Correlates of Bird Collisions With Buildings Across Three North American Countries

Collisions with buildings cause up to 1 billion bird fatalities annually in North America. Bird-building collisions have recently received increased conservation, research, and policy attention. However, efforts to reduce collisions would benefit from studies conducted at large spatial scales across multiple study sites, with standardized methods, and with consideration of species- and life history-related variation and correlates of collisions. We addressed these research needs with a coordinated data collection effort at 40 sites across North America. We estimated collision vulnerability for 40 bird species by accounting for their North American population abundance, distribution overlap with study sites, and sampling effort. Of 10 species we identified as most vulnerable to collisions, some have been identified in past studies (e.g., Black-throated Blue Warbler [Setophaga caerulescens]) while others emerged for the first time (e.g., White-breasted Nuthatch [Sitta carolinensis]), possibly because we used a more standardized sampling approach than past studies. Analyses of species-specific collision correlates revealed that building size and glass area were positively associated with numbers of collisions for 5 of 8 species with enough observations to analyze independently. Vegetation around buildings influenced collisions for only 1 of those 8 species (Swainson\u27s Thrush [Catharus fuscescens]). We also found that life history predicted collisions; numbers of collisions were greatest for migratory, insectivorous, and woodland-inhabiting species. This coordinated, continent-wide study provides new insight into the species most vulnerable to building collisions, making them potentially in greatest need of conservation attention to reduce collisions. This study also lends insight into species- and life history-related variation and correlates of building collisions, information that can help refine collision management efforts

Using Weibull Distribution Analysis to Evaluate ALARA Performance

Abstract -As Low as Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) is the underlying principle for protecting nuclear workers from potential health outcomes related to occupational radiation exposure. Radiation protection performance is currently evaluated by measures such as collective dose and average measurable dose, which do not indicate ALARA performance. The purpose of this work is to show how statistical modeling of individual doses using the Weibull distribution can provide objective supplemental performance indicators for comparing ALARA implementation among sites and for insights into ALARA practices within a site. Maximum likelihood methods were employed to estimate the Weibull shape and scale parameters used for performance indicators. The shape parameter reflects the effectiveness of maximizing the number of workers receiving lower doses and is represented as the slope of the fitted line on a Weibull probability plot. Additional performance indicators derived from the model parameters include the 99 th percentile and the exceedance fraction. When grouping sites by collective total effective dose equivalent (TEDE) and ranking by 99 th percentile with confidence intervals, differences in performance among sites can be readily identified. Applying this methodology will enable more efficient and complete evaluation of the effectiveness of ALARA implementation

The Applied Meteorology Unit: Nineteen Years Successfully Transitioning Research Into Operations for America's Space Program

The Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) provides technology development and transition services to improve operational weather support to America's space program . The AMU was founded in 1991 and operates under a triagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United States Air Force (USAF) and the National Weather Service (NWS) (Ernst and Merceret, 1995). It is colocated with the 45th Weather Squadron (45WS) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) and funded by the Space Shuttle Program . Its primary customers are the 45WS, the Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) operated for NASA by the NWS at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, TX, and the NWS forecast office in Melbourne, FL (MLB). The gap between research and operations is well known. All too frequently, the process of transitioning research to operations fails for various reasons. The mission of the AMU is in essence to bridge this gap for America's space program

Using Weibull Distribution Analysis to Evaluate ALARA Performance

As Low as Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) is the underlying principle for protecting nuclear workers from potential health outcomes related to occupational radiation exposure. Radiation protection performance is currently evaluated by measures such as collective dose and average measurable dose, which do not indicate ALARA performance. The purpose of this work is to show how statistical modeling of individual doses using the Weibull distribution can provide objective supplemental performance indicators for comparing ALARA implementation among sites and for insights into ALARA practices within a site. Maximum likelihood methods were employed to estimate the Weibull shape and scale parameters used for performance indicators. The shape parameter reflects the effectiveness of maximizing the number of workers receiving lower doses and is represented as the slope of the fitted line on a Weibull probability plot. Additional performance indicators derived from the model parameters include the 99th percentile and the exceedance fraction. When grouping sites by collective total effective dose equivalent (TEDE) and ranking by 99th percentile with confidence intervals, differences in performance among sites can be readily identified. Applying this methodology will enable more efficient and complete evaluation of the effectiveness of ALARA implementation

Erythropoietin (EPO) increases myelin gene expression in CG4 oligodendrocyte cells through the classical EPO receptor

Erythropoietin (EPO) has protective effects in neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases, including in animal models of multiple sclerosis, where EPO decreases disease severity. EPO also promotes neurogenesis and is protective in models of toxic demyelination. In this study, we asked whether EPO could promote neurorepair by also inducing remyelination. In addition, we investigated whether the effect of EPO could be mediated by the classical erythropoietic EPO receptor (EPOR), since it is still questioned if EPOR is functional in non-hematopoietic cells. Using CG4 cells, a line of rat oligodendrocyte precursor cells, we found that EPO increases the expression of myelin genes (myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) and myelin basic protein (MBP)). EPO had no effect in wild-type CG4 cells, which do not express EPOR, whereas it increased MOG and MBP expression in cells engineered to overexpress EPOR (CG4-EPOR). This was reflected in a marked increase in MOG protein levels, as detected by western blot. In these cells, EPO induced by 10-fold the early growth response gene 2 (Egr2), which is required for peripheral myelination. However, Egr2 silencing with a siRNA did not reverse the effect of EPO, indicating that EPO acts through other pathways. In conclusion, EPO induces the expression of myelin genes in oligodendrocytes and this effect requires the presence of EPOR. This study demonstrates that EPOR can mediate neuroreparative effects

Functional brush poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazine)s : synthesis by CROP and RAFT, thermoresponsiveness and grafting onto iron oxide nanoparticles

Brush polymers are highly functional polymeric materials combining the properties of different polymer classes and have found numerous applications, for example, in nanomedicine. Here, the synthesis of functional phosphonate‐ester‐bearing brush polymers based on poly(2‐oxazine)s is reported through a combination of cationic ring‐opening polymerization (CROP) of 2‐ethyl‐2‐oxazine and reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. In this way, a small library of well‐defined (Đ ≤ 1.17) poly(oligo(2‐ethyl‐2‐oxazine) methacrylate) P(OEtOzMA)n brushes with tunable lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior and negligible cell toxicity is prepared. Upon deprotection, the phosphonic acid end‐group of the P(OEtOzMA)n brush enables the successful grafting‐onto iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs). Colloidal stability of the particle suspension in combination with suitable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) relaxivities demonstrates the potential of these particles for future applications as negative MRI contrast agents