Environmental and Economic Implications of Alternative Cruise Ship Pathways in Bermuda

As the cruise ship industry moves towards ever larger vessels, many tourist destinations are faced with dilemmas about how to accommodate the latest generation of ships, which require deeper and wider shipping pathways. The location of nearshore shipping channels traveled by cruise ships has important environmental and economic implications, as dredging larger lanes damages habitat, ship traffic produces sediment plumes that can smother adjacent sensitive habitats (e.g., coral reefs, seagrass beds), and dredging costs vary spatially. These environmental and economic costs should ideally be evaluated in the context of projected benefits from increased tourism. To inform decision-making on cruise ship pathway design, we evaluated tradeoffs among tourism revenue to the local economy, dredging costs, direct coral damage and sedimentation impacts to coral reefs of alternative cruise ship approach channels for the island of Bermuda. We compiled economic data on cruise tourism and dredging costs and developed a sediment particle tracking model, overlaid on maps of coral cover, to track the spread of sediment particles and resulting coral sedimentation caused by cruise ships. Using our models we compared two viable routes, if dredged, for larger ships to reach Bermuda, along with a scenario of no dredging in which the next generation of larger ships is not accommodated. Our tradeoff analysis shows that the status quo (no dredging; no larger ships) scenario performs relatively well except for the risk of a significant loss in tourism revenue. When selecting between the two channel upgrade scenarios, the south channel upgrade is preferable if dredged material can be reused, thereby recouping dredging costs; otherwise, there is a strong tradeoff between upgrade costs and coral sedimentation. While developed with data layers and inputs specific to Bermuda, this analytical approach could easily be configured to other locations facing similar spatial planning decisions about whether and where to allow pathways for larger cruise ships

A preliminary report on the contact-independent antagonism of Pseudogymnoascus destructans by Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain DAP96253.

BackgroundThe recently-identified causative agent of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), Pseudogymnoascus destructans, has been responsible for the mortality of an estimated 5.5 million North American bats since its emergence in 2006. A primary focus of the National Response Plan, established by multiple state, federal and tribal agencies in 2011, was the identification of biological control options for WNS. In an effort to identify potential biological control options for WNS, multiply induced cells of Rhodococcus rhodochrous strain DAP96253 was screened for anti-P. destructans activity.ResultsConidia and mycelial plugs of P. destructans were exposed to induced R. rhodochrous in a closed air-space at 15°C, 7°C and 4°C and were evaluated for contact-independent inhibition of conidia germination and mycelial extension with positive results. Additionally, in situ application methods for induced R. rhodochrous, such as fixed-cell catalyst and fermentation cell-paste in non-growth conditions, were screened with positive results. R. rhodochrous was assayed for ex vivo activity via exposure to bat tissue explants inoculated with P. destructans conidia. Induced R. rhodochrous completely inhibited growth from conidia at 15°C and had a strong fungistatic effect at 4°C. Induced R. rhodochrous inhibited P. destructans growth from conidia when cultured in a shared air-space with bat tissue explants inoculated with P. destructans conidia.ConclusionThe identification of inducible biological agents with contact-independent anti- P. destructans activity is a major milestone in the development of viable biological control options for in situ application and provides the first example of contact-independent antagonism of this devastating wildlife pathogen

We need to talk about statistical anxiety. A review of the evidence around statistical anxiety in the context of quantitative methods pedagogy

Recent reviews of the social research pedagogy literature conclude that there is a lack of pedagogical culture informing the teaching of research methods in social science. In this paper, we draw together main themes from the statistical anxiety (SA) literature, in order to prepare a more systematic and empirically grounded knowledge base from which to develop a research programme in quantitative methods teaching. It is regularly put forward that statistical anxiety has a negative influence on learning quantitative methods it is also suggested that women are more anxious in this context than men. Research examining the relationship between statistical anxiety and performance is summarized. A secondary analysis investigating the question of whether women are more likely to experience statistical anxiety than men is presented. The results show young women are more likely to experience anxiety than young men, but older women are less likely to experience anxiety than older men. Older men also have higher chance of experiencing anxiety than younger men. There were no significant differences evident between older women and younger women. In conclusion, the relationship between gender and SA is shown to be more complex than previous research has suggested. The review of previous findings indicates it is currently unclear that statistical anxiety has the negative influence it is often stated as having

Integrating Research Results into a Power Engineering Curriculum

This paper presents summaries of the activities of six research active power engineering educators which were presented in a panel session of the same name at the IEEE Power Engineering Society Winter Meeting on February 3, 1997 in New York City, USA. Each of the panelists discusses how research results are incorporated into courses and how students benefit from this approach

Multicenter Breast Cancer Collaborative Registry

The Breast Cancer Collaborative Registry (BCCR) is a multicenter web-based system that efficiently collects and manages a variety of data on breast cancer (BC) patients and BC survivors. This registry is designed as a multi-tier web application that utilizes Java Servlet/JSP technology and has an Oracle 11g database as a back-end. The BCCR questionnaire has accommodated standards accepted in breast cancer research and healthcare. By harmonizing the controlled vocabulary with the NCI Thesaurus (NCIt) or Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms (SNOMED-CT), the BCCR provides a standardized approach to data collection and reporting. The BCCR has been recently certified by the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (NCI CBIIT) as a cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG®) Bronze Compatible product

Envisioning a World Beyond APCs/BPCs

This archival page includes documents and recordings related to the international symposium, “Envisioning a World Beyond APCs/BPCs,” held in Lawrence, Kansas, on Thursday and Friday, November 17-18. The presenters were a group of 18 internationally respected scholars, publishers, university librarians, and executives from foundations and organizations, who were asked to participate in a discussion about current models available for achieving an expansive, inclusive, and balanced worldwide open publishing ecosystem. The symposium was co-sponsored by the University of Kansas Libraries, Open Access Network (a project of K|N Consultants), Allen Press, SPARC, and ARL. The materials included here are the symposium schedule, recordings of Parts 1 and 2 of the Nov. 17 livestream, a transcript of the livestream, and team proposals originating from the Nov. 18 morning session.This symposium was sponsored by the University of Kansas Libraries, Open Access Network (a project of K|N Consultants), Allen Press, and SPARC

Can We Reduce Eating Disorder Risk Factors in Female College Athletes? A Randomized Exploratory Investigation of Two Peer-Led Interventions

Female athletes are at least as at risk as other women for eating disorders (EDs) and at risk for the female athlete triad (i.e., inadequate energy availability, menstrual disorders, and osteoporosis). This study investigated whether two evidence-based programs appear promising for future study if modified to address the unique needs of female athletes. Athletes were randomly assigned to athlete-modified dissonance prevention or healthy weight intervention (AM-HWI). ED risk factors were assessed pre/post-treatment, and 6-week and 1-year follow-up. Results (analyzed sample, N = 157) indicated that both interventions reduced thin-ideal internalization, dietary restraint, bulimic pathology, shape and weight concern, and negative affect at 6 weeks, and bulimic pathology, shape concern, and negative affect at 1 year. Unexpectedly we observed an increase in students spontaneously seeking medical consultation for the triad. Qualitative results suggested that AM-HWI may be more preferred by athletes

Noise-driven bias in the non-local voter model

Is it more effective to have a strong influence over a small domain, or a weaker influence over a larger one? Here, we introduce and analyse an off-lattice generalisation of the voter model, in which the range and strength of agents' influence are control parameters. We consider both low and high density regimes and, using distinct mathematical approaches, derive analytical predictions for the evolution of agent densities. We find that, even when the agents are equally persuasive on average, those whose influence is wider but weaker have an overall noise-driven advantage allowing them to reliably dominate the entire population. We discuss the implications of our results and the potential of our model (or adaptations thereof) to improve the understanding of political campaign strategies and the evolution of disease.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure