Fleas Xenopsylla conformis mycerini and Xenopsylla ramesis replace each other on the same rodent host (Meriones crassus) in two habitats that differ in substrate texture (sand and loess-like sediments, respectively). We hypothesized that the substrate is an important factor determining flea distribution and studied survival of larvae, pupae and newly emerged adults as well as the rate of pre-im...

Recent stratigraphic studies in central Alaska have yielded the unexpected finding that there is little evidence for full-glacial (late Wisconsin) loess deposition. Because the loess record of western Alaska is poorly exposed and not well known, we analyzed a core from Zagoskin Lake, a maar lake on St. Michael Island, to determine if a full-glacial eolian record could be found in that region. P...

MOTIVATION Our goal was to develop a normalization technique that yields results similar to cyclic loess normalization and with speed comparable to quantile normalization. RESULTS Fastlo yields normalized values similar to cyclic loess and quantile normalization and is fast; it is at least an order of magnitude faster than cyclic loess and approaches the speed of quantile normalization. Furth...

The non-parametric Mann-Kendall method and Sliding t-test were applied in this study to analyze the spatial and temporal patterns of trends of the precipitation in the Loess Plateau from 1958 to 2007. The main trends of the precipitation in this region is downward, only four upward time series have not reach the significant level. Most of the abrupt changes happened in northeast of Loess Platea...