Anthropogenic Renourishment Feedback on Shorebirds: a Multispecies Bayesian Perspective

In this paper the realized niche of the Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus), a primarily resident Florida shorebird, is described as a function of the scenopoetic and bionomic variables at the nest-, landscape-, and regional-scale. We identified some possible geomorphological controls that influence nest-site selection and survival using data collected along the Florida Gulf coast. In particular we focused on the effects of beach replenishment interventions on the Snowy Plover (SP), and on the migratory Piping Plover	(PP)	(Charadrius	melodus )	and	Red	Knot	(RK)	(Calidris	canutus ).	Additionally, we investigated the potential differences between the SP breeding and wintering distributions using only regional-scale physiognomic variables and the recorded occur- rences. To quantify the relationship between past renourishment projects and shorebird species we used a Monte Carlo procedure to sample from the posterior distribution of the binomial probabilities that a region is not a nesting or a wintering ground conditional on the occurrence of a beach replenishment intervention in the same and the previous year. The results indicate that it was 2.3, 3.1, and 0.8 times more likely that a region was not a wintering ground following a year with a renourishment intervention for the SP, PP and RK respectively. For the SP it was 2.5. times more likely that a region was not a breeding ground after a renourishment event. Through a maximum entropy principle model we observed small differences in the habitat use of the SP during the breeding and the wintering season. However the habitats where RK was observed appeared quite different. While ecological niche models at the macro-scale are useful for determining habitat suitability ranges, the characterization of the species’ local niche is fundamentally important for adopting concrete multi-species management scenarios. Maintaining and creating optimal suitable habitats for SP characterized by sparse low vegetation in the foredunes areas, and uneven/low-slope beach surfaces, is the proposed conservation scenario to convert anthropic beach restorations and SP populations into a positive feedback without impacting other threatened shorebird species

3D Sonar Measurements in Wakes of Ships of Opportunity

The aim of this work is to test the potential capabilities of 3D sonar technology for studying small-scale processes in the near-surface layer of the ocean, using the centerline wake of ships of opportunity as the object of study. The first tests conducted in Tampa Bay, Florida, with the 3D sonar have demonstrated the ability of this technology to observe the shape of the centerlinewake in great detail starting from centimeter scale, using air bubbles as a proxy. An advantage of the 3Dsonar technology is that it allows quantitative estimates of the ship wake geometry, which presents new opportunities for validation of hydrodynamic models of the ship wake. Three-dimensional sonar is also a potentially useful tool for studies of air-bubble dynamics and turbulence in breaking surface waves

Undergraduate Writing in a Second Language Context: Analysis of English Intra-Sentence Issues

This descriptive study investigates English intra-sentence writing challenges of undergraduate students in public educational institutions in Ghana. To achieve this, analyses of responses given in a short English language test administered to final-year undergraduate students studying English in four tertiary institutions are presented. The items constituting the test derived from intra-sentence deviations that featured prominently in 500 essays written by 250 undergraduate students between 2015 and 2017. The items involve topics that undergraduate students are assumed to have covered during their pre-tertiary education but which are areas of challenge to them. Test item analysis tables were devised to determine facility indices of the items and to ascertain the students’ implicit and explicit knowledge of the language features investigated. The study reveals that students pursuing undergraduate programmes in English Departments in Ghana have varied degrees of familiarity with defined intra-sentence writing issues. Additionally, the students’ implicit knowledge weightings of the topics investigated far outstrip their explicit knowledge values. Finally, the study suggests that the quantity of intra-sentence writing challenges of students from each of the institutions investigated is fairly congruent. These findings have pedagogical implications for the contents of the communication skills programmes mounted for all fresh undergraduate students in Ghana

Benefits and Costs of Civil Justice Reform

F or more than a century, excessive costs and delays have been a chronic complaint about the American civil justice system. Although some states took steps to improve civil case processing in the past, most of those efforts had only a negligible effect, if any, and few were able to sustain those effects over time. Recently, however, a number of states have implemented civil justice reforms that couple changes in procedural rules with improved civil case automation and staffing models that offer new hope for significant improvements in civil case processing. This paper focuses on four reforms implemented in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida (Miami-Dade); in Strafford and Carroll counties, New Hampshire; and statewide in Utah and Texas.1 hire; and statewide in Utah and Texas.1 The working assumption for all four reforms was that streamlining the litigation process, providing more effective oversight, and reducing opportunities for satellite litigation would save litigants both time and money without compromising fairness. Assessing the impact of the reform on time is a fairly straightforward task. Timeto-disposition is a standard measure that courts have used for decades to assess performance. Many states have adopted explicit time standards for civil cases based on either the Model Time Standards for State Trial Courts2 or state-specific time standards. Most states also monitor clearance rates to identify backlogs before they become excessive.

Judicial Nullification? Judicial Compliance and Non-Compliance with Jury Improvement Efforts

Many jury trial procedures and practices are left to the sound discretion of the trial court. This discretion provides judges with flexibility to meet the individual needs of each trial. Using information from the State-of-the-States Survey of Jury Improvement Efforts, this article documents the extent to which trial judges exercise that discretion with respect to trial procedures and practices designed to improve jury comprehension, performance, and satisfaction. It describes legal, cultural, and case-specific factors that contribute to jurisdictional variation in the use of these procedures and practices, including judicial non-compliance with prohibited and mandatory practices. Finally, it discusses whether judicial non-compliance with procedural prohibitions and mandates amounts to a form of judicial nullification and, if so, whether it serves the same purpose as jury nullification (e.g., as a check on judicial, executive, and legislative excesses)