Management Factors Influencing Location Selection Decisions of Independent Filmmakers: An Exploratory Case Study

This is an exploratory case study of a management issue that confronts filmmakers: how do they select locations for their films? The outcome of those decisions can have vast and immediate effects upon the profitability of a film. This is a sometimes shadowy, but significant industry with a major economic impact. For systems theory advocates, students, and explorers, this study demonstrates that investigative, immersive action research techniques can be used to explore what are otherwise hidden, somewhat cloistered business organizations and industry structures that are ordinarily closed to outsiders. The soft-system of this industry that is rooted upon trust, loyalty, alliances, relationships, and other non-financial bonds influence its decisions, and its institutional performance. While this research is focused upon a fragment of the overall film industry worldwide, and is thus limited in the universality of the propositions that subsequently emerge, this study can serve as a springboard for research into other soft systems, from which new knowledge of managerial perspectives can emerge.     

Conditional and joint multiple-SNP analysis of GWAS summary statistics identifies additional variants influencing complex traits

We present an approximate conditional and joint association analysis that can use summary-level statistics from a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and estimated linkage disequilibrium (LD) from a reference sample with individual-level genotype data. Using this method, we analyzed meta-analysis summary data from the GIANT Consortium for height and body mass index (BMI), with the LD structure estimated from genotype data in two independent cohorts. We identified 36 loci with multiple associated variants for height (38 leading and 49 additional SNPs, 87 in total) via a genome-wide SNP selection procedure. The 49 new SNPs explain approximately 1.3% of variance, nearly doubling the heritability explained at the 36 loci. We did not find any locus showing multiple associated SNPs for BMI. The method we present is computationally fast and is also applicable to case-control data, which we demonstrate in an example from meta-analysis of type 2 diabetes by the DIAGRAM Consortium.     

Effects of watershed alteration on the brook trout population of a small Black Hills stream

The impacts of adjacent landscaping activity and livestock presence on the brook trout ( Salvelinus fontinalis ) population of a small Black Hills stream were evaluated. Moderate changes in temperature, turbidity, and fecal coliform numbers did not influence brook trout densities. Stream morphometry, particularly factors affecting stream cover, appeared to have the greatest impact on numbers of trout. Brook trout were poor indicators of moderate changes in water quality, but they were adequate indicators of the physical perturbations within the stream.      

On Cowania and its intergeneric hybrids in Arizona

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Breeding behavior of the Plumbeous Vireo in New Mexico

The Plumbeous Vireo ( Vireo plumbeus ) is a poorly studied songbird species that breeds within the interior western United States and Mexico. We studied the breeding behavior of Plumbeous Vireos within pinyon-juniper habitats in northeastern New Mexico in 1996 and 1997. Over both years we located and monitored 40 nests and conducted behavioral observations throughout the nesting cycle. From these observations we described and compared basic behavioral traits of male and female vireos during their nest-building, egg-laying, incubation, and nestling stages, and their response to potential predators near the nest. Male vireos displayed potential nest sites to females, but the females selected the site to be used and built most of the nest. Vireos often did not initiate egg-laying until 2-3 d after nest completion. The female tended to incubate eggs and brood nestlings more than the male, but both parents contributed equally in provisioning the young. Brown-headed Cowbirds ( Molothrus ater ) parasitized 77% of nests in 1996, 63% in 1997, and parasitism was the primary cause of nest failure in this population. The conspicuousness of vireos around the nest, particularly during the nest-building stage, may contribute to high parasitism levels. Vireo aggression near the nest may also act as a cue to help cowbirds locate nests.     

Effect of indomethacin-treated wheat on a wild population of montane voles

Semiweekly mark and recapture livetrapping was conducted July-October 1985 to determine the effectiveness of wheat treated with inomethacin, a prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor, to control the productivity of a wild population of montane voles ( Microtus montanus ) in southeastern Idaho. Before treatment, control (C) and experimental (E) groups, each on ca 0.3 ha, were statistically equal in population size (￣X ± SD; C = 50 ± 21, E = 45 ± 14), adult female: male ratio (C = 1:0.8, E = 1:0.7), juvenile:adult ratio (C =0.16:1, E = 0.13:1), number of juveniles per 100 females (￣X ± SD; C = 27 ± 8, E = 21 ± 18), and percentage of pregnant females (￣X ± SD; C = 44 ± 10, E = 46 ± 17). After the 15-week experiment all population categories were unchanged for the control group and significantly (P ≤ .05) lower for the experimental group, which ended with a final population of (￣X ± SD) 17 ± 6, with 7 ± 21 juveniles per 100 females and an 11 ± 14% pregnancy rate.     

Note on occurrence of Mymaromella pala Huber and Gibson (Hymenoptera: Mymarommatidae) in Montana: a new state record

The parasitic wasp Mymaromella pala Huber and Gibson (Hymenoptera: Mymarommatidae) was collected at 4 sites within a canyon reach of the Kootenai River in Lincoln County, Montana. This minute species has only recently been described, but it appears to have a large distribution throughout the United States and to be associated with upland and riparian forests. La avispa parasitaria Mymaromella pala Huber y Gibson (Hymenoptera: Mymarommatidae) se recolectó en cuatro sitios a lo largo de un cañón del Río Kootenai en Lincoln Co., MT. Hace poco que se describió esta especie diminuta, pero parece tener una distribución extensa en los EE.UU. y estar asociada con bosques altos y ribereños.     

Survivorship and cause-specific mortality in five populations of mule deer

We used retrospective analyses to investigate cause-specific mortality and survivorship among 5 populations of mule deer ( N = 168 telemetered animals) wintering in the western Great Basin during 1986-1994. These populations existed under similar environmental conditions, but survivorship functions differed among them. Monthly survival ranged from 0.964 to 0.990, and annual survival ranged from 0.643 to 0.884. The proportion of deaths attributed to predation and malnutrition or anthropogenic causes did not differ among the 5 populations. Predation was the leading cause of mortality; mountain lions were responsible for approximately 90% of the deer killed by predators. No difference existed among these populations in the proportion of telemetered deer that were killed by mountain lions, but proportionally more females than males were killed by these large fields. Predation by mountain lions is the primary source of mortality and a widespread phenomenon among the populations of mule deer we investigated.