Characteristics of double-crested cormorant colonies in the U.S. Great Lakes island landscape

The Great Lakes form the largest freshwater island system in the world and provide breeding habitat for a large proportion of the continental population of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus). Here, cormorants have a high profile due to conflicts with humans; by 2007, most active (64%) breeding sites in U.S. waters were managed. This study used data from the U.S. Great Lakes Colonial Waterbird Database and The Nature Conservancy's Great Lakes Island GIS database to identify important features of breeding sites in the U.S. Great Lakes and broaden understanding of cormorant presence at the island-landscape scale. Islands 0.5–10 ha were used more frequently than expected, and most sites had remoteness values of ≤ 3 km. Colony size was positively correlated with years occupied and large colonies (> 1000 pairs) developed primarily (95%) on island sites > 1.0 ha. Sites supporting large colonies were more remote than those supporting smaller colonies. Presence of other colonial waterbird species, especially Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus), also characterized cormorant sites. Islands used by cormorants comprised a small proportion (n = 90, 3%) of the U.S. Great Lakes island resource, and < 1% of the total island area. Certain characteristics of breeding sites (e.g., small islands, proximity to mainland) may increase negative attitudes about cormorants. To understand cormorant impacts to island resources (e.g., vegetation; other colonial waterbird species), we suggest cormorant presence in the Great Lakes be considered in the broader context of island science, conservation and known threats, and at a landscape scale.     

现场总线系统的历史与标准(续1)

本文是Sauter博士、副教授在北京机械工业学院自动化系 ,西南师范大学信息工程学院与上海理工大学自动化系的演讲讲稿。本工作是中华人民共和国科学技术部与奥地利国家教科文部的政府合作计划 ,第二批第Ⅳ项关于“现场总线评估中心”的项目     

A High Capacity All Solid-State Li-Sulfur Battery Enabled by Conversion-Intercalation Hybrid Cathode Architecture

As demands for electrochemical energy storage continue to rise, alternative electrochemistries to conventional Li-ion batteries become more appealing. Here, an intercalation-conversion hybrid cathode that combines intercalation-type VS₂ with conversion-type sulfur chemistry to construct high performance solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries is reported. The layered VS₂ nanomaterial features Li-ion transport channels, metallic conductivity, and active capacity contribution, all of which provide an ideal platform for the solid state S/Li₂S redox couple to unlock its high gravimetric capacity. The S/VS₂/Li₃PS₄ hybrid cathode composite is prepared by a facile, low-cost, and low-energy mechanical blending process. The S/VS₂/Li₃PS₄|Li₃PS₄|Li/In (or Li) all-solid-state cell exhibits sulfur utilization of ≈85%, with a Coulombic efficiency of close to 100%. High areal capacity up to 7.8 mA h cm⁻² with an active material loading (S/VS₂) as high as 15.5 mg cm⁻² is achieved.     

Defining a complex intervention: The development of demarcation criteria for “meditation”.

The authors used a 5-round Delphi study with a panel of 7 experts in meditation research to achieve agreement on a set of criteria for a working definition of “meditation” for use in a comprehensive systematic review of the therapeutic use of meditation. Participants agreed that essential to a meditation practice is its use of (a) a defined technique, (b) logic relaxation, and (c) a self-induced state. Participants also agreed that a meditation practice may (d) involve a state of psychophysical relaxation somewhere in the process; (e) use a self-focus skill or anchor; (f) involve an altered state/mode of consciousness, mystic experience, enlightenment or suspension of logical thought processes; (g) be embedded in a religious/spiritual/philosophical context; or (h) involve an experience of mental silence. The results of this study provide insight into the challenges faced by researchers who want to demarcate meditative practices from nonmeditative practices, and they describe an approach to this problem that may prove useful for researchers trying to operationalize meditation in the context of comparative research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The sensitivity of estimates of regression to the mean

Estimations of the effectiveness of remedial treatments in road safety analysis are frequently bedevilled by the problem of regression to the mean (RTM). The number of accidents x observed at a site in the “before” period is a “noisy” quantity: x is Poisson distributed about an (unknown) true mean m for that site, so that x = m + e. Sites selected for treatment tend to have a positive random error component e, which will on average be zero in the “after” period, even if no treatment is applied.Methods for estimating RTM usually require some assumption about the underlying (prior) between-site distribution of the true means f₀(m): for example, in the empirical Bayes method, a gamma distribution is assumed. The paper considers the impact of different assumptions for this distribution and, indeed, whether any distributional form needs to be assumed. Using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods, a variety of distributional forms are assumed for f₀(m) and applied to each of a number of real data sets, including that from a major study on the effectiveness of speed cameras. It is shown that, in some cases, the size of the estimated RTM effect can be quite sensitive to the choice of distribution.     

Universal intervention effects on substance use among young adults mediated by delayed adolescent substance initiation.

In this article, the authors examine whether delayed substance initiation during adolescence, achieved through universal family-focused interventions conducted in middle school, can reduce problematic substance use during young adulthood. Sixth-grade students enrolled in 33 rural midwestern schools and their families were randomly assigned to 3 experimental conditions. Self-report questionnaires provided data at 7 time points for the Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP), Preparing for the Drug Free Years (PDFY), and control groups through young adulthood. Five young adult substance frequency measures (drunkenness, alcohol-related problems, cigarettes, illicit drugs, and polysubstance use) were modeled as distal outcomes affected by the average level and rate of increase in substance initiation across the adolescent years in latent growth curve analyses. Results show that the models fit the data and that they were robust across outcomes and interventions, with more robust effects found for ISFP. The addition of direct intervention effects on young adult outcomes was not supported, suggesting long-term effects were primarily indirect. Relative reduction rates were calculated to quantify intervention-control differences on the estimated proportion of young adults indicating problematic substance use; they ranged from 19% to 31% for ISFP and from 9% to 16% for PDFY. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adhesion enhancement of sol-gel coating on polycarbonate by heated impregnation treatment

The main limitation in using coated plastics for optical components, electronic applications and display systems is the softness of the substrate surfaces, which is responsible for the low impact and abrasion resistance and weak adhesion between the coating and the substrate. In this paper, we report a new strategy for surface pre-treatment of plastics using heated vacuum equipment and sol-gel materials to provide both chemical bonds and penetrated hard layer into the plastic surface to increase the overall performance of the coated plastic components. The heated vacuum treatment process involves: (1) surface cleaning and pore opening by heating and vacuum conditions, (2) impregnation of hydrolyzed hybrid precursor into polymer substrate under pressure and elevated temperature, (3) aminolysis of diffused precursor with surface to form chemical bonds and hardened surface layer, (4) formation of chemical bonds at treated surface with sol-gel hard coating. An impregnation depth of 1.5 µm was detected. Water contact angle dropped to below 40° and roughness increased after treatment. These provided better adhesion by increased wettability and contact area. Much increased nanoindentation hardness and Young's modulus after impregnation provided a gradient in mechanical properties between soft substrate and hard sol-gel coating. The hardened substrate delays the plastic deformation in substrate during pencil scratch test, thereby preventing early gouge failure. Both the better adhesion and the delayed gouge failure contributed to the increased scratch resistance from 6B to 8H after sol-gel coating.