Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Cultural Control Of Damage To Alfalfa Caused By Pocket Gophers, Ronald M. Case, Debra Baker, James Luchsinger, Bruce Jasch

Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings

In 1989 we postulated that using different varieties of alfalfa might minimize damages caused by pocket gophers (Geomys spp.). We tested a tap-rooted variety (Wrangler) and a fibrous-rooted variety (Spredor 2). From previous studies, Wrangler out performs Spredor 2 by as much as 27% by the fourth year after planting. Spredor 2, however, has a creeping habit and it sends up new shoots on lateral roots. When a root breaks, it sends up new shoots. Therefore, we predicted that Spredor 2 would be damaged less by below-ground foraging by plains pocket gophers (G. Bursarius). Additionally, Spredor 2 …

The Coyote As An Ecological Model, Thomas A. Eddy, Cindy M. Moore

Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings

Teachers (K-12) in a prairie ecology workshop in Kansas used the coyote as the focus for the design of an educational strategy to integrate many concepts and principles of ecology into the various subject areas of the curriculum. A topical outline was developed as a guide for implementing the study.

Gifford Point/Fontenelle Forest Urban Deer Survival And Case Study, Jason D. Ekstein, Scott E. Hygnstrom

Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings

From 1995-1996, we radio collared and/or ear tagged 98 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in an urban area of Bellevue, Nebraska. We determined the density to be 44 deer/km2 and observed the movements of 52 collared does. The managed hunt and harvest results are discussed.

Technical Publication Of Wildlife Damage Research, Michael W. Fall, William B. Jackson

Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings

The growth of the subdiscipline of wildlife damage research is producing a wealth of scientific information about methods of resolving conflicts between animals and people. Scientists working on these problems have, for many years, found difficulty in publishing the results of their applied research investigations in traditional scientific journal outlets, leading to a diverse information base that encompasses a variety of technical journals and a large “gray” literature in non-refereed publications. Although a number of current scientific journals welcome papers reporting the results of wildlife damage research, the identification of suitable primary outlets for such work, particularly for studies conducted …

Experimental Rodent Control At The Beef Cattle Research Center, Kansas State University, Philip S. Gipson, Charles D. Lee, Matthew L. Burenheide, Jan F. Kamler, Justin E. Kretzer, Daniel J. Martin, Celine C. Perchellet, Chad M. Willemssen, Jennifer Weins

Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings

Little research has been conducted on rodent control techniques in livestock feedlot situations. We tested efficacy of several treatments including two anticoagulant baits, an acute toxicant and snap trapping to reduce rodent populations at the Beef Cattle Research Center at Kansas State University. Among the four treatments utilized, Contrac®, Blox®, and Ditrac® Tracking Powder reduced the number of active burrows. ZP® Rodent Bait had no observed effect on the rodent population and no rodents were taken with snap traps. Burrow activity appears to be a better census method when compared to corn consumption when rodents have access to unlimited food.

Lesser Scaup Depredation And Economic Impact At Baitfish Facilities In Arkansas, M. Chad Philipp, Michael D. Hoy

Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings

During the winters of 1994-95 and 1995-96, unusually large numbers of diving ducks were observed on baitfish facilities in Arkansas. Historically, lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) inhabited baitfish ponds with little reported impact on minnow production, and thus little attention was paid to the birds. Unfortunately, minnow crops in the spring of 1995 fell short of expectations and immediate attention became focused on the role lesser scaup may have had on that minnow shortage. Subsequently, lesser scaup were collected from baitfish facilities in an effort to determine their effect on commercial fish farms. Two hundred and twenty-three lesser scaup …

White-Tailed Deer Activity, Contraception, And Estrous Cycling, Stephen A. Schumake, Gary Killian

Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings

Reliable activity measures in free-ranging white-tailed deer could be useful for the assessment of estrous cycling and general activity changes that can occur after immunocontraceptive vaccine treatments. Electronic data-logging (Countcard^TM) devices attached to 9 white-tailed doe deer on neck collars were used to monitor their movement activities during 2 rutting seasons in 2.5 acre fenced enclosures. Direct daily behavioral observations on buck responses toward individual does were used to detect estrus and to validate changes in 24-hour activity counts as another indication of estrous cycling. When individual activity counts for the estrus days on the does were compared …

Sheep Predation By Coyotes: A Behavioral Analysis, Ray T. Sterner

Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings

This paper presents (1) a brief overview of several concepts important to predator-prey behaviors of coyotes, (2) results of an enclosure study of sheep-attack, -immobilization, and -ingestion responses involving 12 male coyotes (Canis latrans) that were paired with sheep after observing various sheep- predation events by conspecifics, and (3) an analysis of sheep predation based upon operant learning principles. Contrasts between comparative psychological and ethological approaches to the study of animal behavior are described. Results of the enclosure study (0.127-ha) showed that following matched-length trials of observing predation, non-predation, and lone sheep, 3, 2, and 1 coyote(s), respectively, …

Livestock Protection Collar Use In California, Robert M. Timm, Gary D. Simmons, John R. Hays

Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings

Use of the Livestock Protection Collar (LP Collar) containing sodium fluoroacetate began on a research basis in October 1995 at the UC Hopland Research and Extension Center. Registration for use in California only by certified ADC specialists was granted in early 1996, and operational use in three north coast counties began in early 1997. Preparation for beginning operational use dealt with concerns regarding user certification, hazardous waste disposal, and public relations. We report on the success to date of using LP Collars to remove sheep-killing coyotes. Incidents in which non-target predators including mountain lions have attacked LP-Collared sheep are also …

Use Of Netted-Cage Traps In Population Management And Research Of Urban White-Tailed Deer, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Jeff Beringer, Scott Hygnstrom

Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings

Growing populations of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in urban areas often conflict with local human interests and present challenges to natural resource managers. Netted-cage traps can be an important tool for management of urban deer populations where traditional control methods may not be appropriate or acceptable. We discuss the design of netted-cage traps, trapping techniques, and the handling of trapped deer.

Brazed Lower Vacuum Housing For A Dewar, Timothy S. Romano, Tom K. Evans, Gary B. Hughes, Karl H. Neumann

Statistics

A lower vacuum housing (34) of a sensor dewar (26) is fabricated in a single brazing operation from ceramic and metallic components. The components are assembled with ceramic-to-metal interfaces and metal-to-metal interfaces. Brazing is accomplished by active brazing of the ceramic-to-metal interfaces and non-active brazing of the metal-to-metal interfaces. Specific combinations of active braze alloys and non-active braze alloys are provided for various combinations of dewar materials.

Agdb: A Debugger For Agent Tcl, Melissa Hirschl, David Kotz

Computer Science Technical Reports

The Agent Tcl language is an extension of Tcl/Tk that supports distributed programming in the form of transportable agents. AGDB is a debugger for the Agent Tcl language. AGDB mixes of traditional and distributed debugging facilities. Traditional debugging features include breakpoints (line-specific, conditional, and once-only), watch conditions and variables, and interrupts. Distributed-debugging features address issues inherent in distributed programming such as migration and communication. These capabilities make debugging distributed programs difficult because they add complexities like race conditions to the set of problems a program can encounter. This paper discusses how AGDB uses distributed debugging features to debug agents.

Announcements: February 1997

Drought Network News (1994-2001)

Contents:

Local Authorities Confronting Disasters and Emergencies-Third International Conference

1997 National Conference on Delivering Health and Medical Services in Catastrophic Disasters

Book: Policy Making in an Era of Global Environmental Change

Famine And Drought: The Question Of Food Security In Zimbabwe, Joshua Chigodora

Drought Network News (1994-2001)

From the time that the London Missionary Society first took Zimbabwean rainfall records at Hope Fountain in 1888, the worst droughts on record are the consecutive dry spells from 1911 to 1914, the 1946–47 drought, the 1960 drought, and the 1972–73 rainy season, which was the driest period of colonial Zimbabwe. The country also had serious food shortages in 1903, 1916, 1922, 1933, and 1942. Although the people of precolonial Zimbabwe experienced recurrent droughts, they generally had well-developed coping mechanisms that prevented high death tolls (Iliffe, 1990).

Drought In The United States: 1996 Summary And Historical Perspective, William O. Brown, Richard R. Heim Jr.

Drought Network News (1994-2001)

Considerable variation in moisture conditions, on both a spatial and temporal basis, occurred in the contiguous United States during 1996. A tenth or more of the country experienced severe to extreme short-term (i.e., monthly) precipitation deficits during nearly half of the months (Figure 1), but in many months there were also large areas of excessive precipitation, which resulted in overall national conditions averaging near normal to wetter than normal (again, see Figure 1). From a national perspective, long-term drought peaked at mid-year (Figure 2), when severe drought plagued the South and Southwest.

Climatic Uncertainties And Recent Experiences In Medium-Range Weather Forecasting Over Kashmir, Badrul Hasan, Rehana Habib Kanth

Drought Network News (1994-2001)

Successful crop management and production require a precise and thorough understanding of agroclimatic conditions of a region. A crop experiences a range of weather conditions during its vegetative and reproductive phases. Although the agronomic inputs at optimum levels decide satisfactory and stable crop yields, the range of weather and climatic optimum prevalent at important crop stages determine the ultimate yields. Thus, even with all inputs at our disposal, we cannot afford to ignore the environmental conditions experienced by the crop. Systematic and continuous measurements of weather elements provide basic data input for tuning any type of computer-based forecasting system. This …

Water Current, Volume 29, No. 1, February 1997

Water Current Newsletter

Innovative Groundwater Cleanup Technique Being Featured in EPA's Technology Profiles
From the Director: Funding Sources Explored; Award Recognizes Stewardship
Prevention Helps Safeguard Drinking Water
Health and Human Services Department Certifies Nebraska Water Operators
"Splash" Is Interactive Intro to Nonpoint Source Pollution Through CD-ROM Game
Water Brief News
Register for Groundwater University
Expedition Planned for Children's Groundwater Festival
Comfort, Morrison Earn Research Awards
Volk Presented Water Guardian Award
Conference Deadline March 4
Unit Library A Little Known Resource

Absorption Processes: Models For Q-Identities, Don Rawlings

Mathematics

Several extensions of Blomqvist's absorption process are presented. Inherent in some of the associated distributions is a method for establishingq-identities ranging from properties of Gaussian polynomials to product expansions of basic hypergeometric series to extensions of results on Mahonian statistics. One process links the comajor index to Russian roulette. Also given are examples involving the Rogers–Ramanujan identities that demonstrate howq-expressions may be modeled with absorption processes.

Changing Climatic Scenarios And Strategies For Drought Management In The Indian Arid Region, A. S. Rao, J. P. Gupta, A. S. Faroda

Drought Network News (1994-2001)

Western Rajasthan constitutes 62% of the 0.32 million km² that make up the hot Indian arid region (Figure 1). The average annual rainfall of the area varies from less than 100 mm (coefficient of variation [CV] = 70%) in the western parts to just above 500 mm (CV = 40%) in the eastern parts of arid Rajasthan. During July and August, the eastern parts of the arid region have an assured crop growing period of 12–15 weeks, whereas the western parts mostly depend on the vagaries of the southwest monsoon. The annual potential evapotranspiration rates are 3–8 times higher …

From The Director: February 1997, Donald A. Wilhite

Drought Network News (1994-2001)

In the October issue of Drought Network News, I briefly discussed two policy initiatives that developed in response to the severe and widespread drought that affected the Southwest and southern Great Plains states in the United States during 1996. The first of these activities, a multistate workshop (and its subsequent report), was coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This report was submitted to President Clinton in late August; it contained a series of recommendations that focused on short- and long-term issues. The second initiative, under the leadership of the Western Governors’ Association (WGA), was not available in final …

Tb164: Precipitation Chemistry At The Greenville, Maine, Nadp/Ntn Station, Ivan J. Fernandez, Llew Wortman

Technical Bulletins

This report details results from the Greenville, Maine, NADP/NTN site supported by the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station. The site is located in Piscataquis County at 69°39'52" longitude and 45°29'23" latitude at approximately 322 m elevation. The site consists of a single Aerochem Metrics® Automatic Sensing Wet/Dry Precipitation Collector that provides samples for chemical analysis and a Belfort® Recording Rain Gage and Event Recorder for accurate determinations of precipitation volume. Samples are collected every Tuesday morning 52 weeks a year.

Tb165: Chemical And Physical Properties Of The Danforth, Elliotsville, Peacham, And Penquis Soil Map Units, R. V. Rourke

Technical Bulletins

The soils reported in this bulletin have developed in several different parent materials. The Danforth soil has developed from very deep, well drained, loose, high coarse fragment till derived from slate and fine-grained metasandstone. The Elliottsville soils have developed in moderately deep, well drained till derived from slates, metasandstones, phyllite and schists. The Penquis soils developed in moderately deep, well drained till of similar lithology as Elliottsville, but with a higher component of weathered and crushable rock fragments throughout the soil profile. Peacham soils are developed in very deep, very poorly drained, dense till derived from phyllite, schist, and granite.

Wright State University College Of Engineering And Computer Science Bits And Pcs Newsletter, Volume 13, Number 2, February 1997, College Of Engineering And Computer Science, Wright State University

BITs and PCs Newsletter

A twelve page newsletter created by the Wright State University College of Engineering and Computer Science that addresses the current affairs of the college.

Improving Flavor Symmetry In The Kogut-Susskind Hadron Spectrum, James E. Hetrick, T. Blum

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

We study the effect of modifying the coupling of Kogut-Susskind quarks to the gauge field by replacing the link matrix in the quark action by a “fat link,” or sum of link plus three-link paths. Flavor symmetry breaking, determined by the mass difference between the Goldstone and non-Goldstone local pions, is reduced by approximately a factor of 2 by this modification.

An Atlas Of Computed Equivalent Widths Of Quasar Broad Emission Lines, Kirk Korista, Jack Baldwin, Gary J. Ferland, Dima Verner

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present graphically the results of several thousand photoionization calculations of broad emission-line clouds in quasars, spanning 7 orders of magnitude in hydrogen ionizing flux and particle density. The equivalent widths of 42 quasar emission lines are presented as contours in the particle density-ionizing flux plane for a typical incident continuum shape, solar chemical abundances, and cloud column density of N(H) = 10²³ cm^-2. Results are similarly given for a small subset of emission lines for two other column densities (10²² and 10²⁴ cm^-2), five other incident continuum shapes, and a gas …

Generalized Conjugacy Classes, Pramod N. Achar

Mathematical Sciences Technical Reports (MSTR)

Generalized conjugation is the action of a group on its underlying set given by (g,x) -> p(g)xg^-1, where p is some fixed endomorphism of G. Here we study combinatorial properties of the sizes of the orbits of the preceding action. In particular, we reduce the problem to a simpler case if p has nontrivial kernel, or if it is an inner automorphism, and we give a construction that allows a partial analysis in the general case.

Monte Carlo Simulation Of The Solid To Superliquid Phase Transition Of Langmuir Monolayers. Ii. Characteristics Of Phase Transition, M.D. Gibson, D.R. Swanson, Craig J. Eckhardt, Xiao Cheng Zeng

Craig J. Eckhardt Publications

The restricted-to-free rotator phase transition of fatty acid monolayers has been modeled using a potential which represents the amphiphiles as planar cross sections of fourfold symmetry. Using much larger system sizes than paper I [D. R. Swanson, R. J. Hardy, and C. J. Eckhardt, J. Chem. Phys. 99, 8194 (1993)], Monte Carlo simulations of the isobaric–isothermal ensemble of model systems with varied number of objects were undertaken to study the effect of system size on the characteristics and order of the phase transition. A peak in the specific heat vs temperature curve was observed near the transition. For each system …

44. Vogl Receives Honorary Doctoral Degree From Osaka University, Koichi Hatada

Otto Vogl

No abstract provided.

Review Of Global Ecology: Environmental Change And Social Flexibility And Environment And Resource Policies For The World Economy, Wendy A. Kellogg

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

Review of Global Ecology: Environmental Change and Social Flexibility by V. Smil and Environment and Resource Policies for the World Economy by R.N. Cooper

Magnetic Surveys Help Reassess Volcanic Hazards At Yucca Mountain, Nevada, Charles B. Connor, Sammantha Lane-Magsino, John A. Stamatakos, Ronald H. Martin, Peter C. Lafemina, Brittain E. Hill, Steve Lieber

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Natural disasters like volcanic eruptions occur infrequently, but if they occur near nuclear power plants or high‐level radioactive waste repositories, local and global communities can be threatened. Ideally, such facilities should be constructed only where geologic risk is very low.

Estimating the probabilities of such events requires a comprehensive understanding of site geology and the geologic processes operating in the site region on timescales of 104 to 107years. In light of these requirements, geologists and geophysicists must continually improve techniques for site characterization.