Nutritional depletion of total mixed rations by European starlings: Projected effects on dairy cow performance and potential intervention strategies to mitigate damage.

European starlings are an invasive bird species in North America that are known to cause damage to commercial dairies through the consumption of total mixed rations (TMR) destined for dairy cows. We hypothesized that large foraging flocks of starlings alter the physical composition of TMR, and that this change may be significant enough to affect milk production. To better determine if production losses could potentially occur in commercial dairies as a consequence of feed consumption by foraging flocks of starlings, we conducted controlled feeding experiments using a TMR sourced from a commercial dairy that is chronically plagued with seasonal starling damage. European starlings selected the high-energy fraction of the TMR and reduced starch and crude fat availability. Using the dairy National Research Council production model equations, the nutritional changes measured in the controlled feeding experiments could potentially reduce the productivity of dairies. Model output suggests that for Holsteins producing 32 kg of milk/d, total required net energy intake (NEI) was 31.5 Mcal/d. Within the reference TMR, NEI supplied was 29.3 Mcal/d, whereas within the starling-consumed TMR NEI supplied was 27.7 Mcal/d. Following our nutrition experiments, we assessed the efficacy of pelleted feed as a deterrent strategy for bird damage management in commercial dairies. Six different pelleted feed treatments of differing diameter were offered to starlings. All pellets of 0.95 cm diameter or larger inhibited starling consumption by ≥79%.

Monitoring wild pig populations: a review of methods.

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are widespread across many landscapes throughout the world and are considered to be an invasive pest to agriculture and the environment, or conversely a native or desired game species and resource for hunting. Wild pig population monitoring is often required for a variety of management or research objectives, and many methods and analyses for monitoring abundance are available. Here, we describe monitoring methods that have proven or potential applications to wild pig management. We describe the advantages and disadvantages of methods so that potential users can efficiently consider and identify the option(s) best suited to their combination of objectives, circumstances, and resources. This paper offers guidance to wildlife managers, researchers, and stakeholders considering population monitoring of wild pigs and will help ensure that they can fulfill their monitoring objectives while optimizing their use of resources.

Acceptance of candidate baits by domestic dogs for delivery of oral rabies vaccines.

Protocols for evaluating oral rabies vaccine baits for domestic dogs were field tested in central Mexico, after which dog-food manufacturers and suppliers to the pet-food industry were advised as to potential ingredients for use in prototype dog baits. Bait-preference trials in which confined dogs were used were then undertaken, followed by field tests of free-ranging farmer-owned dogs in three towns in the Nile River Delta region of Egypt. Both confined and free-ranging dogs showed strong preferences for certain baits or bait coatings (poultry, beef tallow, cheese, egg and a proprietary product). Fish-meal polymer baits, widely used for wildlife species, were less preferred. In Egypt, a commercial dog-food-meal bait coated with beef tallow and dry cheese, was consumed at a rate approaching that of a chicken-head bait. The percentage baits that were actually eaten after they had been offered to dogs, ranged from 71-96% for household dogs tested in Mexico, 65-91% for confined dogs (beagles and mixed breeds) tested in the United States, and 32-88% for farmer-owned dogs tested in Egypt.

Effects of mongoose odors on rat capture success.

Wild rats,Rattus norvegicus, R. exulans, andR. rattus, avoided wire-cage live traps that had previously captured mongooses,Herpestes auropunctatus. Replacing traps soiled by mongooses with clean traps would increase rat capture success and reduce a source of experimental bias.

A field evaluation of baits for delivering oral rabies vaccines to raccoons (Procyon lotor).

Eight field trials were conducted in 1989 and 1990 in Georgia (USA) and Maryland (USA) to evaluate baits and baiting strategies for delivering oral rabies vaccines to raccoons (Procyon lotor). Bait packets consisting of corn meal and egg batter-based baits enclosed in plastic bags were placed at 1.0-m diameter, raked tracking stations and checked daily. Packets were well accepted by raccoons; they visited 31 to 44% of the tracking stations where they removed 69 to 90% of the packets within 4 to 5 days. All or nearly all baits were removed from plastic bags and less than 1% of the baits were found only partially eaten. No rejection of water-filled paraffin ampules in baits was observed. The use of an odor attractant on bait packets did not appear to enhance bait discovery when packets were placed on raccoon travel routes. An attractant did enhance discovery when baits were placed off-road in a simulated aerial baiting test. Nontarget species comprised 31 to 53% of all visits to the stations; they took 28 to 55% of the baits but did not appear to adversely affect bait availability for raccoons. A total of 2,300 baits, each containing a wax ampule holding 10 mg of a physiological marker (iophenoxic acid), were distributed at a rate of 82 baits/km2 on 2,800 ha of Sapelo Island, Georgia. Thirty-five (65%) of 54 raccoons collected following bait placement had eaten one or more baits as indicated by elevated levels of iodine in the blood serum.

On analytical methods and inferences for 2 x 2 contingency table data from medical studies.

Analysis of 2 x 2 contingency tables is not as trivial as it appears. The choice of the statistical test can affect the inferences resulting from data analysis, especially at small sample sizes. Canned statistical programs do not necessarily lead to an appropriate test. These points are demonstrated using examples from the literature.

Formulation and evaluation of baits for oral rabies vaccination of raccoons (Procyon lotor).

Captive raccoons were offered a variety of vaccine containers and bait components in a series of three-choice tests. Paraffin wax ampules were the most readily accepted vaccine container. Preferred bait components included corn and shellfish oils, deep fried corn meal batter, and egg, apple and buttermilk flavorings. These results, together with factors including ease of bait formulation, cost, and suitability for field use, were used to develop an experimental delivery system for an oral rabies vaccine. The developed system was composed of a polyurethane sleeve (1.5 x 5.5 cm) dipped in a commercial food batter mix together with corn meal, milk and egg. The sleeve was deep fried in corn oil and a 2.0 ml ampule containing a recombinant rabies vaccine was then inserted into the sleeve bait. These baits were presented to 10 captive raccoons. Nine of the 10 animals developed high levels of rabies virus neutralizing antibodies. Field tests are needed to determine if the delivery system developed also is effective for wild raccoons.

Body size and condition of coyotes in southern Texas.

Body size and condition of coyotes (Canis latrans) from a high-density population in Webb County, Texas (USA) were analyzed for age, sex and seasonal differences during 1980 to 1986. Mean body mass was progressively greater for juvenile, yearling and adult coyotes. Males were heavier and longer than females in each age class. Indices of intraperitoneal fat deposits were similar between sexes. Juveniles continued growth from fall to spring. Adults and yearlings both lost intraperitoneal fat overwinter. Mean body mass of adults decreased overwinter but mass of yearlings did not differ significantly between fall and spring. Territorial and transient female coyotes did not differ in mean body mass, length or indices of subcutaneous fat deposits.

A nonparametric comparison of monomolecular growth curves: application to western painted turtle data.

Intractable distributional assumptions are generated in parametric analyses comparing groups of subjects described by nonlinear growth models. The distributional situation becomes more complex when pointwise mean curves best describe group growth (instead of curves based on mean parameters). An interval specific randomization test is developed to handle monomolecular growth models. The need for the technique was motivated by a study describing longitudinal growth data from the annuli on abdominal scutes of groups of western painted turtles. The analyses indicate that female turtles grow larger than male through the first seven years of life. The analytical procedures developed for these turtles are useful in the description and analyses of many other growth processes.

Small sample properties of some parametric bioassay estimators of the LD90.

Bioassay experiments are frequently conducted with small sample sizes, but the literature offers little comparative information for small sample sizes among the analytical procedures. A computer simulation study was performed to compare several traditional analytical procedures for estimating the LD90. These estimation procedures include probit analysis with maximum likelihood estimation, logit analysis with maximum likelihood, and minimum chi 2 estimation methods. The stimulation results indicate the conditions under which each analytical method appears most useful. Recommendations are tentatively made for minimally adequate designs for bioassay studies where an LD90 is to be estimated.

On the estimation of hypoxic ventilatory response.

The shape parameter, A, has been used to assess hypoxic sensitivity (ventilatory response, VE, to lowered alveolar oxygen tension, PAO2) in the model of the form VE = VEO + A/(PAO2 - C) where C is held constant at 32. In this paper we examine the consequence of holding C constant versus estimating both A and C from the data. Using computer-simulated data from 59 subjects whose A and C values had been previously determined, we indicate that when the actual C value is substantially different from 32, the model with C = 32 does not fit the data. In this case, the estimated A value with C = 32 is highly dependent upon the lowest value of PAO2 obtained in the experimental protocol and can be markedly different from the actual A value. In contrast, when C is also estimated from the subject's data the model fits the data and the estimate of A is unbiased but the precision may be diminished when the actual value of C is low. To improve this precision, we propose a Bayesian estimation scheme that adds a "soft" constraint on C.

Two-step estimators of the scale parameter of the Weibull distribution.

An efficient two-step method of estimating the scale parameter of the Weibull distribution is presented and compared to other estimation procedures. The shape parameter is obtained by a procedure other than maximum likelihood and then substituted into the maximum likelihood formula for the scale parameter. Three two-step and four one-step estimators were compared using a Monte Carlo simulation. When the shape parameter is less than one, the two-step estimator using a generalized least-squares estimate of the shape parameter was best in terms of observed relative efficiency. Maximum likelihood was best, but followed closely by the generalized least-squares estimator when the shape parameter is greater than one.

Optimal frequency locations for estimating model parameters in studies on respiratory control.

Sinusoidal work rate inputs yield a dynamic ventilatory response which can be fitted to a mathematical model. The model structure leads to inferences about the underlying physiology of the respiratory control mechanism. A particular problem of interest in model parameter estimation concerns the location of the test frequencies. The effects of estimating the parameters of a relatively complex model developed by Fujihara et al. using arbitrary frequency locations from a study by Casaburi et al. versus using the frequencies derived from an optimization method presented in a recent paper by Engeman et al. were examined. The Fujihara model is indicated to be much more likely to be justified when optimal sinusoids are used to generate the data than when Casaburi's arbitrary frequencies are used. The implications are that more descriptive models of respiratory control may be developed with the aid of optimal frequency design for the input sinusoids.

Model utility in the study of cardiorespiratory control.

This study investigates the utility of differing modeling approaches to the study of cardiorespiratory control. Models are classified in terms of intended purpose. A structural model predicts behavior based on a hypothetical physiological structure. An empirical model summarizes observed behavior. A functional model attempts to relate physiological structure to observed behavior. Models from the literature for exercising man illustrate these concepts and motivate the importance of experimental design in terms of the dynamic variation of a work-rate input.

Transient response of the Geman-Miller respiratory oscillator model.

Recent evidence suggests that there is a persistence of elevated respiratory center activity for many respiratory cycles after the cessation of a neural stimulus. To explore the theoretical possibility that this behavior may be a consequence of the neural oscillator that dictates respiratory rhythm, the transient response of a mathematical model of a medullary respiratory oscillator recently described by Geman and Miller was examined using computer simulation. This concept was motivated by the presence of a persistent transient response behavior inherent in oscillators from mathematical physics. The results indicate that a transient persistence effect is evident in the model behavior under some conditions, and this effect as well as the steady-state amplitude is markedly sensitive to the shape of the saturation function that interconnects the neuron populations. Furthermore, this behavior is initiated by either an abrupt decrease in a tonic input or an abrupt decrease in the synaptic weights connecting subpopulations of neurons.