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Most Cited Ecological Complexity Articles
The most cited articles published since 2011, extracted from Scopus.
Assessing the soil erosion control service of ecosystems change in the Loess Plateau of ChinaBojie Fu | Yu Liu | Yihe Lü | Chansheng He | Yuan Zeng | Bingfang Wu
Volume 8, Issue 4, December 2011, Pages 284-293
Soil erosion in terrestrial ecosystems, as an important global environmental problem, significantly impacts on environmental quality and social economy. By protecting soil from wind and water erosion, terrestrial ecosystems supply human beings with soil erosion control service, one of the fundamental ecosystem services that ensure human welfare. The Loess Plateau was one of the regions in the world that suffered from severe soil erosion. In the past decades, restoration projects were implemented to improve soil erosion control in the region. The Grain-to-Green project, converting slope croplands into forest or grasslands, launched in 1999 was the most massive one. It is needed to assess the change of soil erosion control service brought about by the project. This study evaluated the land cover changes from 2000 to 2008 by satellite image interpretation. Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) was employed for the soil erosion control assessment for the same period with localized parameters. Soil retention calculated as potential soil erosion (erosion without vegetation cover) minus actual soil erosion was applied as indicator for soil erosion control service. The results indicate that ecosystem soil erosion control service has been improved from 2000 to 2008 as a result of vegetation restoration. Average soil retention rate (the ratio of soil retention to potential soil loss in percentage) was up to 63.3% during 2000-2008. Soil loss rate in 34% of the entire plateau decreased, 48% unchanged and 18% slightly increased. Areas suffering from intense erosion shrank and light erosion areas expanded. Zones with slope gradient of 8°-35° were the main contribution area of soil loss. On average, these zones produced 82% of the total soil loss with 45.5% of the total area in the Loess Plateau. Correspondingly, soil erosion control capacity was significantly improved in these zones. Soil loss rate decreased from 5000tkm-2yr-1 to 3600tkm-2yr-1, 6900tkm-2yr-1 to 4700tkm-2yr-1, and 8500tkm-2yr-1 to 5500tkm-2yr-1 in the zones with slope gradient of 8°-15°, 15°-25°, and 25°-35° respectively. However, the mean soil erosion rate in areas with slope gradient over 8° was still larger than 3600tkm-2yr-1, which is far beyond the tolerable erosion rate of 1000tkm-2yr-1. Thus, soil erosion is still one of the top environmental problems that need more ecological restoration efforts. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.
Quantifying spatiotemporal patterns of urbanization: The case of the two fastest growing metropolitan regions in the United StatesJianguo Wu | G. Darrel Jenerette | Alexander Buyantuyev | Charles L. Redman
Volume 8, Issue 1, March 2011, Pages 1-8
Urbanization is the most drastic form of land use change affecting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and services far beyond the limits of cities. To understand the process of urbanization itself as well as its ecological consequences, it is important to quantify the spatiotemporal patterns of urbanization. Based on historical land use data, we characterize the temporal patterns of Phoenix and Las Vegas - the two fastest growing metropolitan regions in the United States - using landscape pattern metrics at multiple spatial resolutions. Our results showed that the two urban landscapes exhibited strikingly similar temporal patterns of urbanization. During the past several decades, urbanization in the two desert cities resulted in an increasingly faster increase in the patch density, edge density, and structural complexity at both levels of urban land use and the entire landscape. That is, as urbanization continued to unfold, both landscapes became increasingly more diverse in land use, more fragmented in structure, and more complex in shape. The high degree of similarity between the two metropolitan regions may be attributable to their resemblance in the natural environment, the form of population growth, and the stage of urban development. While our results corroborated some theoretical predictions in the literature, they also showed spatiotemporal signatures of urbanization that were different from other cities. Resolving these differences can certainly further our understanding of urban dynamics. Finally, this study suggests that a small set of landscape metrics is able to capture the main spatiotemporal signatures of urbanization, and that the general patterns of urbanization do not seem to be significantly affected by changing grain sizes of land use maps when the spatial extent is fixed. This landscape pattern analysis approach is not only effective for quantifying urbanization patterns, but also for evaluating spatial urban models and investigating ecological effects of urbanization. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.
Spatial characteristics between biodiversity and ecosystem services in a human-dominated watershedYang Bai | Changwei Zhuang | Zhiyun Ouyang | Hua Zheng | Bo Jiang
Volume 8, Issue 2, June 2011, Pages 177-183
Biodiversity and ecosystem services are intrinsically linked. Since human activities have both intensive and extensive impacts on the environment, it is critical to understand spatial relationships between conservation priorities for biodiversity and ecosystem services. The manner in which various aspects of biodiversity relate to ecosystem services and the spatial congruence between biodiversity and these services, is, however, unclear. In the present study in the Baiyangdian watershed, China, we investigated spatial characteristics of biodiversity and ecosystem services using correlation, overlap, and principal component, analyses. The spatial correlations between biodiversity and ecosystem services were found to be high. Biodiversity was positively correlated with soil retention, water yield and carbon sequestration and negatively correlated with N/P retention and pollination. Pairwise overlap was found to be the highest between N and P retention, biodiversity and carbon sequestration, and biodiversity and water yield. Other couples indicated moderate or small overlap. Principal component analysis indicated that biodiversity and six ecosystem services could be divided into two groups, which could be managed and conserved separately. It can be concluded that biodiversity priorities co-occur with water yield, soil retention and carbon sequestration, and do not co-occur with N/P retention and pollination. Conservation of a biodiversity hotspot was associated with maintaining 45.02% of a carbon sequestration hotspot, 42.05% of a water yield hotspot, and 23.29% of a soil retention hotspot, indicating that conserving biodiversity will also result in the protection of these services. The bundling of biodiversity and ecosystem services is thus both possible and practical. Our findings provide valuable information on congruence and divergence among conservation hotspots and the protection of ecosystem services. They also indicate that a systematic and comprehensive approach that can have wide-ranging policy implications in terms of optimizing conservation strategies for multiple ecosystem services. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.
Capacity, pressure, demand, and flow: A conceptual framework for analyzing ecosystem service provision and deliveryAmy M. Villamagna | Paul L. Angermeier | Elena M. Bennett
Volume 15, Issue , September 2013, Pages 114-121
Ecosystem services provide an instinctive way to understand the trade-offs associated with natural resource management. However, despite their apparent usefulness, several hurdles have prevented ecosystem services from becoming deeply embedded in environmental decision-making. Ecosystem service studies vary widely in focal services, geographic extent, and in methods for defining and measuring services. Dissent among scientists on basic terminology and approaches to evaluating ecosystem services create difficulties for those trying to incorporate ecosystem services into decision-making. To facilitate clearer comparison among recent studies, we provide a synthesis of common terminology and explain a rationale and framework for distinguishing among the components of ecosystem service delivery, including: an ecosystem's capacity to produce services; ecological pressures that interfere with an ecosystem's ability to provide the service; societal demand for the service; and flow of the service to people. We discuss how interpretation and measurement of these four components can differ among provisioning, regulating, and cultural services. Our flexible framework treats service capacity, ecological pressure, demand, and flow as separate but interactive entities to improve our ability to evaluate the sustainability of service provision and to help guide management decisions. We consider ecosystem service provision to be sustainable when demand is met without decreasing capacity for future provision of that service or causing undesirable declines in other services. When ecosystem service demand exceeds ecosystem capacity to provide services, society can choose to enhance natural capacity, decrease demand and/or ecological pressure, or invest in a technological substitute. Because regulating services are frequently overlooked in environmental assessments, we provide a more detailed examination of regulating services and propose a novel method for quantifying the flow of regulating services based on estimates of ecological work. We anticipate that our synthesis and framework will reduce inconsistency and facilitate coherence across analyses of ecosystem services, thereby increasing their utility in environmental decision-making. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.
Bifurcation analysis of a ratio-dependent prey-predator model with the Allee effectMoitri Sen | Malay Banerjee | Andrew Morozov
Volume 11, Issue , September 2012, Pages 12-27
There is a growing body of evidence supporting implementation of ratio-dependent functional response of predators in ecological models. Those models often provide a satisfactory explanation of the observed patterns of dynamics which cannot be done based on the 'classical' models using the prey-dependent functional response. Surprisingly enough, all theoretical analysis of ratio-dependant predator-prey interactions has so far been completed only for the simplest case where the prey growth is logistic. In a large number of ecologically relevant situations, however, the growth rate of a population is subject to an Allee effect and the per capita growth rate increases with population density. Taking into account Allee dynamics for the prey growth in models can alter the previous theoretical findings obtained for the logistic growth paradigm. In this paper, we analyse a ratio-dependent predator-prey system with prey growth subject to an Allee effect. We both consider the cases of a strong Allee effect (the population growth rate is negative at low species density) and the case of a weak Allee effect (the population growth is positive at low population density). For both cases we fulfil a comprehensive bifurcation analysis, constructing the parametric diagrams, and also show possible phase portraits. Then we compare the properties of the ratio-dependant predator-prey model with and without the Allee effect and show a substantial difference in the dynamical behaviour of those systems. We show that including an Allee effect in a ratio-dependent predator-prey model removes the possibility of sustainable oscillations of species densities (population cycles). We show that the ratio-dependent predator-prey model with the Allee effect can solve the paradox of enrichment. However, unlike the same model with logistic growth, incorporating the Allee effect results in a paradox of biological control. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.
Review of optical-based remote sensing for plant trait mappingLucie Homolová | Zbyněk Malenovský | Jan G P W Clevers | Glenda García-Santos | Michael E. Schaepman
Volume 15, Issue , September 2013, Pages 1-16
Plant trait data have been used in various studies related to ecosystem functioning, community ecology, and assessment of ecosystem services. Evidences are that plant scientists agree on a set of key plant traits, which are relatively easy to measure and have a stable and strong predictive response to ecosystem functions. However, the field measurements of plant trait data are still limited to small area, to a certain moment in time and to certain number of species only. Therefore, remote sensing (RS) offers potential to complement or even replace field measurements of some plant traits. It offers instantaneous spatially contiguous information, covers larger areas and in case of satellite observations profits from their revisit capacity. In this review, we first introduce RS concepts of light-vegetation interactions, RS instruments for vegetation studies, RS methods, and scaling between field and RS observations. Further we discuss in detail current achievements and challenges of optical RS for mapping of key plant traits. We concentrate our discussion on three categorical plant traits (plant growth and life forms, flammability properties and photosynthetic pathways and activity) and on five continuous plant traits (plant height, leaf phenology, leaf mass per area, nitrogen and phosphorous concentration or content). We review existing literature to determine the retrieval accuracy of the continuous plant traits. The relative estimation error using RS ranged between 10% and 45% of measured mean value, i.e. around 10% for plant height of tall canopies, 20% for plant height of short canopies, 15% for plant nitrogen, 25% for plant phosphorus content/concentration, and 45% for leaf mass per area estimates.The potential of RS to map plant traits is particularly high when traits are related to leaf biochemistry, photosynthetic processes and canopy structure. There are also other plant traits, i.e. leaf chlorophyll content, water content and leaf area index, which can be retrieved from optical RS well and can be of importance for plant scientists.We underline the need that future assessments of ecosystem functioning using RS should require comprehensive and integrated measurements of various plant traits together with leaf and canopy spectral properties. By doing so, the interplay between plant structural, physiological, biochemical, phenological and spectral properties can be better understood. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.
Spatial assessment of ecosystem goods and services in complex production landscapes: A case study from south-eastern AustraliaHimlal Baral | Rodney J. Keenan | Julian C. Fox | Nigel E. Stork | Sabine Kasel
Volume 13, Issue , March 2013, Pages 35-45
Many production landscapes are complex human-environment systems operating at various spatio-temporal scales and provide a variety of ecosystem goods and services (EGS) vital to human well-being. EGS change over space and time as a result of changing patterns of land use or changes in the composition and structure of different vegetation types. Spatio-temporal assessment of EGS can provide valuable information on the consequences of changing land use and land cover for EGS and helps to deal with this complexity. We carried out a quantitative and qualitative appraisal of selected EGS (timber production, carbon stock, provision of water, water regulation, biodiversity, and forage production) to understand how these have altered in a complex mosaic of landscape that has undergone significant change over the past 200 years.Land use and land cover types and their associated EGS were assessed and mapped using a wide range of readily available data and tools. We also evaluated the trade-offs among services associated with observed land use change. In contrast to work elsewhere, we found the recent changes in land use and land cover have an overall positive impact on various EGS due mainly to the conversion of pasture to managed plantations which are connected to the larger areas of remnant vegetation. Results also indicate that there was a high level of variation in the distribution of the EGS across the landscape. Relatively intact native vegetation provides mainly regulating services whereas the modified landscapes provides provisioning services such as timber and forage production at the cost of regulating services. Rapidly changing demand and supply of certain goods and services (e.g., timber, pulp or carbon) may also have positive and negative impact on other services. For example, increasing plantation rotation has positive impacts for biodiversity and carbon stock but reduces stream flow and water yield. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.
Carbon emissions in the life cycle of urban building system in China-A case study of residential buildingsFang You | Dan Hu | Haitao Zhang | Zhen Guo | Yanhua Zhao | Bennan Wang | Ye Yuan
Volume 8, Issue 2, June 2011, Pages 201-212
Urban building system assumes significant environmental and ecological implications in terms of a contribution of emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. In order to understand the roles of urban building system in the global and regional climate changes, we set up an integrated model to analyze the carbon emissions of urban building system during its life cycle in this paper, which is called LCCE Model. The further analysis is made to examine the sources of CO2 emissions and the life cycle characteristics of typical architectural structures as masonry-concrete and steel-concrete. We first identified four major sources of CO2 emissions during the whole life cycle of urban building system, which are industrial process emissions, energy consumption emissions, fugitive emissions and land footprint emissions. Given an assumption of a building life cycle of 50years, we took urban residential buildings as an example and calculated CO2 emissions in the main five phases of an overall life cycle of a residential building system, including constructive materials preparation, building construction and reformation, building operation, building demolition as well as wastes treatment and recycling. A comparison was made to examine the differences of CO2 emissions among buildings with two typical architectural structures as masonry-concrete and steel-concrete. The results show that the latter produces less CO2 emission than the former per unit area. Specifically, the amount of CO2 emission is 329.61t for masonry-concrete buildings and 315.79t for steel-concrete buildings per 100m2. Most emissions come from energy consumption and land footprint, accounting for 78-83% and 13-20% of the total emissions respectively. According to our LCCE model, there is a great potential of reducing carbon emissions in urban building system. The key to reduce carbon emissions during the life cycle of urban buildings is directed to building wastes recycling, improvement of consumption patterns of energy and materials, preferential use of buildings with a moderate floor area ratio and effective utilization of natural energy and ecologically friendly building materials according to the characteristics of local urban development. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.
Assessing the importance of individual habitat patches as irreplaceable connecting elements: An analysis of simulated and real landscape dataLidón Rubio | Santiago Saura
Volume 11, Issue , September 2012, Pages 28-37
Habitat loss and fragmentation are considered to be severe threats to biodiversity, and maintaining natural levels of landscape connectivity may be one of the best responses to these issues. Graph-based habitat availability (reachability) metrics have been shown to be an appropriate method for a multifaceted but coherent landscape connectivity assessment. These metrics can be partitioned into three commensurate fractions (intra, flux, connector) that quantify the different ways in which habitat patches contribute to the overall landscape connectivity and habitat availability. In particular, the connector fraction measures the contribution of patches to the connectivity between other habitat areas as irreplaceable connecting elements or stepping stones. Because many conservation efforts and initiatives are focused on conserving or restoring corridors and other linkages between habitat areas, it is critical to understand more thoroughly the conditions under which investing in these connecting elements is an efficient management strategy. For this purpose, we analysed the contribution of the connector fraction in different simulated habitat patterns under different levels of habitat amount and fragmentation and in natural habitats for endangered forest bird species in Catalonia (Spain). We show that a prominent role of individual stepping stone patches as irreplaceable providers of habitat connectivity and availability arises only under a relatively narrow set of conditions, characterised by low habitat amount, high habitat fragmentation and modest to intermediate species dispersal abilities. We suggest that to support connectivity-related investments, it is necessary to focus on those few species or dispersal distance ranges that are likely to be both most dependent on and most benefited by the conservation or restoration of stepping stone patches. We conclude that the total amount of reachable habitat for a particular species is rarely determined by the contribution of individual connectors as the only dominant factor. Therefore, conservationists should be cautious not to overemphasise the importance of connectivity investments and to balance them with other conservation alternatives and strategies to promote species conservation in heterogeneous landscapes. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.
Local ecosystem feedbacks and critical transitions in the climateMax Rietkerk | Victor Brovkin | Peter M. van Bodegom | Martin Claussen | Stefan C. Dekker | Henk A. Dijkstra | Sergey V. Goryachkin | Pavel Kabat | Egbert H. van Nes | Anje Margriet Neutel | Sharon E. Nicholson | Carlos Nobre | Vladimir Petoukhov | Antonello Provenzale | Marten Scheffer | Sonia I. Seneviratne
Volume 8, Issue 3, September 2011, Pages 223-228
Global and regional climate models, such as those used in IPCC assessments, are the best tools available for climate predictions. Such models typically account for large-scale land-atmosphere feedbacks. However, these models omit local vegetation-environment feedbacks that may be crucial for critical transitions in ecosystems at larger scales. In this viewpoint paper, we propose the hypothesis that, if the balance of feedbacks is positive at all scales, local vegetation-environment feedbacks may trigger a cascade of amplifying effects, propagating from local to large scale, possibly leading to critical transitions in the large-scale climate. We call for linking local ecosystem feedbacks with large-scale land-atmosphere feedbacks in global and regional climate models in order to improve climate predictions. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.
Emergy-based evaluation of peri-urban ecosystem servicesShu Li Huang | Yu Hwa Chen | Fei Yu Kuo | Szu Hua Wang
Volume 8, Issue 1, March 2011, Pages 38-50
Peri-urban areas are often characterized by valuable natural environments that provide essential life-support functions and ecosystem services for urban residents. Global environmental change has raised concerns over how urbanization and land use and land cover change affect ecosystem services. This study applied systems ecology theory and ecological energetic analysis to value the worth of natural environment and ecosystem services to a socioeconomic system. We begin with a general discussion of peri-urban areas and their ecosystem services. An emergy approach is applied to establish a framework for evaluating the ecosystem services by identifying systemic roles of each system components. The two-part framework includes: (1) an emergy evaluation of energetic flows of ecosystem services; and (2) an impact matrix to analyze systemic roles of services in the analyzed system. On the basis of the proposed valuation framework and land cover types in the greater Taipei area, this study analyzed ten ecosystems to determine how they interact, via energy flows, to contribute services to human society. By converting all stocks and flows into common emergy units, an impact matrix is constructed to analyze the systemic role of ecosystem components by classifying their status of being active, reactive, critical or indifferent. The analytical results indicate that the soil component of forest ecosystems, upstream rivers and agricultural productivity play critical role of ecosystem services in the study region. The effect of land cover change during 1971-2006 in the study region on ecosystem services is also analyzed. Finally, the implications of biophysical valuation of ecosystem service for spatial planning as related to adapting to global environmental change are discussed. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.
Moderate grazing can promote aboveground primary production of grassland under water stressGeping Luo | Qifei Han | Decheng Zhou | L. Li | Xi Chen | Yan Li | Yukun Hu | B. Larry Li
Volume 11, Issue , September 2012, Pages 126-136
Comprehensive understanding on the response of net primary production (NPP) to grazing is still elusive. It is necessary to choose a suitable study area with significant differences in climate, landform, diverse grasslands and grazing intensity (GI), to better understand plant-herbivore interactions and what environmental conditions NPP may increase. This study used Biome-BGC model with inclusion of a grazing process and the effects of the excreta on vegetation to investigate the effects of grazing on the aboveground NPP (ANPP) in Tianshan Mountains-Junggar Basin with four grasslands along a climatic gradient from mountain to plain, i.e., alpine meadow (AM), mid-mountain forest-meadow (MMFM), low-mountain dry grassland (LMDG), and plain desert grassland (PDG). The model simulated ANPP agreed well with the measured values for both non-grazed and grazed experiments at four sites, suggesting that the model successfully captured the effects of grazing on ANPP. The model results based on different GI scenarios indicated that ANPP decreased with increasing GI at AM and MMFM. But at LMDG and PDG, ANPP increased when GI was smaller than optimal GI (GI opt). After GI opt, ANPP decreased with the increasing GI. This implied that appropriate GI stimulated ANPP at LMDG and PDG, with magnitude of 4.1-22% at LMDG and 6.6-15.7% at PDG. By investigating the annual evapotranspiration (ET) and soil volumetric water content under non-grazed and grazed conditions, it was found that grazing reduced ET and hence improved soil water at sites LMDG and PDG, which explained the different response of ANPP to GI in different grasslands. We concluded that the response of ANPP to GI highly depended on the climatic conditions in grassland ecosystems over Central Asia, and moderate grazing can promote ANPP under water stress. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.
Understanding eco-complexity: Social-Economic-Natural Complex Ecosystem approachRusong Wang | Feng Li | Dan Hu | B. Larry Li
Volume 8, Issue 1, March 2011, Pages 15-29
Human dominated landscape is a kind of Social-Economic-Natural Complex Ecosystem dominated by human behavior, sustained by natural life support system, and vitalized by ecological process, which is called ecoscape. Its natural subsystem consists of Chinese traditional five elements: metal (minerals), wood (living organism), water, fire (energy) and soil (nutrients and land). Its economic subsystem includes the components of production, consumption, reduction, transportation and regulation. While its social subsystem includes technology, institution and culture steered by man. In dealing with this eco-complexity, the key issue is how to image the complicated interactions, how to simplify and integrate the diversified relationships, and how to develop a practical instrument for cultivating the sustainability in helping local people to help themselves. Based on ancient Chinese human ecological philosophy, the SENCE approach for eco-sustainability planning and management was explored, which requires holistic rethinking, institutional reform and technological renovation. A combinatory model consists of mechanism model, planning model, and regulation model has been developed through identification of its key factors, feedback and function, simulation of its partial problems, process and alternative policies, and inducing its technological, institutional and cultural innovation towards sustainability. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.
Stabilization and complex dynamics in a predator-prey model with predator suffering from an infectious diseaseBob W. Kooi | George A K van Voorn | Krishna Pada Das
Volume 8, Issue 1, March 2011, Pages 113-122
We study the effects of a non-specified infectious disease of the predator on the dynamics a predator-prey system, by evaluating the dynamics of a three-dimensional model. The predator population in this (PSI) model is split into a susceptible and an unrecoverable infected population, while all newborn are susceptible. The incidence rate at which susceptible become infectious is described by a Holling type II functional response giving saturation when the number of susceptibles increases. From a modeling context this three-dimensional model is in the limit case similar to the well-known 3D Rosenzweig-MacArthur (RM) model, with the infected population replacing the top-predator. The RM model is known for the Shil'nikov bifurcation, which is associated to the chaotic behaviour. The effects of the disease are considered to be changes in the parameters that represent relative predation efficiency and mortality rates. A combination of analysis, numerical integration and numerical continuation techniques are used to perform a bifurcation analysis of the model. The positive stationary solution of the disease free, two-dimensional predator-prey system is either a stable equilibrium or a stable limit cycle where the transition occurs at the Hopf bifurcation. For a biologically applicable parameter set, it is found that when the infected individuals feed less fast or less effective than the susceptibles there is bi-stability where the two-dimensional disease free state co-exists with a stable equilibrium for the three-dimensional PSI system. The introduction of a disease can also cause chaos when the infected predator individuals are ecologically not functioning (not feeding and no offspring). However, under small parameter changes first the Shil'nikov bifurcation, and hence the chaotic behaviour, disappears followed by the Hopf bifurcation that marks the existence of limit cycles of the three-dimensional PSI system. As such, an infectious disease has a strongly stabilizing effect on the predator-prey system, similar to the existence of weak links in food webs. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.
Seasonal patterns of litterfall in forest ecosystem worldwideHaicheng Zhang | Wenping Yuan | Wenjie Dong | Shuguang Liu
Volume 20, Issue , December 2014, Pages 240-247
© 2014 Elsevier B.V.The seasonal litterfall plays an important role in the process of forest carbon and nutrient cycles. The current dynamic vegetation models use a simplified method to simulate seasonal patterns of litterfall, and assume that litterfall inputs distributed evenly through the year for deciduous trees or occur once during the start of year for evergreen trees. In this study, we collected more than 400 litterfall measurements for different forest ecosystems from existing literature and monographs, and analyzed the seasonal patterns of litterfall over the various forest types. The results showed that the total annual litterfall varied significantly by forest types in the range of 3-11Mgha-1y-1. The seasonal litterfall patterns had diverse forms and varied obviously among the forest types. For tropical forests, the litter peaks occurred mostly in spring or winter, corresponding to the drought season; for temperate broadleaved and needle-leaved evergreen forests, litter peaks could occur at various seasons; and for temperate deciduous broadleaved and boreal evergreen needle-leaved forests, litter peaks were observed in autumn. Global analyses showed that seasonal patterns of litterfall were determined by both the physiological mechanism and environmental variables.
A phytoplankton-toxic phytoplankton-zooplankton modelMalay Banerjee | Ezio Venturino
Volume 8, Issue 3, September 2011, Pages 239-248
Several field data and experiments show that zooplankton may react to the presence of toxic phytoplankton by reducing its consumption up to the point of starvation. We propose a mathematical system to model this situation using a Monod-Haldane response function. Our results indicate that this mechanism ensures that the toxic phytoplankton does not drive the zooplankton population towards extinction. Also, the insurgence of brown tides is shown numerically under the assumptions underlying this model. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.
History-dependent patterns of whole ecosystemsJonathan A. Sherratt
Volume 14, Issue , June 2013, Pages 8-20
Spatial patterns at the landscape scale have been documented in a wide variety of ecosystems across many parts of the world. Mathematical models have played an important role in understanding the causes of these patterns, and their implications for ecosystem change as environmental parameters vary. Preliminary results from simulation studies suggest the possibility of hysteresis, meaning that the wavelength and other properties of the pattern will vary in a history-dependent manner. This paper presents a detailed study of this phenomenon for two established models of landscape-scale patterns: the model of Klausmeier (Science 284 (1999) 1826-1828) for banded vegetation in semi-arid environments, and the model of van de Koppel et al. (American Naturalist 165 (2005) E66-E77) for patterning in young mussel beds. In both cases, the author demonstrates history-dependent patterns. Moreover, he shows how a knowledge of pattern existence and stability enables a detailed understanding of this hysteresis. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.
Analysis of a discrete-time predator-prey system with Allee effectWan Xiong Wang | Yan Bo Zhang | Chang zhong Liu
Volume 8, Issue 1, March 2011, Pages 81-85
This paper deals with a discrete-time predator-prey system with Allee effect. We obtain asymptotically stable conditions of the equilibrium points which are subject to the Allee effect. The stabilizing effect of Allee effect on prey and predator populations is studied, respectively. The Allee effect which occurs on both of predator and prey populations is also discussed by stability analysis, phase-plane and bifurcation diagram analysis. Our study suggests that Allee effect has stabilizing effect on population dynamics. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.
A predator-prey mathematical model with both the populations affected by diseasesKrishna pada Das | Kusumika Kundu | J. Chattopadhyay
Volume 8, Issue 1, March 2011, Pages 68-80
A prey-predator model with disease in both the population is proposed and analyzed. Local stability analysis of biologically feasible equilibrium points is worked out with help of ecological as well as disease basic reproduction numbers. We also explain the community composition of ecosystem by basic reproduction numbers. It is shown that the system is globally stable around the interior equilibrium point under certain parametric conditions. Moreover, the system is persistent under some feasible parametric conditions. Our analysis reveals that force of infection and predation rate are the key parameters on the dynamics of the system. Extensive numerical experiments with hypothetical set of parameters are carried out to substantiate our analytical findings. The oscillatory coexistence of the species which is very common in nature is observed for predator disease free system. The introduction of disease in the predator population enhances the extinction of predator population. We also observe that the system will be disease free and all population will persist through proper predational strategies. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.
Interactions between landcover pattern and geospatial processing methods: Effects on landscape metrics and classification accuracyAlex M. Lechner | Karin J. Reinke | Yan Wang | Lucy Bastin
Volume 15, Issue , September 2013, Pages 71-82
Remote sensing data is routinely used in ecology to investigate the relationship between landscape pattern as characterised by land use and land cover maps, and ecological processes. Multiple factors related to the representation of geographic phenomenon have been shown to affect characterisation of landscape pattern resulting in spatial uncertainty. This study investigated the effect of the interaction between landscape spatial pattern and geospatial processing methods statistically; unlike most papers which consider the effect of each factor in isolation only. This is important since data used to calculate landscape metrics typically undergo a series of data abstraction processing tasks and are rarely performed in isolation. The geospatial processing methods tested were the aggregation method and the choice of pixel size used to aggregate data. These were compared to two components of landscape pattern, spatial heterogeneity and the proportion of landcover class area. The interactions and their effect on the final landcover map were described using landscape metrics to measure landscape pattern and classification accuracy (response variables). All landscape metrics and classification accuracy were shown to be affected by both landscape pattern and by processing methods. Large variability in the response of those variables and interactions between the explanatory variables were observed. However, even though interactions occurred, this only affected the magnitude of the difference in landscape metric values. Thus, provided that the same processing methods are used, landscapes should retain their ranking when their landscape metrics are compared. For example, highly fragmented landscapes will always have larger values for the landscape metric "number of patches" than less fragmented landscapes. But the magnitude of difference between the landscapes may change and therefore absolute values of landscape metrics may need to be interpreted with caution. The explanatory variables which had the largest effects were spatial heterogeneity and pixel size. These explanatory variables tended to result in large main effects and large interactions. The high variability in the response variables and the interaction of the explanatory variables indicate it would be difficult to make generalisations about the impact of processing on landscape pattern as only two processing methods were tested and it is likely that untested processing methods will potentially result in even greater spatial uncertainty. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.
Possible physical mechanism of water vapor transport over Tarim River BasinYong ping Wu | Yong ping Shen | B. Larry Li
Volume 9, Issue , February 2012, Pages 63-70
Atmospheric water vapor transport (WVT) plays an important role in the Earth's climate system, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, but its physical mechanism has escaped wide attention. Here the distribution of WVT over Tarim River Basin and its relationships with local topography and precipitation are analyzed; the variation and trend of WVT and its correlation with westerly circulation index are also calculated; and the possible physical mechanism is discussed. All statistics and analysis are based on daily precipitation data of 25 weather stations in Tarim River Basin of China and NCEP/NCAR monthly mean reanalysis data (2.5° × 2.5°).It is shown that the western and the northwestern-based horizontal WVT is the main path for Tarim River Basin. But, the greatest contribution of the average annual water vapor net input (WVNI) is 3483.57×10 11kga -1 through eastern boundary. According to Bernoulli's equation, the reason is that the U-shaped terrain around Tarim River Basin causes the shift of WVT from west and northwest to north and northeast. Moreover, in lower troposphere, there is a significant positive correlation between the zonal and meridional WVNI due to the U-shaped terrain. Additionally, zonal WVNI in upper and middle troposphere grow up steadily as well as westerly circulation index; but WVNI in lower troposphere, meridional WVNI in middle troposphere and horizontal WVNI in whole troposphere all decrease significantly. This implies that there are other factors that reduce the WVNI, which counteracts the increase of WVNI caused by enhanced west winds. Last but not least, due to the pumping function of plant on local moisture recycling, precipitation in mountains increased rapidly, but decreased smoothly in plains between the late 1970s and the early 21st century.So we can conclude that climate in interior regions links closely to the local moisture recycling, which depends, to a large extend, on local forest-covered situation; and that the trend of the drying and desertification in Tarim River Basin is not likely to slow down because of the block of the U-shaped terrain, decreasing of WVNI in meridian and sparse vegetation. However, we still do not know how the climate of TRB will develop. There are some other factors such as NAO, runoff and the East Asia Monsoon that need to be further explored. It is also very necessary and urgent to study the mutual feedback relationship between water cycle and climate, and we should pay more attention to the influence of ecosystem. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.
A network-based approach to the analysis of ontogenetic diet shifts: An example with an endangered, small-sized fishRodrigo Ramos-Jiliberto | Fernanda S. Valdovinos | Jonathan Arias | Carles Alcaraz | Emili García-Berthou
Volume 8, Issue 1, March 2011, Pages 123-129
Many organisms exhibit ontogenetic shifts in their diet and habitat use, which often exert a large influence on the structure and expected dynamics of food webs and ecological communities. Nevertheless, reliable methods for detecting these niche shifts from consumption data are limited. In this study we present a new approach for the detection and analysis of ontogenetic diet shifts, based on complex network theory. As a case study, we apply these methods to the endangered, small fish Aphanius iberus. The stage-structured consumer population and its set of consumed prey are represented as an unweighted bipartite network. A statistical evaluation of the resulting network structure permits to uncover empirical patterns of ontogenetic diet shifts. We test for changes in niche breadth, as well as nestedness and diet modularity along ontogeny. These tests were carried out on the subnetworks describing consumption, positive electivity, and negative electivity on prey items. The statistical significance was established by means of null model analyses. Our analyses reveal a nested diet, along with a gradual decrease in diet breadth and a modular structure (i.e. abrupt changes) of elected preys along the ontogeny of A. iberus. The detection of network structure by means of the use of tools from complex network theory is shown to be a promising method for studying ontogenetic niche shifts. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.
Beyond Turing: The response of patterned ecosystems to environmental changeKoen Siteur | Eric Siero | Maarten B. Eppinga | Jens D M Rademacher | Arjen Doelman | Max Rietkerk
Volume 20, Issue , January 2014, Pages 81-96
© 2014 Elsevier B.V..Spatially periodic patterns can be observed in a variety of ecosystems. Model studies revealed that patterned ecosystems may respond in a nonlinear way to environmental change, meaning that gradual changes result in rapid degradation. We analyze this response through stability analysis of patterned states of an arid ecosystem model. This analysis goes one step further than the frequently applied Turing analysis, which only considers stability of uniform states. We found that patterned arid ecosystems systematically respond in two ways to changes in rainfall: (1) by changing vegetation patch biomass or (2) by adapting pattern wavelength. Minor adaptations of pattern wavelength are constrained to conditions of slow change within a high rainfall regime, and high levels of stochastic variation in biomass (noise). Major changes in pattern wavelength occur under conditions of either low rainfall, rapid change or low levels of noise. Such conditions facilitate strong interactions between vegetation patches, which can trigger a sudden loss of half the patches or a transition to a degraded bare state. These results highlight that ecosystem responses may critically depend on rates, rather than magnitudes, of environmental change. Our study shows how models can increase our understanding of these dynamics, provided that analyses go beyond the conventional Turing analysis.
The applicability of empirical vegetation indices for determining leaf chlorophyll content over different leaf and canopy structuresH. Croft | J. M. Chen | Y. Zhang
Volume 17, Issue 1, January 2014, Pages 119-130
Retrieving leaf chlorophyll content at a range of spatio-temporal scales is central to monitoring vegetation productivity, identifying physiological stress and managing biological resources. However, estimating leaf chlorophyll over broad spatial extents using ground-based traditional methods is time and resource heavy. Satellite-derived spectral vegetation indices (VIs) are commonly used to estimate leaf chlorophyll content, however they are often developed and tested on broadleaf species. Relatively little research has assessed VIs for different leaf structures, particularly needle leaves which represent a large component of boreal forest and significant global ecosystems. This study tested the performance of 47 published VIs for estimating foliar chlorophyll content from different leaf and canopy structures (broadleaf and needle). Coniferous and deciduous sites were selected in Ontario, Canada, representing different dominant vegetation species (Picea mariana and Acer saccharum) and a variety of canopy structures. Leaf reflectance data was collected using an ASD Fieldspec Pro spectroradiometer (400-2500nm) for over 300 leaf samples. Canopy reflectance data was acquired from the medium resolution imaging spectrometer (MERIS). At the canopy level, with both leaf types combined, the DD-index showed the strongest relationship with leaf chlorophyll (R2=0.78; RMSE=3.56μg/cm2), despite differences in leaf structure. For needleleaf trees alone the relationship with the top VI was weaker (D[red], R2=0.71; RMSE=2.32μg/cm2). A sensitivity study using simulated VIs from physically-modelled leaf (PROSPECT) and canopy (4-Scale) reflectance was performed in order to further investigate these results and assess the impacts of different background types and leaf area index on the VIs' performance. At the leaf level, the MNDVI8 index showed a strong linearity to changing chlorophyll and negligible difference to leaf structure/type. At canopy level, the best performing VIs were relatively consistent where LAI≥4, but responded strongly to differences in background at low canopy coverage (LAI=2). This research provides comprehensive assessments for the use of spectral indices in retrieval of spatially-continuous leaf chlorophyll content at the leaf (MTCI: R2=0.72; p<0.001) and canopy (DD: R2=0.78; p<0.001) level for resource management over different spatial and temporal scales. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.
Mathematical analysis of a delayed stage-structured predator-prey model with impulsive diffusion between two predators territoriesJoydip Dhar | Kunwer Singh Jatav
Volume 16, Issue , December 2013, Pages 59-67
In most models of population dynamics, diffusion between two patches is assumed to be either continuous or discrete, but in reality, many species diffuse only during a single period, and diffusion often occurs in regular pulses. Further, in forest habitats, the highest-level predator species are restricted to a specific territory, but prey can impulsively move between territories. Therefore, in this paper, we consider a delayed stage-structured predator-prey model with impulsively diffusive prey between two patches; in the model, patches represent the territories of two different predator populations. Here, we analytically obtain the global attractivity condition of predator-extinction periodic solutions for the system by using the concepts of Hui and Chen (2005); a numerical simulation is also included to illustrate this result. Further, we establish permanence conditions for the coexistence of the species using the theory of impulsive delayed differential equations. Finally, we explore the possibilities of the permanence of the system by using the growth rates of immature predators and the impulse period as critical parameters, and we also obtain the parameters' threshold limits using numerical experimentation. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.


text:
Baby Booties Knitting Pattern
By: Bernat
We are adding the craft to your Craft Projects.
The project was added to your Craft Projects.
Click here to view your Craft Projects.
With this free knitting pattern, knit a pair of adorable booties complete with sweet ribbon. These knit booties are sure to keep baby warm and cozy. You'll only need one ball of yarn.
- Yarn: 1 Ball Bernat Baby (50 g/1.75 oz) # 00402 White
- Knitting Needles: Size 3.25 mm (U.S. 3) or size needed to obtain tension.
- Length of 1/4 inch 6 mm satin ribbon.
28 sts and 36 rows = 4" 10 cm in stocking st.
0-3 mos.
Cast on 52 sts.
1st row: (WS). K5. P1. K2. *P17. K2. Rep from * to last 6 sts. P1. K5.
2nd row: K6. P2. *K1. yfwd. K1. Sl1. K1. psso. P1. K2tog. K1. P1. K1. Sl1. K1. psso. P1. K2tog. K1. yfwd. K1. P2. Rep from * to last 6 sts. K6. 48 sts.
3rd row: K5. P1. K2. *P4. (K1. P2) twice. K1. P4. K2. Rep from
* to last 6 sts. P1. K5.
4th row: K6. P2. *(K1. yfwd) twice. Sl1. K1. psso. P1. K2tog. P1. Sl1. K1. psso. P1. K2tog. (yfwd. K1) twice. P2. Rep from * to last 6 sts. K6.
5th row: K5. P1. K2. *P5. (K1. P1) twice. K1. P5. K2. Rep from * to last 6 sts. P1. K5.
6th row: K6. P2. *K1. yfwd. K3. yfwd. Sl1. K2tog. psso. P1. Sl1. K2tog. psso. yfwd. K3. yfwd. K1. P2. Rep from * to last 6 sts. K6.
7th row: K5. P1. K2. *P7. K1. P7. K2. Rep from * to last 6 sts. P1. K5.
8th row: K6. P2. *K1. yfwd. K5. yfwd. Sl1. K2tog. psso. yfwd. K5. yfwd. K1. P2. Rep from * to last 6 sts. K6. 52 sts.
9th row: K5. P1. K2. *P17. K2. Rep from * to last 6 sts. P1. K5. These 2nd to 9th rows form pat.
Work a further 6 rows in pat.
Next row: K6. K2tog. (K6. Sl1. K2tog. psso. K6. K2tog) twice. K6. 41 sts.
Next row: Knit.
Next row: (Eyelet row). *K2. yfwd. K2tog. Rep from * to last st. K1.
Next 2 rows: Knit.
Next row: Purl.
Make instep: 1st row: K27. Turn.
2nd row: P13. Turn.
3rd row: K13. Turn.
Rep last 2 rows 7 times more, then 2nd row once. Break yarn.
To make foot: With RS of work facing, pick up and knit 11 sts along side of instep. K13 from left hand needle. Pick up and knit 11 sts along other side of instep. Knit across rem 14 sts. 63 sts.
2nd row: Purl.
3rd row: Knit.
4th row: Purl.
Rep last 2 rows twice more.
7th row: K23. Sl1. K2tog. psso. K11. Sl1. K2tog. psso. K23.
8th and every alt rows: Purl.
9th row: K22. Sl1. K2tog. psso. K9. Sl1. K2tog. psso. K22.
11th row: K2. Sl1. K2tog. psso. K16. Sl1. K2tog. psso. K7. Sl1. K2tog. psso. K16. Sl1. K2tog. psso. K2.
Cast off purlways (WS). Sew back and sole seam. Thread ribbon
through eyelet row.
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azmine 1369882
Dec 21, 2013
HI: I am knitting these booties and need an explanation for the short term: i.e yfwd - yard forward w?............ d?........... as my stitches do not equate to that it asks for in row 2, etc. i.e. I should have 48 stitches of the 52 that were cast on. Can any help me? thanks a lot. very much appreciated. AZEE
Knitting in Spain
Apr 18, 2013
Please help. After first 9 rows, right side is facing and row 1 is wrong side. Pattern says to continue for 6 rows more. What row is after 9 do I continue pattern with?
Crafter 6829474
Apr 16, 2010
I have used this pattern many times and find it wonderful
azmine 1369882
Dec 21, 2013
hi can you pls. see my question above and assist? also, question from Knitting in Spain's answer would be interesting in case I run into the same problem. thanks again AZEE
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Posted by ESPN.com's James Walker
The AFC North version of the Blog Network caught up with Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas to discuss, among other things, which defenses give him the most trouble and why so many Browns enjoy fishing.
1. Joe, which team has the toughest defense?
Joe Thomas: Baltimore, they have the best personnel in the NFL on defense, no question. You just look at all the guys that made the Pro Bowl. It's sick how many great players they have. They probably have three of four guys that are going to the Hall of Fame, so they're unbelievable. And Pittsburgh is tough. The rivalry adds to it a little bit but their motto is just to hit you in the mouth. Every play is a fistfight in the back lot. It's just full-on collisions every play.
2. Who has the better TV show: Joe Thomas or Joshua Cribbs?
JT: (Smiles) Well...mine, obviously. That's an easy one. It's because the host is better.
3. Word around camp is you caught a 48-inch fish recently.
JT: Yeah, that was the biggest I've ever seen. This was actually a week before training camp. It was a super hot, calm day. We went down to the West Branch Reservoir near Kent, Ohio. We met up with a local guy down there. I hooked it, netted it in and it was unbelievable.
4. Did you eat it?
JT: Nah, we put it back in the water. We took some pictures and then released it. With those big ones, you want to let them grow and breed more fish for the next time. Now he's probably 50 inches and he's got kids that are 40 inches.
5. Several players on your team fish. What is it about fishing that draws you and your teammates in?
JT: I think it's kind of a release from your normal, day-to-day things. It gives you a chance to relax and get your mind off the game of football, because you need that. You need that in order to keep your sanity. You can't think about football 24 hours a day for 365 days. There is just something that's relaxing about being out on a boat on a lake.
(Writer's disclaimer: OK, so Thomas and I couldn't stop talking. We hope you don't mind).
6. Looking at the stats, you gave up one sack last year. What in the world happened? Do you still have nightmares about that one play?
JT: (Laughs) It was in the snow game against Buffalo, and me and Eric (Steinbach) got caught twisting and it was just poor technique. I guess I don't really have nightmares about that one, because it was so slippery and snowy that our technique just went out the window. That was probably a bad thing.
7. Who was the player?
JT: It was actually Aaron Schobel, so I don't feel too bad. He's a great defensive end and he made it to the Pro Bowl. But it's always something that you think about.
8. How can you get better in your second year?
JT: You can always get better. Even the great ones like Walter Jones and Jonathan Ogden, they can do something better. My coach told me in the offseason that he wants me to get 10-15 percent better. Everything you did poorly -- run or pass technique-wise or mental errors of blocking the wrong guy -- those are the corrections that you need to make if you want to make that improvement.
9. Who do you feel is the NFL's best left tackle?
JT: Still playing? Walter Jones. The thing about Walter, like all great players, he just makes it look easy. He's so smooth and effortless. He's so big, so strong and so quick. That's what makes a great lineman. If you try to go around him, he's too quick and too fast. If you try to run him over and you just don't get through because he's so strong. Not only that but he uses great technique. He's a great player for a lot of young guys to watch. He's as close to flawless as there is out there.


text:
1998 BMW 328i Grille Assembly
Action Crash Grille Assembly - Left - Driver Side; Platinum
Click to Enlarge
(20 Reviews)
Action Crash BM1200122
Grille Assembly
Loading Reviews...
Part Number: 1006-04000374
Notes: DRIVER SIDE GRILLE; E46 BODY
Position: Left - Driver Side
Quality: Platinum
Condition: New
Shipping Options:
{If Applicable, Emblems Are NOT Included}
Action Crash Grille Assembly - Right - Passenger Side; Platinum
Click to Enlarge
(26 Reviews)
Action Crash BM1200123
Grille Assembly
Loading Reviews...
Part Number: 1006-04000375
Notes: PASSENGER SIDE GRILLE; E46 BODY
Position: Right - Passenger Side
Quality: Platinum
Condition: New
Shipping Options:
{If Applicable, Emblems Are NOT Included}
Product came quickly and was in perfect condition. No problems installing it and I was kept in the loop on when it would arrive.
Perfect fit and quality. I recently replaced the nose panel on my e36 and needed these kidneys.
I ordered the above grill assembly and within the time specified when I placed the order I received it in perfect condition.
I installed it on our BMW and it looks much better.
Don Spencer
The part was a perfect fit I thought it was the wrong color but I compared to my vehicle it ended being the right part thanks for the quick delivery.
I'm very pleased with the part. It was well priced, and arrived in a timely fashion. The installation was quite easy, and the part fits perfectly. This is the third grille I've ordered. All have been excellent.
I would recommend Parts Geek for your next order. I found the part I needed and ordered and it was here exactly when they said it would be. I was able to follow the tracking each day and I am very satisfied with their customer service! Great job Parts Geek!


text:
One replacement track insert to fit all ElliptiGO models. For a demonstration on how to remove and install your track inserts, please view our support videos section. Please note: Our video shows how to apply a layer of surf wax to the bottom of the track inserts. Wa
If you have further questions about installation, please contact email@example.com. Compatible with only long-stride models (3C, 8C, 11R)


text:
|Boxing Champions | Boxing Schedule | Boxing Video | Boxing History | Pound For Pound | Lounge | The Wire | Arcade
Big Bad Booty Daddy
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: New York
Posts: 20,896
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Points: 2,502,135,320,332.78
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Total Points: 2,502,135,320,332.78
Comments Thread For: Zimnoch Rejects Szpilka Contract Over Extension Clause
A planned battle of heavyweight prospects is now in jeopardy. Artur Szpilka (12-0, 9 KOs) has accepted the fight, but Krzysztof Zimnoch (13-0-1, 10 KOs) has refused to sign the contract for their scheduled fight - taking place on the big Golota-Saleta card on February 23rd in Poland. Zimnoch does not have any problem in signing the contract for the fight, but he refuses to accept a clause that extends his promotional agreement with Andrzej Wasilewski.
[Click Here To Read More]
Boxing aficionado
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Selfish, greedy promoters like Wasilewski, Oner and Klutch are ruining too many careers.
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Wasilewski only co promotes Zimnoch so i dont know what is he talking about. As far as im concerned Wasilewski is doing great job with this fighters, most of them have monthly salaries(from what i heard)
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Participate in This Event or find another event
Saturday, May 14, 2016
10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Castle South Middle School
3711 Casey Road, Newburgh, IN Map it
Already a participant?
Log in here
12 teams and 94 participants have raised $18,821.30
Total above may not reflect all participants, teams, and donations
Warrick Relay 2.0 information:
Hello Warrick County Relayers!
Due to the cold/windy weather that shortened our
event, we are having Relay 2.0 at the Relay For Life of Evansville event on
June 11th at Goebel Soccer Complex, 6800 N Green River Road, Evansville, IN
We look forward to celebrating our Survivors again at 11am and the Luminaria Ceremony will be at 9pm.
Silent Auction open til 5pm
Luminarias can still be purchased online at www.relayforlife.org/WarrickCountyIN and at the event, just specify it is for Warrick at the event.
To find out more information about the Evansville Relay visit their website at www.relayforlife.org/EvansvilleIN
If you have questions, please feel free to call
or email me.
Allison Clayton
812-475-9486 or firstname.lastname@example.com
The American Cancer Society Relay For Life movement is the world's largest and most impactful fundraising event to end cancer. It unites communities across the globe to celebrate people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and take action to finish the fight once and for all. With the support of thousands of volunteers like you, the American Cancer Society is helping save more than 500 lives a day. Please join us and take action against a disease that has taken too much!
Remember or honor a loved one who has battled cancer with a luminaria tribute bag »
Connect with others and find resources to help you participate in the Relay For Life movement »
Event sponsored by:
Top Participants:
Top Teams:
Top Companies:
Contact Allison Clayton:
(812) 475-9486


text:
At SLC, we believe that the Christian life is meant to be lived in community. We follow the example of the New Testament church and have two types of gatherings: large public gatherings for worship and teaching, and smaller in-home gatherings for fellowship and prayer (see Acts 2:42-47). We call these smaller gatherings Care Groups.
A typical Care Group meeting begins with snacks and fellowship, then moves into a Bible study time, and concludes with a time of prayer. Newcomers are always welcome in all of our groups, and visiting a group doesn't mean you're committed to keep attending.
1. White Rock
- Every Tuesday at 7:30pm
2. Highpoint
- 1 & 3rd Tuesdays at 7:15pm
3. Surrey-Campbell Heights
- Every other Tuesdays at 7pm
4. South Langley 1
- Every other Wednesday at 7:15pm
5. South Langley 2
- Every Tuesday 1t 7pm
6. Brookswood-Fernridge
- 1st & 3rd Wednesdays at 7:30pm
7. South Langley-Aldergrove
- Every other Thursday at 8pm
8. Women's Morning Bible Study
- Tuesday 9:30am in the Summit Room at SLC
9. Newlands
- Every Tuesday at 7:30pm
10. Clayton Heights
- Every other Wednesday at 7:30pm
11. Walnut Grove
- Every other Tuesday at 7pm
12. Murrayville 1
- Every Wednesday at 7:30pm
13. Murrayville 2
- 1st & 3rd Wednesday
14. Young Adults
- Every other Tuesday at 7:30pm
15. Aldergrove 1
- Every Tuesday at 7:30pm
16. Aldergrove 2
- 1st & 3rd Tuesday at 7:30pm


text:
With a winning manufacturing philosophy to make good things better, our continued success is been built on a platform of delivering quality, service, and innovation.
Dynamic molding focusing on consumer lifestyles. Creating happier lives.
Multi-use products molded for great functionality and practicality.
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Our invaluable knowledge and vast capabilities define us as your perfect manufacturing partner.
Understanding the importance of packaging, its overall performance and how it influences the consumer buying process.
We are a high volume, highly efficient, highly automated plastic injection molding company that delivers added value and quality. Our success has been built on creating plastic packaging with enhanced performance, enriching peoples lives and driving sales.
Whether it's molding the bigger picture or refining the smallest of details, we deliver exceptional service in packaging design, product development, and injection molding, offering our customers a seamless manufacturing solution.
Combining high velocity material flow, rapid cycle times, high cavitation molds, and automation, we mold cost effective plastic packaging for brands seeking quality and consistency every time.
Through versatility, extensive capabilities, and a unique service offering, we assist global brands in developing and delivering new innovative plastic products and packaging to personal care, media, pharmaceutical, food, and home care markets worldwide.
In addition, our services also include the option for customers to transfer their existing molds to our facilities to mitigate risk, ensure product integrity, and to remain competitive by means of cost control. Through the utilization of automation we guarantee repeatability, secure and efficient execution, with better up-time, higher quality and highly efficient production.
More than an injection molder we're committed to consumers, design, innovation, and manufacturing excellence.
We're ideally positioned as your innovative plastic partner, anywhere in the world.
Stay up-to-date with the latest Amaray activities and news, right here.


text:
[2012-02-07 Updated] xwTweak 0.2.0 - Global Accelerometer Switch(device-menu)
4 Attachment(s)
xwTweak is my first WebOS app. I hope that it is useful. ^_^
This is a global accelerometer switch. Please install it through WebOSQuickInstall
System tested: pre3 / 2.2.4ROM
=========2012-02-07 updated========
xwtweak v0.2.0 published
1. fix Compatibility with some PDK applications
1. Provide PalmService API.
* uri: palm://com.xwteam.app.xwtweak/
* method: accelGetState
return: {"state": "on"} OR {"state": "off"}
* method: accelSetState
param: {"state": "on"} OR {"state": "off"}
=========2012-02-07 evening========
provide device-menu-toggle patch file for Pre3 2.2.4.
update xwTweak 0.1.1
1 Attachment(s)
fix bug when install
Yay, an orientation lock application.
Works great ;-)
holy cow - does that work for Pre2?
Has anyone else tried this?
Works perfectly on a Veer with 2.2.4. Will try on a Pre2 this evening. :)
Thanks for this great tweak. Accelerometer is the most useless feature of Smartphones and forbids things like reading while in bed and so... My wife is very confused by this and often just holds her phone upside down. I hope that helps a bit. ;)
Will you release that in precentral feeds or something like that?
works perfect with Pre3 and WebOS 2.2.0. After a restart the Accelerometer switch is always active. So you have to deactivate it after every device restart.
I just installed it on my EU Pre3 2.2.4, and it works wonderfully.
It's not a patch, but rather a stand alone program with a toggle switch to turn the accelerometer on and off.
this should definately become a patch whcih is triggered / controlled by tweaks. nevertheless, great work!
I agree ... this should be made into a top-bar drop-down trigger or something...
How can you put it in the menu when the menu dissapers in landscape mode?
It should be possible to patchify it by inserting the js into the always-running phone app and adding it to tweaks or preferably the device menu. Or even by writing a node.is service and implementing it similarly.
[QUOTE=ShiftyAxel;3285008]It should be possible to patchify it by inserting the js into the always-running phone app and adding it to tweaks or preferably the device menu. Or even by writing a node.is service and implementing it similarly.[/QUOTE]
I'm definitely going to check it out after work. Curious how it's set up...
Hmm, given a binary is involved, a direct patch wouldn't work for the top-bar (or at least would require a few workarounds). If xwteam could switch to using the binary via a Node.js service, then it'd be extremely helpful and would may any sort of patch trigger extremely easy.
[QUOTE=Garrett92C;3285014]I'm definitely going to check it out after work. Curious how it's set up...[/QUOTE]
Looks like it's an unjailed hybrid app with a plugin binary that toggles the feature.
[QUOTE=2nd_Street;3284870] ... this should be made into a top-bar drop-down trigger or something...[/QUOTE]
This would be very useful!
It would be great to somehow include that in advanced device menu patches and make it remember the state after a reboot. :)
BTW: It also worked on my wife's Pre2 with 2.2.4 installed.
How do you disable the accelerometer? Just curious... ;)
Thanks for making this app, being able to lock to landscape or portrait mode was something I found myself missing quite a lot moving from my Nexus One.
[i]-- Sent from my Palm Pre3 using [url=http://developer.palm.com/appredirect/?packageid=com.newnessdevelopments.forums]Forums[/url][/i]
installed on pre2 running 2.1, wont launch. Maybe only works with 2.4
[QUOTE=Garfonso;3286080]It would be great to somehow include that in advanced device menu patches [/QUOTE]
I was thinking the same thing.
<thread moved to homebrew>
[i]reports of app working on all 2.2.4 devices[/i]
laingman, you need Enyo at least. It can be installed on 2.1 from 2.2.4 doctor :)
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Walterboro police on Saturday charged a 61-year-old man accused of firing a gun at another man's feet during an argument, a report states.
John Lucas, of Leith Lane in Walterboro, is charged with discharging a firearm within city limits in connection with the incident, police said.
Officers were dispatched to Lucas' home shortly after 4 p.m. on Saturday concerning a shooting, the report states.
A 26-year-old man who also lives at the residence told officers that he got into an argument with Lucas while home on break from work.
Lucas asked the man to leave, which the man told police he refused. Then, Lucas pulled out a gun and fired at the man's feet multiple times, police said.
Investigators collected three shell casings at the scene, the report states.
No one was injured in the shooting, police said.
Lucas, who has a history of cardiac problems, was transported to a local hospital and charged after he complained of chest pains, police said.


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The ultimate combination of Sham Wow and Slap Chop to cut shit up and dry it at the same time. It's actually just a towel with razorblades taped on, but it does the job.
"Hey Bob, pass me the Sham Chop"
"Alright Jim"
"Alright Jim"
بواسطة pseudonimm إبريل/نَيْسان 16, 2010
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Located in Kanchanaburi, Felix River Kwai Resort is minutes from Bridge Over the River Kwai and close to Thailand-Burma Railway Centre. This hotel is within close proximity of Kanchanaburi War Cemetery and Jeath War Museum.
Make yourself at home in one of the 255 air-conditioned rooms featuring refrigerators and minibars. Complimentary wireless Internet access is available to keep you connected. Conveniences include safes and in-room massages, and you can also request rollaway/extra beds (surcharge).
Treat yourself with massages and body treatments. You're sure to appreciate the recreational amenities, which include 2 outdoor swimming pools, a health club, and a sauna. Additional amenities at this hotel include complimentary wireless Internet access and shopping on site.
Grab a bite to eat at one of the hotel's dining establishments, which include 2 restaurants and a coffee shop/café. Quench your thirst with your favorite drink at a bar/lounge.
Business, Other Amenities
Featured amenities include a business center, dry cleaning/laundry services, and a 24-hour front desk. A roundtrip airport shuttle is provided for a surcharge (available on request), and free self parking is available onsite.
quiet relaxing with great views and convienient location
the staff in the restaurants were not friendly. over priced services having to pay for all extras.
the location it's just 10 minutes walk to the river and Kwai bridge. lack of any supermarkets nearby.


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on June 7, 2011 - 12:01 AM
Almost everyone agrees that America's health care system has the incentives all wrong. Under the fee-for-service system, doctors and hospitals get paid for doing more, even if added tests, operations and procedures have little chance of improving patients' health. So what happens when someone proposes that we alter the incentives to reward better care, not more care? Well, Rep. Paul Ryan and Republicans found out. No surprise: Democrats slammed them for "ending Medicare as we know it."
This predictably partisan reaction -- preying upon the anxieties of retirees -- must depress anyone who cares about the country's future. Spiraling health spending is the crux of our federal budget problem. In 1965 -- the year Congress created Medicare and Medicaid -- health spending was 2.6 percent of the budget. In 2010, it was 26.5 percent. The Obama administration estimates it will be 30.3 percent in 2016.
Uncontrolled health spending isn't simply crowding out other government programs; it's also dampening overall living standards. Health economists Michael Chernew, Richard Hirth and David Cutler recently reported that higher health costs consumed 35.7 percent of the increase in per capita income from 1999 to 2007. They also project that, under reasonable assumptions, it could absorb half or more of the gain between now and 2083.
Ryan proposes to change that. Beginning in 2022, new (not existing) Medicare beneficiaries would receive a voucher, valued initially at about $8,000. Suddenly empowered, Medicare beneficiaries would shop for lowest-cost, highest-quality insurance plans providing a required package of benefits. The health care delivery system would be forced to restructure by reducing costs and improving quality.
It's shock therapy. Would it work? No one knows, but two things are clear.
First, as Medicare goes, so goes the entire health care system. Medicare is the nation's largest insurance program, with 48 million recipients and spending last year of $520 billion. About 75 percent of beneficiaries have fee-for-service coverage. If Medicare remains largely fee-for-service, the rest of the system will, too.
Second, few doubt that today's health care system has much waste: medical care that does no good; high overhead costs. In a paper, Cutler documented some evidence. In one survey, 20 percent of patients reported that doctors repeated tests because records were unavailable.
Fee-for-service is open-ended reimbursement; the government's main tool to control Medicare's costs is to hold down reimbursement rates. Doctors and hospitals respond by ordering more services to offset the rate limits. For all its flaws, say Ryan's critics, this system beats his. Indeed, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that in 2022, Ryan's plan would be more than a third costlier than the status quo.
But the CBO may be wrong. When a voucher system was adopted for Medicare's new drug benefit, the CBO overestimated its costs by a third; the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' overestimate was 42 percent.
Under Ryan's plan, incentives would shift. Medicare would no longer be an open ATM; the vouchers would limit total spending. Providers would face pressures to do more with less; there would certainly be charges that essential care was being denied. The Obama administration argues that better results can be achieved by modifying incentives within the existing system. Perhaps. But history suggests skepticism. Presidents since Jimmy Carter have made proposals to control spending, with meager results.
It's Ryan's radicalism versus President Obama's tinkering. Which is realistic and which is wishful thinking? Burdened by runaway spending, Medicare "as we know it" is going to end. The only questions are when and on whose terms?


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Trahan family involved in Mardi Gras krewe
Le Krewe Des Jeunes Amis held their annual Mardi Gras Ball in Lafayette on Saturday, January 28, 2012. The theme was "A Night of Enchantment," featuring popular nursery rhymes. Meredith Ellen Trahan served as an attendant to the Queen of Malta while Christopher Beck Trahan and Michael Rive Trahan were sailors from the nursery rhyme, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." Meredith is in her seventh year in the krewe and she welcomed her twin brothers, Beck and Rive, for their very first year. Meredith, Beck and Rive are the children of Christopher L. Trahan and Shannon Becnel Trahan of Lafayette. They are the grandchildren of Pete Trahan and Lola Trahan of Crowley and Sharon C. Becnel and the late Michael P. Becnel of Lafayette.


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My daughter dances competitively and she wears these half soles for contemporary classes and performances as well as the occasional informal ballet class. They are MUCH more comfortable than the similar shoes by another brand which have a narrower outside seam on the top of the foot. They are great for turns and my only complaint is that they do wear out quickly- toes poke out after a while. She's on her third set since in the last six months. We have been advised to avoid the leather half soles as they stretch out too easily.
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I tried these split soles for the first time last night while teaching, and they were wonderful! The fit was great and the turning was even better. They looked beautiful on my feet, and didn't slip once! I highly recommend these to anyone and everyone.


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One who is often garbed in Camo and is nationally recognized for his big willy. History states this phenom can perform in bursts of 25+ minutes a clip.
Wow, Ron Jeremy can really paralyze that ass... Yea, but he aint got shit on Tech Money.
dari Big J Jumat, 04 Maret 2005
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one who spends much money by way of the credit card.
Tech-money bought himself 4 pair of shoes, a new car audio system, and a new pair of pants for somebody elses girl last weekend. damn.
dari L Selasa, 01 Maret 2005


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Was the lead singer for Dave Clark Five
Dave Clark Five lead singer Mike Smith died from pneumonia Feb. 28 near London. He was 64.
His death came less than two weeks before he and his band mates were due to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
Smith provided vocals, keyboards, and song-writing for The Dave Clark Five, one of many British rock acts whose music swept across the United States in the 1960s during the "British Invasion."
The Beatles were the best remembered. But between 1964 and 1966, one British hit followed another across the Atlantic, with bands such as The Rolling Stones and The Animals conquering America's charts.
The Dave Clark Five claimed a string of U.S. billboard hits, including "Because," "Glad All Over," and "I Like it Like That." The band made 12 appearances on the "Ed Sullivan" show, a record for any British act.
The group's antics were captured in John Boorman's 1965 documentary "Catch Us If You Can," which followed Smith and his band mates through the English city of Bristol.
The Dave Clark Five was due to be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall on March 10, a ceremony Smith was trying to attend despite being paralyzed from the waist down following a spinal injury in 2003.
Smith is survived by his wife, Charlie.


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Hunter: Ortiz craziest All-Star ever
NEW YORK -- Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect eighth inning in his final All-Star appearance, Jose Bautista, J.J. Hardy and Jason Kipnis drove in runs to back a night of pulsating pitching, and the American League beat the National League 3-0 Tuesday night to stop a three-year losing streak.
Ten pitchers combined on a three-hitter and the 43-year-old Rivera, who is retiring at the end of the season, remained unscored on in nine All-Star innings. Rivera won the MVP award.
The only older pitcher to appear in an All-Star Game was 47-year-old Satchel Paige.
Rivera was left alone on the field for a 90-second standing ovation, waving his cap to the crowd and touching it to his heart as the other All-Stars watched from the dugout railing and applauded.
Bautista had a sacrifice fly in the fourth off Patrick Corbin that stopped the AL's 17-inning scoreless streak. Hardy added a run-scoring grounder in the fifth against Cliff Lee and Kipnis hit an RBI double in the eighth off Craig Kimbrell.
Matt Harvey and Max Scherzer dazzled with pitching at the start. Harvey threw two scoreless innings, striking out three, and Scherzer retired the side in order in his only frame.
The Yankees got a scare when Harvey hit Robinson Cano on the side of his right knee in the first, forcing him from the game. An X-ray was negative, and Cano was diagnosed with a bruised quadriceps that did not seem major.
"A little tight. I didn't want to aggravate it and just try to play through a situation," Cano said. "Nothing bad."
Before a record crowd of 45,186 at Citi Field, the New York Mets hosted baseball's big summer event for the first time since 1964 at Shea Stadium.
Harvey was followed by Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, who retired three in a row.
Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera, the first All-Star coming off a Triple Crown since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski at Houston's Astrodome in 1968, doubled to the right-center gap in the fourth and took third when Chris Davis lined a single off the glove of leaping first baseman Joey Votto.
Bautista followed with a fly to medium center.
Adam Jones doubled down the left-field line in the fifth -- the AL's third leadoff double -- and advanced when Joe Mauer singled off the glove of diving shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and into left field.
Hardy hit a grounder to second baseman Brandon Phillips, who flipped to Tulowitzki for the force. Hardy then beat the delay as Jones scored for a 2-0 lead.
Speedy Mike Trout then hit a one-hopper to Tulowitzki, who flipped to second. Phillips caught the ball with his bare hand and threw to first for a double play.
The NL had won three in a row after losing the first seven games after Major League Baseball decided the winning league gets home-field advantage for the World Series.
Following a trend that began last summer in Kansas City, many players wore flashy spikes they would never use during the regular season -- bright orange high tops for Jones, black and gold for Arizona's Corbin.
"It seemed like everybody was wearing something pretty flashy. I guess the theme of this year's All-Star game was the flashy cleats," said Harvey, who wore bright orange with gold trim.
Harvey became just the third Mets pitcher to start an All-Star Game, following Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden.
Seaver threw out the ceremonial first pitch, moving in front of the rubber and tossing to current Mets captain David Wright, who quickly moved in front of the plate to prevent the ball from bouncing.
Harvey was only the 11th pitcher to start an All-Star game on his home mound, the first since Houston's Roger Clemens in 2004.
He quickly got into trouble, with Trout hitting an opposite-field double down the right-field line with his first pitch, a 97 mph fastball. Two pitches later, Harvey drilled Cano on the side of the right knee with a 96 mph fastball.
Cano was examined by a trainer and walked gingerly to first base, and Harvey struck out Cabrera. Cano then walked slowly toward the AL dugout and went for an X-ray, which was negative. He was replaced by Dustin Pedroia.
"Obviously I apologized and made sure that he was OK," Harvey said. "It wasn't intentional."
Harvey reached 99 mph against Davis, who flied out to center, and got Bautista to strike out while chasing a slider.
Scherzer, 13-0 before Saturday's loss to Texas, retired Phillips, Beltran and Votto in order in the first on 12 pitches.
NEW YORK -- Torii Hunter was an All-Star rookie in 2002 when he robbed Barry Bonds of a home run and got a big bear hug from the slugger on the field. Now he's a veteran voice in a clubhouse with a record number of newcomers.
The always loquacious, ever-smiling 37-year-old Detroit Tigers outfielder is enjoying his role as a five-time All-Star selection.
With possible suspensions from the Biogenesis investigation looming over the game, Hunter defended Alex Rodriguez and other players who have been implicated in drug scandals over the years.
"I know how hard this game really is. I don't care what they did or who did or whatever, Barry Bonds all those guys," Hunter said Tuesday before the game at Citi Field. "Still impressive to hit. Still got to hit the ball."
No matter that Yankees closer Mariano Rivera might've caused him much disappointment at the plate over the years, Hunter knew who they would call on if needed.
"We're down by one run. Trust me, we're going to fight to get the lead and get the man in the game. It's about him," Hunter said. "Even though he broke all my bats, he killed me ... I still admire that man."
On the lighter side, Hunter has his favorite All-Stars. Wacky All-Stars, that is.
"David Oritz, for sure, craziest forever. He sits here and holds court and tells all the jokes," Hunter said. "He is one of the funniest guys in All-Star Game history."
There's also: "Ichiro (Suzuki). Manny (Ramirez). Ah, Manny. Forgot about Manny. Ooh, boy he was crazy. Can't tell you the stories. Pedro (Martinez) was funny. He put bubble gum in everybody's hats."
"You've got to have fun in this clubhouse," he added. "This is how we relax."
The one player he is certain isn't crazy: Yankees injured shortstop Derek Jeter.
"Jeter's smooth. He's like a cold drink of water. Too cool for school," Hunter said.
So what did Bonds say to Hunter 11 years ago when he scooped up the kid near second base in Milwaukee?
" 'Good catch kid, high five,' " Hunter said "I went high, he went low and picked me up. I tried to hold him down. Too strong."
HAIRY PERFORMANCE: For All-Stars, it appears that it's hairier, the better.
According to a study done by STATS and the grooming products maker Wahl, All-Stars with facial hair perform on a higher level than their clean-shaven teammates in the Midsummer Classic.
Players sporting beards have won the past six All-Star game MVP awards. Melky Cabrera, who soon after winning the MVP last year tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug, homered in the game at Kansas City. Meanwhile, clean-shaven players have not connected in four years and 152 at-bats.
There's also this: Scruff-sporting sluggers over the last 10 games have hit .287 with a .441 slugging percentage. Smooth-skinned stars come in at .226 with a .382 slugging percentage.
No razor-thin margin.
So do guys like Boston's bearded Dustin Pedroia think "fear the beard," made famous by scraggily haired Giants closer Brian Wilson, really give them the edge?
"No, no," the 5-foot-8 second baseman said. "I'm pretty sure they don't make you intimidating, either."
CRY-BABY: Baltimore Orioles slugger Chris Davis had a sizable white bandage wrapped around his right hand Tuesday after he popped a blister during the Home Run Derby the previous night.
Davis hadn't tested his hand in batting practice yet, but said he wouldn't have any trouble swinging or throwing. He said he's dealt with blisters and worn a bandage on that hand before without a problem. He remained in the starting lineup for the American League, hitting cleanup and playing first base.
"I'll be all right. I'm just going to swing one-handed," he joked in the clubhouse. "I'm not that tough. If you see me crying in the dugout, it's not because of my hand. I'm just an emotional person."
Davis has 37 home runs, matching Reggie Jackson (1969) for the most by an AL player before the All-Star break.
HAVE PEN HANDY: Mets captain David Wright looked down the row of dozens of baseballs lined up in his home clubhouse for the All-Stars to sign and sighed.
Being one of the host players for this year's All-Star game, demands on his time have been high. There is one part of the festivities that excites him, though.
"The special part for me is when the doors close and you kind of get to hang out with the guys and be around the best players in baseball," he said.
Wright then got back to signing the 27 dozen balls, 15 bats, 10 player placards and 11 All-Star jerseys laid out for everyone to autograph.
STRAY-A: Grant Balfour of Oakland is only the second Australian player to be an All-Star. The first was in 1999, when Brewers catcher Dave Nilsson was selected to the game in Boston. Balfour got the nod in part because he is perfect in 25 save attempts this season for the first-place A's. He and starter Bartolo Colon were the only Oakland players selected.
"For the team, we would have liked to see more players here, no doubt," Balfour said. "It didn't work out that way. ... We've got a team, they can get fired up and go out and show it on the field."
NUMBERS GUY: Clayton Kershaw's not a fan of using win-loss records to evaluate pitchers. Two seasons ago, he went 21-5, helping him to win the Cy Young Award.
He's aware that wins and losses rely on lots of factors beyond pitchers' control.
"It definitely feels good as a starting pitcher to have a good win-loss record," Kershaw said. "I don't think it's the most important thing, by any means."
What, then, does the three-time All-Star think is a more useful stat?
Kershaw is 8-6 with a 1.98 ERA this season.
"I think innings pitched is the most important. I think it kind of just encompasses everything. If you're going deep into games you're giving (your) team a chance to win, you're setting up your bullpen, it's probably going to be a close game if you're still in there late," he said.
Kershaw has pitched 145 1-3 innings in 20 starts this year, a little more than seven per start, meaning that topping his career high of 233 1-3 from 2011 is in reach.
EXTRA BASES: During pregame introductions, the PA announcer confused Tampa Bay teammates Ben Zobrist and Matt Moore. The two laughed about it. ... Twins closer talking to teammate Joe Mauer and Yankees 2B Robinson Cano: "You are the same," he said, pointing at each player, "I can't get you out." ... Mets Hall of Famer Tom Seaver threw out the ceremonial first pitch. He lined up on the rubber, then shuffled forward a few steps to laughs before throwing a wild one to Mets third baseman David Wright. ... MLB honored 30 military veterans who were winners of "Tribute for Heroes" campaign. All-Stars including Mariano Rivera gave the veterans flags. Cleveland's Justin Masterson pushed the wheelchair of the veteran he was paired with off the field. Zobrist was matched with a vet and his dog.
AP Sports Writers Rick Freeman and Mike Fitzpatrick contributed to this report.


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Caribbean Travel Hotel & Travel Reviews Bahamas Bahamas Hotels Tiamo (Bahamas Hotel)
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The Caribbean's most environmentally sensitive hotel operation, being 100 percent solar powered. We are located on the beach with snorkeling, fishing, kayaking, sailing and nature tours. Situated on a secluded beach amidst coconut palms and sea grape trees, are eight individual bungalows furnished with comfortable and appealing appointments. Designed in the spirit of South Andros and built in the traditional Caribbean style, each is privately spaced and raised up tp greet the incoming sea breezes.
The main lodge is the heart of Tiamo. Here you will gather to eat, drink and socialize with other guests. We have an excellent choice of great wines and top-shelf liquors from a well stocked bar. Special attention is given to every meal. Fresh, local seafood is prepared with a Caribbean flare and served by candlelight on white linen tablecloths.
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Philadelphia Sheriff Jewell Williams has continued to award contracts, some to political contributors and friends, without the legal approvals required by a 2012 agreement with the Nutter administration.
The Inquirer obtained copies of 14 recent contracts that violate the 2012 memorandum of understanding that stipulated that all sheriff's contracts be approved by the city's Law and Finance Departments.
Williams' office contends that the contracts were too small to require city approval and were not being paid with city appropriations. The contracts were each for less than $32,000, which is the city's threshold for requiring bids for goods or services.
But the 2012 agreement makes no distinction about the size of contracts.