The food habits and trophic ecology of Urotrygon rogersi were analysed to ascertain sexual, ontogenetic, temporal and spatial effects on the diet. These effects were examined with contingency tables, simple correspondence analysis and MANOVA. The trophic relationships of the species were determined with Levin's niche amplitude index and Pianka's diet overlap index. Urotrygon rogersi is a predator of benthic organisms, especially shrimp and polychaetes. Analysis of sex and time showed no significant differences, but differences among class sizes were found. A strong trend towards diet specialization and a strong overlap between sexes and between class sizes were found. Finally, fishing activity on shrimps in the study area could force U. rogersi to change its trophic spectrum over time as an adaptation to the considerable reduction in its principal prey.

Recent work has demonstrated that the decomposition characteristics of individual chemicals ae often subsrantially different from those of the same chemical when combined with a solvent. Further, different solvents alter the decomposition in significantly different ways, shifting the observed Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) onset and peak temperatures and maximum rates to lower as well us higher values. Often the magnitude of these effects cannot be explained as the result of simple dilution. This prior work with energetic materials in solvents emphasizes the importance to process safety of systematically testing reaction mixtures, in addition to testing individual chemicals. The primary focus of such testing is to ensure the hazards of the proces are well understood so that the pmcess can be modified, or additional necessary preventative and protective systems can be implemented to minimize process upsets. However, it is demonstrated here that this knowledge can also be leveraged to modify processes to substantially increase process efficiency while maintaining or enhancing safety. for example, the batch size of an existing process had been very restricted because of the potential severity of a thermal runaway. Research on chemisty/solvent‐specific decomposition data was utilized to select candidate replacement solvents for process optimization. A cooperative effort by safety engineers and development chemists ensued, resulting in a final process that entirely eliminated the batch size restrictions while simultaneously reducing reaction time and improving quality.

This study examined populations of Culex quinquefasciatus in filariasis-endemic communities of Misamis Oriental, Philippines. C. Quinquefasciatus, has been of interest to public health since it was identified as a vector of filariasis in the Philippines in 1995. In surveillance and control programs, problems in identification is encountered as it requires some specialized skill and a well preserved set of specimen which is sometimes difficult to acquire. It is for these reasons that alternative method of identification and discrimination of Culex individuals has been desired to resolve problems related with vector species diversification and identification. In this study, geometric morphometric approach was used to test the hypothesis that there exists some variation in the wing shape pattern of C. Quinquefasciatus identified as positive and negative of filaria based on the landmarks' position on the wings. To illustrate ordination of the shapes' consensus, the mean shape of the two populations was measured by a relative warp ordination plot using the software tpsRelw version 1.46. Results of the relative warp analysis showed significant variation between the two populations. The four extracted significant relative warps account for a total of 68.54% variation in wing geometry pattern. Variations were observed in the wing apex and base. These variations may have genetic basis or maybe mere reflections of phenotypic plasticity brought about by the changing environmental conditions. 