Climate Change Leads to a Reduction in Symbiotic Derived Cnidarian Biodiversity on Coral Reefs

Symbiotic relationships enable partners to thrive and survive in habitats where they would either not be as successful, or potentially not exist, without the symbiosis. The coral reef ecosystem, and its immense biodiversity, relies on the symbioses between cnidarians (e.g., scleractinian corals, octocorals, sea anemones, jellyfish) and multiple organisms including dinoflagellate algae (family Symbiodiniaceae), bivalves, crabs, shrimps, and fishes. In this review, we discuss the ramifications of whether coral reef cnidarian symbioses are obligatory, whereby at least one of the partners must be in the symbiosis in order to survive or are facultative. Furthermore, we cover the consequences of cnidarian symbioses exhibiting partner flexibility or fidelity. Fidelity, where a symbiotic partner can only engage in symbiosis with a subset of partners, may be absolute or context dependent. Current literature demonstrates that many cnidarian symbioses are highly obligative and appear to exhibit absolute fidelity. Consequently, for many coral reef cnidarian symbioses, surviving changing environmental conditions will depend on the robustness and potential plasticity of the existing host-symbiont(s) combination. If environmental conditions detrimentally affect even one component of this symbiotic consortium, it may lead to a cascade effect and the collapse of the entire symbiosis. Symbiosis is at the heart of the coral reef ecosystem, its existence, and its high biodiversity. Climate change may cause the demise of some of the cnidarian symbioses, leading to subsequent reduction in biodiversity on coral reefs

Variability of Temperature and Salinity in the Middle Atlantic Bight and Gulf of Maine

Monitoring of the waters of the Middle Atlantic Bight and Gulf of Maine has been conducted by the MARMAP Ships of Opportunity Program since the early 1970's. Presented in this atlas are portrayals of the temporal and spatial patterns of surface and bottom temperature and surface salinity for these areas during the period 1978-1990. These patterns are shown in the form of time-space diagrams for single-year and multiyear (base period) time frames. Each base period figure shows thirteen-year (1978-1990) mean conditions, sample variance in the form of standard deviations of the measured values, and data locations. Each single-year figure displays annual conditions, sampling locations, and departures of annual conditions from the thirteen-year means, expressed as algebraic anomalies and standardized anomalies. (PDF file contains 112 pages.

A Study of Defense Logistics Agency Inventory Classifications: Application of Inventory Control Methods to Reduce Total Variable Cost and Stockage Levels

This thesis analyzes the financial impact of applying a single inventory requirements model to three separate classes of inventory at the Defense Logistics Agency\u27s (DLA) Defense Supply Center-Columbus (DSCC) commodity management facility. DLA\u27 5 blanket application of its variation of the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) requirements model may not be appropriate for all levels of demand, possibly suboptimizing DLA\u27s desire to minimize inventory costs while still providing an appropriate level of customer service. Simulation analyses of the DLA EOQ requirements model, the Silver-Meal heuristic, and Periodic Order Quantity models were conducted to examine which dynamic lot-sizing model is more effective in minimizing inventory costs and levels for different levels of item demand. The Periodic Order Quantity model provided lower inventory levels and total variable costs than the DLA EOQ and the Silver-Meal models for the medium demand category. The DLA EOQ requirements model was found to provide lower inventory levels and total variable costs than either the POQ or the Silver-Meal models in the low and high demand categories

Validation transculturelle d'un instrument permettant de mesurer la perception de l'auto-efficacité en lecture chez des élèves de quatrième année du primaire d'une population québécoise

Plusieurs auteurs se sont intéressés aux liens existant entre les variables affectives et l'apprentissage en lecture (Henk et Melnick, 1998, 1995; Chapman et Tunmer, 1995; Schunk, 1993). Ces recherches semblent confirmer la présence de tout un réseau d'aspects affectifs reliant, notamment, la discipline étudiée, l'enseignant et l'enseignante, l'élève, le contexte et l'environnement. Les expériences vécues par l'intermédiaire de ce réseau permettraient à l'élève de développer l'auto-perception de sa compétence à accomplir une activité de lecture. De plus, cette auto-perception semble influencer le vécu de l'élève en regard de ses expériences de lecture. Effectivement, les élèves qui se perçoivent bons lecteurs ont vraisemblablement vécu des expériences positives en lecture, mais ceux qui se perçoivent faibles lecteurs n'ont probablement pas connu de tels types d'expériences. II devient ainsi plausible de croire que ces derniers ne considèrent pas la lecture comme une activité agréable. En se basant sur cette possibilité, il est donc permis d'avancer qu'il existe un lien direct entre l'autoperception du lecteur et ses comportements face à une activité de lecture. La présente recherche vise à proposer un instrument de mesure dont les résultats de passation permettent de jeter un regard sur l'auto-perception en lecture. Cet outil, The Reader Self-perception Scale©, sert essentiellement à mesurer l'auto-perception en lecture chez des élèves du deuxième cycle du primaire. Le choix de l'entrée au deuxième cycle du primaire se justifie si l'on tient compte des résultats de certaines recherches en psychologie du développement, qui semblent prouver de plus en plus que, avant l'entrée au deuxième cycle du primaire, les élèves ne sont pas en mesure de bien évaluer leur performance académique et les causes qui sont en jeu (Blumenfeld et al., 1982). Afin de s'assurer que le questionnaire américain choisi mesure l'auto-perception en lecture de façon adéquate chez une population québécoise, la chercheuse a suivi les étapes d'une méthodologie de validation transculturelle. L'instrument ainsi validé pourra servir d'outil à tout enseignant ou enseignante québécois qui désire aller vérifier l'autoperception en lecture chez ses élèves. Des normes de comparaison sont également fournies

An Assessment to Benchmark the Seismic Performance of a Code-Conforming Reinforced-Concrete Moment-Frame Building

This report describes a state-of-the-art performance-based earthquake engineering methodology that is used to assess the seismic performance of a four-story reinforced concrete (RC) office building that is generally representative of low-rise office buildings constructed in highly seismic regions of California. This “benchmark” building is considered to be located at a site in the Los Angeles basin, and it was designed with a ductile RC special moment-resisting frame as its seismic lateral system that was designed according to modern building codes and standards. The building’s performance is quantified in terms of structural behavior up to collapse, structural and nonstructural damage and associated repair costs, and the risk of fatalities and their associated economic costs. To account for different building configurations that may be designed in practice to meet requirements of building size and use, eight structural design alternatives are used in the performance assessments. Our performance assessments account for important sources of uncertainty in the ground motion hazard, the structural response, structural and nonstructural damage, repair costs, and life-safety risk. The ground motion hazard characterization employs a site-specific probabilistic seismic hazard analysis and the evaluation of controlling seismic sources (through disaggregation) at seven ground motion levels (encompassing return periods ranging from 7 to 2475 years). Innovative procedures for ground motion selection and scaling are used to develop acceleration time history suites corresponding to each of the seven ground motion levels. Structural modeling utilizes both “fiber” models and “plastic hinge” models. Structural modeling uncertainties are investigated through comparison of these two modeling approaches, and through variations in structural component modeling parameters (stiffness, deformation capacity, degradation, etc.). Structural and nonstructural damage (fragility) models are based on a combination of test data, observations from post-earthquake reconnaissance, and expert opinion. Structural damage and repair costs are modeled for the RC beams, columns, and slabcolumn connections. Damage and associated repair costs are considered for some nonstructural building components, including wallboard partitions, interior paint, exterior glazing, ceilings, sprinkler systems, and elevators. The risk of casualties and the associated economic costs are evaluated based on the risk of structural collapse, combined with recent models on earthquake fatalities in collapsed buildings and accepted economic modeling guidelines for the value of human life in loss and cost-benefit studies. The principal results of this work pertain to the building collapse risk, damage and repair cost, and life-safety risk. These are discussed successively as follows. When accounting for uncertainties in structural modeling and record-to-record variability (i.e., conditional on a specified ground shaking intensity), the structural collapse probabilities of the various designs range from 2% to 7% for earthquake ground motions that have a 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years (2475 years return period). When integrated with the ground motion hazard for the southern California site, the collapse probabilities result in mean annual frequencies of collapse in the range of [0.4 to 1.4]x10 -4 for the various benchmark building designs. In the development of these results, we made the following observations that are expected to be broadly applicable: (1) The ground motions selected for performance simulations must consider spectral shape (e.g., through use of the epsilon parameter) and should appropriately account for correlations between motions in both horizontal directions; (2) Lower-bound component models, which are commonly used in performance-based assessment procedures such as FEMA 356, can significantly bias collapse analysis results; it is more appropriate to use median component behavior, including all aspects of the component model (strength, stiffness, deformation capacity, cyclic deterioration, etc.); (3) Structural modeling uncertainties related to component deformation capacity and post-peak degrading stiffness can impact the variability of calculated collapse probabilities and mean annual rates to a similar degree as record-to-record variability of ground motions. Therefore, including the effects of such structural modeling uncertainties significantly increases the mean annual collapse rates. We found this increase to be roughly four to eight times relative to rates evaluated for the median structural model; (4) Nonlinear response analyses revealed at least six distinct collapse mechanisms, the most common of which was a story mechanism in the third story (differing from the multi-story mechanism predicted by nonlinear static pushover analysis); (5) Soil-foundation-structure interaction effects did not significantly affect the structural response, which was expected given the relatively flexible superstructure and stiff soils. The potential for financial loss is considerable. Overall, the calculated expected annual losses (EAL) are in the range of $52,000 to$97,000 for the various code-conforming benchmark building designs, or roughly 1% of the replacement cost of the building ($8.8M). These losses are dominated by the expected repair costs of the wallboard partitions (including interior paint) and by the structural members. Loss estimates are sensitive to details of the structural models, especially the initial stiffness of the structural elements. Losses are also found to be sensitive to structural modeling choices, such as ignoring the tensile strength of the concrete (40 EAL) or the contribution of the gravity frames to overall building stiffness and strength (15 change in EAL). Although there are a number of factors identified in the literature as likely to affect the risk of human injury during seismic events, the casualty modeling in this study focuses on those factors (building collapse, building occupancy, and spatial location of building occupants) that directly inform the building design process. The expected annual number of fatalities is calculated for the benchmark building, assuming that an earthquake can occur at any time of any day with equal probability and using fatality probabilities conditioned on structural collapse and based on empirical data. The expected annual number of fatalities for the code-conforming buildings ranges between 0.05*10 -2 and 0.21*10 -2 , and is equal to 2.30*10 -2 for a non-code conforming design. The expected loss of life during a seismic event is perhaps the decision variable that owners and policy makers will be most interested in mitigating. The fatality estimation carried out for the benchmark building provides a methodology for comparing this important value for various building designs, and enables informed decision making during the design process. The expected annual loss associated with fatalities caused by building earthquake damage is estimated by converting the expected annual number of fatalities into economic terms. Assuming the value of a human life is$3.5M, the fatality rate translates to an EAL due to fatalities of $3,500 to$5,600 for the code-conforming designs, and $79,800 for the non-code conforming design. Compared to the EAL due to repair costs of the code-conforming designs, which are on the order of$66,000, the monetary value associated with life loss is small, suggesting that the governing factor in this respect will be the maximum permissible life-safety risk deemed by the public (or its representative government) to be appropriate for buildings. Although the focus of this report is on one specific building, it can be used as a reference for other types of structures. This report is organized in such a way that the individual core chapters (4, 5, and 6) can be read independently. Chapter 1 provides background on the performance-based earthquake engineering (PBEE) approach. Chapter 2 presents the implementation of the PBEE methodology of the PEER framework, as applied to the benchmark building. Chapter 3 sets the stage for the choices of location and basic structural design. The subsequent core chapters focus on the hazard analysis (Chapter 4), the structural analysis (Chapter 5), and the damage and loss analyses (Chapter 6). Although the report is self-contained, readers interested in additional details can find them in the appendices

Accounting for the Hierarchical Structure in Veterans Health Administration Data: Differences in Healthcare Utilization between Men and Women Veterans

Women currently constitute 15% of active United States of America military service personnel, and this proportion is expected to double in the next 5 years. Previous research has shown that healthcare utilization and costs differ in women US Veterans Health Administration (VA) patients compared to men. However, none have accounted for the potential effects of clustering on their estimates of healthcare utilization. US Women Veterans are more likely to serve in specific military branches (e.g. Army), components (e.g. National Guard), and ranks (e.g. officer) than men. These factors may confer different risk and protection that can affect subsequent healthcare needs. Our study investigates the effects of accounting for the hierarchical structure of data on estimates of the association between gender and VA healthcare utilization. The sample consisted of data on 406,406 Veterans obtained from VA's Operation Enduring Freedom/ Operation Iraqi Freedom roster provided by Defense Manpower Data Center - Contingency Tracking System Deployment File. We compared three statistical models, ordinary, fixed and random effects hierarchical logistic regression, in order to assess the association of gender with healthcare utilization, controlling for branch of service, component, rank, age, race, and marital status. Gender was associated with utilization in ordinary logistic and, but not in fixed effects hierarchical logistic or random effects hierarchical logistic regression models. This points out that incomplete inference could be drawn by ignoring the military structure that may influence combat exposure and subsequent healthcare needs. Researchers should consider modeling VA data using methods that account for the potential clustering effect of hierarchy

Rapport d'intervention sur une démarche de réorganisation des services publics au Témiscamingue - 1998

Le processus de prise en charge, discuté dans ce rapport, s'inscrit dans une démarche de réorganisation des services publics dans la Municipalité régionale de comté du Témiscamingue (MRCT) en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, au Québec, qui a débuté à l'automne 1996. Le présent document rend compte de la deuxième phase de ce projet qui s'est déroulée de janvier 1998 à décembre 1998. Cette deuxième phase visait à l'application de recommandations, émises en 1997, par la Chaire Desjardins en développement des petites collectivités (Chaire Desjardins) et le Groupe Conseil Action Gestion, portant sur la réorganisation des services publics au Témiscamingue. Le contenu de cette publication est tiré d'un rapport préliminaire déposé par l'agente d'intervention mandatée par la Chaire Desjardins, soit madame Marie-Josée Tremblay. Un comité de suivi s'est réuni à trois reprises, tout au long du parcours. Ce comité était composé des représentants de la MRCT, soit le préfet, monsieur Philippe Barette et le secrétaire trésorier, monsieur Denis Clermont, ainsi que du directeur de la Chaire Desjardins, monsieur Mario Carrier et de l'agente d'intervention susmentionnée.AVANT-PROPOS; TABLE des MATIÈRES; 1 INTRODUCTION; 2 LE TÉMISCAMINGUE; 3 LE PROCESSUS DE PRISE EN CHARGE; 4 LES ACTEURS; 5 LA DÉMARCHE; 6 LE PLAN DE TRAVAIL; 7 LES PROJETS DE PRISE EN CHARGE; 8 BILAN DE L'ENSEMBLE DE LA DÉMARCHE; 9 CONCLUSIO

Spatial distribution of conspecific genotypes within chimeras of the branching coral Stylophora pistillata

Chimerism is a coalescence of conspecific genotypes. Although common in nature, fundamental knowledge, such as the spatial distribution of the genotypes within chimeras, is lacking. Hence, we investigated the spatial distribution of conspecific genotypes within the brooding coral Stylophora pistillata, a common species throughout the Indo-Pacific and Red Sea. From eight gravid colonies, we collected planula larvae that settled in aggregates, forming 2–3 partner chimeras. Coral chimeras grew in situ for up to 25 months. Nine chimeras (8 kin, 1 non-related genotypes) were sectioned into 7–17 fragments (6–26 polyps/fragment), and genotyped using eight microsatellite loci. The discrimination power of each microsatellite-locus was evaluated with 330 ‘artificial chimeras,’ made by mixing DNA from three different S. pistillata genotypes in pairwise combinations. In 68% of ‘artificial chimeras,’ the second genotype was detected if it constituted 5–30% of the chimera. Analyses of S. pistillata chimeras revealed that: (a) chimerism is a long-term state; (b) conspecifics were intermixed (not separate from one another); (c) disproportionate distribution of the conspecifics occurred; (d) cryptic chimerism (chimerism not detected via a given microsatellite) existed, alluding to the underestimation of chimerism in nature. Mixed chimerism may affect ecological/physiological outcomes for a chimera, especially in clonal organisms, and challenges the concept of individuality, affecting our understanding of the unit of selection

Toward a Resilient Global Society: Air, Sea Level, Earthquakes, and Weather

Society’s progress along the four corners of prepare, absorb, respond and adapt resilience square is uneven, in spite of our understanding of the foundational science and a growing sense that urgent action is needed. The resilience vignettes describe the meaning and impact of current and near‐term change in four major domains: human health impacts from air pollution, coastal inundation from sea‐level rise, damaging earthquakes in populated areas, and impacts from extreme precipitation. Given our understanding of the scientific principles, societal action, from preparation to adaption, will be critical in minimizing the negative impacts of change. The unprecedented rates of change in today’s Earth system argue for urgent action in support of a resilient global society.Key PointsUnprecedented rates of change in the Earth system argue for more urgent action in support of a resilient global societyExperts describe the meaning and impact of current and near‐term change in four major domainsWe take an ensemble approach to highlight the similarities for actionable decision‐makingPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151889/1/eft2547_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151889/2/eft2547.pd

Prefatory Note

Each of the articles in Draftings in Management deals with an important contemporary management issue. Although our students may take positions that can be (and are being) debated, we are certain readers will agree that their work is thoughtful and provocative, and that it makes a contribution to the public discussion