Evaluating population estimates of mountain goats based on citizen science

Citizen science programs that use trained volunteers may be a cost-effective method for monitoring wildlife at large spatial and temporal scales. However, few studies have compared inferences made from data collected by volunteers to professionally collected data. In Glacier National Park (GNP), Montana, I assessed whether citizen science is a useful method to monitor mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) populations. I compared estimates of mountain goat abundance by volunteers at 32 sites throughout GNP to estimates by biologists and raw counts from aerial surveys at a subset of 25 and 11 sites, respectively. I used multiple observer surveys to calibrate the indices of abundance for the effect of observer variation between volunteers and biologists. I used N-mixture models, which calculated detection probability through patterns of detection and non-detection to obtain estimates of abundance. Population estimates made by citizen science overlapped estimates by biologists and estimates from previous research. Density estimates from aerial surveys were lower, possibly due to imperfect detection during aerial surveys or due to violation of the assumption of population closure. Mean detection probability from multiple observer surveys for biologists was significantly higher and less variable than that of volunteers, but was not a suitable correction factor, because it was not consistent across all densities of mountain goats. Volunteer experience did not significantly influence detection probability or abundance estimates. Abundance estimates by volunteers were influenced by number of site visits. More frequent site visits balanced out lower detection probability by volunteers and resulted in abundance estimates that were less variable than those of biologists. When large spatial and temporal coverage can be achieved, citizen science can provide mountain goat population estimates that are statistically similar to those of biologists. However, neither estimates by volunteers or biologists had sufficient statistical power to detect a 30% decline in mountain goat population size over 10 years. Power by volunteers could be increased by reducing the number of sites and increasing surveys/site or by continuing monitoring over a longer time frame (i.e., 30 years). Citizen science programs can contribute to long term monitoring when properly designed

From Cultural Traditions to National Trends: The Transition of Domestic Mormon Architecture in Cache Valley, Utah, 1860--1915

As any architectural historian would argue, historic buildings are the most accessible, yet illusive documents of their founding culture, and as the relevant historiography argues, the early Mormon pioneer built environment in Utah is no exception. In fact, many Mormon architectural historians posit that due to the exclusivity and unusual circumstances of many Mormon settlements, their original structures have an exceptional ability to comment on the culture that erected them. The first permanent settlement in Cache Valley, Wellsville, provides a particularly lucrative opportunity to discover a great deal about the founding pioneers who established it due to the city\u27s time and place within the context of Mormon colonization, the plethora of original domiciles that remain standing, and the wealth of genealogical documents that still exist in the community shedding light on the lives and skills of the community\u27s original craftsmen. While the voices of vernacular builders are often lost, leaving only their structures to testify of the culture, the incorporation of personal histories and interviews with descendents and acquaintances of three specific builders grants this argument a distinct foundation. This thesis explores the change in housing designs in Wellsville from vernacular styles to nationally popular housing patterns at the turn of the twentieth century by examining three specific structures. By contrasting a stone saltbox and clap-boarded Georgian house, both built in the 1860s, with a bungalow built in 1914, and investigating the lives of their respective builders, I demonstrate how housing design practices mirror the social and political transition of the Mormon church during this period. At the same time that late-nineteenth century Mormons sought to change their image by emerging from isolation, gaining statehood, and assimilating into a more national identity, a modern housing movement proliferated throughout the western United States. By participating in this transition of domestic structures, the Mormons discarded the vernacular housing traditions brought by Mormonism\u27s founding community of diverse converts from Europe and New England in favor of popular designs readily available in widely published plan books. Had the national transition in housing happened even a decade earlier, it is plausible that the still-insular and strictly traditional Mormon culture region would have resisted such a change. Thus the alteration in housing serves as evidence of the transition in Mormonism toward the national mainstream at the turn of the twentieth century. While a vast historiography concerning Mormon sacred structures exists, this thesis strengthens the discourse regarding the religion\u27s understudied domestic built environment. Furthermore, by illustrating the important role that historic houses in Cache Valley play in both discovering and remembering the foundation of this valley, I hope to foster the desire to both appreciate and preserve these structures as crucial pieces of cultural history

An Investigation of the Divergences and Convergences of Trait Empathy across Two Cultures

The extent to which individuals with a variety of cultural backgrounds differ in empathic responsiveness is unknown. This paper describes the differences in trait empathy in one independent and one interdependent society (i.e., United States and Iran respectively). The analysis of data collected from self-reported questionnaires answered by 326 adults indicated a significant difference in the cognitive component of empathy concerning participants’ affiliation to either egocentric or socio-centric society: Iranian participants with interdependent cultural norms, reported higher cognitive empathy compared to American participants who share independent cultural norms. In line with previous studies, gender differences were observed in all subscales of questionnaires except the Empathy Quotient. Female participants demonstrated more empathy than males in both samples. Implications for understanding the cross-cultural differences of various components of empathy are discussed

Biallelic transcription of Igf2 and H19 in individual cells suggests a post-transcriptional contribution to genomic imprinting

AbstractThe H19 and insulin-like growth factor 2 (Igf2) genes in the mouse are models for genomic imprinting during development. The genes are located only 90 kb apart in the same transcriptional orientation [1], but are reciprocally imprinted: Igf2 is paternally expressed while H19 is maternally expressed. It has been suggested that expression of H19 and repression of Igf2 (or the converse) on a given chromosome are mechanistically linked and that the parental imprint operates at the level of transcription [2]. Although expression of Igf2 and H19 is thought to be monoallelic, the data have so far been obtained exclusively by looking at steady-state RNA levels using techniques that reflect the average activity of the genes in a cell population [3,4]. Here, we have adapted a fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) method to detect nascent RNA molecules of Igf2 and H19 at the initial transcription sites in the nuclei of wild-type mouse embryonic liver cells. Nine different transcription patterns were observed, reflecting a high heterogeneity of transcription at the single-cell level. Our observations suggest that regulation of Igf2 and H19 by parental imprinting is much more complex than previously proposed and acts at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels

Investigating a Caddo Mound Site in the Ouachita River Valley

Archeologists from the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Arkansas Archeological Survey employed multiple techniques to investigate a newly recorded mound site (3DA673) in the Ouachita River valley in southern Arkansas. Topographic mapping documented a large two-stage mound. Geophysical surveying around the mound revealed anomalies in the gradiometry and resistance data, and soil coring detailed floodplain soils. A test unit was excavated in a large circular anomaly that corresponded to a low topographic rise north of the main mound. While very few artifacts were found, a burned zone and a post mold feature suggest the anomaly was a burned structure covered with fill, and show the potential for buried cultural deposits at the site. Based on the 2010–2011 investigations, 3DA673 and the neighboring site 3DA403 represent the archeological residues of a Middle to Late Caddo period community (ca. A.D. 1400s)

Sudokujen ratkaisemisen kompleksisuudesta

Tiivistelmä. Sudoku on 2000-luvulla suosioon noussut päättelypeli, joka on neliön muotoinen yhdeksään laatikkoon jaettu ruudukko. Jokainen laatikko koostuu yhdeksästä ruudusta ja jokaiseen sudoku-ruudukon laatikkoon, riviin ja sarakkeeseen tulee saada luvut 1, 2,…,9. Sudokun juuret ylettyvät aina 1700-luvulle matemaatikon Leonhard Eulerin kehittämiin latinalaisiin neliöihin. Latinalaisen neliön jokaiselle riville ja sarakkeelle tulee saada luvut 1, 2,…,9. Täten sudokut ovat latinalaisten neliöiden erikoistapauksia. Sudokun kaltaisia ongelmia julkaistiin ensimmäisenä ranskalaisessa sanomalehdessä jo 1900-luvulla. Ensimmäiset sudokut kuitenkin julkaistiin vasta 1970-luvulla nimellä Number Place, Dell Magazines lehdessä Yhdysvalloissa, kun Howard Garnes lisäsi latinalaiseen neliöön laatikkovaatimuksen. Japanissa vuonna 1984 Nikoli-yhtiö julkaisi päättelypelin nimellä Sudoku, joka sai nimensä japaninkielisestä sanonnasta ”Suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru”, joka tarkoittaa, että numeroiden tulee olla yksittäisiä. Sudokujen suosio räjähti japanissa, sillä japaninkieliset aakkoset eivät sovellu sanaristikoihin. Sudokut nousivat suosiossa muuallakin maailmassa 2000-luvulla, kun uusiseelantilainen Wayne Gould kehitti ensimmäisenä tietokoneohjelman, jonka avulla pystyttiin luomaan sudokuja nopeasti. Tässä työssä tutustutaan sudokun lisäksi rodokuun ja shidokuun, jotka omaavat sudokun säännöt, mutta ovat kooltaan pienempiä. Rodoku on neliön muotoinen kuuteen laatikkoon jaettu ruudukko, jossa jokainen laatikko koostuu kuudesta ruudusta ja joihin tulee saada numerot 1, 2,…,6. Shidoku on puolestaan jaettu neljään eri laatikkoon, joihin jokaiseen tulee saada numerot 1, 2,…,4. Tässä työssä lasketaan kuinka monta sudokua, rodokua ja shidokua on olemassa ja kuinka monta ekvivalentisti eroavaa sudokua, shidokua ja rodokua on olemassa. Ekvivalentisti eroavilla sudokuilla tarkoitetaan sudokuja, joita ei voi muuttaa toisikseen niin sanottujen sudokun symmetrioiden avulla. Uudelleen numerointi on yksi sudokun symmetrioista ja sen avulla voidaan vaihtaa esimerkiksi kaikkien numeroiden 1 ja 2 paikkoja. Tällöin saadaan aikaiseksi uusi sudoku, joka ei kuitenkaan ole ekvivalentisti eroava alkuperäisestä, sillä se on saatu aikaiseksi yhdellä sudokun symmetrioista. Ekvivalentisti eroavien sudokujen, rodokujen ja shidokujen lukumäärän laskemiseen tarvitsemme Burnsiden Lemmaa. Burnsiden Lemma on ryhmäteoriaan perustuva tulos, jota voidaan käyttää, kun lasketaan esimerkiksi väritykseltään eroavien symmetristen kappaleiden lukumääriä. Sudokun tapauksessa numerot voidaan ajatella väreiksi, jolloin voidaan soveltaa Burnsiden Lemmaa. Sudokujen lukumääräksi saatiin 6670903752021072936960 ≈ 6,671 ×10^21 kappaletta ja ekvivalentisti eroavia sudokuja saatiin 5472730538 kappaletta. Shidokujen lukumääräksi saatiin 288 kappaletta ja ekvivalentisti eroavia shidokuja saatiin 2 kappaletta. Rodokujen lukumääräksi saatiin 28200960 kappaletta ja ekvivalentisti eroavia rodokuja saatiin 49 kappaletta. Työssä tutustutaan myös algoritmeihin, joilla sudokuja voidaan ratkaista. James Crook:in kehittelemän algoritmin avulla haastavia sudokuja voidaan ratkaista vain kynän ja paperin avulla. Brute force -algoritmi tunnetaan kaikkein alkukantaisimpana algoritmina. Nimensä mukaisesti se kokeilee kaikkia mahdollisia ratkaisuvaihtoehtoja, kunnes se löytää ratkaisun. Geeniperimä-algoritmi yhdistää mahdollisia ratkaisuja usean sukupolven ajan ja pyrkii löytämään ratkaisun matkimalla luonnonvalintaa, eli evoluutioprosessia

Effective professional development and social media technologies\u27 potential for enhancement

Effective professional development for technology integration in the classroom is essential. The purpose of this paper is to review literature regarding professional development models, identify essential elements for maximum effectiveness and examine social media technologies potential role. In this review, 32 journal articles and books written since 2000 are reviewed to identify essential elements for effective professional development, as well as social media technologies\u27 potential in professional development. The results of this review could be used to design and implement effective professional development for integrating technology into elementary curriculum. Effectiveness of professional development can determine the level of student learning gained from the implementation of skills and knowledge by the teachers

Linked routine data to enhance health-economics analysis

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.7175/fe.v14i2.677">http://dx.doi.org/10.7175/fe.v14i2.677</a><br /