Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Rufus'

I tested the twin-threshold model, a risk-sensitive foraging model incorporating both a starvation threshold and a higher reproductive threshold. The model predicts risk-adverse foraging when an animal's energy state is close to the starvation threshold and risk-prone foraging when the animal's energy state is close to the reproductive threshold. Wild rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) were presented with a choice of three artificial flower types that had either no, moderate or high variability around a common mean. I manipulated energy state by changing either the mean nectar volume or altering the cost of foraging (long versus short corollas). When the energy state of hummingbirds was close to the reproductive threshold they preferred the variable options. When the energy state of hummingbirds was close to the starvation threshold they preferred the nil option. Hummingbirds responded in a manner consistent with the twin-threshold model.
x, 90 leaves ; 29 cm.

Originaire de Menton, Rufus Massa (1742-1829), fut un magistrat et un politicien fort apprécié, sa renommée dépassant les limites régionales. Docteur en droit, avocat, il occupa, de 1773 à 1791, des postes importants dans la magistrature, tant en principauté de Monaco que dans les républiques de Gênes et de Lucques. Homme de loi réformateur il écrivit, en italien, deux ouvrages juridiques (commentaire du "traité des délits et des peines du marquis de Beccaria" et "de l'abus des procès"), donnant des avis pertinents sur la pensée du siècle des Lumières, notamment en droit pénal. Quand la révolution atteignit le domaine des Grimaldi, il participa à l'extraordinaire mutation que vivait son pays. Premier maire français de Menton (février 1793), il fut élu député à la convention nationale (mai 1793) ou, considère comme Girondin, il resta emprisonné d'octobre 1793 a décembre 1794. Le directoire, le consulat, l'empire, le virent successivement membre du comité de législation (février 1795), du conseil des cinq-cents (octobre 1795), commissaire du directoire exécutif près du département des Alpes-Maritimes (mai 1798) et membre du corps législatif (décembre 1799). De retour dans sa province natale, il reprit ses fonctions de magistrat (juge au tribunal spécial, de 1802 à 1811, puis vice-président du tribunal de première instance, de 1811 à 1814) et siégea au conseil municipal de Nice (1804-1814). En 1815, Nice redevenue sarde, massa abandonna toute vie politique, se retirant dans sa demeure du cours salera (Nice), ou il mourut le 28 octobre 1829.

Thesis advisor: Gabor T. Marth
To help improve the analysis of forward genetic screens, we have developed an efficient and automated pipeline for mutational profiling using our reference guided tools including MOSAIK and FREEBAYES. Studies using next generation sequencing technologies currently employ either reference guided alignment or de novo assembly to analyze the massive amount of short read data produced by second generation sequencing technologies; the far more common approach being reference guided alignment due to the massive computational and sequencing costs associated with de novo assembly. The success of reference guided alignment is dependent on three factors; the accuracy of the reference, the ability of the mapper to correctly place a read, and the degree to which a variant allele differs from the reference. Reference assemblies are not perfect and none are entirely complete. Moreover, read mappers can only map reads in genomic locations that are unique enough to confidently place reads; paralogous sections, such as related gene families, cannot be characterized and are often ignored. Further, variant alleles that drastically alter the subject's DNA, such as insertions or deletions (INDELs), will not map to the reference and are either entirely missed or require further downstream analysis to characterize. Most importantly, reference guided methods are restricted to organisms for which such reference genomes have been assembled. The current alternative, de novo assembly of a genome, is prohibitively expensive for most labs requiring deep read coverage from numerous different library preparations as well as massive computing power. To address the shortcomings of current methods, while eliminating the costs intrinsic to de novo sequence assembly, we developed RUFUS, a novel, completely reference-independent variant discovery tool. RUFUS directly compares raw sequence data from two or more samples and identifies groups of reads unique to one or the other sample. RUFUS has at least the same variant detection sensitivity as mapping methods, with greatly increased specificity for SNPs and INDEL variation events. RUFUS is also capable of extremely sensitive copy number detection, without any restriction on event length. By modeling the underlying k-mer distribution, RUFUS produces a specific copy number spectrum for each individual sample. Applying a Bayesian detection method to detect changes in k-mer content between two samples, RUFUS produces copy number calls that are equally as sensitive as traditional copy number detection methods with far fewer false positives. Our data suggest that RUFUS' reference-free approach to variant discovery is able to substantially improve upon existing variant detection methods: reducing reference biases, reducing false positive variants, and detecting copy number variants with excellent sensitivity and specificity
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Biology

This thesis consists of a text and commentary on Book Ten of Quintus Curtius Rufus' His toriae Alexandri Magni Macedonis; the work was probably written in the middle of the first century A.D. The main body of the commentary deals with linguistic, stylistic and historical matters; each episode is preceded by a more general introduction to the issues involved. In addition, there is an introduction, dealing with the manuscript tradition, the date of composition, the identity of the writer, the popularity of Alexander as an exemplum in Rome and contemporary historical and biographical practices. There are three appendices: the first deals with Curtius' sources and includes detailed tables in which the five main Alexander sources are compared throughout Book Ten; the second brings together elements of contemporary political allusion in Book Ten and attempts to draw a conclusion concerning the undoubted similarities between the accessions of Arrhidaeus, Alexander's brother, and the emperor Claudius; the third compares Curtius' preferences for certain clausulae with that of other writers. At the end, there is an index nominum and an index rerum.

This study investigated the various techniques available for rigid body system simulation, thus providing a thorough overview of the latest relevant literature. N became apparent that no engineering level accurate impulsive approaches for rigid body system simulation with concurrent contacts were in use or even existed up to now. A general formulation and solution technique for multiple concurrent contact problems were developed and tested on simple systems. Advantages of the formulation used are that the minimum of material properties, i.e. density, normal and tangential restitution coefficients and static and dynamic friction factors - all measurable, need to be specified and the results should be physically correct to a very high precision. Results obtained were encouraging and demonstrated that the original binary collision model available thus far could at least be extended to a heptenary simultaneous collision model.
Thesis (Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

This is an examination of Governor Rufus B. Bullock and his management of the state’s convict lease system between the years of 1868-187 1, a period associated with Radical Reconstruction before the introduction of the “New South” era. Georgia’s majority black convict population was leased out to private railroad companies under Bullock’s Administration. They experienced harsh and brutal treatment at times, and even death. Many were arrested for minor offenses and handed excessive sentences, which provided a consistent and dependable cheap labor force. This labor resource was exploited in rebuilding Georgia’s rail system to foster trade. The study uses primary and secondary sources to ascertain Bullock’s culpability in a penal system so heinous that it rivaled slavery itself. Bullock abandoned the ideals of the Republican Party, which advocated liberty for all men, and acquiesced to the principles of industrialism and capitalism, clinging to the tenets of “free labor” at the expense of Georgia’s newly freed slaves. The implications of this study point to why Reconstruction failed and it excavates the etiology of contemporary penitentiary trends.

We reviewed the taxonomy of the Trogon rufus species-complex under the premises of the Biological Species Concept. Putative taxonomic units, breaks and transition zones, were visualised by heatmaps and isophenes (phenotypic contour lines) of the colour, barring, morphometric and song characters and tested by discriminant function analyses. Colourmetric data were obtained via spectrometry and barring patterns analysed via high quality digital photographs. We found four distinct biological species. Trogon chrysochloros Pelzeln 1856 from the Atlantic Forest with its denser and blacker undertail and wing covert barring, larger size and faster, generally higher song with more notes. Its upperparts vary from bluer to more coppery-green with increasing altitude. The bill is also relatively smaller and more serrated, linked to a diet that consists almost exclusively of large arthropods, making it the most insectivorous new world Trogon species yet known, which may account for its relative rarity compared to other Trogonids with which it is sympatric. Trogon tenellus Cabanis 1862, from Central America, and Trogon cupreicauda Chapman 1914 from the Chocó-Magdalena provide a classic case of typical biological species, coming into contact in the extreme NW Chocó Province, Colombia, but without intermediate forms. T. tenellus is identified by its blue to blue-green uppertail, blue or grey eye-rings, grey tarsi and song with 2-4 notes, longer note duration and greater change in peak and high frequencies between the intro note and loudsong. This contrasts with the shiny olive-green to coppery green uppertails, yellow eye-ring, usually olive tarsi, brown wash on the undertail of females and song with 6-8 notes of shorter duration and little change in frequency between the intro note and loudsong of T. cupreicauda. T. cupreicauda varies clinally from generally bluer- to more coppery-green plumage and from thicker to thinner black bars in a gradient from the Pacific coast on the border with Ecuador to the Magdalena Valley. The greater difference in colour and barring relative to T. tenellus in the region they come into contact provides possible evidence of character displacement as a result of the competitive exclusion between these two species, maintaining their parapatric distributions. The Amazonian population belongs to a single species, Trogon rufus Gmelin 1788, but with two highly distinct forms that we designate as Trogon rufus rufus in the Guiana Shield and Trogon rufus sulphureus in S & W Amazonia, for which Todd\'s amazonicus is synonymised. They are morphologically and, to a lesser extent, vocally distinct across the lower Rio Negro and matrix of highland and open habitats of the Rio Branco basin but show limited character exchange between the 52-58th parallels west on the southern bank of the Amazon, centred around the Rio Arapiuns on the left bank of mouth of the Tapajos. We postulate that this is the result of secondary contact as a consequence of shifts in the course of the main channel of the Amazon River at times of lower sea levels during the Plio-Pleistocene. T .r. sulphureus is identified by a typically coppery uppertail with subterminal tailband of greener hue, yellow eye-ring, low barring density and broad black bars of the undertail and wing-coverts barring with and lack of a pectoral band. They are also sometimes distinguishable in song by a higher frequency introduction note and/or more pronounced descending modulation across the loudsong. This varies clinally on a west-east gradient, from strong-coppery to shiny olive-green uppertails with more to less distinct subterminal tailbands, diminishing black bar widths with corresponding increasing density and decreasing intro note low frequency. T. r. rufus have green uppertails, blue eye-rings, presence or absence of a white pectoral band and denser undertail and wing panel barring with thinner black bars. These characters were shown to change as a function of geographic distance between specimens of sulphureus and rufus, connected via the \'Arapiuns contact zone\', suggesting isolation by distance. This is reminiscent of a ring species pattern and two specimens with a possible mixture of characters were indeed found from the upper Rio Negro and in Pantepui, where T. r. rufus and T. r. sulphureus would be expected to come into contact, effectively \'closing the ring\'. Whether Trogon rufus constitutes a valid ring species requires further testing, preferably including molecular characters, but this clearly illustrates that the distinction between clinal variation and ring-species is a matter of degree, not kind, with the formation of the ring-species necessarily passing through a clinal stage with no overlap between terminal taxa. We therefore propose the concept of a loop species, where the terminal forms do not overlap but are connected via a series of intergrading populations. It seems likely that such patterns are more widespread in Amazonia than presently known due to the propensity for clinal variation and parapatric speciation lended by its massive geographical extent and abundance of biogeographical semi-permeable barriers. With regards to the population from the Pernambuco Center of Endemism, the few records suggest that it is a valid taxonomic unit. It has the unique combination of a song very similar to T. r. sulphureus due to the high introduction note frequency and pronounced descent in frequencies across the loudsong, with a corresponding widening range but moderately large size, serrated bill and blue eye-ring but this certainly requires confirmation. This requires urgent attention, as the remnant population is very small and localised, recorded only from the Murici municipality, Alagoas.
Nós revisamos a taxonomia do complexo Trogon rufus sob o conceito Biológico de Espécies. Unidades taxonômicas possíveis, quebras e zonas de transição taxonômicas foram definidas usando mapas de calor e isofenas (linhas de contorno de fenótípo) baseados em caráteres de cor, barramento e morfometria. Esses possíveis táxons foram testados pelas análises de discriminantes. Dados de coloração foram obtidos por meio de espectrometria, e os padrões de barramento por meio de fotos de alta qualidade. Nós encontramos quatro espécies biológicas distintas Trogon chrysochloros Pelzeln 1856, da Mata Atlântica, diagnosticável pelo barramento mais escuro e denso na face inferior da cauda e coberteiras da asa, maior tamanho corpóreo, canto mais rápido, com mais notas e de frequência mais alta. Suas partes superiores (cabeça, dorso e cauda) variam de azul a verde acobreado com o aumento da altitude. O bico também é relativamente menor e mais serrilhado, o que está ligado a uma dieta que consiste quase exclusivamente de grandes artrópodes, fazendo desta espécie o Trogon mais insetívoro do mundo, o que deve ser a razão de sua relativa raridade quando comparado a outros Trogonidae com os quais vive em simpatia. Trogon tenellus Cabanis 1862, da América Central, e Trogon cupreicauda Chapman 1914, do Chocó-Magdalena, formam um caso clássico de espécies biológicas, entrando em contato no extremo noroeste da província de Chocó, na Colômbia, sem a presença de formas intermediárias. T. tenellus é identificável pela face superior da cauda azul ou azul esverdeado, anel perioftálmico azul ou cinza, tarso cinza, e voz com de 2 a 4 notas, maior duração das notas e maior mudança entre frequência de pico e frequência alta entre a nota introdutória e nota principal. Essas características contrastam com a cor verde-oliva brilhante da face superior da cauda, anel perioftámico amarelo, tarso geralmente oliva, presença de marrom claro na face inferior da cauda das fêmeas e canto com entre 6 e 8 notas, de menor duração, pouca mudança na frequência entre a primeira nota e o canto principal de T. cupreicauda. Este varia clinalmente de azul para uma plumagem mais verde acobreada e de barramento preto mais espesso para mais fino em uma gradiente da costa do Pacífico, do noroeste do Equador até o Vale do Magdalena. A maior distinção de estados de caráter relativa a T. tenellus na região onde os dois grupos se encontram provê uma possível evidência de deslocamento de caracteres como resultado de exclusão competitiva entre estas duas espécies, mantendo suas distribuições parapátricas. A população amazônica pertence a única espécie biológica Trogon rufus Gmelin 1788, mas com duas formas altamente distintas que designamos como Trogon rufus rufus do Escudo Guianense, e Trogon rufus sulphureus no sul e oeste da Amazônia, com a qual amazonicus de Todd é sinonimizada. Estas são morfologicamente, e em menor escala, vocalmente distintas nas duas margens do baixo Rio Negro e áreas abertas e/ou montanhosas da bacia do Rio Branco, mas apresentam troca de caracteres limitada nas longitudes entre 52 e 58 Oeste na margem sul do Rio Amazonas, centrado nos arredores do Rio Arapiuns, na margem esquerda da foz do Tapajós. Nós postulamos que isto é um resultado de contato secundário, como consequência de mudanças no curso principal do Rio Amazonas em tempos de níveis mais baixos do mar durante o Plio-Pleistoceno. T. r. sulphureus é identificado pela coloração tipicamente acobreada da face superior da cauda com uma banda sub-terminal de tonalidade esverdeada, anel perioftálmico amarelo, barras negras espessas e de baixa densidade na face inferior da cauda e nas coberteiras das asas e pela ausência de uma faixa peitoral. Em certos casos eles também podem ser distinguíveis pela voz com uma nota introdutória de maior frequência e/ou uma modulação descendente mais pronunciada no canto principal. Este grupo varia clinalmente em gradiente de oeste para leste, de uma coloração cobre forte até verde oliva na face superior da cauda com faixa sub-terminal mais ou menos distinta, anel perioftálmico azul, presença ou ausência de uma faixa peitoral branca e barramento na face inferior da cauda e coberteiras de menor espessura e, consequentemente, maior densidade. Nossos dados apontam que estes caracteres mudam linearmente entre sulphureus e rufus de acordo com a distância ao longo de uma gradiente clinal em forma de laço do Oeste Amazônico até o Escudo das Guianas, conectado pela zona de contato de Arapiuns, sugerindo isolamento por distância. Isto sugere um remanescente de um padrão de espécie em anel. Além disso, dois espécimes com possível mistura de caracteres foram de fato encontrados no alto Rio Negro e Pantepui, onde se espera que T. r. rufus e T. r. sulphureus entrem em contato, fechando o anel efetivamente. Ainda é necessário testar se Trogon rufus constitui uma espécie em anel válida, preferencialmente usando dados moleculares, mas este caso ilustra claramente que a distinção entre variação clinal e espécie em anel é uma questão de grau e não de tipo, com a formação de espécie em anel necessariamente passando por um estágio clinal sem sobreposição entre os grupos terminais. Nós assim sugerimos o conceito de espécie em laço, onde as formas terminais não se sobrepõem, mas são ligadas através de uma série de populações onde há fluxo gênico. Parece provável que estes padrões são mais amplamente distribuídos na Amazônia do que é sabido atualmente devido a uma propensão à variação clinal e especiação parapátrica causada por sua grande extensão geográfica e abundância de barreiras geográficas semipermeáveis. Em relação a população do Centro de Endemismo Pernambuco, os poucos registros sugerem que esta é uma unidade taxonômica válida. Este grupo apresenta uma combinação única de canto muito similar ao de T. r. sulphureus, devido à alta frequência da nota introdutória e pronunciada modulação descendente ao longo do canto principal, com uma maior amplitude da frequência, combinada a maior tamanho, bico serrilhado, e anel perioftálmico azul, mas isso requer confirmação. Este caso demanda atenção urgente, já que a população remanescente é muito pequena e de distribuição restrita ao município de Murici, em Alagoas.

Urban landscapes are quickly replacing native habitat around the world. As wildlife and people increasingly overlap in their shared space and resources, so does the potential for human-wildlife conflict, especially with predators. Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are a top predator in several urban areas across the United States and a potential contributor to human-carnivore conflicts. This study evaluated the movements and habitat use of bobcats in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Texas metroplex. Spatial data were collected from 10 bobcats via Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) for approximately one year. Average home range size was 4.60 km2 (n=9, SE=0.99 km2) for all resident bobcats, 3.48 km2 (n=5, SE=1.13 km2) for resident females, and 6.00 km2 (n=4, SE=1.61 km2) for resident males. Resource selection function (RSF) models show that bobcats avoid areas close to and far from grasslands and low-medium development, while selecting for these areas at intermediate distances. Bobcats also selected areas closer to developed open space, agricultural areas, and railroads. In addition, camera trap data analyzed with spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) models informed by the RSF results estimated a population density of 0.64 bobcats/km2 (SE = 0.22). Bobcats in DFW have significantly smaller home ranges and occur at higher densities compared to rural bobcat populations. Home ranges were also slightly smaller and densities higher than the most closely similar peri-urban bobcat studies. These differences likely arise due to the abundant urban prey species the DFW landscape provides despite limited space and habitat for bobcats. The dense urban development surrounding this population of bobcats may also discourage dispersing from the area, and contributing to higher densities. These results provide information to facilitate management of urban bobcats by providing new insight into how bobcats live amidst people in urban areas.

Electricity is one of the sections of physics in which students encounter difficulties. One of the main causes of this difficulty is that some teachers' own understanding of electricity is lacking. In fact, some teachers harbor misconceptions in electricity and transmit them to students. The study was aimed at probing into science teachers' conceptualization of core concepts in electricity and identify gaps and problems in their understanding. The empirical survey was conducted amongst a group of 32 science teachers registered for a Higher Diploma in Science Education in the SEDIBA Project at the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education. The investigation was done by means ofa pre- and a post-test. The results of both the preand the post-tests were used to analyze the gaps and problems in teachers' understanding. These results indicated that teachers had problems in the understanding of electricity prior to instruction in electricity in the SEDIBA Project. Intervention by instruction resulted in improvement in teachers' understanding of concepts in electricity. Misconceptions and general problems encountered by teachers in the understanding of electricity were identified in the investigation.
Thesis (MEd)--PU for CHE, 1998.

Ce mémoire propose l’analyse de chansons extraites du diptyque Want (formé des albums Want One et Want Two), de l’auteur-compositeur-interprète Rufus Wainwright, en regard des relations entre l’énonciateur et l’espace. La notion d’oscillation spatiale, définie en introduction, est au cœur de la situation de l’énonciateur et se déploie sous de multiples formes dans les cinq chansons à l’étude. « Oh What a World » et « I Don’t Know What It Is » sur Want One, « Hometown Waltz », « Memphis Skyline » et « Old Whore’s Diet » sur Want Two, ont été choisies pour la façon dont la relation à l’espace y agit de même que pour leur emplacement dans l’ensemble. La position de l’énonciateur mise en évidence dans chaque analyse s’inscrit au sein d’un parcours, que l’étude préliminaire du paratexte des albums aura d’ailleurs mis en évidence.
In this dissertation are analysed five songs from the singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright’s diptych Want (composed of Want One and Want Two), with regards to the relationship between the protagonist of the songs and the space. The notion of « spatial oscillation », of which a definition is given in the introduction, is central to the protagonist’s conflicting state and adopts various forms in the five songs analysed. « Oh What a World » and « I Don’t Know What It Is » on Want One, « Hometown Waltz », « Memphis Skyline » and « Old Whore’s Diet » on Want Two, have been selected for the way in which they deal with spatial relations, as well as for their location in the diptych. The protagonist’s position, highlighted in the five analyses, evolves throughout the diptych ; the preliminary analysis of the paratextual apparatus underlines this progression.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2009.
"Department of Zoology." Keywords: Bobcats, Microsatellite, Mitochondrial DNA, Phylogeography, Population genetics, Lynx rufus. Includes bibliographical references (p. 98-111). Also available online.

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, 2017.
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A seleção sexual é um dos principais mecanismos de evolução do canto em aves. No entanto, evidências apoiando essa ideia são amplamente baseadas em estudos com canto em machos, mesmo considerando que fêmeas cantem em mais de 70% das espécies de passeriformes, e parceiros reprodutores coordenem seus cantos em duetos em mais 18% das espécies de aves. A função adaptativa do dueto ainda não é bem compreendida e mais de oito hipóteses já foram propostas. O dueto pode surgir através de cooperação ou conflito entre parceiros reprodutores, e pode ser direcionado ao parceiro ou a indivíduos externos ao par reprodutor. Neste estudo, investiguei a função adaptativa dos cantos de fêmeas e machos em uma espécie que canta em dueto, analisando como a expressão desses cantos varia em diferentes contextos de territorialidade, socialidade e reprodução. O modelo de estudo foi o João-de-barro (Furnarius rufus; Aves: Furnariidae), uma espécie socialmente monogâmica, territorial durante todo o ano, aparentemente monocromática e com cantos sexo-específicos. Meus objetivos foram: 1) testar se as funções dos cantos em dueto variam com o sexo, papel no dueto (início ou resposta de canto) e nível de organização do dueto (individual ou casal), avaliando a relação entre expressão do canto, sazonalidade reprodutiva e ocorrência de interações territoriais; 2) investigar a resposta de parceiros reprodutores em grupos com ou sem filhotes jovens ao playback de solo de fêmea, solo de macho e dueto, testando indiretamente as funções desses tipos de canto; 3) descrever o sistema de acasalamento genético do João-de-barro e testar se o canto nessa espécie se correlaciona com a qualidade territorial e sucesso reprodutivo; 4) testar se o nível de coordenação do dueto sinaliza a qualidade ou motivação do casal em competir por territórios, por meio de um experimento de playback de cantos com níveis variados de coordenação temporal; e 5) testar se existe dimorfismo sexual e pareamento seletivo em tamanho do corpo ou coloração da plumagem, o que indicaria um papel da seleção sexual nessa outra modalidade sensorial. Os principais resultados do estudo foram: 1) parceiros reprodutores coordenaram a maioria dos seus cantos em duetos (61%), e machos iniciaram mais cantos do que fêmeas; a função do canto variou em função da interação entre sexo, papel no dueto e nível de organização do dueto, mas, em geral, foi relacionada à defesa de território e do vínculo social do casal; 2) parceiros foram coordenados e equivalentes na resposta aos playbacks de coespecíficos; playbacks de solos foram mais ameaçadores do que playbacks de duetos para casais sem jovens, enquanto playbacks de duetos ameaçaram mais casais com jovens do que playbacks de solos, indicando que a defesa do vínculo social é importante para casais sem jovens e a defesa de territórios é importante para casais com jovens; 3) a taxa de paternidade extrapar foi baixa (<4% dos ninhegos) e o sucesso reprodutivo foi alto (100% dos casais produziram pelo menos um juvenil); o investimento em canto pela fêmea e a duração do dueto se correlacionaram com a qualidade dos territórios, mas não com o sucesso reprodutivo do casal; 4) o nível de coordenação do dueto não indicou a qualidade ou motivação do casal na defesa territorial, visto que parceiros responderam de forma coordenada e equivalente a todos os playbacks coespecíficos; 5) foi encontrada evidência de monocromatismo sexual e pequeno (~4%) dimorfismo em tamanho, além de ausência de pareamento seletivo. Em conclusão, este estudo demonstra que parceiros reprodutores de João-de-barro coordenam seus cantos em dueto de forma cooperativa e por múltiplas razões, principalmente para defenderem território e o próprio vínculo social do casal.
Sexual selection is one of the main forces driving the evolution of bird song. However, evidence supporting this idea comes mainly from studies conducted on male song, despite the fact that female song occurs in 71% of bird species and mated partners coordinate their songs in more than 18% of bird species. The function of duetting is poorly understood and more than eight hypotheses have been proposed to explain duet function. Duets may arise from cooperation or conflict between breeding partners and the duet participation may be directed at either partners or strangers. Here, I investigated the adaptive function of female and male songs in a duetting species, and associated song expression to different contexts of territoriality, sociality and reproduction. The study species was the Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus; Aves: Furnariidae), a Neotropical, socially monogamous, year-round territorial and apparently monochromatic bird species. Duets are composed by sex-specific song types in this species. My objectives were to: 1) verify whether song function in duets varies with sex, singing role (song initiation or song answering), and level of duet organization (individual or pair), examining the relation among song expression, breeding seasonality and occurrence of territorial interactions; 2) investigate the response of mated pairs with and without juveniles to the playback of female solo, male solo and duet, testing for functions of these song types; 3) describe the genetic mating system of the Rufous Horneros and test for fitness consequences (territorial quality and reproductive success) of song expression; 4) test the coalition quality hypothesis to explain the function of the degree of duet coordination in this species, through a playback experiment with duet stimuli varying in the degree of phrase coordination; and 5) test for sexual dimorphism and assortative mating relative to body size and plumage coloration, which could indicate a role of sexual selection in this sensory modality. Our main results were: 1) partners coordinated most of their songs into duets (61%), and males initiated more songs than females; song function depended on an interaction of sex, singing role and level of duet organization, but, in general, song function was related to territory defense and mutual mate guarding; 2) partners were coordinated and equivalent in playback responses; playback of solos were more threatening than playback of duets to pairs without juveniles, while the playback of duets threatened more pairs with juveniles than did playback of solos, indicating that mutual mate guarding is important to pairs without juveniles, and territory defense is important to pairs with juveniles; 3) extra-pair paternity was low (<4% of the nestlings) and breeding success was high (100% of the pairs produced at least one fledgling); female song rate and duet duration were correlated with territory quality, but not to breeding success; 4) the degree of duet coordination did not signal coalition quality or motivation of breeding partners to fight for territorial resources, because partners responded with equal aggressiveness and coordination all conspecific playbacks; 5) I found evidence of sexual monochromatism, slight (~4%) sexual dimorphism in body size and lack of assortative mating. In conclusion, this study showed that Rufous Hornero’s breeding partners coordinate their songs into duets in a cooperative way and for multiple purposes, especially for territory defense and guarding the social pair bond.

Despite the prevalent distribution of bobcats in western Virginia and the broader region of Appalachia, there is a paucity of information on their spatial ecology in this region. Due to the unique ecological conditions of Appalachia, and increasing public interest surrounding the role of bobcats as predators in the region, there is a need for local information on bobcat ecology. I utilized data from 20 GPS collared bobcats (14M, 6F) to investigate bobcat spatial ecology in the mountains of Western Virginia. Average resident male home range size was 33.9 ± 2.6 km^2, nearly 3 times larger than average resident female home range size (12.1 ± 2.4 km^2). Seasonal areas of use did not differ in size among seasons, but exhibited minor shifts in location and shape. Average male movement rates (232.3 ± 12.0 meters/hour) were 1.5 times greater than average female movement rates (154.4 ± 8.9 meters/hour). Male movement rates increased during the dispersal season and female movement rates increased during the denning/kitten-rearing season. Second order resource selection analysis indicates that bobcats of both sexes select home ranges at higher elevations than expected at random, and that selection varies between sexes and among seasons. Third order resource selection analysis indicates that bobcats select for locations near open canopy structure, and avoid forest interior. These findings build upon previous findings regarding bobcat diet and population dynamics to provide a comprehensive understanding of basic bobcat ecology in western Virginia, and will inform further research investigating predator/prey interactions.
Master of Science
Despite the prevalent distribution of bobcats in western Virginia and the broader region of Appalachia, there is a paucity of information on their spatial ecology in this region. Due to the unique ecological conditions of Appalachia, and increasing public interest surrounding the role of bobcats as predators in the region, there is a need for local information on bobcat ecology. I utilized data from 20 GPS collared bobcats (14M, 6F) to investigate bobcat spatial ecology in the mountains of Western Virginia. I found that male bobcats use more space than females, with home ranges nearly 3 times larger and movement rates 1.5 times higher. I found that home ranges do not expand or contract throughout the year, but do shift in shape slightly. I found that bobcats select home ranges at higher elevations, indicating that home ranges are predominantly located on ridges. I found that selection of home ranges differed between sexes and seasons, indicating that shifts in home range shape throughout the year reflect varying habitat selection. Within their home ranges, I found that bobcats select for areas of open canopy resulting from fields, fire, and timber harvest; and avoid areas of forest interior. These findings build upon previous findings regarding bobcat diet and population dynamics to provide a comprehensive understanding of basic bobcat ecology in western Virginia, and will inform further research investigating predator/prey interactions.

Rufus of Ephesus's 'Quaestiones Medicinales' is an under-studied work by one of the most respected doctors of Greco-Roman antiquity. This thesis presents a new translation - the first in English of the complete work - and a reassessment of the treatise. I propose that, far from being a simple handbook teaching doctors how to take a patient history, as has hitherto been assumed, QM is an ardent plea for doctors to recognise the limits of their own knowledge and the indispensability of questioning the patient. I argue that QM articulates the idea that the aim of medicine cannot be achieved through medical knowledge alone, and that, in constructing the patient as an essential partner in diagnosis and decisions about treatment, Rufus implies a sharing of authority between doctor and patient that is noticeably different from the emphasis that other authors, particularly the determinedly hierarchical Galen, place on securing patients' obedience, a subject on which Rufus is noticeably silent. I argue that Rufus is unusual in the clarity and candour with which he perceives and acknowledges the limits of medical knowledge, in his conceptualisation of questioning as a discursive rather than a formulaic activity, in his explicit insistence that it must be addressed directly to the patient, in his psychological concept of habits, and in his recommendation of questioning as a strategy for resolving the tension between universal theory and individual experience. I look at modern cross-cultural research into the factors that drive patient compliance, and note that chief among them is patients feeling they are partners in the treatment process. This raises the question whether and to what extent the features that drive compliance are diachronically as well as cross-culturally consistent, and whether Rufus's shared authority model is more likely to have produced successful treatment outcomes than the autocratic paradigm promoted by Galen, and subsequently absorbed into Western medical tradition, that seems to have met with so much resistance.

La pensée de Musonius est un point de vue privilégié pour problématiser la politique stoi͏̈cienne, dans un contexte historique où la notion de participation à la vie politique se trouve repensée. Sous la direction du maître, l'individu, à l'abri d'une société corrompue et corruptrice, assimile les principes de la vertu et renoue, dans l'ascèse, avec l'oikeiôsis, impulsion fondamentale que lui a donnée la nature, et qui le pousse à accomplir sa nature humaine en étant un dieu sociable. L'oikeiôsis peut être interprétée comme processus qui mène à cet accomplissement en étendant la relation qu'un homme entretient avec lui-même aux autres hommes. Le mariage en est un moment essentiel, puisque cette relation apparaît chez Musonius comme modèle et matrice de toute relation, fondement de la cité, autant la petite cité que la cité universelle, dont il est une préfiguration. C'est à une concorde de cette qualité que l'action politique du sage doit viser, en articulant loi civile et loi naturelle
Musonius affords a exceptional view on Stoic political philosophy in a historical context in which the notion of participation in political life has been re-thought. Under the direction of the master, the individual, protected from a corrupt and corrupting society, assimilates the principles of virtue and reestablishes an ascetic connection with oikeiôsis, that fundamental impulse conferred by nature and which makes it possible for him to realize his nature and become a sociable God. Oikeiôsis can be interpreted as a process which leads to this result by extending to others that relation which a man entertains with himself Marriage constitutes an essential moment in this process since this relationship figures with Musonius as the model and matrix for any relationship whatsoever, as basic to the foundation of the little city as of that cosmic city which it prefigures. The action of the sage aims at just such a harmony, by integrating each with the other, civil and natural law

The thesis includes a novel, Rufius the Cinaedus, and an exegesis, The ‘Pivot of Authenticity’: Representing Ancient Roman Sexuality in Fiction, which explores how I creatively engaged with the historical sources to write Rufius the Cinaedus, and the different approaches taken by novelists when writing ancient Rome. Rufius the Cinaedus is a love story between Aeson, a street kid and his mentor, Rufius set in fourth century Alexandria, a period of religious revolution. Plucked from the red-light district, Aeson is groomed for the academy – and as Rufius’ lover. The novel aims to demonstrate the ancient Roman sexual paradigm and explores gender identity, childhood, comradeship and the heroism of ordinary people in a time of turmoil. The exegesis explores the tension that exists between authentically representing the sexuality of ancient Roman characters, and making them engaging for a modern audience. This raises the question: to what extent is historical authenticity desirable? Modern novels of ancient Rome are displaced in terms of time, language and authorship – which necessitates a degree of anachronism. Novelists must decide where to position the ‘pivot of authenticity’: the relationship between the author’s aim with respect to historical authenticity and the reception of the reader. To bridge the gap in time, novelists shift the ‘pivot’, often overlaying modern morals and sexual norms on to the ancient Romans. Authors have been interviewed about their approach to writing historical fiction to validate their process. The original contribution is the ‘pivot of authenticity’, which developed as a composition tool to assist the aim of historical plausibility in Rufius the Cinaedus. The phrase also adds to the discourse of literary theory on the historical novel, and can be used as a tool to evaluate a novel’s relationship with history.

Edition bilingue, latin-français, du De Medicina equorum de Jordanus Rufus, avec introdution, notes, glossaire, incex et apparat critique
Bilingual edition (latin-french) of the Medicina equorum by Jordanus Rufus, with introduction, notes, critical apparatus, glossary and index

The maintenance and restoration of tropical forest biodiversity is a global priority. Madagascar, a biodiversity 'hots pot', is unique, yet highly threatened due to ongoing deforestation. In this thesis I focus on the Madagascar flying fox (Pteropus rufus), the largest Malagasy fruit bat, and its role in forest regeneration and maintenance. I use ecological niche modelling to indicate the most suitable roosting habitat for the species and predict changes in distribution based on future climate change scenarios. Future predictions suggested that by 2080 there will be significant shifts in the distribution of P. rufus towards the central, more upland part of the island. To evaluate the role of these bats in forest regeneration, I compare germination rates of bat-processed and unprocessed seeds. Furthermore, I conduct high-resolution Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking of P. rufus to document their home ranges, movement, foraging patterns and habitat preferences. The results indicate that passage through the gut of bats increased the germination rate of defecated fig seeds and bats were able to disperse seeds over large areas and into areas cleared of trees. The bats were recorded to fly up to 66.5 km per night at a maximum speed of 17.04 m/s and the home range of all of the 15 tagged bats was over 58,000 ha. Additionally, the bats preferred feeding in forest remnants hence increasing the chances of seed deposition in such habitats, and ultimately their regeneration. Pteropus rufus bats have short gut retention times (GRTs) (estimated at 12 min) but are sometimes able to retain seeds for over 20 h. Through feeding observations in the wild, captive feeding trials and GPS tracking, seed shadow maps were created. The maps indicated that bats produced extensive seed shadow webs when feeding on figs within their large forging areas. Although P. rufus plays an important role in the early succession of tropical forest in Madagascar, it is threatened by hunting and by roost disturbance. This study provides new insights into the ecology and behaviour of the Madagascar flying fox.

Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are the most abundant and widely-distributed wild felid species in North America. The current increase of population densities of bobcats raises concerns about their importance as reservoirs of pathogens and parasites that may affect the wildlife community. Although many parasites found in bobcats also infect other wild and domestic animals, knowledge of bobcat parasites and potential impacts on other species has received relatively little attention. My objectives were to determine the endoparasite species present in Illinois bobcats, compare them to previous records in the United States, and predict their potential presence in southern Illinois using the program MAXENT. To complete these goals, necropsies were performed on 67 road-killed or trapped bobcats collected during 2003-12. I found infections caused by cestodes, nematodes, and trematodes including Taenia rileyi (70.1%), Toxocara cati (25.3%), and Alaria marcianae (41.7%). The highest mean abundance was found for Alaria marcianae (81) followed by Taenia rileyi (4) and Toxocara cati (3). Alaria marcianae had the highest intensity (193) with a range of 1-2,872. The comparison of parasite communities across 10 geographic locations using Jaccard's similarity index showed low similarity among all regions with the most similar community between Nebraska and Texas (0.53) and Arkansas being the most similar to southern Illinois (0.74). Parasite presence data were then used with environmental data layers of water, soil, land cover, human density, and climate variables in MAXENT to create maps of potential presence of 3 parasite species in a 46,436-km2 portion of southern Illinois. Precipitation of seasonality, the change of average rainfall seasonally, and average precipitation were the highest contributing variables used by MAXENT when creating probability maps of Taenia rileyi (55.1%) and Alaria marcianae (58.4%). For Toxocara cati land cover (40.6%) and soil (27.6%) were the highest contributing variables. With the addition of a sampling bias layer (i.e., bobcat presence) all climatic variables were low contributors (0.0-2.0%) while land cover remained important for Alaria marcianae (7.6%) and Toxocara cati (6.3%); human density (4.8%) was of secondary importance for Taenia rileyi after including the bias layer. Variables of importance likely represent habitat requirements necessary for the completion of parasite life cycles. Larger areas of potential presence were found for generalist parasites such as Taenia rileyi (85%) while potential presence was less likely for parasites with complex life cycles such as Alaria marcianae (73%). My study provides information to wildlife biologists and health officials regarding the potential impacts of growing bobcat populations in combination with complex and changing environmental factors.

Dagens städer växer alltmer och upptar därmed värdefulla odlingsbara marker runtom staden. I och med detta kommer därför förtätning, omvandling och återuppbyggnad av städer genom exempelvis återanvändning av grundkonstruktioner bli en avgörande lösning. I samband med EU-projektet, RuFUS (Reuse of Foundations for Urban Sites), studerades hur olika metoder för återanvändning av grundkonstruktioner kan utföras. Detta har genomförts vid relativt många projekt i andra europeiska länder såsom Tyskland och England, men i Sverige är återanvändning ännu ovanligt. Målet med arbetet har därför varit att undersöka hur vanligt det är med återanvändning av grundkonstruktioner i Sverige och hur detta eventuellt kan utvecklas. Utöver det har arbetets syfte varit att utreda hur framtida nybyggnationer och dess grundkonstruktioner ska förbättras för att möta den fortsatta urbaniseringsproblematiken vi står inför. För att skapa en bakgrundsförståelse angående arbetets problemformulering genomfördes först en litteraturstudie som presenteras i teorikapitlet. Därefter utfördes en enkätstudie och intervjuer vars syfte var att skapa en bild av hur situationen är i Sverige och vilka svårigheter som kan förekomma vid återanvändning av grundkonstruktioner. Resultaten från enkätundersökningen och intervjuer visade att förekomsten av projekt med återanvändning av grundkonstruktioner i Sverige är relativt liten. Orsakerna till detta kan delvis bero på hinder som informationsbrist och okunskap i ämnet. Dessutom framgick det att osäkerheter förkommer kring hur grundkonstruktioner ska återanvändas på ett beprövat och säkert sätt. Framför allt var framhävdes svårigheterna som i förstudien och projekteringen fram, då det ansågs vara problematiskt att hitta underlag om den befintliga grundkonstruktionen. Slutsatserna som har tagits utifrån litteraturstudien och enkätresultaten är att det kommer behöva vidtas ett flertal åtgärder för att underlätta återanvändningen av grundkonstruktioner. Exempelvis behöver dagens metoder som används för att testa den befintliga grundkonstruktionens kapacitet utvecklas så att de går att utföra på ett snabbt och enkelt sätt. Detta skulle i sin tur underlätta framtagandet av en tillförlitlig beräkningsmodell. En annan åtgärd skulle kunna vara att utforma standardiserade metoder som är pålitliga och enkla att tillämpa vid produktionen. Slutligen bör även tillgängliga och informativa relationshandlingar skapas vid nybyggnationer. I och med detta kan förutsättningarna förbättras för kommande projekt som ska återanvända grundkonstruktioner. Genom att vidta samtliga åtgärder skulle troligen fler aktörer inom byggbranschen få bättre kunskap inom ämnet och därmed skulle antalet projekt där grundkonstruktioner återanvänds öka.
Our aim has been to study the presence of reused foundations in Sweden and how it would be possible to improve these projects. Furthermore the purpose has been to examine how future constructions and its foundations will be evaluated and designed to meet the obstacles of urbanization we face. The thesis is divided into a theory chapter consisting of a literature study, to create an understanding and to further perceive the aim. The results from the thesis is presented in a chapter which consists of an inquiry and interviews with key persons on this topic and further analyze of the potential and challenges with the reuse of foundations. The results from the survey showed that the presence of reused foundations in Sweden is rather low. The causes of this can be multiple, such as lack of information regarding the technique and unawareness of its existence. It is also apparent that there are uncertainties how to reuse the foundations in a proven, tested and safe technique. The study suggested that another main challenge is finding relevant data regarding the existing foundation.In conclusion, the results of the survey and the literature study show that there are a number of measures which ought to be taken to create awareness and to simplify the reuse of foundations. It can be to create accessible and informative built documents which would facilitate the produce of reliable calculations. With the formulations of standardized methods which would be reliable and safer for the reuse of foundations as well as the produce and accessibility of more information for these kinds of projects.

Pteropus rufus, Madagascar's largest endemic fruit bat, is widely distributed but declining in number due to habitat loss and over-hunting. The roost of Berenty, located in a 250 ha remnant of gallery forest surrounded by 30,000 ha of sisal plantations and patches of endemic spiny forest, is the largest in southeastern Madagascar and is an important historical breeding site for this species. Compared with conspecifics elsewhere in Madagascar the diet of P. rufus at Berenty is narrow, containing only 17 plant species. Seven gallery forest and four cultivated species are consistently utilised by the bats, but no endemic spiny forest species were identified in their diet. Pollen of Agave sisalana, present in 84% of faecal samples, contains 36% protein, the main digestive extraction of which was high (73%). Native fruits provide more protein that cultivars, but the latter have significantly higher concentrations of soluble carbohydrates. P. rufus has high mean buccal extraction for nitrogen (73%); carbohydrates (86%); condensed tannins (46%) and phenolics (24%). However, contrary to expectation condensed tannin extraction had no significant effect on nitrogen extraction. P. rufus swallows more viable than non-viable Ficus seeds. In 92% and 58% of germination trials, bat-passed seeds had the highest percentage germination and fastest rate of germination, respectively, compared with seeds from ripe fruits, ejecta pellets or faeces of other frugivores. A minimum foraging range of 17 km was established. The role of P. rufus in pollination is inferred from the presence of pollen on the head and thorax of bats and in their faeces. P. rufus is therefore, an important seed disperser and potentially important pollinator. However, at Berenty its' heavy reliance on the introduced cultivator A. sisalana, unique among the Pteropodidae, suggests that without this resource the remaining gallery forest could not support such a large colony of P. rufus.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stevens Point, 2009.
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree Master of Science in Natural Resources (Wildlife), College of Natural Resources. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis advisor: Alan Rogers
The following narrative traces the political lives of James Sullivan, Christopher Gore, Rufus King and John Quincy Adams, four Massachusetts men who were actively involved in the creation of state and national policy during the formative years of the new republic. Their years of public service bridged the critical period between the Revolution and the period of Democratic- Republican dominance. Because they knew each other so well, corresponded with one another on a regular basis, and held so many different state and national government posts, their lives provide an ideal vehicle to explore and better understand the changes that were taking place in post-Revolutionary Massachusetts. Their stories help trace the evolution of Massachusetts from a Federalist stronghold into a legitimate multi-party state firmly committed to the national union. The primary figure in this study is Sullivan, the oldest of the four men, who was the state's highest ranking Republican leader during much of the Federalist Era. A staunch opponent of the Federalist assumption that government should be in the hands of the natural gentry and ruling class, he spent his adult life promoting equal access to power. After serving as a member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress from 1774 to 1776, Sullivan was an active participant in the creation of the new state government. He later served as attorney general for seventeen years, from 1790 to 1807, through several Federalist administrations and served as a member of state legislature for many years. He also was a member of the Supreme Judicial Court and, in the final years of his life, governor of the Commonwealth. Because he participated in or observed firsthand the most significant political events of his day, his words also help trace, as few others could, the gradual transformation of Massachusetts from a one party state to a multi-party state. His election as governor in 1807 was clear evidence of the growing strength of the Republican Party in Massachusetts and of the extent to which the emerging national consensus had grown. Christopher Gore, whose stature and perspective were more deeply rooted in the colonial past, stood in stark personal as well as political contrast to Sullivan. As a conservative Federalist who often served as spokesman for his party during this period, Gore was a major player in the Massachusetts legal community and government between the American Revolution and early years of the nineteenth century. He stubbornly adhered to the aristocratic belief that the government should only be managed by the propertied class and traditional ruling elite. Where Sullivan was a sentimental moralist who hated everything British, Gore was the stern and unyielding spokesman for the merchant class who seemingly admired everything British. Where Sullivan's father had emigrated from Ireland, the victim of oppressive Penal Laws, Gore's father was a Tory, who fled Boston with the British in March 1776. Though Gore himself supported the Revolution, he was never able to shed, or indeed temper, his attachment to Great Britain in later years. As perhaps the most passionate defender of everything British in the years after the Revolution, Gore's habits and customs reflected the old deferential order and embodied everything Sullivan opposed. Despite their personal and political differences, Sullivan and Gore shared a close personal friend. Rufus King was a longtime confidant of both men, corresponding with each of them over many years. Though King's habits and background were more similar to those of Gore than Sullivan, he was less rooted in the colonial past than his conservative friend. Though an ardent Federalist, he was respected by men on both sides of the political aisle and served not only as a bridge between the two parties, but as a bridge between the two branches of his own party. It is because he enjoyed such a close personal relationship with Sullivan and Gore, and corresponded with both men on a regular basis, that King provides a unique vehicle to explore the differences between the two parties during this critical period in Massachusetts political history. The fourth subject of this study is John Quincy Adams. The fiercely independent one-time Federalist, who, though born many years after Gore, King, and Sullivan, became active in politics at a very young age and crossed political paths with all three men on a regular basis. Although born a member of the second generation of political leaders, Quincy Adams identified with the first generation of Revolutionary leaders. He matured early and took part in every critical debate that took place after the ratification of the Constitution. From the beginning, Quincy Adams charted an independent course and played a critical role in the growth of the Republican Party. John Quincy Adams is particularly relevant to this study because his political transformation reflected the change in attitude that was taking place in Massachusetts and the country in the early years of the nineteenth century. He represented a commitment to the interests of union over sectional concerns. A strong and independent unionist throughout his life, Quincy Adams eventually came to represent a new global nationalism. In many respects, Quincy Adams was the `transition man' in post- Revolutionary America. The son of a colonial who was very much a product of the deferential society of the eighteenth century, young Adams came to embrace the principle of majority rule. His elevation to the highest political posts in the country marked the final stage in America's transition from colony to union to nation. James Sullivan, Christopher Gore and Rufus King each played significant roles in the establishment of constitutional government in Massachusetts and in the United States. Though he was considered a member of the so-called Hancock faction, a group viewed as primarily anti-Constitutionalist, Sullivan was an independent thinker. He would call for greater legal safeguards for the benefit of the more vulnerable and for the end of the practice of multiple office holding which had long been a tool of the ruling elite to maintain power and influence. A vocal proponent of the national government before King, Gore and Hancock, Sullivan had long recognized the importance of strengthening the central government. His embrace of participatory government and of law aimed at protecting all classes of people naturally appealed to a wider audience would continue to contribute to the democratization of Massachusetts politics. With a new national government in place and a new political era begun, Sullivan, King, Gore, and soon Quincy Adams, were uniquely positioned to play significant, if competing, roles in the coming struggle. This narrative differs from other secondary works on post-colonial Massachusetts in several respects. Firstly, the significant role played by Sullivan in the growth of Republicanism in Massachusetts has been largely overlooked by historians. His persistent calls for equal access to power stood in stark contrast to the views of the Federalists who dominated Massachusetts government in the years after the American Revolution. His active participation in regional politics both during and after the Revolution helped the people of Massachusetts in their transition from colony to state. Furthermore, he was one of the first Massachusetts political leaders to insist on placing the new central government on a sound financial footing. Indeed, his call for a strengthened and sufficiently financed national government predated the efforts of Massachusetts Federalists, including King and Gore. He was, I contend, one of the first political leaders of either party to be considered a true `nationalist.' While Quincy Adams' support for Jefferson's Embargo and his conversion to Republicanism have been well documented, this work explores the link between Sullivan and Quincy Adams, and details the critically important role they played in the national debate over how to respond to British aggression towards American shipping and American sailors. Though Gordon Wood and other historians point to the Embargo as the single biggest failure of Jefferson and his Republican supporters, I contend the opposite is true. The Embargo highlighted the central difference between the two parties, and though it provided Federalists with a temporary victory, it also sowed the seeds of their defeat. The Embargo enabled men like Sullivan and Quincy Adams to clarify one of the central issues of the post-Revolutionary period, ... national honor. Though Paul Goodman correctly points out that Republicanism tapped into the growing sense of nationalism in the country, I carry the discussion further and detail the growing disconnect between the Federalist Party and the American people. Quincy Adams, in particular, articulated the need to announce to the world that the United States would not submit to foreign aggression. Furthermore, his call for a stronger and expanded union, even if it meant a loss of power and prestige for Massachusetts, would soon strike a chord with a growing majority of Americans. Quincy Adams personified the shift in the national mood and represented a new national perspective. When John Quincy Adams left the Federalist Party, many Americans left with him
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: History

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For a long time, we believed in the pattern that tropical and south hemisphere species have high survival. Nowadays results began to contradict this pattern, indicating the need for further studies. Despite the advanced state of the study of bird population parameters, little is known about their variation throughout the year and the factors affecting them. Reproduction, for example, is one factor that may alter adult survival rates, because during this process the breeding pair allocates resources to maintain itself to maintain offspring, making itself more susceptible to diseases and predation. The aim of this study was to estimate survival and population size of a Central and South America passerine, Tachyphonus rufus (Boddaert, 1783), testing hypotheses about the factors that define these parameters. We performed data collection between Nov/2010 and ago/2012 in 12 ha plot, in a fragment of Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil. We used capture-mark-recapture methods to generate estimates using Closed Design Robust model in the program MARK. We generated Multi-state models to test some assumptions inherent to Closed Robust Design. The influence of co-variables (time, rain and reproductive cycle) and the effect of transient individuals were measured. Capture, recapture and apparent survival parameters were defined by reproductive cycle, while temporary dispersal was influence by rain. The estimates showed a higher apparent survival during the non-breeding period (92% ? 1%) than during breeding (40% ? 9%), revealing a cost of reproduction and suggesting a trade-off between surviving and reproducing. The low annual survival observed (34%) did not corroborate the pattern of high rates expected for a tropical bird. The largest population size was estimated to be 56 individuals in Nov/11, explained by high recruitment of juveniles, while the lowest observed in May/12: 10 individuals, probably as a result of massive influx of competitor species. Results from this study add to the growing literature on life history of Neotropical species. We encourage studies like this especially in Brazil, where there are few information, and suggest that covariates related to habitat quality and environmental changes should be tested, so that we can generate increasingly reliable models
Por muito tempo, acreditamos no padr?o de que esp?cies e popula??es de aves provenientes de regi?es tropicais e do hemisf?rio sul apresentavam elevadas taxas de sobreviv?ncia. Atualmente existem resultados que contradizem esse padr?o, indicando a necessidade de mais estudos nessas regi?es. Ainda que um grande progresso tenha acontecido no estudo de par?metros populacionais em aves, pouco se sabe a respeito de suas varia??es ao longo do ano e dos fatores que os afetam. A reprodu??o, por exemplo, ? um fator que pode alterar as taxas de sobreviv?ncia de adultos, uma vez que durante este processo o par reprodutor aloca recursos da pr?pria manuten??o para a manuten??o da prole, tornando-se mais suscept?veis ? preda??o e doen?as. O objetivo deste estudo foi gerar estimativas de sobreviv?ncia e tamanho populacional de Tachyphonus rufus (Boddaert, 1783), um passeriforme restrito a Am?rica Central e do Sul, testando hip?teses acerca dos fatores que influenciam esses par?metros. Realizamos a coleta de dados entre nov/2010 e ago/2012, em um quadrante de 12 ha, num fragmento de Mata Atl?ntica no nordeste do Brasil. Atrav?s do m?todo de captura-marca??o-recaptura elaboramos hist?ricos de captura e geramos estimativas utilizando modelos de Desenho Robusto Fechado com o uso do programa MARK. Por originar modelos menos complexos, utilizamos modelos de Multi-estratos para testar alguns pressupostos inerentes aos modelos de Desenho Robusto. Avaliamos a influ?ncia de co-vari?veis (tempo, chuva e ciclo reprodutivo) e o efeito de indiv?duos transit?rios. As probabilidades de captura e recaptura e a sobreviv?ncia aparente foram definidas pelo ciclo reprodutivo, enquanto a dispers?o tempor?ria pela chuva. As estimativas mostraram uma maior chance de sobreviver durante o per?odo n?o reprodutivo (92% ? 1%) do que durante a reprodu??o (40% ? 9%), revelando um custo reprodutivo e evidenciando um trade-off entre sobreviver e se reproduzir. A baixa sobreviv?ncia anual observada (34%) n?o corrobora o padr?o de altas taxas esperado para os tr?picos. O maior tamanho populacional estimado foi de 56 indiv?duos em nov/11, explicado pelo alto recrutamento de jovens para a popula??o adulta, enquanto em mai/12 observamos o menor: 10 indiv?duos, provavelmente resultante da entrada em massa de esp?cies competidoras. Acreditamos que nossos resultados contribuem para o entendimento da hist?ria de vida de aves de regi?es tropicais, ainda pouco conhecida. Sugerimos que mais trabalhos como este sejam desenvolvidos nos neotr?picos, em especial no Brasil pela escassez de estudos com esse car?ter, e que sejam testadas co-vari?veis relacionados com qualidade do habitat e altera??es ambientais, de forma a podermos gerar modelos cada vez mais confi?veis

Remote cameras have become a popular tool for monitoring wildlife. We used remote cameras to estimate bobcat (Lynx rufus) population abundance on the Utah Test and Training Range during two sample periods between 2015 and 2017. We used two statistical methods, closed capture mark-recapture (CMR) and mark-resight Poisson log-normal (PNE), to estimate bobcat abundance within the study area. We used the maximum mean distance moved method (MMDM) to calculate the effective sample area for estimating density. Additionally, we captured bobcats and estimated home range using minimum convex polygon (MCP) and kernel density estimation (KDE) methods. Bobcat abundance on the UTTR was 35-48 in 2017 and density was 11.95 bobcats/100 km2 using CMR and 16.69 bobcats/100 km2 using PNE. The North Range of the study area experienced a decline of 36-44 percent in density between sample periods. Density declines could be explained by natural predator prey cycles, by habituation to attractants or by an increase in home range area. We recommend that bobcat abundance and density be estimated regularly to establish population trends.To improve the management of bobcats on the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR), we investigated bobcat (Lynx rufus) habitat use. We determined habitat use points by capturing bobcats in remote camera images. Use and random points were intersected with remotely sensed data in a geographic information system. Habitat variables were evaluated at the capture point scale and home range scale. Home range size was calculated using the mean maximum distance moved method. Scales and habitat variables were compared within generalized linear mixed-effects models. Our top model (AICc weight = 1) included a measure of terrain ruggedness, mean aspect, and land cover variables related to prey availability and human avoidance.

Los felinos se encuentran en casi todos los hábitats, desde las sabanas hasta las selvas tropicales, por lo que su presencia alrededor del mundo es muy amplia. De las 38 especies de felinos que existen en todo el mundo 12 están distribuidas en el continente americano, y México es el hogar de 6 especies de felinos.
Una de las problemáticas más grandes en cuanto a conservación de las especies animales, es sin duda la falta de conocimiento del gran papel que desempeñan en el planeta. No se trata solo de su fisionomía, sino de las funciones que tienen en el ecosistema en que se encuentran; existen especies que visualmente no son tan atractivas, y aun así su tarea es de gran importancia.

Identifying the best control method for problematic wildlife is an ever present issue in wildlife management. Popular control methods have ranged from lethal techniques, extirpating the animal, to multiple non-lethal methods focused on deterring undesired behavior. In the past, lethal methods were the preferred choice. However, with increased awareness of the need for biodiversity conservation, new management methods focus on non-lethal control, with emphasis on exploiting aspects of naturally occurring organismal behaviors and ecology. Over the past decade, technological advances in extraction method’s and equipment have also developed new techniques providing a broader range of information about species biology for management use. One of the most well documented conflicts between wildlife and humans is that of the wolf. Using advanced technology and new techniques, we investigated the implication of using chemosensory signals in canid urine to modify behavior as a possible non-lethal alternative in large predator management. Here we used the SBSE method coupled with improved GC/MS equipment to analyze the volatile organic compounds in the urine of four canid species, gray wolf (Canis lupus), red wolf (Canis rufus), wolf-dog hybrids (Canis familiaris) and the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) in order to create working urinary profiles. The extraction method identified several compounds also seen in the urinary profiles of other large predators. In addition, similarities and differences were also noted between taxa and the sexes, and these can be further explored in future studies. Two identified urinary compounds, acetophenone and methyl propyl sulfide, were selected for further behavioral evaluation. We focused on these compounds and their influence as chemosensory signals triggering urine marking events in both the gray wolf and red wolf. Behavioral observations of the effects of these two chemicals indicated they elicited responses from captive wolves. At each of the three study sites, the combination of these chemicals produced urine-marking events along the territory boundary by dominant animals. As a result, the investigation focused on what triggered the urine-marking events, the chemicals themselves, their combination, or the breakdown of the chemicals producing other odorants. It was found that there was no significant degradation of the chemicals over time and environmental conditions produced no significant breakdown of the acetophenone prior to the addition of methyl propyl sulfide. This posed a number of new questions and illustrated the need for additional behavioral studies. The results of this study analyzing chemosensory signals in canid urine, provides biologists with new information to aid in the development of new non-lethal management strategies for handling problematic wildlife as well as providing useful information for future research involving reproduction, predator/prey dynamics, territory maintenance, and a host of other studies focusing on animal ecology in association with chemosensory signaling.

The multicultural classroom is becoming more prominent in Sweden. Students from different cultures and ethnicities meet to learn in the same environment. In a changing society, the need to develop acceptance towards others is more important than ever.  Thus, in this essay, post-colonial and social influence theories have been applied to the analysis of Octavia E. Butler’s novel Kindred. This essay argues that by integrating post-colonial literature in the EFL- classroom, students can gain deeper intercultural knowledge and learn to understand the power of the social environment concerning its influential effects on people’s racial attitudes and prejudices.

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2005.
Thesis research directed by: Biology. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.