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A combination of public relations, marketing, advertising, and information and communication technologies, social media work is an increasingly important part of information professionals' jobs. This paper reports on a survey-based study of 49 information professionals who routinely use social media in their work. Respondents provided information about their most-used social media tools and platforms, described their specific social media tasks, and shared how they learned to use social media. They also gave advice on the possible integration of social media into an MLIS or MSIS curriculum. While considering technical skills and the knowledge of specific platforms to be important, respondents also recommend that professionals be able to multi-task, work and update their knowledge independently, and adopt new technologies. Above all, respondents emphasized the high standards for social media communication and encouraged strong written communications skills, thus suggesting that MLIS and MSIS coursework should actively develop such skills.

Demographic connectivity is vital to sustaining metapopulations yet often changes dramatically through time due to variation in the production and dispersal of offspring. However, the relative importance of variation in fecundity and dispersal in determining the connectivity and dynamics of metapopulations is poorly understood due to the paucity of comprehensive spatio-temporal data on these processes for most species. We quantified connectivity in metapopulations of a marine foundation species (giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera) across 11 years and approximately 900 km of coastline by estimating population fecundity with satellite imagery and propagule dispersal using a high-resolution ocean circulation model. By varying the temporal complexity of different connectivity measures and comparing their ability to explain observed extinction-colonization dynamics, we discovered that fluctuations in population fecundity, rather than fluctuations in dispersal, are the dominant driver of variation in connectivity and contribute substantially to metapopulation recovery and persistence. Thus, for species with high variability in reproductive output and modest variability in dispersal (most plants, many animals), connectivity measures ignoring fluctuations in fecundity may overestimate connectivity and likelihoods of persistence, limiting their value for understanding and conserving metapopulations. However, we demonstrate how connectivity measures can be simplified while retaining utility, validating a practical solution for data-limited systems.

Shawn Wong, ed., Asian American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., 1996, xviii + 462 pp. Nearly 15 years after its initial publication, Asian [...]

Non-native marine species thrive on artificial habitat. Expanding coastal infrastructure has led to concerns that increasing artificial habitat will facilitate the spread of nonnative species overall and to natural ecosystems. In the Santa Barbara Channel (SBC), California, USA, the non-native bryozoan Watersipora subatra (Ortmann, 1890) has previously been reported only in harbors and on offshore oil platforms. To assess the distribution and potential for spread of W. subatra between coastal infrastructure and natural habitat in the SBC, we surveyed 61 open coastal sites, including natural and artificial habitat, and evaluated the potential dispersal connectivity of W. subatra larvae from harbors and oil platforms to natural reefs using survey results and three-dimensional biophysical modeling. We discovered that this bryozoan has invaded natural reefs in the region. W. subatra was present on approximately 50% of the oil platforms and mainland reef sites, but only 17% of offshore island reef sites. Modeling indicated high potential connectivity from one harbor to the closest reef with W. subatra, 4-5 km distant from the harbor mouth, but dispersal to the more distant sites would likely require intermediate stepping stone sites or anthropogenic transport of spawning adults. Populations on offshore platforms, in contrast, were virtually unconnected to reef sites through ocean circulation. The survey data indicated potential opportunities to manage current and future invasions through the control of larval sources. In particular, manual removal of small isolated populations on reefs at the northern Channel Islands would reduce this source of larvae to uninvaded areas. Consideration of potential connectivity in the placement of mariculture infrastructure along the coast with respect to harbors and other sources of non-native propagules could also help to reduce the potential for stepwise spread of non-natives to natural reef habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lateral hypaxial musculature (LHM) of salamanders may serve as a useful model for understanding the functions of LHM in tetrapods more generally. Salamanders have between two and four layers of LHM, arranged segmentally in myomeres. These layers produce three primary mechanical actions: they bend the body, pressurize the body, and produce or resist torsion about the long axis of the body. The optimum muscle fiber angle for forceful bending is 0 ° to the long axis, the optimum angle for pressurization is 90 °, and the optimum angle for torsion is 45 °. For generating bending and torsional moments, lateral (superficial) muscle layers have greater mechanical advantage than medial (deep) layers. For increasing body pressure, by contrast, medial layers have greater mechanical advantage. A comparison of muscle fiber angles in aquatic and terrestrial salamanders reveals that some aquatic salamanders have one muscle layer with a low fiber angle which may represent a specialization for swimming. Overall, however, the fiber angles in the LHM of terrestrial and aquatic salamanders are surprisingly similar. In contrast, the pattern of fiber angles in caecilians is different, suggesting that these amphibians use their LHM differently. The fiber angle models and morphological observations presented here form a framework which may be useful in future studies of lateral hypaxial musculature., INTRODUCTION The lateral hypaxial musculature (LHM) of tetrapods serves many biological roles. In undulatory locomotion, the LHM, along with the epaxial musculature, contributes to lateral bending of the body (Carrier, [...]

The School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin (iSchool at UT-Austin) has evolved to be a unique program within the larger discipline of Library and Information Studies by incorporating traditional educational delivery while expanding the interdisciplinary nature of its faculty and curriculum. This article places our iSchool's experiences within the narrative of the iSchool movement and points to various aspects of change, loss, and opportunity within the school's history. The past and present status of both the graduate and undergraduate curricula at the iSchool at UT-Austin is described. We offer this story of the UT-Austin iSchool's development as an example that helps deepen an understanding of the impact of such programs and their transformations on their students and faculty, as well as on the field of Library and Information Science (LIS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Presents a study which explored the mechanics of lung ventilation in frogs and aquatic salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum. Materials and methods; Results of the study; Discussion.

Studies the mechanical interactions between running, breathing and liver oscillations in the domestic rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, using synchronized videographic, cineradiographic and pneumotachographic techniques. Background on the study; Materials and methods; Findings; Discussion.