Integration of technologies for understanding the functional relationship between reef habitat and fish growth and production

Functional linkage between reef habitat quality and fish growth and production has remained elusive. Most current research is focused on correlative relationships between a general habitat type and presence/absence of a species, an index of species abundance, or species diversity. Such descriptive information largely ignores how reef attributes regulate reef fish abundance (density-dependent habitat selection), trophic interactions, and physiological performance (growth and condition). To determine the functional relationship between habitat quality, fish abundance, trophic interactions, and physiological performance, we are using an experimental reef system in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico where we apply advanced sensor and biochemical technologies. Our study site controls for reef attributes (size, cavity space, and reef mosaics) and focuses on the processes that regulate gag grouper (Mycteroperca microlepis) abundance, behavior and performance (growth and condition), and the availability of their pelagic prey. We combine mobile and fixed-active (fisheries) acoustics, passive acoustics, video cameras, and advanced biochemical techniques. Fisheries acoustics quantifies the abundance of pelagic prey fishes associated with the reefs and their behavior. Passive acoustics and video allow direct observation of gag and prey fish behavior and the acoustic environment, and provide a direct visual for the interpretation of fixed fisheries acoustics measurements. New application of biochemical techniques, such as Electron Transport System (ETS) assay, allow the in situ measurement of metabolic expenditure of gag and relates this back to reef attributes, gag behavior, and prey fish availability. Here, we provide an overview of our integrated technological approach for understanding and quantifying the functional relationship between reef habitat quality and one element of production – gag grouper growth on shallow coastal reefs

SMART Cables for Observing the Global Ocean: Science and Implementation

The ocean is key to understanding societal threats including climate change, sea level rise, ocean warming, tsunamis, and earthquakes. Because the ocean is difficult and costly to monitor, we lack fundamental data needed to adequately model, understand, and address these threats. One solution is to integrate sensors into future undersea telecommunications cables. This is the mission of the SMART subsea cables initiative (Science Monitoring And Reliable Telecommunications). SMART sensors would “piggyback” on the power and communications infrastructure of a million kilometers of undersea fiber optic cable and thousands of repeaters, creating the potential for seafloor-based global ocean observing at a modest incremental cost. Initial sensors would measure temperature, pressure, and seismic acceleration. The resulting data would address two critical scientific and societal issues: the long-term need for sustained climate-quality data from the under-sampled ocean (e.g., deep ocean temperature, sea level, and circulation), and the near-term need for improvements to global tsunami warning networks. A Joint Task Force (JTF) led by three UN agencies (ITU/WMO/UNESCO-IOC) is working to bring this initiative to fruition. This paper explores the ocean science and early warning improvements available from SMART cable data, and the societal, technological, and financial elements of realizing such a global network. Simulations show that deep ocean temperature and pressure measurements can improve estimates of ocean circulation and heat content, and cable-based pressure and seismic-acceleration sensors can improve tsunami warning times and earthquake parameters. The technology of integrating these sensors into fiber optic cables is discussed, addressing sea and land-based elements plus delivery of real-time open data products to end users. The science and business case for SMART cables is evaluated. SMART cables have been endorsed by major ocean science organizations, and JTF is working with cable suppliers and sponsors, multilateral development banks and end users to incorporate SMART capabilities into future cable projects. By investing now, we can build up a global ocean network of long-lived SMART cable sensors, creating a transformative addition to the Global Ocean Observing System

Large-area submillimeter resolution CdZnTe strip detector for astronomy

We report the first performance measurements of a sub-millimeter CdZnTe strip detector developed as a prototype for space-borne astronomical instruments. Strip detector arrays can be used to provide two-dimensional position resolution with fewer electronic channels than pixellated arrays. Arrays of this type and other candidate technologies are under investigation for the position-sensitive backplane detector for a coded-aperture telescope operating in the range of 30 - 300 keV. The prototype is a 1.4 mm thick, 64 multiplied by 64 stripe CdZnTe array of 0.375 mm pitch in both dimensions, approximately one square inch of sensitive area. Pulse height spectra in both single and orthogonal stripe coincidence mode were recorded at several energies. The results are compared to slab- and pixel-geometry detector spectra. The room-temperature energy resolution is less than 10 keV (FWHM) for 122 keV photons with a peak-to-valley ratio greater than 5:1. The response to photons with energies up to 662 keV appears to be considerably improved relative to that of previously reported slab and pixel detectors. We also show that strip detectors can yield spatial and energy resolutions similar to those of pixellated arrays with the same dimensions. Electrostatic effects on the pulse heights, read-out circuit complexity, and issues related to design of space borne instruments are also discussed

The Dillow’s Ridge Site and the Production of Mill Creek Chert Tools

The Dillow\u27s Ridge site (11 U635) is a small Mississippian village situated on an unplowed hilltop near the largest known Mill Creek chert quarry in Union County, Illinois. The site was both a permanent residential settlement and a major workshop where Mill Creek chert tools were produced for nonlocal use. Radiocarbon dates document the occupation from the late 1200s A.D. to A.D. 1450 or 1500. The production debris and rejects indicate that the major “export products were hoes and Ramey knives. Although the quantity of lithic debris on the site is very impressive, estimates of annual production of large biface implements are in the hundreds per year and not thousands. This level of production was easily attained by part-time specialists within a small community without major distortion of normal domestic and food-getting activities. Production and trade of these implements was also not a source of significant prestige or wealth for the producers

Development of an orthogonal-stripe CdZnTe gamma radiation imaging spectrometer

We report performance measurements of a sub-millimeter resolution CdZnTe strip detector developed as a prototype for astronomical instruments operating with good efficiency in the 30-300 keV photon energy range. The prototype is a 1.4 mm thick, 64×64 contact stripe CdZnTe array of 0.375 mm pitch in both dimensions. Pulse height spectra were recorded in orthogonal-stripe coincidence mode which demonstrate room-temperature energy resolution \u3c10 keV (FWHM) for 122 keV photons with a peak-to-valley ratio \u3e5:1. Good response is also demonstrated at higher energies using a coplanar grid readout configuration. Spatial resolution capabilities finer than the stripe pitch are demonstrated. We present the image of a 133Ba source viewed through a collimator slit produced by a 4×4 stripe detector segment. Charge signals from electron and hole collecting contacts are also discussed

Gut inflammation provides a respiratory electron acceptor for Salmonella.

Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) causes acute gut inflammation by using its virulence factors to invade the intestinal epithelium and survive in mucosal macrophages. The inflammatory response enhances the transmission success of S. Typhimurium by promoting its outgrowth in the gut lumen through unknown mechanisms. Here we show that reactive oxygen species generated during inflammation react with endogenous, luminal sulphur compounds (thiosulphate) to form a new respiratory electron acceptor, tetrathionate. The genes conferring the ability to use tetrathionate as an electron acceptor produce a growth advantage for S. Typhimurium over the competing microbiota in the lumen of the inflamed gut. We conclude that S. Typhimurium virulence factors induce host-driven production of a new electron acceptor that allows the pathogen to use respiration to compete with fermenting gut microbes. Thus the ability to trigger intestinal inflammation is crucial for the biology of this diarrhoeal pathogen

Outcome of periacetabular osteotomy for the management of acetabular dysplasia: experience in an academic centre.

Periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) is a very effective reconstructive procedure for treatment of acetabular dysplasia. An orthopaedic paediatric surgeon and a reconstructive hip arthroplasty surgeon performed this procedure together in the early phase of their learning curve and then performed it individually. The early clinical and radiographic results of 85 consecutive PAOs performed in this academic orthopaedic unit were reviewed. The mean Merle-d\u27Aubigné score increased from 12.4 preoperatively to 16 at follow-up. Pre-operatively 73 hips were anteverted and 12 were neutral or retroverted. The mean angle of Wiberg improved from 5 degrees to 21 degrees (p \u3c 0.0001) in anteverted hips, and from 9 degrees to 30 degrees in neutral or retroverted hips. The mean angle of Lequesne and de Sèze improved from 6 degrees to 35 degrees (p \u3c 0.0001) in anteverted hips, and in neutral or retroverted hips from 9 degrees to 30 degrees (p \u3c 0.0001). The acetabular index improved from 26 degrees to 8 degrees (p \u3c 0.0001) in anteverted hips, and from 21 degrees to 7 degrees (p \u3c 0.0001) in neutral or retroverted hips. Over the 7 year period the blood loss and operative time improved from 2000 ml to 900 ml and 4 hours to 2 hours respectively. Four hips (four patients) required conversion to total hip replacement. The radiographic correction and improved clinical scores are similar to those in previous studies. This study shows a survival rate of 94% at 58 months following periacetabular osteotomy. The learning curve and the early results of this procedure performed in our academic unit are encouraging

EFFECTS OF STATIC STRETCHING ON MAXIMAL ISOKINETIC TORQUE

The effects of 20 seconds of agonist (AGO), antagonist (ANT) or no (NO) pre-exercise stretch on concentric (CON) and eccentric (ECC) maximal isokinetic torque produced at the knee were examined. Twelve male semi-pro rugby players performed dominant isokinetic knee extension following the specified stretch protocol. One-way Repeated Measures ANOVA revealed AGO to be significantly less (p < 0.05) than the other protocols for both CON (270 28 Nm) and ECC (309 42 Nm) torque. There was no difference between the ANT or NO for either CON (303 35 Nm and 304 38 Nm, respectively) or ECC (341 40 Nm and 33644 Nm). The results support the theory that pre-exercise agonist stretching may lead to performance decrements in maximal concentric torque production

Baryon Decuplet to Octet Electromagnetic Transitions in Quenched and Partially Quenched Chiral Perturbation Theory

We calculate baryon decuplet to octet electromagnetic transition form factors in quenched and partially quenched chiral perturbation theory. We work in the isospin limit of SU(3) flavor, up to next-to-leading order in the chiral expansion, and to leading order in the heavy baryon expansion. Our results are necessary for proper extrapolation of lattice calculations of these transitions. We also derive expressions for the case of SU(2) flavor away from the isospin limit.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, revtex

EpiCollect: Linking Smartphones to Web Applications for Epidemiology, Ecology and Community Data Collection

Epidemiologists and ecologists often collect data in the field and, on returning to their laboratory, enter their data into a database for further analysis. The recent introduction of mobile phones that utilise the open source Android operating system, and which include (among other features) both GPS and Google Maps, provide new opportunities for developing mobile phone applications, which in conjunction with web applications, allow two-way communication between field workers and their project databases.Here we describe a generic framework, consisting of mobile phone software, EpiCollect, and a web application located within www.spatialepidemiology.net. Data collected by multiple field workers can be submitted by phone, together with GPS data, to a common web database and can be displayed and analysed, along with previously collected data, using Google Maps (or Google Earth). Similarly, data from the web database can be requested and displayed on the mobile phone, again using Google Maps. Data filtering options allow the display of data submitted by the individual field workers or, for example, those data within certain values of a measured variable or a time period.Data collection frameworks utilising mobile phones with data submission to and from central databases are widely applicable and can give a field worker similar display and analysis tools on their mobile phone that they would have if viewing the data in their laboratory via the web. We demonstrate their utility for epidemiological data collection and display, and briefly discuss their application in ecological and community data collection. Furthermore, such frameworks offer great potential for recruiting 'citizen scientists' to contribute data easily to central databases through their mobile phone