Behavioral correlates between daily activity and sociality in wild and captive origin African lions

Study of behavioral correlations within and across populations has long been of interest to ethologists. An exploration of behavioral correlations between sociality and behavior of African lions (Panthera leo) was undertaken to examine if this approach is better able to reveal important aspects of lion behavior not easily discernible by looking at these behaviors separately. Resting behavior and received play interactions were correlated in 2 captive-origin prides and one wild pride, attributable to the involvement of cubs and sub-adults. Direct and exploratory movement was negatively correlated with groom centrality in 2 of the 3 prides, due to adults engaging in high levels of both of these activities. Exploration of these behavioral correlations highlighted the differences between age-groups in activity and sociality, facilitating the understanding of the complex behavior and interactions of lions. In addition, the finding of similar behavioral correlations between captive-origin and the wild prides provides confidence in the suitability if captive-origin candidates for ex-situ release. This is imperative to ensure the success of sub-groups and prides under an ex-situ reintroduction program

Electrocardiographic Imaging of Sinus Rhythm in Pig Hearts Using Bayesian Maximum A Posteriori Estimation

Background: Electrocardiographic imaging (ECGI) has potential to guide physicians to plan treatment strategies. Previously, Bayesian maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation has been successfully applied to solve this inverse problem for paced data. In this study, we evaluate its effectiveness using experimental data in reconstructing sinus rhythm. Methods: Four datasets from Langendorff-perfused pig hearts, suspended in a human-shaped torso-tank, were used. Each experiment included 3-5 simultaneous electrogram (EGM) and body surface potential (BSP) recordings of 10 beats, in baseline and under dofetilide and pinacidil perfusion. Bayesian MAP estimation and Tikhonov regularization were used to solve the inverse problem. Prior models in MAP were generated using beats from the same recording but excluding the test beat. Pearson's correlation was used to evaluate EGM reconstructions, activation time (AT) maps, and gradient of ATs. Results: In almost all quantitative evaluations and qualitative comparisons of AT maps and epicardial breakthrough sites, MAP outperformed substantially better than Tikhonov regularization. Conclusion: These preliminary results showed that with a "good" prior model, MAP improves over Tikhonov regularization in terms of preventing misdiagnosis of conduction abnormalities associated with arrhythmogenic substrates and identifying epicardial breakthrough sites

Parental nonstandard work schedules during infancy and children’s BMI trajectories

BACKGROUND: Empirical evidence has demonstrated adverse associations between parental nonstandard work schedules (i.e., evenings, nights, or weekends) and child developmental outcomes. However, there are mixed findings concerning the relationship between parental nonstandard employment and children’s body mass index (BMI), and few studies have incorporated information on paternal work schedules. OBJECTIVE: This paper investigated BMI trajectories from early to middle childhood (ages 3–11) by parental work schedules at 9 months of age, using nationally representative cohort data from the United Kingdom. This study is the first to examine the link between nonstandard work schedules and children’s BMI in the United Kingdom. METHODS: We used data from the Millennium Cohort Study (2001‒2013, n = 13,021) to estimate trajectories in BMI, using data from ages 3, 5, 7, and 11 years. Joint parental work schedules and a range of biological, socioeconomic, and psychosocial covariates were assessed in the initial interviews at 9 months. RESULTS: Compared to children in two-parent families where parents worked standard shifts, we found steeper BMI growth trajectories for children in two-parent families where both parents worked nonstandard shifts and children in single-parent families whose mothers worked a standard shift. Fathers’ shift work, compared to standard shifts, was independently associated with significant increases in BMI. CONCLUSIONS: Future public health initiatives focused on reducing the risk of rapid BMI gain in childhood can potentially consider the disruptions to family processes resulting from working nonstandard hours. CONTRIBUTION: Children in families in which both parents work nonstandard schedules had steeper BMI growth trajectories across the first decade of life. Fathers’ nonstandard shifts were independently associated with increases in BMI

Photometric validation of a model independent procedure to extract galaxy clusters

By means of CCD photometry in three bands (Gunn g, r, i) we investigate the existence of 12 candidate clusters extracted via a model independent peak finding algorithm (\cite{memsait}) from DPOSS data. The derived color-magnitude diagrams allow us to confirm the physical nature of 9 of the cluster candidates, and to estimate their photometric redshifts. Of the other candidates, one is a fortuitous detection of a true cluster at z~0.4, one is a false detection and the last is undecidable on the basis of the available data. The accuracy of the photometric redshifts is tested on an additional sample of 8 clusters with known spectroscopic redshifts. Photometric redshifts turn out to be accurate within z~0.01 (interquartile range).Comment: A&A in pres

River Restoration in the Twenty-First Century: Data and Experiential Knowledge to Inform Future Efforts

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71999/1/j.1526-100X.2007.00243.x.pd

Computation of Mixed Type Functional Differential Boundary Value Problems

This is the published version, also available here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1137/040603425.We study boundary value differential-difference equations where the difference terms may contain both advances and delays. Special attention is paid to connecting orbits, in particular to the modeling of the tails after truncation to a finite interval, and we reformulate these problems as functional differential equations over a bounded domain. Connecting orbits are computed for several such problems including discrete Nagumo equations, an Ising model, and Frenkel--Kontorova type equations. We describe the collocation boundary value problem code used to compute these solutions, and the numerical analysis issues which arise, including linear algebra, boundary functions and conditions, and convergence theory for the collocation approximation on finite intervals

Substantial stores of sedimentary carbon held in mid-latitude fjords

This work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council [Grant Number: NE/L501852/1].Quantifying marine sedimentary carbon stocks is key to improving our understanding of longterm storage of carbon in the coastal ocean and to further constraining the global carbon cycle. Here we present a methodological approach which combines seismic geophysics and geochemical measurements to quantitatively estimate the total stock of carbon held within marine sediment. Through the application of this methodology to Loch Sunart a fjord on the west coast of Scotland, we have generated the first full sedimentary carbon inventory for a fjordic system. The sediments of Loch Sunart hold 26.9 ± 0.5 Mt of carbon split between 11.5 ± 0.2 Mt and 15.0 ± 0.4 Mt of organic and inorganic carbon respectively. These new quantitative estimates of carbon stored in coastal sediments are significantly higher than previous estimates. Through an area normalised comparison to adjacent Scottish peatland carbon stocks we have determined that these mid–latitude fjords are significantly more effective as carbon stores than their terrestrial counterparts. This initial work supports the concept that fjords are important environments for the burial and long-term storage of carbon and therefore should be considered and treated as unique environments within the global carbon cycle.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Modeling of Covalent Bonding in Solids by Inversion of Cohesive Energy Curves

We provide a systematic test of empirical theories of covalent bonding in solids using an exact procedure to invert ab initio cohesive energy curves. By considering multiple structures of the same material, it is possible for the first time to test competing angular functions, expose inconsistencies in the basic assumption of a cluster expansion, and extract general features of covalent bonding. We test our methods on silicon, and provide the direct evidence that the Tersoff-type bond order formalism correctly describes coordination dependence. For bond-bending forces, we obtain skewed angular functions that favor small angles, unlike existing models. As a proof-of-principle demonstration, we derive a Si interatomic potential which exhibits comparable accuracy to existing models.Comment: 4 pages revtex (twocolumn, psfig), 3 figures. Title and some wording (but no content) changed since original submission on 24 April 199

Genetic relationship between purebred and crossbred sow longevity

Background The overall breeding objective for a nucleus swine selection program is to improve crossbred commercial performance. Most genetic improvement programs are based on an assumed high degree of positive relationship between purebred performance in a nucleus herd and their relatives’ crossbred performance in a commercial herd. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between purebred and crossbred sow longevity performance. Sow longevity was defined as a binary trait with a success occurring if a sow remained in the herd for a certain number of parities and including the cumulative number born alive as a measure of reproductive success. Heritabilities, genetic correlations, and phenotypic correlations were estimated using THRGIBBS1F90. Results Results indicated little to no genetic correlations between crossbred and purebred reproductive traits. This indicates that selection for longevity or lifetime performance at the nucleus level may not result in improved longevity and lifetime performance at the crossbred level. Early parity performance was highly correlated with lifetime performance indicating that an indicator trait at an early parity could be used to predict lifetime performance. This would allow a sow to have her own record for the selection trait before she has been removed from the herd. Conclusions Results from this study aid in quantifying the relationship between purebred and crossbred performance and provide information for genetic companies to consider when developing a selection program where the objective is to improve crossbred sow performance. Utilizing crossbred records in a selection program would be the best way to improve crossbred sow productivity

Global survey of star clusters in the Milky Way: III. 139 new open clusters at high Galactic latitudes

Context. An earlier analysis of the Milky Way Star Cluster (MWSC) catalogue revealed an apparent lack of old (t � 1 Gyr) open clusters in the solar neighbourhood (d � 1 kpc). Aims. To fill this gap we undertook a search for hitherto unknown star clusters, assuming that the missing old clusters reside at high Galactic latitudes | b | > 20°. Methods. We were looking for stellar density enhancements using a star count algorithm on the 2MASS point source catalogue. To increase the contrast between potential clusters and the field, we applied filters in colour-magnitude space according to typical colour-magnitude diagrams of nearby old open clusters. The subsequent comparison with lists of known objects allowed us to select thus far unknown cluster candidates. For verification they were processed with the standard pipeline used within the MWSC survey for computing cluster membership probabilities and for determining structural, kinematic, and astrophysical parameters. Results. In total we discovered 782 density enhancements, 524 of which were classified as real objects. Among them 139 are new open clusters with ages 8.3 < log (t [yr]) < 9.7, distances d< 3 kpc, and distances from the Galactic plane 0.3 <Z< 1 kpc. This new sample has increased the total number of known high latitude open clusters by about 150%. Nevertheless, we still observe a lack of older nearby clusters up to 1 kpc from the Sun. This volume is expected to still contain about 60 unknown clusters that probably escaped our detection algorithm, which fails to detect sparse overdensities with large angular size