Latitude/longitude data in locality records should be published with spatial uncertainties, datum(s) used and indications of how the data were obtained. Google Earth can be used to locate sampling sites, but the underlying georegistration of the satellite image should be checked. The little-known relabelling of a set of landmarks on Mt Bellenden Ker, a scientifically important collecting locali...

A total of 199 sediment samples were collected from 16 locations in the five Laurentian Great Lakes, and each was analyzed for 10 congeners of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) as well as selected polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). This paper presents a comprehensive analysis on previously published results for individual lakes. The total accumulation of nine tri- to hepta-PBDE congeners (s...

Much of the atmospheric variability in the North Atlantic sector is associated with variations in the eddy-driven component of the zonal flow. Here we present a simple method to specifically diagnose this component of the flow using the low-level wind field (925-700 hPa). We focus on the North Atlantic winter season in the ERA-40 reanalysis. Diagnostics of the latitude and speed of the eddy-dri...

The variation of the peak intensity of energetic ions accelerated at CIR related shocks in the interplanetary medium as observed by instruments on board of ULYSSES during its pass towards the south polar region and from the north polar region back to its aphelium is discussed. From ULYSSES measurements alone it cannot be decided whether the observed variation is a function of latitude or of rad...

The effect of temperature on the composting reaction of sewage sludge was investigated at 50, 60, and 70 degrees C. The total amount of CO(2) evolved and the final conversion of volatile matter were maximum at 60 degrees C., suggesting that the optimal temperature for composting was around 60 degrees C. The specific CO(2) evolution rate (moles of CO(2) evolved per hour per viable cell) was maxi...

The gradient of mortality from melanoma of the skin with latitude among US whites was estimated from the slopes of semilogarithmic models fitted to the state-specific mortality rates and the latitudes of the states' capital cities. The upward gradient of mortality from north to south for malignant melanoma of the skin has been decreasing since 1950-1959, when data first became available, throug...

BACKGROUND Inadequate sun exposure and dietary vitamin D intake can result in vitamin D insufficiency. However, limited data are available on actual vitamin D status and predictors in healthy individuals in different regions and by season. METHODS We compared vitamin D status [25-hydroxyvitamin D; 25(OH)D] in people < 60 years of age using data from cross-sectional studies of three regions ac...

The distribution of the maternally acting, selfish gene Medea (M) was determined in populations of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), collected in the southern and midwestern United States. We found clear evidence for the existence of two major regional subpopulations, with a boundary that roughly corresponds to 331N latitude. All 26 strains collected in 10 states north of this...

The species-area relationship (SAR), describing the increase in species richness with increasing area, and the latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG), describing the decrease in species richness with increasing latitude, are the oldest and most robust patterns in biogeography, yet connections between them remain poorly understood. Here, using 1,742 floras covering the entirety of North America no...