Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Evaluation Of Harassment Of Migrating Double-Crested Cormorants To Limit Depredation On Selected Sport Fisheries In Michigan, Brian S. Dorr, Ashley Moerke, Michael Bur, Chuck Bassett, Tony Aderman, Dan Traynor, Russell D. Singleton, Peter H. Butchko, Jimmy D. Taylor Ii

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Diverse management techniques have been used to mitigate conflicts between humans and double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) including harassment methods supplemented by lethal take. In this study we evaluated impacts or programs to harass spring migrating cormorants on the walleye (Sander vitreus) fishery in Brevoort Lake and the yellow perch (Perca flavescens ) and walleye fisheries at Drummond Island. Cormorant foraging declined significantly (p < 0.05) at both locations subsequent to initiation of harassment programs. Overall harassment deteired 90% of cormorant foraging attempts while taking less than 6% lethally on average at each site. Yellow perch were a predominate prey item in number and biomass at both locations. Walleye made up a small proportion of the diet at both locations. However, both walleye and yellow perch abundance increased significantly (p<0.05) at Drummond Island. Walleye abundance at age 3 increased to record levels in 2008 following 3 years of cormorant management at Brevoort Lake. The estimated cormorant consumption of age 1 walleye in the absence of management at Brevoort Lake during 2005 would account for 55% of the record 2006 age 1 walleye population. These results support the hypothesis, that cormorant predation on spawning aggregations of sportfish was a significant mortality factor and cormorant management reduced sportfish mortality and increased abundance at both locations. Continuation of harassment programs and .fishery assessments will determine whether improvement of targeted sport fisheries through control of spring migrating cormorants is sustainable.

Management Effects On Breeding And Foraging Numbers And Movements Of Double-Crested Cormorants In The Les Cheneaux Islands, Lake Huron, Michigan, Brian S. Dorr, Tony Aderrnan, Peter H. Butchko, Scott C. Barras

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The yellow perch fishery of the Les Cheneaux Islands (LCl) region of Lake Huron, MI suffered a collapse in 2000, attributed in part to the increase of double-crested cormorants (Phalocrocorax auritus) in the region. A management program involving egg-oiling and lethal culling was initiated in 2004 to reduce cormorant foraging on yellow perch in the LC1. Counts of cormorant nests, nests oiled, cormorants culled, and aerial counts and telemetry surveys were used to evaluate management. Management contributed to a 74% reduction of cormorants on breeding colonies from 2004 to 2007. Cormorants used the LC1 area significantly more (P<0.05) than surrounding areas. Aerial counts of foraging cormorants declined significantly (P<0.05) over the entire survey area but not within the LCl proper. However, aerial counts of cormorants in the LCI were five-fold less than cormorant counts in the same area in 1995. Reduced cormorant numbers were attributed in part to the elimination of cormorant nesting on a large colony due to the introduction of raccoons. Although the numbers of cormorants using the LC1 did not decline, flocks were significantly smaller and more dispersed after management began. The reduced number of cormorants from 1995 levels and more dispersed foraging likely reduced predation on fish stocks including yellow perch in the LC1. Our findings indicate that the relationship between reduction in cormorant breeding numbers and reduced cormorant foraging in a given area is complex and may be influenced by density dependent factors such as intraspecific competition and quality of the forage base.

Jaguars, Livestock, And People In Brazil: Realities And Perceptions Behind The Conflict, Sandra C. Cavalcanti, Silvio Marchini, Alexandra Zimmermann, Eric M. Gese, David W. Macdonald

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The jaguar (Panthera onca) is the largest predator in the Neotropics and is arguably the most charismatic species for .conservation in Central and South America. Regrettably, the jaguar is also the carnivore that is least compatible with humans in twenty-first century Brazil. This fundamental incompatibility is due to the jaguar's need for abundant, large prey, as well as extensive, undisturbed habitat. Humans (also large, top predators) have competed directly with jaguars for food (i.e. native and domestic ungulates) for as long as they have coexisted (Jorgenson and Redford 1993), and lately threaten them directly and indirectly through deforestation …

An Evaluation Of Diazacon As A Potential Contraceptive In Non-Native Rose-Ringed Parakeets, Mark Lambert, Giovanna Massel, Christi Yoder, David Cowan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Rose-ringed parakeets (Psittacula krameri) have become widely established outside their native range through accidental or deliberate release. Potential economic impacts on agriculture, conservation concerns, and mixed public opinion regarding the species have highlighted the need to develop effective but humane management options. Fertility control might provide such a solution if a safe and environmentally benign contraceptive was available. The chemical 20,25-diazacholesterol dihydrochloride (diazacon) has previously been used to reduce reproductive output in avian species through reduction of blood cholesterol and cholesterol-dependent reproductive hormones. We orally dosed captive rose-ringed parakeets with a solution of either 9 mg/kg or 18 …

Buddhist Thought: Murakami Senshō And Critical Buddhism, A. Aguilar-Arevalo, Sally Koutsoliotas

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Parameters Of Reform And Unifification In Modern Japanese, R. Holzlöhner, S. M. Rochester, D. Bonaccini Calia, D. Budker, James M. Higbie, W. Hackenberg

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Discovery Of A Young L Dwarf Binary, Sdss224953.47+004404.6ab, Katelyn N. Allers, Michael C. Liu, Trent J. Dupuy, Michael C. Cushing

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Aging To Equilibrium Dynamics Of Sio2, Katharina Vollmayr-Lee, J. A. Roman, J. Horbach

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Classical Thermodynamics Of Particles In Harmonic Traps, Martin K. Ligare

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Enthalpies Of Mixing Of Water And Alkoxyethanols, John Enriquez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Alkoxyethanols [C_mH_2m+1·(OC₂H₄)·OH] (conveniently abbreviated to C_mE₁) are a subgroup of the alkyl poly(ethylene glycol) mono-ethers. They are small relatives of a large number of non-ionic detergents. The thermodynamic properties of their mixing in water have been shown to be good sources of information about the interactions of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups with water. Theses alkoxyethanols, or glycol ethers, are the ether derivatives of ethylene glycol where one hydroxyl functional group is substituted for an alkoxy functional group. Our group has already published results for aqueous excess properties …

Function Point Analysis In Computer Science Capstone Projects, Evelyn Torres

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Capstone projects at the Computer Science Department at the University of Texas at El Paso allow students to demonstrate their knowledge of software engineering. During the capstone project, students work on a project that simulates industry; students have a client and a supervising team. Before a project is implemented, professors must assess the project to ensure consistency with previous projects and a significant experience for the students. Currently, a project is assessed primarily on past experiences. In industry, agreeing to completing and delivering a project without assessing the scope and estimating the project cost is neither acceptable nor profitable. Similarly …

Bayesian Nonparametric Regression With A Flexible Error Term Distribution, Courtney Marie Barnes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Datasets often exhibit heavy tailed behavior and standard analyses are often heavily influenced by outliers. We propose a nonparametric regression model whose error term distribution is a mixture of a normal and a Student t distribution. This results in a model that is more resistant to outliers compared to a model with a normal error term.

Transfer Learning Techniques For Deep Neural Nets, Steven M. Gutstein

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Inductive learners seek meaningful features within raw input. Their purpose is to accurately categorize, explain or extrapolate from this input. Relevant features for one task are frequently relevant for related tasks. Reuse of previously learned data features to help master new tasks is known as &lsquo transfer learning &rsquo. People use this technique to learn more quickly and easily. However, machine learning tends to occur from scratch.

In this thesis, two machine learning techniques are developed, that use transfer learning to achieve significant accuracy for recognition tasks with extremely small training sets and, occasionally, no task specific training. These methods …

Physical And Biochemical Assessment Of Mexican Palo Verde Response To Chromium Toxicity, Yong Zhao

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the United States, about 1/3 of the 1400 superfund sites have been reported to be chromium contaminated, making chromium the second most common metal found in superfund chemical contamination sites. Chromium removal from soil has commonly been carried out via chemical, physical, and thermal processes. However, these methods are expensive and/or invasive to local ecosystems. In contrast to these techniques, phytoremediation (the use of plants to remove toxic substances from areas containing contamination at low or medium levels) appears to be a cost-effective and environmentally friendly process for chromium removal. However, most reports on chromium phytoremediation suggest that this …

Whitehead Products In Function Spaces: Quillen Model Formulae, Gregory Lupton, Samuel Bruce Smith

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

We study Whitehead products in the rational homotopy groups of a general component of a function space. For the component of any based map f : X→Y, in either the based or free function space, our main results express the Whitehead product directly in terms of the Quillen minimal model of f. These results follow from a purely algebraic development in the setting of chain complexes of derivations of differential graded Lie algebras, which is of interest in its own right. We apply the results to study the Whitehead length of function space components.

Investigations Of Grade Control, Macarthur Mine, Yerington, Nevada: An Oxidized Porphyry Copper System, Joseph Daniel Louis Lori

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Supergene enriched, low-grade oxidized porphyry copper deposits are of great economic value. Oxidized porphyry sections are economic targets because even low-grade prospects have the potential to produce low-cost copper in an environmentally friendly fashion due to easy leachability and high recovery rates of the oxide mineralization. The MacArthur Mine, in the historic Yerington mining district of Nevada, is the focus of this study. The MacArthur is a tilted oxidized porphyry deposit, partially mined by open pit methods, hosted in the Jurassic Bear Quartz Monzonite of the Yerington batholith. The objective of the study is to define controls of copper oxide …

Bringing Toric Codes To The Next Dimension, Ivan Soprunov, Jenya Soprunova

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

This paper is concerned with the minimum distance computation for higher dimensional toric codes defined by lattice polytopes in $\mathbb{R}^n$. We show that the minimum distance is multiplicative with respect to taking the product of polytopes, and behaves in a simple way when one builds a k-dilate of a pyramid over a polytope. This allows us to construct a large class of examples of higher dimensional toric codes where we can compute the minimum distance explicitly.

Closed Time-Like Curves And Inertial Frame Dragging: How To Time Travel Via Spacetime Rotation, Conrad Wilson Moore

Honors Theses

As the number of solutions to the Einstein equations with realistic matter sources that admit closed time-like curves (CTC's) has grown drastically, it has provoked some authors [10] to call for a physical interpretation of these seemingly exotic curves that could possibly allow for causality violations. A first step in drafting a physical interpretation would be to understand how CTC's are created because the recent work of [16] has suggested that, to follow a CTC, observers must counter-rotate with the rotating matter, contrary to the currently accepted explanation that it is due to inertial frame dragging that CTC's are created. …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 51 Number 4, Spring 2010, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

14 - BENDING LIGHT By Steven Boyd Saum. They wanted to show that green living is not a compromise. So, for the international Solar Decathlon, the SCU-led Team California built a house of light and wonder. And it was dazzling enough to win No. 3 on the planet.

22 - CONNECT THE DOTS By Scott Brown '93. From border security to disaster preparedness, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano '79 has one immense portfolio. She's also the point person on immigration. How to put those together?

28 - THIS PLACE WE CALL HOME By Kristina Chiapella '09 '09. Generations ago, …

The Impact Of Rare Taxa On A Fish Index Of Biotic Integrity, Haibo Wan, Christopher J. Chizinski, Christine L. Dolph, Bruce Vondracek, Bruce N. Wilson

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The index of biotic integrity (IBI) is a commonly used bioassessment tool that integrates abundance and richness measures to assess water quality. In developing IBIs that are both responsive to human disturbance and resistant to natural variability and sampling error, water managersmust decide how to weigh information about rare and abundant taxa, which in turn requires an understanding of the sensitivity of indices to rare taxa. Herein, we investigated the influence of rare fish taxa (within the lower 5% of rank abundance curves) on IBI metric and total scores for stream sites in two of Minnesota’smajor river basins, the St. …

Mineralogical And Chemical Characteristics Of Some Natural Jarosites, George A. Desborough, Kathleen S. Smith, Heather A. Lowers, Gregg A. Swayze, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Sharon F. Diehl, Reinhard W. Leinz, Rhonda L. Driscoll

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

This paper presents a detailed study of the mineralogical, microscopic, thermal, and spectral characteristics of jarosite and natrojarosite minerals. Systematic mineralogic and chemical examination of a suite of 32 natural stoichiometric jarosite and natrojarosite samples from diverse supergene and hydrothermal environments indicates that there is only limited solid solution between Na and K at low temperatures, which suggests the presence of a solvus in the jarosite-natrojarosite system at temperatures below about 140 °C. The samples examined in this study consist of either end members or coexisting end-member pairs of jarosite and natrojarosite. Quantitative electron-probe microanalysis data for several natural hydrothermal …

Risk Assessment: Simultaneously Prioritizing The Control Of Invasive Plant Species And The Conservation Of Rare Plant Species, Thaddeus K. Miller, Craig R. Allen, Wayne G. Landis, James W. Merchant

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Although the consequences of the homogenization of Earth’s flora and fauna are not well understood, experts agree that biological invasions pose hazards to rare species. As a result, there is a need for a systematic approach to assess risks from invasive species. The Relative Risk Model can be adapted to assess combinations of rare species, invasive species, and regions. It also can be applied to different taxonomic groups and at different spatial scales. This flexibility makes it a promising tool for invasive species risk assessment. We used the Relative Risk Model to quantify risks posed to endangered plant species by …

Algebraic Theories Over Nominal Sets, Alexander Kurz, Daniela Petrişan, Jiří Velebil

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

We investigate the foundations of a theory of algebraic data types with variable binding inside classical universal algebra. In the first part, a category-theoretic study of monads over the nominal sets of Gabbay and Pitts leads us to introduce new notions of finitary based monads and uniform monads. In a second part we spell out these notions in the language of universal algebra, show how to recover the logics of Gabbay-Mathijssen and Clouston-Pitts, and apply classical results from universal algebra.

Orientational Order Of A Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal With Small Layer Contraction, Rafal Korlacki, Vitaly P. Panov, Atsuo Fukuda, Jagdish K. Vij, Christopher M. Spillmann, Jawad Naciri

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Faculty Publications

We present spectroscopic and optical studies of a non-layer-shrinkage ferroelectric liquid crystal DSiKN65. The orientational order parameters S, measured with respect to the smectic layer normal using IR spectroscopy on a sample aligned homeotropically, does not exhibit any significant variation between the smectic-A* and smectic-C* phases. In contrast the birefringence of a planar homogenous sample abruptly increases at the smectic-A* to smectic-C* transition. This suggests a general increase in the orientational order, which can be described by the orientational order parameters S' defined with respect to the director. Simultaneous increase of S' and the director …

Investigating Mathematical Literacy Through Teacher Language, Alyson Lischka

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators

Communication about mathematical concepts using appropriate terminology is a standard established by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. However, international test results show that United States’ students are lagging in mathematical literacy. This case study analyzes the ways in which instructors use language to help students move toward conceptual understanding of mathematical vocabulary. Three mathematics education professors at a mid-size four year institution were observed teaching math classes to students enrolled in elementary or secondary certification programs. Collected data included: audio-recorded observations and field notes, lesson artifacts such as quizzes and handouts, and audio-recorded interviews with each participant. Findings …

Basic Skills Testing In Math 2008, Susie M. Lanier, Sharon Taylor, Donna B. Saye

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators

Math 2008 is an Area F course for early childhood majors in the University System of Georgia. The course covers basic skills that pre-service teachers will most likely be teaching in their career. At Georgia Southern University, many students in the course do not possess or have forgotten these basic skills. In Fall 2009, a basic skills test was implemented for Math 2008. Students must earn a score of 90 or higher on the test in order to pass the course. The test not only serves to let students know their areas of weakness, but also informs the instructor’s teaching. …

On The Eigenstructures Of Functional K-Potent Matrices And Their Integral Forms, Yan Wu, Daniel F. Linder

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

In this paper, a functional k-potent matrix satisfies the equation, where k and r are positive integers, and are real numbers. This class of matrices includes idempotent, Nilpotent, and involutary matrices, and more. It turns out that the matrices in this group are best distinguished by their associated eigen-structures. The spectral properties of the matrices are exploited to construct integral k-potent matrices, which have special roles in digital image encryption.

Double Parton Interactions In Γ = 3 Jet Events In Pp Collisions At √S = 1.96 Tev, V. M. Abazov, Kenneth A. Bloom, Gregory Snow, D0 Collaboration

Kenneth Bloom Publications

We have used a sample of γ + 3 jets events collected by the D0 experiment with an integrated luminosity of about 1 fb^-1 to determine the fraction of events with double parton scattering (f_DP) in a single pp collision at √s = 1.96 TeV. The DP fraction and effective cross section (τ_eff ), a process-independent scale parameter related to the parton density inside the nucleon, are measured in three intervals of the second (ordered in p_T) jet transverse momentum p^jet2_T within the range 15 ≤ p^jet2_T ≤ …

Parallel Synthesis Of An Oligomeric Imidazole-4,5-Dicarboxamide Library, Zhigang Xu, John C. Dicesare, Paul W. Baures

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

A library of oligomeric compounds was synthesized based on the imidazole-4,5-dicarboxylic acid scaffold along with amino acid esters and chiral diamines derived from amino acids. The final compounds incorporate nonpolar amino acids (Leu, Phe, Trp), polar amino acids (Ser, Asp, Arg), and neutral amino acids (Gly, Ala), and were designed to be useful in screening for inhibitors of protein−protein interactions. Many of the protected and deprotected oligomers show evidence of conformational isomers persistent at room temperature in aqueous solution. A total of 317 final oligomers, out of 441 targeted compounds, were obtained in high analytical purity and of sufficient quantity …

Magnetic Flux Penetration In Polycrystalline Smfeo0.75f0.2as, Zhi W. Lin, Yong Jian Li, Jian G. Zhu, Youguang Guo, Xiaolin Wang

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

The recently discovered Fe–As superconducting materials which show high potential ability to carry current due to their low anisotropy have attracted a great number of attentions to understand their superconductivity mechanism and explore their applications. This paper presents a method to synthesis SmFeO₀.₇₅F_0.20As polycrystalline by hot press in detail. The magnetization at different temperatures and applied fields obtained by a superconducting quantum interference device are also discussed. In addition, the local magnetization process is presented by magneto-optical imaging technique at the conditions of zero-field-cooling and field-cooling. It is found that the collective magnetization process …