Ecological Effects of Fear: How Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity in Predation Risk Influences Mule Deer Access to Forage in a Sky‐Island System

Forage availability and predation risk interact to affect habitat use of ungulates across many biomes. Within sky‐island habitats of the Mojave Desert, increased availability of diverse forage and cover may provide ungulates with unique opportunities to extend nutrient uptake and/or to mitigate predation risk. We addressed whether habitat use and foraging patterns of female mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) responded to normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), NDVI rate of change (green‐up), or the occurrence of cougars (Puma concolor). Female mule deer used available green‐up primarily in spring, although growing vegetation was available during other seasons. Mule deer and cougar shared similar habitat all year, and our models indicated cougars had a consistent, negative effect on mule deer access to growing vegetation, particularly in summer when cougar occurrence became concentrated at higher elevations. A seemingly late parturition date coincided with diminishing NDVI during the lactation period. Sky‐island populations, rarely studied, provide the opportunity to determine how mule deer respond to growing foliage along steep elevation and vegetation gradients when trapped with their predators and seasonally limited by aridity. Our findings indicate that fear of predation may restrict access to the forage resources found in sky islands

Physical activity patterns in urban neighbourhood parks: Insights from a multiple case study

Background: Many characteristics of urban parks and neighbourhoods have been linked to patterns of physical activity, yet untangling these relationships to promote increased levels of physical activity presents methodological challenges. Based on qualitative and quantitative data, this article describes patterns of activity within urban parks and the socio-demographic characteristics of park visitors. It also accounts for these patterns in relation to the attributes of parks and their surrounding neighbourhoods.Methods. A multiple case study was undertaken that incorporated quantitative and qualitative data derived from first-hand observation in a purposive sample of four urban parks. Quantitative data, based on direct observation of visitors' patterns of use and socio-demographic characteristics, were collected using a structured instrument. Differences in frequencies of observed activities and socio-demographic characteristics of visitors were compared between the four parks. Qualitative data, based on direct observation of park characteristics and patterns of use, were generated through digital photography and analyzed through captioning. Quantitative data on patterns in activity and socio-demographic characteristics were synthesized with the qualitative data on park and usage characteristics.Results: A comprehensive portrait of each park in the study was generated. Activity types (sedentary, walking, dog-related, cycling, and play), patterns of park use (time of day, day of week), and socio-demographic characteristics (age group, social group) differed between the four parks. Patterns in park use and activity appeared to be associated with socio-demographic characteristics of the surrounding neighbourhoods as well as the physical and social environmental characteristics specific to each park.Conclusions: Both park and neighbourhood characteristics influence patterns of use and physical activity within parks. The study findings suggest that socio-demographic characteristics of neighbourhoods surrounding parks need be considered in planning, development and management. Engaging local communities could help planners to develop and update urban parks in ways that reflect the needs and characteristics of community residents and, in turn, encourage visits and more physical activity amongst visitors

Know and grow: A qualitative evaluation of a parent skills training intervention

Objective: This qualitative study examined the experience of parents of children and adolescents with eating disorders after having participated in a skills-based training intervention. Method: Participants were interviewed and transcripts were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Parent responses were organised around key themes of (1) effectiveness and acceptability of the intervention; (2) interpersonal experience of the group process; and (3) feedback on intervention content. Overall, the program was seen by parents to be highly relevant with direct application to supporting their child in home and hospital environments. Discussion: This study reports on preliminary evidence that skillsbased training is acceptable to parents and improves parent functioning including parent self-efficacy, and reduces psychological distress, anxiety, and burden. The study also demonstrated that the intervention can be delivered in a tertiary paediatric treatment setting and it may become cost-effective method for supporting parents and other carers. Future research is required on treatment efficacy and patient outcomes

Dietary patterns across the life course, mammographic density and implications for breast cancer: results from a British prospective cohort

Background : Previous epidemiological studies have investigated the relationship between individual nutrients such as vitamin D and vitamin B12 and mammographic density, a strong marker of breast cancer risk [1], with varied results. There has been limited research on overall dietary patterns and most studies have focused on adult dietary patterns [2]. We examine prospective data to determine whether dietary patterns from childhood to adult life affect mammographic density.Methods : The Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development is a national representative sample of 2,815 men and 2,547 women followed since their birth in March 1946 [3]. A wealth of medical and social data has been collected in over 25 follow-ups by home visits, medical examinations and postal questionnaires. Dietary intakes at age 4 years were determined by 24-hour recalls and in adulthood (ages 36, 43 years) by 5-day food records. Copies of the mammograms (two views for each breast) taken when the women were closest to age 50 years were obtained from the relevant NHS centres. A total of 1,319 women were followed up since birth in 1946 for whom a mammogram at age 50 years was retrieved, and the percentage mammographic density was measured using the computer-assisted threshold method for all 1,161 women. Breast cancer incidence for the whole cohort is being ascertained through the National Health Service Central Register.Statistical analysis : Reduced rank regression analysis, a relatively new approach to dietary pattern analysis, is being used to identify dietary patterns associated with mammographic density [4]. This approach identifies patterns in food intake that are predictive of an intermediate outcome of the disease process, such as mammographic density, and subsequently examines the relationship between the identified dietary patterns and breast cancer risk.Results : Preliminary analyses so far suggest that variations in dietary patterns in adulthood might explain more than 10% of the variation in percentage mammographic density at age 50 years (age 36 years: 13%; age 43 years: 14%), with variations in patterns in childhood explaining slightly less. Further work is being carried out on the characteristics of these dietary patterns and their effects on percentage mammographic density and its two components (that is, absolute areas of dense and nondense tissues) and on breast cancer risk, after adjusting for socioeconomic status, anthropometric variables and reproductive factors.Conclusion : The present study will provide for the first time information on the relationship between dietary patterns across the life course and mammographic density, and will help to clarify the pathways through which diet may affect breast cancer risk.<br /

The practices of apartheid as a war crime: a critical analysis

The human suffering caused by the political ideology of apartheid in South Africa during the Apartheid era (1948-1994) prompted worldwide condemnation and a variety of diplomatic and legal responses. Amongst these responses was the attempt to have apartheid recognised both as a crime against humanity in the 1973 Apartheid Convention as well as a war crime in Article 85(4)(c) of Additional Protocol I. This article examines the origins, nature and current status of the practices of apartheid as a war crime and its possible application to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Influence of oxygen ordering kinetics on Raman and optical response in YBa_2Cu_3O_{6.4}

Kinetics of the optical and Raman response in YBa_2Cu_3O_{6.4} were studied during room temperature annealing following heat treatment. The superconducting T_c, dc resistivity, and low-energy optical conductivity recover slowly, implying a long relaxation time for the carrier density. Short relaxation times are observed for the B_{1g} Raman scattering -- magnetic, continuum, and phonon -- and the charge transfer band. Monte Carlo simulations suggest that these two relaxation rates are related to two length scales corresponding to local oxygen ordering (fast) and long chain and twin formation (slow).Comment: REVTeX, 3 pages + 4 PostScript (compressed) figure

Characterizing contributions of glacier melt and groundwater during the dry season in a poorly gauged catchment of the Cordillera Blanca (Peru)

The retreat of glaciers in the tropics will have a significant impact on water resources. In order to overcome limitations with discontinuous to nonexistent hydrologic measurements in remote mountain watersheds, a hydrochemical and isotopic mass balance model is used to identify and characterize dry season water origins at the glacier fed Querococha basin located in southern Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Dry season water samples, collected intermittently between 1998 and 2007, were analyzed for major ions and the stable isotopes of water (&amp;delta;&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;O and &amp;delta;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;H). The hydrochemical and isotopic data are analysed using conservative characteristics of selected tracers and relative contributions are calculated based on pre-identified contributing sources at mixing points sampled across the basin. The results show that during the dry-season, groundwater is the largest contributor to basin outflow and that the flux of groundwater is temporally variable. The groundwater contribution significantly correlates (P-value=0.004 to 0.044) to the antecedent precipitation regime at 3 and 18–36 months. Assuming this indicates a maximum of 4 years of precipitation accumulation in groundwater reserves, the Querococha watershed outflows are potentially vulnerable to multi-year droughts and climate related changes in the precipitation regime. The results show that the use of hydrochemical and isotopic data can contribute to hydrologic studies in remote, data poor regions, and that groundwater contribution to tropical proglacial hydrologic systems is a critical component of dry season discharge

Assimilation of stratospheric and mesospheric temperatures from MLS and SABER into a global NWP model

International audienceThe forecast model and three-dimensional variational data assimilation components of the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) have each been extended into the upper stratosphere and mesosphere to form an Advanced Level Physics High Altitude (ALPHA) version of NOGAPS extending to ~100 km. This NOGAPS-ALPHA NWP prototype is used to assimilate stratospheric and mesospheric temperature data from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Radiometry (SABER) instruments. A 60-day analysis period in January and February, 2006, was chosen that includes a well documented stratospheric sudden warming. SABER temperatures indicate that the SSW caused the polar winter stratopause at ~40 km to disappear, then reform at ~80 km altitude and slowly descend during February. The NOGAPS-ALPHA analysis reproduces this observed stratospheric and mesospheric temperature structure, as well as realistic evolution of zonal winds, residual velocities, and Eliassen-Palm fluxes that aid interpretation of the vertically deep circulation and eddy flux anomalies that developed in response to this wave-breaking event. The observation minus forecast (O-F) standard deviations for MLS and SABER are ~2 K in the mid-stratosphere and increase monotonically to about 6 K in the upper mesosphere. Increasing O-F standard deviations in the mesosphere are expected due to increasing instrument error and increasing geophysical variance at small spatial scales in the forecast model. In the mid/high latitude winter regions, 10-day forecast skill is improved throughout the upper stratosphere and mesosphere when the model is initialized using the high-altitude analysis based on assimilation of both SABER and MLS data

Do residents’ perceptions of being well-placed and objective presence of local amenities match? A case study in West Central Scotland, UK

Background:&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Recently there has been growing interest in how neighbourhood features, such as the provision of local facilities and amenities, influence residents’ health and well-being. Prior research has measured amenity provision through subjective measures (surveying residents’ perceptions) or objective (GIS mapping of distance) methods. The latter may provide a more accurate measure of physical access, but residents may not use local amenities if they do not perceive them as ‘local’. We believe both subjective and objective measures should be explored, and use West Central Scotland data to investigate correspondence between residents’ subjective assessments of how well-placed they are for everyday amenities (food stores, primary and secondary schools, libraries, pharmacies, public recreation), and objective GIS-modelled measures, and examine correspondence by various sub-groups.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Methods:&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; ArcMap was used to map the postal locations of ‘Transport, Health and Well-being 2010 Study’ respondents (n = 1760), and the six amenities, and the presence/absence of each of them within various straight-line and network buffers around respondents’ homes was recorded. SPSS was used to investigate whether objective presence of an amenity within a specified buffer was perceived by a respondent as being well-placed for that amenity. Kappa statistics were used to test agreement between measures for all respondents, and by sex, age, social class, area deprivation, car ownership, dog ownership, walking in the local area, and years lived in current home.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Results:&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; In general, there was poor agreement (Kappa &lt;0.20) between perceptions of being well-placed for each facility and objective presence, within 800 m and 1000 m straight-line and network buffers, with the exception of pharmacies (at 1000 m straight-line) (Kappa: 0.21). Results varied between respondent sub-groups, with some showing better agreement than others. Amongst sub-groups, at 800 m straight-line buffers, the highest correspondence between subjective and objective measures was for pharmacies and primary schools, and at 1000 m, for pharmacies, primary schools and libraries. For road network buffers under 1000 m, agreement was generally poor.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Conclusion:&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Respondents did not necessarily regard themselves as well-placed for specific amenities when these amenities were present within specified boundaries around their homes, with some exceptions; the picture is not clear-cut with varying findings between different amenities, buffers, and sub-groups

Feasibility of a Networked Air Traffic Infrastructure Validation Environment for Advanced NextGen Concepts

Abstract-Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) applications reliant upon aircraft data links such as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) offer a sweeping modernization of the National Airspace System (NAS), but the aviation stakeholder community has not yet established a positive business case for equipage and message content standards remain in flux. It is necessary to transition promising Air Traffic Management (ATM) Concepts of Operations (ConOps) from simulation environments to full-scale flight tests in order to validate user benefits and solidify message standards. However, flight tests are prohibitively expensive and message standards for Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) systems cannot support many advanced ConOps. It is therefore proposed to simulate future aircraft surveillance and communications equipage and employ an existing commercial data link to exchange data during dedicated flight tests. This capability, referred to as the Networked Air Traffic Infrastructure Validation Environment (NATIVE), would emulate aircraft data links such as ADS-B using in-flight Internet and easily-installed test equipment. By utilizing low-cost equipment that is easy to install and certify for testing, advanced ATM ConOps can be validated, message content standards can be solidified, and new standards can be established through full-scale flight trials without necessary or expensive equipage or extensive flight test preparation. This paper presents results of a feasibility study of the NATIVE concept. To determine requirements, six NATIVE design configurations were developed for two NASA ConOps that rely on ADS-B. The performance characteristics of three existing in-flight Internet services were investigated to determine whether performance is adequate to support the concept. Next, a study of requisite hardware and software was conducted to examine whether and how the NATIVE concept might be realized. Finally, to determine a business case, economic factors were evaluated and a preliminary cost-benefit analysis was performed