Daily rainfall along the United States Pacific Coast appears to conform to a square-root normal probability distribution

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): As part of a study of climatic influences on landslide initiation, a statistical analysis of long-term (>40 years) records of daily rainfall from 24 Pacific coastal stations, from San Diego to Cape Flattery, disclosed an unexpected result - the square root of the daily rainfall closely approximates a normal distribution function. ... This paper illustrates the use of the square-root-normal distribution to analyze variations in precipitation along the mainland United States Pacific Coast with examples of orographic enhancement, rain shadows, and increase in precipitation frequency with geographic latitude.

Avaliaçāo preliminar do estado da exploraçāo de Kapenta (Limnothrissa miodon, Boulenger 1906), em cahora bassa com base em dados históricos de captura e esforço de 1995-2000

The fishing of kapenta (Limnothrissa miodon, Boulenger 1906) on the Cahora Bassa Dam started around 1992, when considerable stocks of this species were discovered in the lake. The species is believed to have successful established in the Dam following a natural introduction through a downstream movement from Kariba dam where it was introduced in 1967/68. Fisheries statistics on the kapenta fishery have been collected since 1993 by the Ministry of Fisheries through the Provincial Offices for Fisheries Administration of Tete (SPAP - Tete) but only data from 1995 onward are available on the database of the Ministry of Fisheries and these are the data that was used for compiling the present report on which trends of fishing effort, catch and CPUE are analyzed. Catch and effort have increased with time, from a minimum of the 4 thousand metric tons for an annual fishing effort of 36 fishing rigs in 1995 to a maximum of 12 tons for a fishing effort of 135 rigs while CPUE followed a decreasing trend during the same period. Correlation analysis between catch and effort suggests that probably environmental factors may have influence on catch variation than the increase on fishing effort. Two models were applied for calculating MSY and FMSY resulting in two pairs of roof leading to two scenario of fisheries management. 10137 tons and a FMSY of 177 fishing rigs were computed using Schaefer model while 11690 tons and a FMSY of 278 were obtained using Fox model. Considering the differences between the two results and considering the fact that the two models have no differences in terms of precision and the fact that their determination coefficient are not different it is suggested, using the precautionary principle that result from Schaefer model be a adopted for fisheries management purpose.

A comparative study on the embryonic development of gynogen, triploid, haploid and normal diploid embryos of stinging catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis

UV irradiation and cold shock were applied on the eggs of stinging catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis, to produce haploid,. gynogen and triploid embryos. A comparative account of the various features· of embryonic development in chromosomally manipulated groups viz. haploid, gynogen and triploid and non-manipulated normal diploid group of H fossilis has been discussed. A slow development and delayed hatching were observed in gynogen and triploid embryos compared to those in normal diploid (control) groups. Mass mortality was observed in all chromosomally manipulated groups particularly during the gastrulation stage. The hatchlings of the gynogen, triploid and normal diploid were similar in overall appearance.