Factors affecting nest success of colonial nesting waterbirds in Southwest Louisiana

As the coastline of Louisiana shifts with global climate change, subsidence, and accelerated sea level rise, important breeding islands for colonial nesting waterbirds are disappearing. In many recent studies flooding has been a leading cause of nest failure for a variety of species, especially those that nest on the ground. I examined the nest success of four species of colonial nesting waterbirds with various nesting strategies on Rabbit Island in southwestern Louisiana during 2017 and2018 by determining nest and fledging success. I monitored 855 nests, including 457 Brown Pelicans nests with an estimated hatch probability of 70%, 270 Forster’s Terns with an estimated 12% hatch likelihood, 92 Tricolored Herons at a hatch success rate of 77%, and 36 Roseate Spoonbills with the highest hatch rate at 70%. My findings indicate that nest strategy and nest timing have a significant impact on survival rate, however the effect is mediated by conditions within a specific breeding season. The largest cause of nest failure was flooding for all species except Tricolored Herons, indicating that the island may currently be too low for small differences in elevation between nest sites to impact survival. Increasing island elevation could reduce the probability of nest failure due to overwash, but increased elevation may also lead to island abandonment or reduced nest success due to increased chance of island colonization by rank woody vegetation, mammalian predators, and/or fire ants

A Monument Completed: The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower: Review of \u3ci\u3eThe Presidency: Keeping the Peace: The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volumes 18-21\u3c/i\u3e. Edited by Louis Galambos, Daun van Ee, Elizabeth S. Hughes,Janet R. Brugger, Robin D. Coblentz, Jill A. Friedman, and Nancy Kay Berlage.

Eisenhower would be pleased to see the results of the experienced and talented editorial team that completed The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower documentary series in twenty-one volumes (initial projections called for ten). While this review deals with the final four volumes of the Eisenhower Papers Project (The Presidency: Keeping the Peace, Volumes 18 to 21, edited by Louis Galambos, Daun van Ee, Elizabeth S. Hughes, Janet R. Brugger, Robin D. Coblentz, Jill A. Friedman, and Nancy Kay Berlage) housed at the Milton S. Eisenhower Library at the Johns Hopkins University, a brief retrospective of the entire project is in order

USE OF FRESHWATER PONDS BY WHOOPING CRANES DURING A DROUGHT PERIOD

Whooping cranes (Grus americana) spend nearly half their annual cycle in coastal habitats within and around the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge Complex (ANWRC) located in the central portion of the Texas Coast. When drought conditions prevail in their winter range and salinities in the local bays exceed 23 parts per thousand (ppt), whooping cranes must seek alternate sources of dietary drinking water (Stehn 2008, Chavez- Ramirez and Wehtje 2012). They begin frequent (often daily) trips to freshwater sources in upland areas. These trips may result in extra energy expenditures that can impact their overall health and ability to store energy for spring migration (Canadian Wildlife Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2007). We opportunistically used game camera images obtained from a physiological research project (B. Hartup, unpublished data) to gain additional information on how whooping cranes used refuge-managed freshwater resources in relation to prevailing environmental conditions

Improving Marketplace Health Insurance Enrollment for Eligible HIV and AIDs Positive Clients in Need of Specialty Medical Care Services

Nearly 5,500 individuals living in Wake County, North Carolina, are diagnosed with HIV and AIDs (North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, 2018). Individuals living with HIV and AIDs have complex health conditions that are left unmet and untreated due to gaps in community awareness and self-efficacy in obtaining insurance through the marketplace. These individuals may be eligible for marketplace insurance with premium coverage through benefits under the Ryan White HIV/AIDs program. Nevertheless, many remain uninsured and lack access to specialty care services. The purpose of this DNP project was to improve the health and outcomes of individuals living with HIV and AIDs. The project aimed to increase the number of eligible patients who apply for insurance through the healthcare marketplace by developing a process to reduce barriers to enrollment and increase patient self-efficacy towards obtaining insurance. As a result of a process improvement and workflow change, 38 individuals were successfully enrolled in a marketplace insurance plan with their insurance premium covered.D.N.P

Edge effect compensation for citrus canker lesion detection due to light source variation – a hyperspectral imaging application

The spread of citrus canker has become one of the most important challenges faced by Florida Fresh Market citrus is affecting the export of citrus fruits to several international markets including European countries.  Previous studies have shown that automated detection systems can help detect citrus canker infected fruit and could assist in eliminating the detected fruit from shipment to closed markets.  Most automated detection systems use some form of machine vision with artificial light sources.  However, when capturing images of spherical objects, non-uniform illumination results in an edge blackening effect resulting in higher misclassification rate.  The basic objective of this research was to implement a compensation algorithm to eliminate the edge effect when capturing hyperspectral image of citrus fruits.  The algorithm originally developed by Gomez et al. 2007, was adapted for the purpose of canker detection.  The image was corrected for spatial variations (flat field correction) caused by intensity of light source as well as geometrical variation caused by the spherical geometry of the citrus fruit.  In this study, the geometric correction was accomplished by constructing a 3-D digital elevation model (DEM) of the fruit from its 2-D image.  This DEM provided the geometric properties of the fruit X, Y, and Z coordinates which were exploited in the course of estimating the geometric correction factor for each pixel.  The corrected image portrayed a more uniform brightness of the citrus fruit surface throughout.  Tests were conducted on 10 orange samples (five marketable and five cankerous) to validate the results of the algorithm which demonstrated that the geometric correction resulted in uniform intensity of radiation throughout the fruit surface thus reducing the within class variation.   Keywords: edge effect compensation, hyperspectral imaging, canker, spatial correction, geometric correctio

Citrus black spot detection using hyperspectral image analysis

A recently discovered fungal disease called citrus black spot, is threatening the Florida citrus industry.  The fungal disease, which causes cosmetic lesions on the rind of the fruit and can cause a tree to drop its fruit prematurely, could possibly lead to a ban on sales of fresh Florida citrus in other citrus-producing states.  The objective of this research is to develop a multispectral imaging algorithm to detect citrus black spots based on hyperspectral image data.  Hyperspectral images of citrus fruits (Valencias) were collected in the wavelength range of 480 nm to 950 nm.  Five surface conditions were examined, citrus black spot, greasy spot, melanose, wind scar, and normal one.  The first part of the image analysis determined the optimal wavelengths using correlation analysis based on the wavelength ratio (l1/l2) and wavelength difference (l1 - l2).  Four wavelengths were identified, 493 nm, 629 nm, 713 nm, and 781 nm.  In the second part, pattern recognition approaches namely linear discriminant classifier and artificial neural networks were developed using the four selected wavelengths as the input.  Both pattern recognition approaches had an overall accuracy of 92%.  The detection accuracy was improved to 96% by using the NDVI band ratio method of 713 nm and 781 nm.  The multispectral image algorithm developed in this study haspotential to be adopted by a real-time multispectral imaging system for citrus black spot detection.     Keywords: activation energy, effective diffusivity, foam-mat drying, foam characteristics, modeling, Shrim

Fabrication technology for double-gate field effect transistors

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1999.Includes bibliographical references (p. 49).by Andrew P. Ritenour.S.M