Mass measurements of some proton-rich nuclei

The Q values and 0^o cross sections of (He³, n) reactions forming seven proton-rich nuclei have been measured with accuracies varying from 6 to 18 keV. The Q values (in keV) are: Si²⁶ (85), S³⁰ (-573), Ar³⁴ (-759), Ti⁴² (-2865), Cr⁴⁸ (5550), Ni⁵⁶ (4513) and Zn⁶⁰ (818). At least one excited state was found for all but Ti⁴². The first four nuclei complete isotopic spin triplets; the results obtained agree well with charge-symmetry predictions. The last three, all multiples of the α particle, are important in the α and e-process theories of nucleo-synthesis in stars. The energy available for β decay of these three was found by magnetic spectrometer measurements of the (He³, p) Q values of reactions leading to V⁴⁸, Co⁵⁶, and Cu⁶⁰. Many excited states were seen: V⁴⁸ (3), Co⁵⁶ (15), Cu⁶⁰ (23). The first two states of S³⁰ are probably 0⁺ and 2⁺ from (He³, n) angular distribution measurements. Two NaI γ-ray measurements are described: the decay of Ar³⁴ (measured ^Ƭ1/2 = 1.2 ± 0.3s) and the prompt γ-ray spectrum from Fe⁵⁴(He³, nγ)Ni⁵⁶. Possible collective structure in Ni⁵⁶ and Ca⁴⁰, both doubly magic, is discussed.

The (He³, n) neutron energy and yield measurements utilized neutron-induced nuclear reactions in a silicon semiconductor detector. Cross sections for the most important detection processes, Si²⁸ (n, α) Mg²⁵ and Si²⁸ (n, p) Al<sup>28, are presented for reactions leading to the first four states of both residual nuclei for neutron energies from 7.3 to 16.4 MeV. Resolution and pulse-height anomalies associated with recoil Mg²⁵ and Al<sup>28 ions are discussed. The 0^o cross section for Be⁹ (α, n) C¹², used to provide calibration neutrons, has been measured with a stilbene spectrometer for n_o (5.0 ≤ E_α ≤ 12 MeV), n₁ (4.3 ≤ E_α ≤ 12.0 MeV) and n₂ (6.0 ≤ E_α ≤ 10.1 MeV). Resonances seen in the n_o yield may correspond to nine new levels in C¹³.

Genetic variation of rougheye rockfish (Sebastes aleutianus) and shortraker rockfish (S. borealis) inferred from allozymes

Rougheye rockfish (Sebastes aleutianus) and shortraker rockfish (Sebastes borealis) were collected from the Washington coast, the Gulf of Alaska, the southern Bering Sea, and the eastern Kamchatka coast of Russia (areas encompassing most of their geographic distribution) for population genetic analyses. Using starch gel electrophoresis, we analyzed 1027 rougheye rockfish and 615 shortraker rockfish for variation at 29 proteincoding loci. No genetic heterogeneity was found among shortraker rockfish throughout the sampled regions, although shortraker in the Aleutian Islands region, captured at deeper depths, were found to be significantly smaller in size than the shortraker caught in shallower waters from Southeast Alaska. Genetic analysis of the rougheye rockfish revealed two evolutionary lineages that exist in sympatry with little or no gene f low between them. When analyzed as two distinct species, neither lineage exhibited heterogeneity among regions. Sebastes aleutianus seems to inhabit waters throughout the Gulf of Alaska and more southern waters, whereas S. sp. cf. aleutianus inhabits waters throughout the Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, and Asia. The distribution of the two rougheye rockfish lineages may be related to depth where they are sympatric. The paler color morph, S. aleutianus, is found more abundantly in shallower waters and the darker color morph, Sebastes sp. cf. aleutianus, inhabits deeper waters. Sebastes sp. cf. aleutianus, also exhibited a significantly higher prevalence of two parasites, N. robusta and T. trituba, than did Sebastes aleutianus, in the 2001 samples, indicating a possible difference in habitat and (or) resource use between the two lineages.

A stochastic model of temporal variations in monthly temperature, precipitation, snowfall, and resulting snowpack

We report a Monte Carlo representation of the long-term inter-annual variability of monthly snowfall on a detailed (1 km) grid of points throughout the southwest. An extension of the local climate model of the southwestern United States (Stamm and Craig 1992) provides spatially based estimates of mean and variance of monthly temperature and precipitation. The mean is the expected value from a canonical regression using independent variables that represent controls on climate in this area, including orography. Variance is computed as the standard error of the prediction and provides site-specific measures of (1) natural sources of variation and (2) errors due to limitations of the data and poor distribution of climate stations. Simulation of monthly temperature and precipitation over a sequence of years is achieved by drawing from a bivariate normal distribution. The conditional expectation of precipitation. given temperature in each month, is the basis of a numerical integration of the normal probability distribution of log precipitation below a threshold temperature (3°C) to determine snowfall as a percent of total precipitation. Snowfall predictions are tested at stations for which long-term records are available. At Donner Memorial State Park (elevation 1811 meters) a 34-year simulation - matching the length of instrumental record - is within 15 percent of observed for mean annual snowfall. We also compute resulting snowpack using a variation of the model of Martinec et al. (1983). This allows additional tests by examining spatial patterns of predicted snowfall and snowpack and their hydrologic implications.

Diving behavior of immature Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus)

Understanding the ontogenetic relationship between juvenile Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) and their foraging habitat is key to understanding their relationship to available prey and ultimately their survival. We summarize dive and movement data from 13 young-of-the-year (YOY) and 12 yearling Steller sea lions equipped with satellite dive recorders in the Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands (n=18), and Washington (n=7) from 1994 to 2000. A total of 1413 d of transmission (x =56.5 d, range: 14.5–104.1 d) were received. We recorded 222,073 dives, which had a mean depth of 18.4 m (range of means: 5.8−67.9 m; SD=16.4). Alaska YOY dived for shorter periods and at shallower depths (mean depth=7.7 m, mean duration=0.8 min, mean maximum depth=25.7 m, and maximum depth=252 m) than Alaska yearlings (x =16.6 m, 0=1.1 min, x = 63.4 m, 288 m), whereas Washington yearlings dived the longest and deepest (mean depth=39.4 m, mean duration=1.8 min, mean maximum depth=144.5 m, and maximum depth=328 m). Mean distance for 564 measured trips was 16.6 km; for sea lions ≤10 months of age, trip distance (7.0 km) was significantly less than for those >10 months of age (24.6 km). Mean trip duration for 10 of the 25 sea lions was 12.1 h; for sea lions ≤10 months of age, trip duration was 7.5 h and 18.1 h for those >10 months of age. We identified three movements types: long-range trips (>15 km and >20 h), short-range trips (<15 km and <20 h) during which the animals left and returned to the same site, and transits to other haul-out sites. Long-range trips started around 9 months of age and occurred most frequently around the assumed time of weaning, whereas short-range trips happened almost daily (0.9 trips/day, n=426 trips). Transits began as early as 7 months of age, occurred more often after 9 months of age, and ranged between 6.5 and 454 km. The change in dive characteristics coincided with the assumed onset of weaning. These yearling sea lion movement patterns and dive characteristics suggest that immature Steller sea lions are as capable of making the same types of movements as adults.

Modeling the effect of snow on seasonal runoff within the Truckee River drainage basin

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): We estimate monthly runoff for a 2-dimensional solution domain containing those areas tributary to Pyramid Lake, Nevada (the Truckee River drainage basin) at a 1-kilometer grid cell spacing. ... To calculate the effect of snow on the hydrologic system, we perform two experiments. In the first we assume that all precipitation falls as rain; in the second we assume that some precipitation falls as snow, thus available water is a combination of rain and snowmelt. We find that considering the effect of snow results in a more accurate representation of mean monthly flow rates, in particular the peak flow during the melt season in the Sierra Nevada. These preliminary results indicate that a relatively simple snow model can improve the representation of Truckee River basin hydrology, significantly reducing errors in modeled seasonal runoff.

Population genetic structure and geographical differentiation of the Chinese catfish Hemibagrus macropterus (Siluriformes, Bagridae): Evidence for altered drainage patterns

National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [2007CB411600, 30530120]

Variation patterns of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene with secondary structure constraints and their application to phylogeny of cyprinine fishes (Teleostei : Cypriniformes)

The mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences from 93 cyprinid fishes were examined to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships within the diverse and economically important subfamily Cyprininae. Within the subfamily a biased nucleotide composition (A > T, C > G) was observed in the loop regions of the gene, and in stem regions apparent selective pressures of base pairing showed a bias in favor of G over C and T over A. The bias may be associated with transition-transversion bias. Rates of nucleotide substitution were lower in stems than in loops. Analysis of compensatory substitutions across these taxa demonstrates 68% covariation in the gene and a logical weighting factor to account for dependence in mutations for phylogenetic inference should be 0.66. Comparisons of varied stem-loop weighting schemes indicate that the down-weightings for stem regions could improve the phylogenetic analysis and the degree of non-independence of stem substitutions was not as important as expected. Bayesian inference under four models of nucleotide substitution indicated that likelihood-based phylogenetic analyses were more effective in improving the phylogenetic performance than was weighted parsimony analysis. In Bayesian analyses, the resolution of phylogenies under the 16-state models for paired regions, incorporating GTR + G + I models for unpaired regions was better than those under other models. The subfamily Cyprininae was resolved as a monophyletic group, as well as tribe Labein and several genera. However, the monophyly of the currently recognized tribes, such as Schizothoracin, Barbin, Cyprinion + Onychostoma lineages, and some genera was rejected. Furthermore, comparisons of the parsimony and Bayesian analyses and results of variable length bootstrap analysis indicates that the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene should contain important character variation to recover well-supported phylogeny of cyprinid taxa whose divergences occurred within the recent 8 MY, but could not provide resolution power for deep phylogenies spanning 10-19 MYA. (c) 2008 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Molecular phylogenetics of the family Cyprinidae (Actinopterygii : Cypriniformes) as evidenced by sequence variation in the first intron of S7 ribosomal protein-coding gene: Further evidence from a nuclear gene of the systematic chaos in the family

The family Cyprinidae is the largest freshwater fish group in the world, including over 200 genera and 2100 species. The phylogenetic relationships of major clades within this family are simply poorly understood, largely because of the overwhelming diversity of the group; however, several investigators have advanced different hypotheses of relationships that pre- and post-date the use of shared-derived characters as advocated through phylogenetic systematics. As expected, most previous investigations used morphological characters. Recently, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences and combined morphological and mtDNA investigations have been used to explore and advance our understanding of species relationships and test monophyletic groupings. Limitations of these studies include limited taxon sampling and a strict reliance upon maternally inherited mtDNA variation. The present study is the first endeavor to recover the phylogenetic relationships of the 12 previously recognized monophyletic subfamilies within the Cyprinidae using newly sequenced nuclear DNA (nDNA) for over 50 species representing members of the different previously hypothesized subfamily and family groupings within the Cyprinidae and from other cypriniform families as outgroup taxa. Hypothesized phylogenetic relationships are constructed using maximum parsimony and Basyesian analyses of 1042 sites, of which 971 sites were variable and 790 were phylogenetically informative. Using other appropriate cypriniform taxa of the families Catostomidae (Myxocyprinus asiaticus), Gyrinocheilidae (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri), and Balitoridae (Nemacheilus sp. and Beaufortia kweichotvensis) as outgroups, the Cyprinidae is resolved as a monophyletic group. Within the family the genera Raiamas, Barilius, Danio, and Rasbora, representing many of the tropical cyprinids, represent basal members of the family. All other species can be classified into variably supported and resolved monophyletic lineages, depending upon analysis, that are consistent with or correspond to Barbini and Leuciscini. The Barbini includes taxa traditionally aligned with the subfamily Cyprininae sensu previous morphological revisionary studies by Howes (Barbinae, Labeoninae, Cyprininae and Schizothoracinae). The Leuciscini includes six other subfamilies that are mainly divided into three separate lineages. The relationships among genera and subfamilies are discussed as well as the possible origins of major lineages. (c) 2008 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Phylogenetic relationships of Danio within the order cypriniformes: A framework for comparative and evolutionary studies of a model species

The evolutionary relationships of species of Danio and the monophyly and phylogenetic placement of the genus within the family Cyprinidae and subfamily Rasborinae provide fundamentally important phyloinformatics necessary for direct evaluations of an array of pertinent questions in modern comparative biology. Although the genus Danio is not one of the most diverse within the family, Danio rerio is one of the most important model species in biology. Many investigations have used this species or presumed close relatives to address specific questions that have lasting impact on the hypothesis and theory of development in vertebrates. Largely lacking from this approach has been a holistic picture of the exact phylogenetic or evolutionary relationships of this species and its close relatives. One thing that has been learned over the previous century is that many organismal attributes (e.g., developmental pathways, ecologies, behaviors, speciation) are historically constrained and their origins and functions are best explained via a phylogenetic approach. Herein, we provide a molecular evaluation of the phylogenetic placement of the model species Danio rerio within the genus Danio and among hypothesized closely related species and genera. Our analysis is derived from data using two nuclear genes (RAG1, rhodopsin) and five mitochondrial genes (ND4, ND4L, ND5, COI, cyt b) evaluated using parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian analyses. The family Cyprinidae is resolved as monophyletic but the subfamily Rasborinae (priority over Danioinae) is an unnatural assemblage. Danio is identified as a monophyletic group sister to a clade inclusive of the genera Chela, Microrasbora, Devario, and Inlecypris, not Devario nor Esomus as hypothesized in previous studies. Danio rerio is sister to D. kyathit among the species of Danio evaluated in this analysis. Microrasbora and Rasbora are non-monophyletic assemblages; however, Boraras is monophyletic.