Trends in Iowa Wildlife Populations and Harvest 2004, October 2005

A report by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on the trends of Iowa wildlife populations and harvest.

Trends in Iowa Wildlife Populations and Harvest 2005, December 2006

A report by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on the trends of Iowa wildlife populations and harvest.

Trends in Iowa Wildlife Populations and Harvest 2006, December 2007

A report by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on the trends of Iowa wildlife populations and harvest.

Trends in Iowa Wildlife Populations and Harvest 2007, September 2008

A report by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on the trends of Iowa wildlife populations and harvest.

Trends in Iowa Wildlife Populations and Harvest 2008, September 2009

A report by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on the trends of Iowa wildlife populations and harvest.

Value / personality - attitude - behavior hierarchy and its impact on individual performance in the context of market orientation

The purpose of this dissertation is to better understand how individual employees? values and personality traits influence their attitudes toward market orientation; how such attitudes impact their market-oriented behaviors; and how in turn, these behaviors lead to their superior individual performance. To investigate these relationships, an empirical study was conducted in the French speaking part of Switzerland and data were collected from a sample of service firms? employees from diverse departments and hierarchical levels. To a large extent, the results support the hypothesis of a hierarchical chain moving from value / personality to attitude to behavior to individual performance in relation to market orientation. Le sujet de cette thèse de doctorat est de mieux comprendre comment les valeurs et les traits de personnalité des employés influencent leurs attitudes envers l'orientation vers le marché ; comment ces attitudes ont un effet sur les comportements orientés vers le marché de ces employés et enfin, comment ces comportements conduisent à une meilleure performance individuelle. Afin d'étudier ces relations, une enquête a été conduite en Suisse romande et des données ont été collectées auprès d'un échantillon d'employés d'entreprises de service de différents départements et niveaux hiérarchiques. Les résultats sont concordants avec l'hypothèse d'une chaîne causale allant des valeurs / traits de personnalité aux attitudes, aux comportements et finalement à la performance individuelle dans le contexte de l'orientation vers le marché.

Palaeolithic Populations and Waves of Advance

The wave-of-advance model has been previously applied to Neolithic human range expansions, yielding good agreement to the speeds inferred from archaeological data. Here, we apply it for the first time to Palaeolithic human expansions by using reproduction and mobility parameters appropriate to hunter-gatherers (instead of the corresponding values for preindustrial farmers). The order of magnitude of the predicted speed is in agreement with that implied by the AMS radiocarbon dating of the lateglacial human recolonization of northern Europe (14.2–12.5 kyr BP). We argue that this makes it implausible for climate change to have limited the speed of the recolonization front. It is pointed out that a similar value for the speed can be tentatively inferred from the archaeological data on the expansion of modern humans into the Levant and Europe (42–36 kyr BP)

Behavior, performance and physiological parameters of pigs reared in deep bedding

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the behavior, performance and physiological parameters of pigs in different production systems. Twenty four animals in the growth phase were distributed in a randomized block design in three treatments: T1 - concrete floor, T2 - deep bedding with wood shaving, and T3 - deep bedding with coffee husks. The behavioral study was carried out by observing the animal behavior for an uninterrupted period of eight hours throughout seven weeks. The proportions of time spent in each behavior were characterized using the frequency histogram composition. Environmental (IBGTH), physiological (rectal and skin temperature and respiratory rate) and performance (weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion) parameters were measured in animals during the period. The production systems of deep bedding showed higher values of IBGTH. There was no effect of production systems evaluated on the performance parameters. Rectal temperature was higher in animals reared on deep bedding with coffee husks in relation to the concrete floor. The use of deep bedding benefited the behavior of piglets in the growth phase and it reduced the agonistic behavior among individuals.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in Finnish children and adolescents : diagnosis, cognition, behavior, adaptation and brain metabolic alterations

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy can potentially affect the developing fetus in devastating ways, leading to a range of physical, neurological, and behavioral alterations most accurately termed Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Despite the fact that it is a preventable disorder, prenatal alcohol exposure today constitutes a leading cause of intellectual disability in the Western world. In Western countries where prevalence studies have been performed the rates of FASD exceed, for example, autism spectrum disorders, Down’s syndrome and cerebral palsy. In addition to the direct effects of alcohol, children and adolescents with FASD are often exposed to a double burden in life, as their neurological sequelae are accompanied by adverse living surroundings exposing them to further environmental risk. However, children with FASD today remain remarkably underdiagnosed by the health care system. This thesis forms part of a larger multinational research project, The Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (the CIFASD), initiated by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) in the U.S.A. The general aim of the present thesis was to examine a cohort of children and adolescents growing up with fetal alcohol-related damage in Finland. The thesis consists of five studies with a broad focus on diagnosis, cognition, behavior, adaptation and brain metabolic alterations in children and adolescents with FASD. The participants consisted of four different groups: one group with histories of prenatal exposure to alcohol, the FASD group; one IQ matched contrast group mostly consisting of children with specific learning disorder (SLD); and two typically-developing control groups (CON1 and CON2). Participants were identified through medical records, random sampling from the Finnish national population registry and email alerts to students. Importantly, the participants in the present studies comprise a group of very carefully clinically characterized children with FASD as the studies were performed in close collaboration with leading experts in the field (Prof. Edward Riley and Prof. Sarah Mattson, Center for Behavioral Teratology, San Diego State University, U.S.A; Prof. Eugene Hoyme, Sanford School of Medicine, University of South Dakota, U.S.A.). In the present thesis, the revised Institute of Medicine diagnostic criteria for FASD were tested on a Finnish population and found to be a reliable tool for differentiating among the subgroups of FASD. A weighted dysmorphology scoring system proved to be a valuable additional adjunct in quantification of growth deficits and dysmorphic features in children with FASD (Study 1). The purpose of Study 2 was to clarify the relationship between alcohol-related dysmorphic features and general cognitive capacity. Results showed a significant correlation between dysmorphic features and cognitive capacity, suggesting that children with more severe growth deficiency and dysmorphic features have more cognitive limitations. This association was, however, only moderate, indicating that physical markers and cognitive capacity not always go hand in hand in individuals with FASD. Behavioral problems in the FASD group proved substantial compared to the typically developing control group. In Study 3 risk and protective factors associated with behavioral problems in the FASD group were explored further focusing on diagnostic and environmental factors. Two groups with elevated risks for behavioral problems emerged: length of time spent in residential care and a low dysmorphology score proved to be the most pervasive risk factor for behavioral problems. The results underscore the clinical importance of appropriate services and care for less visibly alcohol affected children and highlight the need to attend to children with FASD being raised in institutions. With their background of early biological and psychological impairment compounded with less opportunity for a close and continuous caregiver relationship, such children seem to run an especially great risk of adverse life outcomes. Study 4 focused on adaptive abilities such as communication, daily living skills and social skills, in other words skills that are important for gradually enabling an independent life, maintain social relationships and allow the individual to become integrated into society. The results showed that adaptive abilities of children and adolescents growing up with FASD were significantly compromised compared to both typically-developing peers and IQ-matched children with SLD. Clearly different adaptive profiles were revealed where the FASD group performed worse than the SLD group, who in turn performed worse than the CON1 group. Importantly, the SLD group outperformed the FASD group on adaptive behavior in spite of comparable cognitive levels. This is the first study to compare adaptive abilities in a group of children and adolescents with FASD relative to both a contrast group of IQ-matched children with SLD and to a group of typically-developing peers. Finally, in Study 5, through magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRS) evidence of longstanding neurochemical alterations were observed in adolescents and young adults with FASD related to alcohol exposure in utero 14-20 years earlier. Neurochemical alterations were seen in several brain areas: in frontal and parietal cortices, corpus callosum, thalamus and frontal white matter areas as well as in the cerebellar dentate nucleus. The findings are compatible with neuropsychological findings in FASD. Glial cells seemed to be more affected than neurons. In conclusion, more societal efforts and resources should be focused on recognizing and diagnosing FASD, and supporting subgroups with elevated risk of poor outcome. Without adequate intervention children and adolescents with FASD run a great risk of marginalization and social maladjustment, costly not only to society but also to the lives of the many young people with FASD.

Chemical control of different Digitaria insularis populations and management of a glyphosate-resistant population

This study aimed to control different populations of Digitaria insularisby glyphosate herbicide, isolated and mixed, besides the combination of methods (chemical and mechanical) to manage resistant adult plants. Three experiments were conducted, one in pots which were maintained under non-controlled conditions and two under field conditions. In the experiment in pots, twelve populations of D. insularis were sprayed with isolated glyphosate (1.44 and 2.16 kg a.e. ha-1) and mixed (1.44 and 2.16 kg a.e. ha-1) with quizalofop-p tefuryl (0.12 kg i.a. ha-1). The treatment of 1.44 kg a.e. ha-1 of glyphosate plus 0.12 kg a.i. ha-1 of quizalofop was sufficient for adequate control (>95%) of all populations. Population 11 (area of grain production in Itumbiara, GO) was considered sensitive to glyphosate. Others populations were moderately sensitive or tolerant to the herbicide. In the field, the plants of D. insularis of one of the experiments were mowed and, in the other, there were not. Eight treatments with herbicides [isolated glyphosate (1.44 and 2.16 kg a.e. ha-1) and mixed (1.44 and 2.16 kg a.e. ha-1) with quizalofop-p-tefuryl at 0.12 kg a.i. ha-1), clethodim at 0.108 kg a.i. ha-1) or nicosulfuron at 0.06 kg a.i. ha-1)] were assessed, in combination with or without sequential application of the standard treatment, sprayed 15 days after the first application. The combination of the mechanic control with the application of glyphosate (2.16 and 1.44 kg a.e. ha-1) plus quizalofop-p-tefuryl (0.12 kg a.i. ha-1) or clethodim (0.108 kg a.i. ha-1), associated to the sequential application, was the most effective strategy for the management of adult plants of resistant D. insularis.

The brain decade in debate: VIII. Peptide hormones and behavior: cholecystokinin and prolactin

This article is a transcription of an electronic symposium held on November 28, 2000 in which active researchers were invited by the Brazilian Society of Neuroscience and Behavior (SBNeC) to discuss the advances of the last decade in the peptide field with particular focus on central actions of prolactin and cholecystokinin. The comments in this symposium reflect the diversity of prolactin and cholecystokinin research and demonstrate how the field has matured. Since both peptides play a role in reproductive behaviors, particularly mother-infant interactions, this was the starting point of the discussion. Recent findings on the role of the receptor subtypes as well as interaction with other peptides in this context were also discussed. Another issue discussed was the possible role of these peptides in dopamine-mediated rewarding systems. Both prolactin and cholecystokinin are involved in mechanisms controlling food intake and somatic pain thresholds. The role of peripheral inputs through vagal afferents modulating behavior was stressed. The advent of knockout animals as potential generators of new knowledge in this field was also addressed. Finally, interactions with other neuropeptides and investigation of the role of these peptides in other fields such as immunology were mentioned. Knowledge about the central functions of prolactin and cholecystokinin has shown important advances. The role of these peptides in neurological and psychiatric syndromes such as anorexia, drug abuse and physiological disturbances that lead to a compromised maternal behavior seems relevant.

Validity of the DSM-Oriented Scales of the Child Behavior Checklist and Youth Self-Report

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