Use of interstate highway overpasses and billboards for nesting by the common raven ( Corvus corax )

Common ravens are usually rather shy birds around their nests and avoid nesting too near human activity. We here report the use of overpasses along heavily traveled Interstate Highway 84 in Idaho and Utah for nest placement. Nests are within 6 m of passing vehicles.     

Morphology and growth variation of Agropyron Smithii RYDB. (western wheatgrass) at different salinity levels

The purpose of this study was to determine the morphology and growth responses of Agropyron smithii Rydb. To various saline environments as evaluated in the laboratory. Agropyron smithii Rydb. (Rosana) seeds were germinated, transplanted into nutrient solutions with NaCl concentrations of 0, 50, 100, 150, and 200 m M , and grown for 80 days. Plant height, length of culm, and number of culms per plant were significantly reduced by the presence of NaCl in the nutrient solutions. As the external NaCl concentrations increased, values of root and plant ratio and leaf dry/fresh mass ratio increased significantly; biomass decreased significantly. However, the stomatal index, number of leaves per culm, and ratio of leaf length to leaf width were not significantly affected by the presence of NaCl.     

Sulfatase activities towards the regulation of cell metabolism and signaling in mammals

In higher vertebrates, sulfatases belong to a conserved family of enzymes that are involved in the regulation of cell metabolism and in developmental cell signaling. They cleave the sulfate from sulfate esters contained in hormones, proteins, and complex macromolecules. A highly conserved cysteine in their active site is post-translationally converted into formylglycine by the formylglycine-generating enzyme encoded by SUMF1 (sulfatase modifying factor 1). This post-translational modification activates all sulfatases. Sulfatases are extensively glycosylated proteins and some of them follow trafficking pathways through cells, being secreted and taken up by distant cells. Many proteoglycans, glycoproteins, and glycolipids contain sulfated carbohydrates, which are sulfatase substrates. Indeed, sulfatases operate as decoding factors for a large amount of biological information contained in the structures of the sulfated sugar chains that are covalently linked to proteins and lipids. Modifications to these sulfate groups have pivotal roles in modulating specific signaling pathways and cell metabolism in mammals.     

A Unified Framework for Multilingual Text-to-Speech Synthesis with SSML Specification as Interface

This paper describes the design of a unified framework for a multilingual text-to-speech (TTS) synthesis engine – Crystal. The unified framework defines the common TTS modules for different languages and/or dialects. The interfaces between consecutive modules conform to the speech synthesis markup language (SSML) specification for standardization, interoperability, multilinguality, and extensibility. Detailed module divisions and implementation technologies for the unified framework are introduced, together with possible extensions for the algorithm research and evaluation of the TTS synthesis. Implementation of a mixed-language TTS system for Chinese Putonghua, Chinese Cantonese, and English demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed unified framework.     

Influences of sex and weather on migration of mule deer in California

I examined differences by sex and influences of weather on timing and patterns of migration of Rocky Mountain mule deer ( Odocoileus h. hemionus ) in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, during 1984-87. Deer initiated spring migration from the winter range at about the same time in all years and made extensive use of holding areas at intermediate elevations. Radio-telemetered deer showed strong fidelity to summer ranges over as many as four years. Fall weather produced different patterns of fall migration. Storms during October produced a pulsed migration, in which most animals mmiiggiraatteedd to the winter range during or soon after the storm; in a year without a storm, fall migration was gradual. Despite the influence of storms on the pattern of fall migration, the median date of fall migration by females did not vary over years; however, among males it was later in a year without fall storms.     

Effect of Si on austenite stabilization,martensite morphology,and magnetic properties in Fe-26%Ni-x%Si alloys

The effect of Si on the austenite stabilization, martensite morphology, and magnetic properties in Fe-26%Ni-x%Si (x=3.5, 5, and 6) alloys have been studied by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and M?ssbauer spectroscopy techniques. TEM observations reveal that the martensite morphology is closely dependent on the Si content. The volume fraction changes of martensite and austenite phases, the hyperfine magnetic field, and isomer shift values have been determined by Mssbauer spectroscopy. The M?ssbauer study reveals that the hyperfine magnetic field, the isomer shift values and the volume fraction of martensite decrease with increasing Si content.