Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Are Coyotes Right- Or Left-Handed, And Who Cares?, Michael J. Bodenchuk

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The sheep killer left the pasture with his belly completely full of lambs. He’d killed and consumed 2 this night, obviously more than he needed for himself. But back at the den 8 hungry pups demanded more and more meat, and this was not his first foray into the pasture.

Evolution Of The Field Of Wildlife Damage Management In The United States And Future Challenges, James E. Miller

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Through the early twentieth century, people in rural areas of North America either dealt with problems caused by wildlife by killing the problem species, eliminating its habitat, changing crops or husbandry practices, tolerating the damage, or moving to a new area devoid of such problem animals. However, many of these solutions are impractical today with the increase in human populations, the increased expansion of development into previously rural landscapes, the increased fragmentation of land ownership, and the increasing movement of people into metropolitan areas. Because of current local, state, and federal ordinances and regulations, along with the impacts of animal …

Successful Use Of Neck Snares To Live-Capture Red Foxes, S. Nicole Frey, Michael R. Conover, Gary Cook

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Box traps and ^foot-hold snares are common methods to live-c^apture study animals. However, these methods are frequent^ly ineffective due to factors such as weather constraints, food availabi^lity, and target an_imal behavior. Duri_ng a study of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) behavior, we examined the use of neck snares to live-trap study anima^ls. We m^odified the neck snare using swi^vel cam-locks, d^eer stops to minimize damage to the animal. Additionally, we utilized our knowledge of red-fox behavior to set traps in …

In Memory, Spring 2007, Human-Wildlife Conflicts

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Kenny Acord lost his year-long battle with cancer on June 30, 2006. He was 25. Kenny was the son of Bobby Acord, the former deputy administrator of USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services. Kenny earned an M.S. degree in anthropology/archeology at Northern Arizona University in 2005. He was employed by the National Park Service as an archeologist at Navajo National Monument. He is survived by his true love and partner DeeAnn Tracy, his parents Bobby and Anna Acord, and his sister Leigh Anna Willard.

Enhancing The Detection And Classification Of Coral Reef And Associated Benthic Habitats: A Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Approach, Deepak R. Mishra, Sunil Narumalani, Donald Rundquist, Merlin P. Lawson, R. Perk

Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies: Publications

Coral reefs and associated benthic habitats are heterogeneous in nature. A remote sensor designed to discriminate these environments requires a high number of narrow, properly placed bands which are not currently available in existing satellite sensors. Optical hyperspectral sensors mounted on aerial platforms seem to be appropriate for overcoming the lack of both high spectral and spatial resolution of satellite sensors. This research presents results of an innovative coral reef application by such a sensor. Using hyperspectral Airborne Imaging Spectroradiometer for Applications (AISA) Eagle data, the approach presented solves the confounding influence of water column attenuation on substrate reflectance on …

U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service Response To The Catfish Farmers Of Arkansas Information Quality Act (Iqa) Request For Correction

National Invasive Species Council

In February 2000, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or we) received a petition from the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resources Association (MICRA) to list the black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) under the injurious wildlife provision of the Lacey Act (18 U.S.C. § 42). On June 2, 2000, we published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) (65 FR 35314) to seek comments on whether or not we should propose to list black carp as injurious under the Lacey Act. The comment period on the ANPR was open for 60 days, until August 1, 2000. During that comment period, …

Factors Controlling Patterns Of Canada Thistle (Cirsium Arvense) And Yellow Starthistle (Centaurea Solstitialis) Across The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Paul E. Hosten

National Invasive Species Council

Landscape patterns of broadleaved noxious weeds across the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument are examined in the context of environmental and management factors to improve our understanding of weed dynamics. Environmental factors include a range of topographic edaphic variables, while management factors provide insight about historic vegetation manipulation, road construction and forage utilization by wildlife and livestock. Distribution patterns of Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) and yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) across the Monument are best described by a combination of topographic, edaphic, biotic, and management factors. Variables incorporated within models describing landscape patterns of weeds varied with response variable …

Physically-Based Visualization Of Residential Building Damage Process In Hurricane, Dezhi Liao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research provides realistic techniques to visualize the process of damage to residential building caused by hurricane force winds. Three methods are implemented to make the visualization useful for educating the public about mitigation measures for their homes. First, the underline physics uses Quick Collision Response Calculation. This is an iterative method, which can tune the accuracy and the performance to calculate collision response between building components. Secondly, the damage process is designed as a Time-scalable Process. By attaching a damage time tag for each building component, the visualization process is treated as a geometry animation allowing users to navigate …

A Novel Setup For High-Pressure Raman Spectroscopy Under A Microscope, Thomas Andrew Oakeson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Functional properties of biological molecules and cells are affected by environmental parameters such as temperature and pressure. While Raman spectroscopy provides an intrinsic probe of molecular structural changes, the incorporation of a microscope enables studies of minuscule amounts of biological compounds with spatial resolution on a micron scale. We have developed a novel setup which combines a Raman microscope and a high pressure cell. A micro-capillary made out of fused silica simultaneously serves as the supporting body and the optical window of the pressure cell. The cell has been tested over the pressure range from 0.1 to 4 kbar. Raman …

The Response Of A General Circulation Climate Model Tohigh Latitude Freshwater Forcing In The Atlantic Basinwith Respect Totropi, Victor Paulis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current cycle of climate change along with increases in hurricane activity, changing precipitation patterns, glacial melt, and other extremes of weather has led to interest and research into the global correlation or teleconnection between these events. Examination of historical climate records, proxies and observations is leading to formulation of hypotheses of climate dynamics with modeling and simulation being used to test these hypotheses as well as making projections. Ocean currents are believed to be an important factor in climate change with thermohaline circulation (THC) fluctuations being implicated in past cycles of abrupt change. Freshwater water discharge into high-latitude oceans …

Synthesis Of Novel Aziridine Derivatives Of Podocarpic Acid, Stephen Rhoden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Podocarpic acid (a diterpenoid resin acid extracted from the Podocarpacea specie of plants) has shown cytotoxicity against carcinoma of the nasopharynx. Since this discovery has been made, research has been performed in order to alter the structure of the resin acid so as to increase the anticancer activity. The carboxylic acid and phenol functional groups, which are present in podocarpic acid, make it possible to synthesize new derivatives selectively at the C-15, C-13, and C-7 positions as well as by substitution of the phenol hydroxyl group. Thus numerous derivatives can be prepared, in high yield, for the purpose of investigating …

Behavior Of Variable-Length Genetic Algorithms Under Random Selection, Harold Stringer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this work, we show how a variable-length genetic algorithm naturally evolves populations whose mean chromosome length grows shorter over time. A reduction in chromosome length occurs when selection is absent from the GA. Specifically, we divide the mating space into five distinct areas and provide a probabilistic and empirical analysis of the ability of matings in each area to produce children whose size is shorter than the parent generation's average size. Diversity of size within a GA's population is shown to be a necessary condition for a reduction in mean chromosome length to take place. We show how a …

Nonlinear Optical Properties Of Organic Chromophores Calculated Within Time Dependent Density Functional Theory, Sergio Tafur

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Time Dependent Density Functional Theory offers a good accuracy/computational cost ratio among different methods used to predict the electronic structure for molecules of practical interest. The Coupled Electronic Oscillator (CEO) formalism was recently shown to accurately predict Nonlinear Optical (NLO) properties of organic chromophores when combined with Time Dependent Density Functional Theory. Unfortunately, CEO does not lend itself easily to interpretation of the structure activity relationships of chromophores. On the other hand, the Sum Over States formalism in combination with semiempirical wavefunction methods has been used in the past for the design of simplified essential states models. These models can …

Analytical Evaluation Of The Fluorescence Characteristics Of Metabolites Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons At Room, Liquid Nitrogen And Liquid Helium Temperatures, Keerthika Vatsavai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although environmental monitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) is an essential step to prevent human exposure to contaminated sites, it provides little information on the actual human uptake and subsequent risks. To this end, urine analysis of short-term biomarkers such as PAH metabolites fill an important niche. The general approach follows the sequence of urine hydrolysis, sample clean-up and pre-concentration, chromatographic separation and determination. Whereas chromatographic methods are based on well established laboratory techniques, the development of easy-to-use, cost-effective and large sample throughput techniques is becoming increasingly relevant to investigate adverse PAH effects on large human populations. This thesis compares …

Advances In Fire Debris Analysis, Mary Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fire incidents are a major contributor to the number of deaths and property losses within the United States each year. Fire investigations determine the cause of the fire resulting in an assignment of responsibility. Current methods of fire debris analysis are reviewed including the preservation, extraction, detection and characterization of ignitable liquids from fire debris. Leak rates were calculated for the three most common types of fire debris evidence containers. The consequences of leaking containers on the recovery and characterization of ignitable liquids were demonstrated. The interactions of hydrocarbons with activated carbon during the extraction of ignitable liquids from the …

Optimization Of Zonal Wavefront Estimation And Curvature Measurements, Weiyao Zou

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Optical testing in adverse environments, ophthalmology and applications where characterization by curvature is leveraged all have a common goal: accurately estimate wavefront shape. This dissertation investigates wavefront sensing techniques as applied to optical testing based on gradient and curvature measurements. Wavefront sensing involves the ability to accurately estimate shape over any aperture geometry, which requires establishing a sampling grid and estimation scheme, quantifying estimation errors caused by measurement noise propagation, and designing an instrument with sufficient accuracy and sensitivity for the application. Starting with gradient-based wavefront sensing, a zonal least-squares wavefront estimation algorithm for any irregular pupil shape and size …

Scanning Fabry-Perot Spectrometer For Terahertz And Gigahertz Spectroscopy Using Dielectric Bragg Mirrors, Justin Cleary

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A scanning Fabry-Perot transmission filter composed of a pair of dielectric mirrors has been demonstrated at millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelengths. The mirrors are formed by alternating quarter-wave optical thicknesses of silicon and air in the usual Bragg configuration. Detailed theoretical considerations are presented for determining the optimum design including factors that affect achievable finesse. Fundamental loss by lattice and free carrier absorption are considered. High resistivity in the silicon layers was found important for achieving high transmittance and finesse, especially at the longer wavelengths. Also considered are technological factors such as surface roughness, bowing, and misalignment for various proposed manufacturing …

Learning, Detection, Representation, Indexing And Retrieval Of Multi-Agent Events In Videos, Asaad Hakeem

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The world that we live in is a complex network of agents and their interactions which are termed as events. An instance of an event is composed of directly measurable low-level actions (which I term sub-events) having a temporal order. Also, the agents can act independently (e.g. voting) as well as collectively (e.g. scoring a touch-down in a football game) to perform an event. With the dawn of the new millennium, the low-level vision tasks such as segmentation, object classification, and tracking have become fairly robust. But a representational gap still exists between low-level measurements and high-level understanding of video …

Nitroreductase: Evidence For A Fluxional Low-Temperature State And Its Possible Role In Enzyme Activity, Peng Zhang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The enzyme nitroreductase (NR) catalyzes two-electron reduction of high explosives such as trinitrotoluene (TNT), a wide variety of other toxic nitroaromatic compounds, as well as riboflavin derivatives, using a tightly-bound flavin mononucleotide (FMN) cofactor. It has important environmental and clinical implications. Previous studies have focused on elucidating NRs catalytic mechanism and solving its crystal structure.

In this dissertation work, we first develop and implement new strategies for labeling NR with stable isotopes, and report a completely re-designed protocol for NRs purification. Then we report the successful assignment of over half of NRs backbone resonances using 3d-NMR methods. The most significant …

Interactions Between Structures In The Appalachian And Ouachita Foreland Beneath The Gulf Coastal Plain, Donald Matthew Surles

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

In Alabama, the Paleozoic Appalachian thrust belt plunges southwest beneath the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Gulf Coastal Plain. In Arkansas, the Paleozoic Ouachita thrust belt plunges southeast beneath the Coastal Plain. The strikes of the exposed thrust belts suggest an intersection beneath the Coastal Plain. Well data and seismic reflection profiles confirm the strike and intersection of the thrust belts, and provide information to determine the structure and general stratigraphy of each thrust belt. In east-central Mississippi, the Appalachian thrust belt curves from the regional northeast trace to westward at the intersection with the southeastern terminus of the Ouachita thrust belt, to northwest …

Environmental Magnetic Records Of Mid-Late Pleistocene Drift Sedimentary Sequences From The Antarctic Peninsula, Pacific Margin, A. Venuti, F. Florindo, A. Caburlotto

ANDRILL Related Publications of Affiliates

The Pacific Continental Margin of the Antarctic Peninsula was the area of interest of the Sediment Drift of The Antarctic Offshore Project (SEDANO Project). A paleomagnetic and environmental study was carried out on four Pleistocene sequences from Drift 7. High resolution measurements were performed on u-channels and about forty-three discrete samples. This work focus on the definition of the mineralogy of the main magnetic carriers which is still matter of debate and on the study of the short time variability of magnetite grain-size which results particularly evident during the last glaciation. ARM/κ magnetic parameter resulted to be a good record …

A Pleistocene Warming Event At 1 Ma In Prydz Bay, East Antarctica: Evidence From Odp Site 1165, G. Villa, C. Lupi, F. Florindo, Stephan Pekar

ANDRILL Related Publications of Affiliates

Magneto-stratigraphic and nannofossil assemblage data from ODP Site 1165 evidence an anomalous warming event of the surface waters in and around Prydz Bay during the Early Pleistocene. This results from an increase in the abundance of nannofossils at Site 1165, that occurred at 1 Ma. High-resolution sampling permits a new bio-magnetostratigraphic interpretation for ODP Site 1165. A decrease in δ¹⁸O values at Sites 1165 and 1167 also occurs at this time, supporting the presence of warming conditions in the Prydz Bay area. A return to colder surface waters, indicated by the absence or rare occurrence of nannofossils in …

100 Million Years Of Antarctic Climate Evolution: Evidence From Fossil Plants, J. E. Francis, A. Ashworth, D. J. Cantrill, J. A. Crame, J. Howe, R. Stephens, A.-M. Tosolini, V. Thorn

ANDRILL Related Publications of Affiliates

The evolution of Antarctic climate from a Cretaceous greenhouse into the Neogene icehouse is captured within a rich record of fossil leaves, wood, pollen, and flowers from the Antarctic Peninsula and the Transantarctic Mountains. About 85 million years ago, during the mid-Late Cretaceous, flowering plants thrived in subtropical climates in Antarctica. Analysis of their leaves and flowers, many of which were ancestors of plants that live in the tropics today, indicates that summer temperatures averaged 20°C during this global thermal maximum. After the Paleocene (~60 Ma) warmth-loving plants gradually lost their place in the vegetation and were replaced by floras …

Herbivory In Antarctic Fossil Forests: Evolutionary And Palaeoclimatic Significance, C. M. Mcdonald, J. E. Francis, S. G.A. Compton, A. Haywood, A. C. Ashworth, Luis Felipe Hinojosa, J. Smellie

ANDRILL Related Publications of Affiliates

Many collections of Eocene Fossil leaves from Antarctica contain a rich store of insect trace fossils, indicating that insects were an important component of the unique forests that grew in polar regions. However, insect body fossils themselves are rare and so insect traces provide an excellent opportunity to examine both the palaeoentomology and the palaeoclimate of Antarctica. The fossils studied include Eocene leaves from both Seymour Island and King George Island on the Antarctic Peninsula. A database of all insect traces on the Antarctic fossil leaves was compiled and analysed in terms of the diversity of palaeoherbivory. The fossil leaves …

The Neogene Biota Of The Transantarctic Mountains, A. C. Ashworth, A. R. Lewis, D. R. Marchant, R. A. Askin, D. J. Cantrill, J. E. Francis, M. J. Leng, A. E. Newton, J. I. Raine, M. Williams, A. P. Wolfe

ANDRILL Related Publications of Affiliates

Neogene fossil assemblages are described from three localities in the Transantarctic mountains. The plant fossils, include diatoms and algal spores, megaspores of Isoetes, pollen of angiosperms and gymnosperms, wood and leaves of Nothofagus, cushion growth forms of a vascular plant and a moss species, mats of exceptionally well- preserved moss species with delicate leaves attached to stems, and achenes and fruits of vascular plant species including Ranunculus. The invertebrate fossils include disarticulated chitinous parts of beetles and flies, cypridoidean ostracods and the shells of freshwater molluscs. The only vertebrate fossil is that of a fish. The fossil …

Terminal Cretaceous Climate Change And Biotic Response In Antarctica, V. C. Thorn, J. E. Francis, J. B. Riding, R. W. Raiswell, D. Pirrie, A. Haywood, J. A. Crame, J. M. Marshall

ANDRILL Related Publications of Affiliates

Latest Cretaceous to early Palaeogene climates in Antarctica are being investigated from an exceptional sedimentary sequence on Seymour Island (James Ross Basin, Antarctic Peninsula) to determine the nature of climate change at the end of the Cretaceous. It has been suggested that, following peak mid Cretaceous warmth, cooling during the Maastrichtian (~71-65 Ma) may have been severe enough for short-term glaciations at high latitudes, challenging the current view of an ice-free, Cretaceous greenhouse world. High resolution records of palaeontological, sedimentological, and geochemical signals are being obtained to investigate the climate and environmental context at the Antarctic margin prior to the …

Divergent Flow Of The West Antarctic Ice Sheet On The Outer Continental Shelf Of The Amundsen Sea During The Late Quaternary, T. J. Deen, R. D. Larter, K. Gohl, A. G.C. Graham, C.-D. Hillenbrand, G. Kuhn, J. A. Smith

ANDRILL Related Publications of Affiliates

Understanding the past glacial history of regions undergoing potential rapid deglaciation is essential in order to estimate the possible threat of sea level rise. Recently acquired data have given new images of mega-scale glacial lineations on the sea floor of the Amundsen Sea, which provide us a new understanding of the direction of glacial flow on the continental shelf of the Amundsen Sea region. Two adjacent areas of seafloor on the outer shelf of the Amundsen Sea embayment exhibit remarkably different styles of glacial lineations, and allow the interpretation of a divergent glacial trough for the Pine Island Glacier during …

Late Quaternary Ice Sheet Dynamics And Deglaciation History Of The West Antarctic Ice Sheet In The Amundsen Sea Embayment: Preliminary Results From Recent Research Cruises, A. G.C. Graham, R. D. Larter, K. Gohl, C.-D. Hillenbrand, J. A. Smith, J. S. Johnson, G. Kuhn

ANDRILL Related Publications of Affiliates

The threat, in terms of sea level rise, posed by the potential rapid deglaciation of West Antarctica means there is an urgent need to know more about the speed and style of marine ice sheet retreat. Quaternary deglacial events recorded in marine sediments provide an opportunity to understand the future of the modern day ice sheet. In this context, we examine the glacial history of a particularly poorly understood sector of the West Antarctic continental shelf – the Amundsen Sea Embayment –using new data from two recent research cruises. This extended abstract describes how marine geological and geophysical data are …

Buried Oligocene Glacial Topography Beneath A Smooth Middle Miocene Unconformity In The Southeast Ross Sea: Evolution Of West Antarctic Glaciation, C. C. Sorlien, D. S. Wilson, B. P. Luyendyk, L. R. Bartek, R. C. Decesari, J. B. Diebold

ANDRILL Related Publications of Affiliates

Buried U-shaped troughs as much as 20 km-wide and flat-topped ridges adjacent to western Marie Byrd Land have recently been proposed as the result of late Oligocene West Antarctic glaciation. Here, additional evidence for pre-25 Ma glaciation is presented for the southeast Ross Sea, together with a different stratigraphic correlation path that establishes age constraints. Buried rough glacial topography interpreted to be of Oligocene age contrasts with a buried smooth and planar middle Miocene “Red” angular unconformity. The Red unconformity extends east-west 160 km near the ice shelf edge, and is 700 m-deep. Part of a 2 km section of …

Contrasting Sub-Ice Shelf, Sub Glacial And Glacial Marine Deposition: Implications For Ice Shelf Stability, L. W. Boyd, L. R. Bartek, B. P. Luyendyk, D. Wilson

ANDRILL Related Publications of Affiliates

Data from cores collected from sites that were beneath the Ross Ice Shelf until 2000 and 2002 indicate that sub-ice shelf lithofacies are distinguishable from sub-glacial and glacial marine facies. Glacial marine sediment is characterized by diatom-rich, low-density, olive-green, sandy-muds, whereas sub-ice shelf sediment is defined by a lack of diatoms and muds that are enriched in silt and fine sand. Sub-glacial sediment is composed of diatom-poor, high density, coarse grained sandy-mud, rich in fine to coarse sized pebbles. Repetitive, fining-up packages, composed of fine-sand/silty-mud (distal sub ice-shelf deposits), grading into coarse pebbly-mud (sub ice-shelf proximal to the grounding line), …