Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science articles from September 2006

Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science archives from September 2006

Kansas Academy of Science position on teaching evolution in public schools.
September 22, 2006... The Kansas Academy of Sciences, like all scientific organizations, continues to be deeply concerned about an assault against the teaching of science in public schools, particularly the principles of biological evolution. Several years ago...

Plant community and bare ground trends on Fort Riley, Kansas: implications for monitoring of a highly disturbed landscape.
September 22, 2006... The Land Condition Trend Analysis (LCTA) program was developed by the US Army and implemented on Fort Riley, Kansas, to monitor trends in plant communities so that managers could maintain quality training lands without the loss of ecological...

Terrestrial mammals of the Smoky Hills Army National Guard Training Facility, Saline County, Kansas.
September 22, 2006... We documented 22 species of mammals on the Smoky Hills Army National Guard Training Facility in Saline Co., Kansas during a 3-year study initiated in 1998. These mammals included 12 species of rodents, 4 of carnivores, 3 of insectivores, and 1...

The Conrad discontinuity in the Midcontinent (USA).
September 22, 2006... The Conrad discontinuity is identified in the U.S. Midcontinent Precambrian crust as a prominent seismic velocity change from about 6.1 to 6.7 km/sec at a depth of between 7.5 and 13.7 km (4.7 and 8.6 mi) in Kansas. There is some discussion,...

An evaluation of single-pass versus multiple-pass backpack electrofishing to estimate trends in species abundance and richness in prairie streams.
September 22, 2006... Backpack electrofishing is a common method used to compare total species richness and relative abundance of stream fishes across space and time. However, as with any sampling method, it is important to evaluate the sampling effort necessary to...

Cleavage pattern of Volvox aureus (Volvocales).
September 22, 2006... Historical and recent reports on Volvox aureus have not satisfactorily explained cellular differentiation and development in this organism. The diagrammatic illustrations in these reports fail to accurately depict the division pattern of the...

Comparison of erythrocyte osmotic fragility among amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
September 22, 2006... Erythrocyte osmotic fragility (EOF) is a measure of erythrocyte strength and its ability to withstand varying osmotic gradients. Erythrocyte osmotic fragility was compared among a variety of terrestrial ectotherms, aquatic/semiaquatic...

AsaH: a hierarchical architecture for software agents.(autonomous software agents hierarchy)
September 22, 2006... We describe the design and use of a hierarchically-structured autonomous software agent. Algorithms are presented for the three major elements which make up the architecture: a classifier array, a network of sequence learners, and a value...

Nest site characteristics of eastern meadowlarks and grasshopper sparrows in tallgrass prairie at the Fort Riley military installation, Kansas.
September 22, 2006... Knowledge of nest site characteristics and nest success of grassland birds is important in the conservation and preservation of species such as the eastern meadowlark (Sturnella magna) and grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum). We...

Physiological studies on a new isolate of the gut fungus, Smittium culisetae (Trichomycetes: Harpellales), from wetland mosquito larvae, Aedes vexans (Diptera: Culicidae).
September 22, 2006... Aedes vexans (Diptera: Culicidae) larvae collected from ephemeral lentic habitats in the Haskell-Baker Wetlands, south of Lawrence, Kansas, were infested with a symbiotic fungus. Two isolates of Smittium culisetae, KS-108-02 and KS-108-06, were...

Influence of meal size on postprandial thermophily in cornsnakes (Elaphe guttata).
September 22, 2006... Postprandial thermophily occurs because snakes presumably select body temperatures to maximize digestive functions. However, there seems to be little to no literature available on meal size affecting the degree of postprandial thermophily in...

Dryophthorine weevils in Dominican amber (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).
September 22, 2006... Two new species of dryophthorine weevils (Curculionoidea: Curculionidae: Dryophthorinae: Dryophthorini) are described and figured from remains preserved in Early Miocene (Burdigalian) amber from the Dominican Republic. Stenommatus pulvereus n....

Partial characterization of a Saccharopolyspora isolated from a preserved lab dissection specimen.
September 22, 2006... A microorganism that initially resembled a fungus was observed growing on preserved cat dissection specimen in the Fort Hays State University anatomy laboratory. A sample of this organism was collected with a sterile swab and streaked for...

Plant species on salt-affected soil at Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas.
September 22, 2006... Soil salinity and vegetative cover were investigated at Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve, Kansas in an effort to identify and document the plant species present on naturally occurring salt- and sodium-affected soil. Soil salinity (as indicated by...

Making syrup from black walnut sap.
September 22, 2006... Experimental tapping of black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) trees has shown that there is a substantial amount of sap flow in young black walnut trees and that it can be tapped and processed for the making of sugar syrup. It also shows the...

Freshwater mussel (Bivalvia: Unionidae) survey of the Wakarusa River basin, Kansas.
September 22, 2006... Sixty years have past since the last extensive freshwater mussel (Bivalvia: Unionidae) survey of the Wakarusa River basin. During that time, the basin has experienced substantial changes, including construction of a reservoir. To determine what...

Brace for the quake.(earthquake resistant building design)
September 22, 2006... Earthquakes are unpredictable can and result in losses of millions of dollars in property damage and large numbers of fatalities. Most of the structural damage occurs when buildings sway back and forth or deflect. This experiment was conducted...

A note on the relic silverfish Tricholepidion gertschi (Zygentoma).
September 22, 2006... The primitive silverfish Tricholepidion gertschi Wygodzinsky has traditionally been considered to be the sole surviving member of the family Lepidotrichidae, originally described from a middle Eocene fossil in Baltic amber. The fossil species,...

The spider family Titanoecidae in Kansas.
September 22, 2006... INTRODUCTION The spider family Titanoecidae, erected by Lehtinen (1967) to encompass five genera, is represented in the contiguous United States by four species belonging to a single genus, Titanoeca Thorell 1870. This genus was formerly...

Unusual disturbance of small-mammal live traps by American crows.
September 22, 2006... Disturbance of small mammal live traps by non-target mammals has long been a problem for ecologists and field biologists. Non-target species most notable for disturbing live traps are carnivorous mammals such as skunks, raccoons, and coyotes...

Kansas Academy of Science: 2006 Annual meeting student awards.
September 22, 2006... STUDENT AWARDS The oral and poster presentations of participating college students were judged at the Kansas Academy of Science 138th Annual Meeting at Wichita State University, April 8, 2006. The following students received awards. Many...

Kansas Academy of Science: 2006 officers and council.(Brief article)
September 22, 2006... The leadership of the Kansas Academy of Science consists of elected officers and council members-at-large. The voting members of the executive council appoint additional individuals to fill various service positions. For a complete list of the...

Kansas Academy of Science one hundred years ago: the museum.
September 22, 2006... From the earliest days of the Kansas Academy of Science, Kansas scientists and educators such as Francis H. Snow, Benjamin F. Mudge, John D. Parker, James H. Carruth and Joseph Savage collected significant geological and biological specimens...