Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Testing Ecological And Behavioral Correlates Of Nest Predation, Joseph J. Fontaine, Mireille Martel, Helen M. Markland, Alina M. Niklison, Karie L. Decker, Thomas E. Martin

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Variation in nest predation rates among bird species are assumed to reflect differences in risk that are specific to particular nest sites. Theoretical and empirical studies suggest that parental care behaviors can evolve in response to nest predation risk and thereby differ among ecological conditions that vary in inherent risk. However, parental care also can influence predation risk. Separating the effects of nest predation risk inherent to a nest site from the risk imposed by parental strategies is needed to understand the evolution of parental care. Here we identify correlations between risks inherent to nest sites, and risk associated with …

Effect Of Catch-And-Release Angling On Growth And Survival Of Rainbow Trout, Oncorhynchus Mykiss, K. L. Pope, G. R. Wilde, D. W. Knabe

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Catch-and-release angling is popular in many parts of the world and plays an increasingly important role in fish conservation efforts. Although survival rates associated with catch-and-release angling are well documented for many species, sublethal effects have been less studied. An experiment was conducted to directly assess the effects of catch-and-release angling on growth and survival of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum). Catch-and-release events were simulated in laboratory tanks maintained at 15–16 °C with hooks manually placed in pre-designated locations in the mouths of the fish. There were no differences in standard length (P= 0.59) or wet weight (P=0.81) gained between …

Climate-Induced Forest Dieback As An Emergent Global Phenomenon, Craig Allen, David D. Breshears

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

An organized oral session at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in San Jose, Calif., posed this question: Is climate-induced drought stress triggering increasing rates and unusual patterns of forest die-off at a global scale? Twenty-nine researchers representing five continents reported on patterns, mechanisms, and projections of forest mortality.

Raman Study Of Oxygen Reduced And Re-Oxidized Strontium Titanate, Dmitri Tenne, I. E. Gonenli, A. Soukiassian, D. G. Schlom, S. M. Nakhmanson, K. M. Rabe, X. X. Xi

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We report Raman study of oxygen-reduced single crystal strontium titanate. Oxygen reduction leads to the appearance of the forbidden first order Raman peaks, as well as new spectral features attributed to the local vibrational modes associated with oxygen vacancies. This assignment is supported by ab initio calculations of phonon modes in SrTiO₃ with introduced oxygen vacancies. Raman studies of re-oxidized samples show the same spectra as the initial single crystals. Comparison of Raman spectra of SrTiO₃ thin films and reduced SrTiO₃ single crystals demonstrates the importance of other factors such as polar grain boundaries in the lattice …

Changing The Support Of A Spatial Covariate: A Simulation Study, Tisha L. Hooks, Jeffrey F. Pedersen, David B. Marx, Roch E. Gaussoin

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

Researchers are increasingly able to capture spatially referenced data on both a response and a covariate more frequently and in more detail. A combination of geostatisical models and analysis of covariance methods may be used to analyze such data. However, very basic questions regarding the effects of using a covariate whose support differs from that of the response variable must be addressed to utilize these methods most efficiently. In this experiment, a simulation study was conducted to assess the following: (i) the gain in efficiency when geostatistical models are used, (ii) the gain in efficiency when analysis of covariance methods …

Characterizations Of Pseudo-Codewords Of Ldpc Codes, Ralf Koetter, Wen-Cheng W. Li, Pascal O. Vontobel, Judy L. Walker

Department of Mathematics: Faculty Publications

An important property of high-performance, low complexity codes is the existence of highly efficient algorithms for their decoding. Many of the most efficient, recent graph-based algorithms, e.g. message passing algorithms and decoding based on linear programming, crucially depend on the efficient representation of a code in a graphical model. In order to understand the performance of these algorithms, we argue for the characterization of codes in terms of a so called fundamental cone in Euclidean space which is a function of a given parity check matrix of a code, rather than of the code itself. We give a number of …

Experiments With Monte Carlo Othello, Philip Hingston, Martin Masek

Research outputs pre 2011

In this paper, we report on our experiments with using Monte Carlo simulation (specifically the UCT algorithm) as the basis for an Othello playing program. Monte Carlo methods have been used for other games in the past, most recently and notably in successful Go playing programs. We show that Monte Carlo-based players have potential for Othello, and that evolutionary algorithms can be used to improve their strength.

On Groups Of Homological Dimension One, Jonathan Cornick

Publications and Research

It has been conjectured that the groups of homological dimension one are precisely the nontrivial locally free groups. Some algebraic, geometric and analytic properties of any potential counter example to the conjecture are discussed.

Lithostratigraphy Of The Late Early Permian (Kungurian) Wandrawandian Siltstone, New South Wales: Record Of Glaciation?, S. G. Thomas, Christopher R. Fielding, Tracy D. Frank

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The late Early Permian (273–271 Ma) Wandrawandian Siltstone in the southern Sydney Basin of New South Wales represents a marine highstand that can be correlated over 2000 km. A mainly fine-grained terrigenous clastic succession, the Wandrawandian Siltstone contains evidence for cold, possibly glacial conditions based on the presence of outsized clasts and glendonites, mineral pseudomorphs after ikaite, a mineral that forms in cold (0–7°C) marine sediments. A lithostratigraphic and facies analysis of the unit was conducted, based on extensive coastal outcrops and continuous drill-cores. Eight facies associations were identified: (i) siltstone; (ii) siltstone with minor interbedded sandstone; (iii) interbedded tabular …

Preservation And Erosion Of Theropod Tracks In Eolian Deposits: Examples From The Middle Jurassic Entrada Sandstone, Utah, U.S.A., Jesper Milán, David B. Loope

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The Middle Jurassic Entrada Sandstone, exposed near the town of Escalante, southern Utah, consists of large-scale cross-bedded eolian deposits that are interbedded with horizontally laminated sand sheets and thin sets of eolian cross-strata, representing periods with a moister climate. The flat-bedded units contain numerous tracks and trackways from small to large-sized theropod dinosaurs. These tracks are today exposed in several distinct erosional states, allowing detailed studies of track and undertrack formation in eolian deposits. Tracks that originally were emplaced on sloping surfaces show, in their present-day erosional state, a morphology distinct from those originally emplaced on horizontal surfaces. Further, the …

Evaluation Of The Streambed Leakage Concept In Analytical Models Using Data From Three Pumping Tests, Sefan J. Kollet, Vitaly A. Zlotnik

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Two-dimensional analytical models of pumping induced drawdown and stream depletion account for the streambed properties and stream geometry. Using data from three pumping tests performed under various hydrologic conditions, the following hypotheses were tested: (1) a partially penetrating stream at a certain distance from the pumping well can be represented by the streambed leakage term in the analytical models; (2) in the streambed leakage term, the streambed conductance coefficient λ=(WK′)/m′ accounts for the average stream width W, the streambed thickness m′, and hydraulic conductivity K′. The first hypothesis was tested by comparing results from tests under flow and no-flow stream …

An Improved Qc Process For Temperature In The Daily Cooperative Weather Observations, Kenneth Hubbard, Nathaniel B. Guttman, Jinsheng You, Zhirong Chen

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

TempVal is a spatial component of data quality assurance algorithms applied by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), and it has been used operationally for about 4 yr. A spatial regression test (SRT) approach was developed at the regional climate centers for climate data quality assurance and was found to be superior to currently used quality control (QC) procedures for the daily maximum and minimum air temperature. The performance of the spatial quality assessment procedures has been evaluated by assessing the rate with which seeded errors are identified. A complete dataset with seeded errors for the year 2003 for the …

High-Resolution Evidence For Dynamic Transitional Geomagnetic Field Behaviour From A Miocene Reversal, Mcmurdo Sound, Ross Sea, Antarctica, Andrew P. Roberts, Anisch Bakrania, Fabio Florindo, Christopher J. Rowan, Christopher R. Fielding, Ross D. Powell

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

We report a high-resolution record of a Miocene polarity transition (probably the Chron C6r-C6n transition) from glacimarine sediments in McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea, Antarctica, which is the first transition record reported from high southern latitudes. The transition is recorded in two parallel cores through a 10.7 m stratigraphic thickness. The sediments are interpreted as having been deposited in a marine environment under the influence of floating ice or seaward of a glacier terminus from which a large sediment load was delivered to the drill site. The core was recovered using rotary drilling, which precludes azimuthal orientation of the core and …

The Sensitivity Of Convective Initiation To The Lapse Rate Of The Active Cloud-Bearing Layer, Adam L. Houston, Dev Niyogi

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Numerical experiments are conducted using an idealized cloud-resolving model to explore the sensitivity of deep convective initiation (DCI) to the lapse rate of the active cloud-bearing layer [ACBL; the atmospheric layer above the level of free convection (LFC)]. Clouds are initiated using a new technique that involves a preexisting airmass boundary initialized such that the (unrealistic) adjustment of the model state variables to the imposed boundary is disassociated from the simulation of convection. Reference state environments used in the experiment suite have identical mixed layer values of convective inhibition, CAPE, and LFC as well as identical profiles of relative humidity …

Preparation And Morphological Characterization Of A Catalytic Soot Oxidation Sic Foam Filter, Başar Çağlar, Deni̇z Üner

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

The coating characteristics of Pb-Co mixed metal oxide soot oxidation catalysts over a SiC foam filter were studied. The coating was done via incipient wetness impregnation of a slurry with Pb/Co weight ratio = 2. The coating was accomplished by 3 consecutive impregnation-drying-calcination cycles. After each cycle surface structure and composition were monitored by scanning electron microscope (SEM). SEM analysis revealed that the surface composition of Pb was high on the high porosity region and surface composition of Co was high on the low porosity region inside the filter. These overlayers were tested for their soot oxidation ability by depositing …

On Energy And Expected Uncertainty Measures In Weighted Distributions, Broderick O. Oluyede, Mekki Terbeche

Department of Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

In this note, bounds and inequalities for the comparisons of weighted energy functions, entropy, and discrimination information measures and their unweighted counterparts are presented. Inequalities for weighted expected uncertainty, cross-entropy or discrimination information measures are also presented. A useful result on the convergence of the weighted kernel density informational energy estimates is given and some informational energy applications presented.

Closure Under Transfinite Extensions, Edgar Enochs, Alina Iacob, Overtoun Jenda

Department of Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

The closure under extensions of a class of objects in an abelian category is often an important property of that class. Recently the closure of such classes under transfinite extensions (both direct and inverse) has begun to play an important role in several areas of mathematics, for example, in Quillen's theory of model categories and in the theory of cotorsion pairs. In this paper we prove that several important classes are closed under transfinite extensions.

Redox Potential Measurement In Aqueous Solutions And Biological Media, Mark M. Goldin, G. J. Blanchard, A. K. Evseev, V. A. Kolesnikov, Yu S. Goldfarb, A. G. Volkov, Mikhail M. Goldin

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Mercury Blast Dictionaries: Analysis And Performance Measurement, Jeremy Buhler

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

This report describes a hashing scheme for a dictionary of short bit strings. The scheme, which we call near-perfect hashing, was designed as part of the construction of Mercury BLAST, an FPGA-based accelerator for the BLAST family of biosequence comparison algorithms. Near-perfect hashing is a heuristic variant of the well-known displacement hashing approach to building perfect hash functions. It uses a family of hash functions composed from linear transformations on bit vectors and lookups in small precomputed tables, both of which are especially appropriate for implementation in ardware logic. We show empirically that for inputs derived from genomic DNA sequences, …

Configuring Low Cost Metanetworks On A Shared Substrate, Jing Lu, Jonathan Turner

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

In a diversified internet, meta-networks (“metanets?for short) share a common substrate and offer value-added services to millions of users around the globe. Therefore, configuring low-cost metanets with links having enough bandwidth to accommodate all anticipated user traffic is critical to the success of the metanets. In this paper, we propose a novel pruning algorithm that configures metanets on any given substrate in a cost-efficient way. In contrast to other testbed configuration systems, we solve the metanet configuration problem from a higher level specification and produces a network that is dimensioned to handle the specified traffic. To the best of our …

Model Estimation Of Land-Use Effects On Water Levels Of Northern Prairie Wetlands, Richard A. Voldseth, W.Carter Johnson, Tagir Gilmanov, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Bruce V. Millett

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Wetlands of the Prairie Pothole Region exist in a matrix of grassland dominated by intensive pastoral and cultivation agriculture. Recent conservation management has emphasized the conversion of cultivated farmland and degraded pastures to intact grassland to improve upland nesting habitat. The consequences of changes in land-use cover that alter watershed processes have not been evaluated relative to their effect on the water budgets and vegetation dynamics of associated wetlands. We simulated the effect of upland agricultural practices on the water budget and vegetation of a semipermanent prairie wetland by modifying a previously published mathematical model (WETSIM). Watershed cover/landuse practices were …

Application Of A Karst Environmental Disturbance Index In Hillsborough County., Philip Van Beynen, Nilda Feliciano, Leslie North, Kaya Van Beynen

USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications

Hillsborough County, Florida, is a karst region that is heavily urbanized, yet no study has been undertaken measuring the degree of human disturbance. Van Beynen and Townsend (2005) created a hierarchical and standardized disturbance index specifically designed for karst environments. To address the problem of determining human disturbance in the county, the above index was successfully applied and it was found that Hillsborough was highly disturbed (disturbance score of 0.69 of 1.0) because of its predominant urban and rural land use. Furthermore, the application of the index allowed for its refinement and the highlighting of environmental aspects in need of …

Final Report : Bellevue Sustainable Industry Project, Beth Walker, Janice Redmond, Ute Goeft

Research outputs pre 2011

This report is the result of a grant from the W A Waste Management Board's Waste Management and Recycling Fund to investigate the attitudes and practices of Bellevue business owner-managers to environmental issues and waste management since 2005. In 2005 data was collected to provide baseline information of the level of business interest in the environment and waste management practices in the Bellevue industrial area. After. the analysis of that data was reported, an intervention program was implemented by the Swan Catchment Council. The intervention program included the following...

Training And Implementation Guide For Pathway Definition, Risk Analysis And Risk Prioritization

National Invasive Species Council

The purpose of pathway risk analysis is to provide scientific analyses and policy recommendations in support of U.S. National Invasive Species Council’s Management Plan. These analyses and recommendations must comply with the Plan’s mandates to:

• ensure Federal efforts are coordinated and effective

• promote action and partnership at local, State, tribal and ecosystem levels

• identify recommendations for international cooperation; and,

• facilitate networks to document, monitor and prioritize invasive species pathways

Though many definitions for invasive species and pathways may exist, we are defining these terms as they relate to Federal regulatory functions. Definitions are recounted, below:

Invasive …

Refuge Update – January/February 2007, Volume 4, Number 1

RefugeUpdate (USFWS-NWRS)

Table of Contents:

Rare Bee Species in South Carolina
Focus: Engaging the Next Generation
Wilderness Training
Bird Call

Societal Adaptation To Decadal Climate Variability In The United States, Norman J. Rosenberg, Vikram M. Mehta, J Rolf Olsen, Hans Von Storch, Robert G. Varady, Michael J. Hayes, Donald A. Wilhite

US Army Corps of Engineers

The search for evidence of decadal climatic variability (DCV) has a very long history. In the past decade, a research community has coalesced around a series of roughly biennial workshops that have emphasized description of past DCV events; their causes and their "teleconnections" responsible for droughts, floods, and warm and cold spells around the world; and recently, the predictability of DCV events. Researchers studying climate change put great emphasis on prospective impacts, but the DCV community has yet to do so. To begin rectifying this deficiency, a short but ambitious workshop was convened in Waikoloa, near Kona, Hawaii, from 26-28 …

A Methodology For The Forensic Acquisition Of The Tomtom One Satellite Navigation System - A Research In Progress, Peter Hannay

Australian Digital Forensics Conference

The use of Satellite Navigation Systems (SNS) has become increasingly common in recent years. The wide scale adoption of this technology has the potential to provide a valuable resource in forensic investigations. The potential of this resource is based on the ability to retrieve historical location data from the device in question while maintaining forensic integrity. This paper presents a methodology to acquire forensc images of the TomTom One satellite navigation unit. This methodology aims to be comprehensive and straightforward, while maintaining forensic integrity of the original evidence. However, in consideration of the aforementioned methodology, ti should be noted that …

Breeding Biology Of Passerines In A Subtropical Montane Forest In Northwestern Argentina, Sonya K. Auer, Ronald D. Bassar, Joseph J. Fontaine, Thomas E. Martin

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The breeding ecology of south temperate bird species is less widely known than that of north temperate species, yet because they comprise a large portion of the world’s avian diversity, knowledge of their breeding ecology can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the geographic diversity of avian reproductive traits and life history strategies. We provide the first detailed examination of the reproductive strategies of 18 forest passerines of subtropical, northwestern Argentina. Mean clutch sizes were smaller and egg mass was greater than for north temperate birds, but differed among species and nest types, with cavity-nesters having larger clutches than …

Intraspecific Resource Partitioning By An Opportunistic Strategist, Inland Silverside Menidia Beryllina, Christopher J. Chizinski, C. G. Huber, M. Longoria, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Seasonal variation in prey consumption and food resource overlap was evident in an inland water body for mature male, mature female and immature inland silverside (Menidia beryllina). During the first growth phase marked by intensive somatic growth by immature inland silverside, few adults were present in the population (28% of total catch), thus minimizing intraspecific competition for food resources between juvenile and adult inland silverside. During the second growth phase by adults, few juvenile inland silverside were present (0% of total catch) in the population, again minimizing intraspecific competition for food resources between juvenile and adult inland silverside. …

Schoolyard Microclimate, Joseph J. Fontaine, Samuel C. Stier, Melissa L. Maggio, Karie L. Decker

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The natural world exhibits substantial variation in climate, which influences the distribution, reproductive success, and survival of plants and animals. Although students are aware of weather, their understanding of climate is typically less clear, especially the concept of microclimate-the climate of a specific place within an area as contrasted with the climate of the entire area. Microclimate can influence where birds place their nests (Lloyd and Martin 2004), where insects reside (Lorenzo and Lazzari 1999), and where plants successfully germinate (Tomimatsu and Ohara 2004). Therefore, microclimate can have a profound effect on local community structure and biodiversity, particularly on …