joan Brooks, Dona Brotz and Edward Ives; I\u27m a Man That Works : The Biography of Don Mitchell of Merrill, Maine by Roger G. Mitchell; Remarks on My Life Per Me Hezekiah Prince, 1786-1792 edited by Sally Hill and Arthur Spear; Two Feet Between the Rails, Vol. I: The Early Years by Robert C. Jones; The History of Mercer, Maine by Lessie B. Loude

Diving behavior of immature Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus)

Understanding the ontogenetic relationship between juvenile Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) and their foraging habitat is key to understanding their relationship to available prey and ultimately their survival. We summarize dive and movement data from 13 young-of-the-year (YOY) and 12 yearling Steller sea lions equipped with satellite dive recorders in the Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands (n=18), and Washington (n=7) from 1994 to 2000. A total of 1413 d of transmission (x =56.5 d, range: 14.5–104.1 d) were received. We recorded 222,073 dives, which had a mean depth of 18.4 m (range of means: 5.8−67.9 m; SD=16.4). Alaska YOY dived for shorter periods and at shallower depths (mean depth=7.7 m, mean duration=0.8 min, mean maximum depth=25.7 m, and maximum depth=252 m) than Alaska yearlings (x =16.6 m, 0=1.1 min, x = 63.4 m, 288 m), whereas Washington yearlings dived the longest and deepest (mean depth=39.4 m, mean duration=1.8 min, mean maximum depth=144.5 m, and maximum depth=328 m). Mean distance for 564 measured trips was 16.6 km; for sea lions ≤10 months of age, trip distance (7.0 km) was significantly less than for those >10 months of age (24.6 km). Mean trip duration for 10 of the 25 sea lions was 12.1 h; for sea lions ≤10 months of age, trip duration was 7.5 h and 18.1 h for those >10 months of age. We identified three movements types: long-range trips (>15 km and >20 h), short-range trips (<15 km and <20 h) during which the animals left and returned to the same site, and transits to other haul-out sites. Long-range trips started around 9 months of age and occurred most frequently around the assumed time of weaning, whereas short-range trips happened almost daily (0.9 trips/day, n=426 trips). Transits began as early as 7 months of age, occurred more often after 9 months of age, and ranged between 6.5 and 454 km. The change in dive characteristics coincided with the assumed onset of weaning. These yearling sea lion movement patterns and dive characteristics suggest that immature Steller sea lions are as capable of making the same types of movements as adults

Pulsed electromagnetic energy treatment offers no clinical benefit in reducing the pain of knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review

Background The rehabilitation of knee osteoarthritis often includes electrotherapeutic modalities as well as advice and exercise. One commonly used modality is pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (PEMF). PEMF uses electro magnetically generated fields to promote tissue repair and healing rates. Its equivocal benefit over placebo treatment has been previously suggested however recently a number of randomised controlled trials have been published that have allowed a systematic review to be conducted. Methods A systematic review of the literature from 1966 to 2005 was undertaken. Relevant computerised bibliographic databases were searched and papers reviewed independently by two reviewers for quality using validated criteria for assessment. The key outcomes of pain and functional disability were analysed with weighted and standardised mean differences being calculated. Results Five randomised controlled trials comparing PEMF with placebo were identified. The weighted mean differences of the five papers for improvement in pain and function, were small and their 95% confidence intervals included the null. Conclusion This systematic review provides further evidence that PEMF has little value in the management of knee osteoarthritis. There appears to be clear evidence for the recommendation that PEMF does not significantly reduce the pain of knee osteoarthritis