Evaluation of the Impacts of Radio-Marking Devices on Feral Horses and Burros in a Captive Setting

Radio-collars and other radio-marking devices have been invaluable tools for wildlife managers for \u3e40 years. These marking devices have improved our understanding of wildlife spatial ecology and demographic parameters and provided new data facilitating model development for species conservation and management. Although these tools have been used on virtually all North American ungulates, their deployment on feral horses (Equus ferus caballus) or burros (E. asinus) has been limited. To determine if radio-collars and radio-tags could be safely deployed on feral equids, we conducted a 1-year observational study in 2015 to investigate fit and wear of radio-collars on feral horses and burros kept in pastures/pens at the Bureau of Land Management contracted adoption facility in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, USA. We assessed the impact of radio-collars and transmitter tags on individual behavior, body condition, and evaluated neck surface for effects. We tested 2 radio-collar shapes (teardrop and oval) and a radio-tag (i.e., avian backpack) braided into the mane and tail of horses. Behavior of mares did not differ between radio-collared (n = 12) and control (uncollared; n = 12) individuals. Despite the small sample size, collared burro jennies (n = 4) spent more time standing than controls (n = 4). Stallions wearing radio-collars (n = 9) fed less, moved less, and stood more than controls (n = 8). During the study, we did not detect injuries to the necks of mares or burro jennies, but stallions developed small sores (that healed while still wearing radio-collars and re-haired within 3 months). Two radio-collars occasionally flipped forward over the ears onto the foreheads of stallions. Although our study confirmed that radio-collars could be safely deployed on captive mares and jennies, stallions proved challenging for a variety of reasons. While our conclusions were optimistic, longer studies will be required to ensure radio-collar safety on free-ranging feral horses and burros

Quantification of habitat fragmentation reveals extinction risk in terrestrial mammals

Although habitat fragmentation is often assumed to be a primary driver of extinction, global patterns of fragmentation and its relationship to extinction risk have not been consistently quantified for any major animal taxon. We developed high-resolution habitat fragmentation models and used phylogenetic comparative methods to quantify the effects of habitat fragmentation on the world's terrestrial mammals, including 4,018 species across 26 taxonomic Orders. Results demonstrate that species with more fragmentation are at greater risk of extinction, even after accounting for the effects of key macroecological predictors, such as body size and geographic range size. Species with higher fragmentation had smaller ranges and a lower proportion of high-suitability habitat within their range, andmost high-suitability habitat occurred outside of protected areas, further elevating extinction risk. Our models provide a quantitative evaluation of extinction risk assessments for species, allow for identification of emerging threats in species not classified as threatened, and provide maps of global hotspots of fragmentation for the world's terrestrial mammals. Quantification of habitat fragmentation will help guide threat assessment and strategic priorities for global mammal conservation

Dark energy constraints from cosmic shear power spectra: impact of intrinsic alignments on photometric redshift requirements

Cosmic shear constrains cosmology by exploiting the apparent alignments of pairs of galaxies due to gravitational lensing by intervening mass clumps. However galaxies may become (intrinsically) aligned with each other, and with nearby mass clumps, during their formation. This effect needs to be disentangled from the cosmic shear signal to place constraints on cosmology. We use the linear intrinsic alignment model as a base and compare it to an alternative model and data. If intrinsic alignments are ignored then the dark energy equation of state is biased by ~50 per cent. We examine how the number of tomographic redshift bins affects uncertainties on cosmological parameters and find that when intrinsic alignments are included two or more times as many bins are required to obtain 80 per cent of the available information. We investigate how the degradation in the dark energy figure of merit depends on the photometric redshift scatter. Previous studies have shown that lensing does not place stringent requirements on the photometric redshift uncertainty, so long as the uncertainty is well known. However, if intrinsic alignments are included the requirements become a factor of three tighter. These results are quite insensitive to the fraction of catastrophic outliers, assuming that this fraction is well known. We show the effect of uncertainties in photometric redshift bias and scatter. Finally we quantify how priors on the intrinsic alignment model would improve dark energy constraints.Comment: 14 pages and 9 figures. Replaced with final version accepted in "Gravitational Lensing" Focus Issue of the New Journal of Physics at http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/1367-2630/9/12/E0

Continued deceleration of Whillans Ice Stream, West Antarctica

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2005. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 32 (2005): L22501, doi:10.1029/2005GL024319.Earlier observations indicated that Whillans Ice Stream slowed from 1973 to 1997. We collected new GPS observations of the ice stream's speed in 2003 and 2004. These data show that the ice stream is continuing to decelerate at rates of about 0.6%/yr2, with faster rates near the grounding line. Our data also indicate that the deceleration extends over the full width of the ice plain. Extrapolation of the deceleration trend suggests the ice stream could stagnate sometime between the middle of the 21st and 22nd Centuries.This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF-OPP-0229659). IJ’s contribution was supported by the Cryospheric Sciences Program of NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise

Probing dark energy with cluster counts and cosmic shear power spectra: including the full covariance

(Abridged) Combining cosmic shear power spectra and cluster counts is powerful to improve cosmological parameter constraints and/or test inherent systematics. However they probe the same cosmic mass density field, if the two are drawn from the same survey region, and therefore the combination may be less powerful than first thought. We investigate the cross-covariance between the cosmic shear power spectra and the cluster counts based on the halo model approach, where the cross-covariance arises from the three-point correlations of the underlying mass density field. Fully taking into account the cross-covariance as well as non-Gaussian errors on the lensing power spectrum covariance, we find a significant cross-correlation between the lensing power spectrum signals at multipoles l~10^3 and the cluster counts containing halos with masses M>10^{14}Msun. Including the cross-covariance for the combined measurement degrades and in some cases improves the total signal-to-noise ratios up to plus or minus 20% relative to when the two are independent. For cosmological parameter determination, the cross-covariance has a smaller effect as a result of working in a multi-dimensional parameter space, implying that the two observables can be considered independent to a good approximation. We also discuss that cluster count experiments using lensing-selected mass peaks could be more complementary to cosmic shear tomography than mass-selected cluster counts of the corresponding mass threshold. Using lensing selected clusters with a realistic usable detection threshold (S/N~6 for a ground-based survey), the uncertainty on each dark energy parameter may be roughly halved by the combined experiments, relative to using the power spectra alone.Comment: 32 pages, 15 figures. Revised version, invited original contribution to gravitational lensing focus issue, New Journal of Physic

Fertility Control Options for Management of Free-roaming Horse Populations

The management of free-roaming horses (Equus ferus) and burros (E. asinus) in the United States has been referred to as a “wicked problem” because, although there are population control options, societal values will ultimately determine what is acceptable and what is not. In the United States, free-roaming equids are managed by different types of organizations and agencies, and the landscapes that these animals inhabit vary widely in terms of access, size, topography, climate, natural resources, flora, and fauna. This landscape diversity, coupled with contemporary socioeconomic and political environments, means that adaptive management practices are needed to regulate these free-roaming populations. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) currently manages free-roaming equids on 177 herd management areas in the United States by applying fertility control measures in situ and/or removing horses, which are either adopted by private individuals or sent to long-term holding facilities. The BLM off-range population currently includes \u3e50,000 animals and costs approximately $50 million USD per year to maintain; on-range equid numbers were estimated in March 2022 to be approximately 82,384. On-range populations can grow at 15–20% annually, and current estimates far exceed the designated appropriate management level of 26,715. To reduce population recruitment, managers need better information about effective, long-lasting or permanent fertility control measures. Because mares breed only once a year, fertility control studies take years to complete. Some contraceptive approaches have been studied for decades, and results from various trials can collectively inform future research directions and actions. Employing 1 or more fertility control tools in concert with removals offers the best potential for success. Active, iterative, cooperative, and thoughtful management practices can protect free-roaming horses while simultaneously protecting the habitat. Herein, we review contraceptive vaccines, intrauterine devices, and surgical sterilization options for controlling fertility of free-roaming horses. This review provides managers with a “fertility control toolbox” and guides future research

Distinct microbial and immune niches of the human colon.

Gastrointestinal microbiota and immune cells interact closely and display regional specificity; however, little is known about how these communities differ with location. Here, we simultaneously assess microbiota and single immune cells across the healthy, adult human colon, with paired characterization of immune cells in the mesenteric lymph nodes, to delineate colonic immune niches at steady state. We describe distinct helper T cell activation and migration profiles along the colon and characterize the transcriptional adaptation trajectory of regulatory T cells between lymphoid tissue and colon. Finally, we show increasing B cell accumulation, clonal expansion and mutational frequency from the cecum to the sigmoid colon and link this to the increasing number of reactive bacterial species

Online and social networking interventions for the treatment of depression in young people: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Major depression accounts for the greatest burden of all diseases globally. The peak onset of depression occurs between adolescence and young adulthood, and for many individuals, depression displays a relapse-remitting and increasingly severe course. Given this, the development of cost-effective, acceptable, and population-focused interventions for depression is critical. A number of online interventions (both prevention and acute phase) have been tested in young people with promising results. As these interventions differ in content, clinician input, and modality, it is important to identify key features (or unhelpful functions) associated with treatment outcomes. OBJECTIVE: A systematic review of the research literature was undertaken. The review was designed to focus on two aspects of online intervention: (1) standard approaches evaluating online intervention content in randomized controlled designs (Section 1), and (2) second-generation online interventions and services using social networking (eg, social networking sites and online support groups) in any type of research design (Section 2). METHODS: Two specific literature searches were undertaken. There was no date range specified. The Section 1 search, which focused on randomized controlled trials, included only young people (12-25 years) and yielded 101 study abstracts, of which 15 met the review inclusion criteria. The Section 2 search, which included all study design types and was not restricted in terms of age, yielded 358 abstracts, of which 22 studies met the inclusion criteria. Information about the studies and their findings were extracted and tabulated for review. RESULTS: The 15 studies identified in Section 1 described 10 trials testing eight different online interventions, all of which were based on a cognitive behavioral framework. All but one of the eight identified studies reported positive results; however, only five of the 15 studies used blinded interviewer administered outcomes with most trials using self-report data. Studies varied significantly in presentation of intervention content, treatment dose, and dropout. Only two studies included moderator or clinician input. Results for Section 2 were less consistent. None of the Section 2 studies reported controlled or randomized designs. With the exception of four studies, all included participants were younger than 25 years of age. Eight of the 16 social networking studies reported positive results for depression-related outcomes. The remaining studies were either mixed or negative. Findings for online support groups tended to be more positive; however, noteworthy risks were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Online interventions with a broad cognitive behavioral focus appear to be promising in reducing depression symptomology in young people. Further research is required into the effectiveness of online interventions delivering cognitive behavioral subcomponents, such as problem-solving therapy. Evidence for the use of social networking is less compelling, although limited by a lack of well-designed studies and social networking interventions. A range of future social networking therapeutic opportunities are highlighted

Recommendations for a core outcome set for measuring standing balance in adult populations: a consensus-based approach

Standing balance is imperative for mobility and avoiding falls. Use of an excessive number of standing balance measures has limited the synthesis of balance intervention data and hampered consistent clinical practice.To develop recommendations for a core outcome set (COS) of standing balance measures for research and practice among adults.A combination of scoping reviews, literature appraisal, anonymous voting and face-to-face meetings with fourteen invited experts from a range of disciplines with international recognition in balance measurement and falls prevention. Consensus was sought over three rounds using pre-established criteria.The scoping review identified 56 existing standing balance measures validated in adult populations with evidence of use in the past five years, and these were considered for inclusion in the COS.Fifteen measures were excluded after the first round of scoring and a further 36 after round two. Five measures were considered in round three. Two measures reached consensus for recommendation, and the expert panel recommended that at a minimum, either the Berg Balance Scale or Mini Balance Evaluation Systems Test be used when measuring standing balance in adult populations.Inclusion of two measures in the COS may increase the feasibility of potential uptake, but poses challenges for data synthesis. Adoption of the standing balance COS does not constitute a comprehensive balance assessment for any population, and users should include additional validated measures as appropriate.The absence of a gold standard for measuring standing balance has contributed to the proliferation of outcome measures. These recommendations represent an important first step towards greater standardization in the assessment and measurement of this critical skill and will inform clinical research and practice internationally