Skeletons of Prym varieties and Brill--Noether theory

We show that the non-Archimedean skeleton of the Prym variety associated to an unramified double cover of an algebraic curve is naturally isomorphic (as a principally polarized tropical abelian variety) to the tropical Prym variety of the associated tropical double cover. This confirms a conjecture by Jensen and the first author. We prove a new upper bound on the dimension of the Prym-Brill-Noether locus for generic unramified double covers of curves with fixed even gonality on the base. Our methods also give a new proof of the classical Prym-Brill-Noether Theorem for generic unramified double covers that is originally due to Welters and Bertram.Comment: 32 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Algebra & Number Theor

Bedeutung der Stellungnahme von Kinders zur körperlichen Tätigkeit

The study was conducted on a sample of 46 school children aged 9 to Il. The CATPA inventory, TRA and FDR questionnaires were applied. Basic statistics, regression analysis and discriminant analysis were performed to quantitatively analyze the test results. An attitude vs. physical activity behaviour relationship in children was identified. Fostering positive attitudes in children may have a positive influence on their physical activity levels. Further research using these and other instruments, larger samples and a number of different age group is needed.Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 46 djece školskog uzrasta (9 do 11 godina starosti). Primijenjeni su CATPA popis, te TRA i FDR upitnici. Osnovna statistika, regresijska i diskriminativna analiza primijenjeni su kako bi se kvantitativno analizirali rezultati testova. Utvrđen je odnos i ponašanje djece prema tjelesnoj aktivnosti. Razvijanje pozitivnog odnosa kod djece može imati pozitivan utjecaj na razinu njihove tjelesne aktivnosti. Potrebno je daljnje istraživanje koje će se koristiti ovim i drugim sredstvima, većim uzorcima i vise dobnih skupina.Diese Forschung wurde auf dem Muster von 46 Schulkinder im Alter von 9 bis 11 Jahren durchgeführt. Es wurden das CATPA Verzeichnis und die TRA und FDR Umfragen verwendet, Es wurden sowohl die Elementarstatistik als auch die Regressions- und Diskriminanzanalyse verwendet, um die Testergebnisse quantitativ zu analysieren. Es wurden die Stellungnahme und das Benehmen zur körperlichen Tätigkeit positiv beeinflussen. Die weitere Forschung mit Hilfe von anderen Mitteln, umfangreicheren Mustern und größerer Anzahl von Altersgruppen sind erforderlich

Open Forum (on strategies for advocacy) NAHSL 2013: UMass Medical School’s Experience

Discusses some of the challenges libraries are facing and how the Lamar Soutter Library at the University of Massachusetts Medical School is addressing them with an innovative library fellows program

Developing and refining biological indicators for condition assessments in an integrated monitoring program

[Extract] Indicators representative of ecosystem condition are required for the long-term monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in a Reef Integrated Monitoring and Reporting Program (RIMREP), which tracks progress towards Reef 2050 Plan targets and objectives. Seagrass meadows are highly sensitive to climatic conditions and environmental pressures such as water quality, as seen through recent (past 10 years) changes in abundance in the GBR (McKenzie, et al., 2016). Due to these impacts, GBR seagrass meadows underwent a period of decline from 2009 to 2011. Widespread loss of seagrass occurred, but in 2015 many meadows had started recovering. The storage reserves within seagrass rhizomes were tested for suitability as a complimentary indicator in the MMP/RIMREP because previous studies had suggested that they are good indicators. We set out to test the relationships between total non-structural carbohydrates (TNSC) and seagrass condition (i.e. trend in abundance, either declining pre 2011 or recovering post 2011), seagrass abundance, water temperature and daily light in a temporal analysis using linear models. Samples were collected quarterly from 2008 to 2015 from four locations (8 sites) for three species (917 samples in total) in the Wet Tropics and Burdekin regions. TNSC was significantly (p<0.001) lower pre 2011 during the period of decline (181and 192 mg gDW-1for intertidal sites pooled and subtidal sites pooled, respectively) than post 2011 during recovery (277 and 289 mg gDW-1) for H. uninervis. A similar trend was observed for T. hemprichii, which occurred at intertidal sites only (168 mg gDW-1 in decline and 208 mg gDW-1in recovery), but not for C. serrulata which had the fewest available data points. The differences were even greater when investigating individual sites. TNSC were also correlated (p<0.001) to seagrass abundance during both the decline and recovery phases. TNSC was positively correlated to water temperature, though the period being assessed was relatively mild in terms of temperature extremes. Therefore, light was the main pressure assessed in this project. A direct effect of light limitation (daily light, average of 30 days prior to TNSC collection) on TNSC was not observed, in fact there was a slight negative effect of light in some analyses. This was contrary to our hypothesis, as low light, at least in part, drove declines in seagrass abundance from 2009 –2011. In an additional spatial analysis, differences in TNSC among regions and habitat types were assessed from 39 sites collected in late 2014 across the GBR. This spatial analysis was carried out to explore representativeness of the sites used in the temporal analysis. There was little difference in TNSC among habitats; however, TNSC varied among NRMs and were lowest in the Mackay Whitsunday and Fitzroy NRMs. This exploration of storage reserves, undertaken at a time of dynamic meadow changes, has yielded exciting results on their variation with meadow condition and abundance. However, we did not provide conclusive evidence to support the inclusion of TNSC as an indicator in monitoring programs such as the MMP at this stage, because the link to the main environmental pressure tested –light –was not demonstrated by this analysis. Irrespective of this, TNSC was an indicator of cumulative stress (being correlated to abundance and condition), but the specific pressure(s) could not be identified. This provides justification for further inquiry into the effect of other pressures (e.g. nutrients and flood plume exposure), other biological processes (e.g. reproduction and meadow expansion) and to obtain further data on other species. We also tested the relationship between %cover and biomass, with the aim of developing biomass calibration formulae. Above-ground biomass and %cover was measured in seven mono-specific meadows for four species and four habitat types. Above ground biomass was highly correlated (p<0.001) to % cover, and the correlation was further improved (lower AIC) by factoring canopy height into the calibration. Even after canopy height was included in the calibration, canopy height strongly affected the calibration values and highlighted the importance of habitat/morphology-specific calibration formulae. Further work is required to capture all species and habitat/morphology combinations that are routinely monitored. With further work, these calibration values will enable integration among seagrass monitoring programs including Queensland Ports Seagrass Monitoring Program and GBR historical baseline data

Making Women\u27s Health Connections: Between Researchers and to Resources

The Lamar Soutter Library at the University of Massachusetts Medical School has recently completed the second year of a National Library of Medicine grant funded project; the Women’s Health Resources Dissemination Outreach Project. The goals include assisting women’s health researchers by providing them with access to information and making them more aware of opportunities and available resources. This, ultimately, enables both an improvement in women’s health and the advancement of women in academic medicine. Moreover, by supporting women’s health research and women researchers through the objectives of this project, women researchers build connections, knowledge, and skills. This facilitates meaningful contributions and fosters greater promotion and leadership opportunities for these women. This poster describes the goals, activities, and progress of the project through the completion of the second year. Specific programs and initiatives are highlighted. This includes the multi-year endeavor to build, recruit, and showcase women’s health researchers in a specific collection of eScholarship@UMMS, the library’s institutional repository. Promotion and outreach, of both the project and the resources, was major component of the second year. Additionally, programming was developed that helped researchers better communicate their work to the media and public. Other programs, lessons learned, successes, and future goals are noted

The importance of analysis method for Breeding Bird Survey population trend estimates.

ABSTRACT Population trends from the Breeding Bird Survey are widely used to focus conservation effort toward species thought to be in decline, and to test preliminary hypotheses regarding the causes of these declines. A number of statistical methods have been used to estimate population trends, but there is no consensus as to which is the most reliable. In this paper we quantified differences in trend estimates when different analysis methods were applied to the same subset of Breeding Bird Survey data. We estimated trends for 115 species in British Columbia using three analysis methods: U.S. National Biological Service route regression, Canadian Wildlife Service route regression, and nonparametric rank trends analysis. Overall, the number of species estimated to be declining was similar among the three methods, but the number of statistically significant declines was not similar (15, 8 and 29 respectively). In addition, there were many differences among methods in the trend estimates assigned to individual species. Comparing the two route regression methods, Canadian Wildlife Service estimates had a greater absolute magnitude on average than those of the U.S. National Biological Service method. U.S. National Biological Service estimates were on average more positive than Canadian Wildlife Service estimates when the respective agencies data selection criteria were applied separately. These results imply that our ability to detect population declines, and to prioritize species of conservation concern are strongly dependent upon the analysis method used. This highlights the need for further research to determine how best to extract accurate trends from the data. We suggest a method for evaluating the performance of the analysis methods by using simulated Breeding Bird Survey data. THOMAS AND MARTIN BBS ANALYSIS METHODS

Health Related Web Site Usage by Persons with Serious Mental Illness: Design and Use of a Heath Literacy Survey Tool

Objectives: A health literacy focused web site review survey was designed as an initial step in a multi-institutional project to build a website for persons with serious mental illness to help them better understand issues relating to their physical health. This presentation will describe the design, testing, implementation and results of this survey tool. Methods: The literature shows that persons with serious mental illness (SMI) approach the use of online health information differently than the general population. In 2015, the University of Massachusetts, in collaboration with other academic medical institutions, received a grant to build a new website for persons with SMI that will teach them how to find high quality online health information and will specifically guide them to information about their physical health. As a first step, the project team created a health literacy based survey tool to evaluate current health websites for their utility with an SMI audience. The survey was designed using and building upon an existing validated instrument. It was administered to experts on mental and physical disease. Results will be used to determine quality indicators of the new site and to selected sites to which it will link. Results: 13 reviewers were identified to complete the survey. Four of the identified participants did not complete the task and others were identified to take their places. Ten participants ultimately completed the surveys. Participants were asked to review between four and five websites focusing on four different topics – cardiovascular health, diabetes, obesity and smoking – all comorbidities with prevalence in the SMI community. The websites were chosen based on Google searches that were performed using examples of layperson searches observed in preliminary focus group activities. The top five non-advertiser-supported sites were included. The survey consisted of 61 questions. The questions were developed using existing open access survey tools (e.g., the DISCERN instrument) and findings on website usage by people with SMI that were discovered in the existing literature. Questions focused on format, navigation, usability and credibility of the sites. Questions were also asked about any etiologic, diagnostic, therapeutic or prognostic information contained in the sites. 65 responses were received. Conclusion: Results of the survey demonstrated a sampling of health websites that met the criteria for effective use with an SMI population. The authors believe that this survey could also be adapted and used as a general comprehensive health website evaluation tool. It will be made available as an open access document

The Development of a Standardized Tool to Evaluate Physical Health Websites through the Lens of Persons with Serious Mental Illness

In 2015, the Lamar Soutter Library and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School received a grant from the National Library of Medicine to design an online tool that will provide persons with serious mental illness a means to acquire resources that will assist them in learning about co-morbidities often faced by this population. One of the first steps in creating this tool is to identify health-related websites that will meet strict quality measures applicable for use by our target audience. To facilitate this process, subject experts with skills in both mental health and physical health have been identified and will be asked to complete a comprehensive survey that will evaluate the identified websites. The survey will address aspects of each website reviewed such as content and credibility, format, usability and interactivity plus the evaluation of etiologic, diagnostic, therapeutic and/or prognostic information contained on the site. This poster will describe the evidence-based methodology used in developing and testing this survey instrument. Preliminary results, discussion of evaluative data and next steps will also be discussed

'Online' geriatric assessment procedure for older adults referred for geriatric assessment during an acute care episode for consideration of reliability of triage decisions

Background Comprehensive geriatric assessment has been shown to improve patient outcomes, but the geriatricians who deliver it are in short-supply. A web-based method of comprehensive geriatric assessment has been developed with the potential to improve access to specialist geriatric expertise. The current study aims to test the reliability and safety of comprehensive geriatric assessment performed “online” in making geriatric triage decisions. It will also explore the accuracy of the procedure in identifying common geriatric syndromes, and its cost relative to conventional “live” consultations. Methods/Design The study population will consist of 270 acutely hospitalized patients referred for geriatric consultation at three sites. Paired assessments (live and online) will be conducted by independent, blinded geriatricians and the level of agreement examined. This will be compared with the level of agreement between two independent, blinded geriatricians each consulting with the patient in person (i.e. “live”). Agreement between the triage decision from live-live assessments and between the triage decision from live-online assessments will be calculated using kappa statistics. Agreement between the online and live detection of common geriatric syndromes will also be assessed using kappa statistics. Resource use data will be collected for online and live-live assessments to allow comparison between the two procedures. Discussion If the online approach is found to be less precise than live assessment, further analysis will seek to identify patient subgroups where disagreement is more likely. This may enable a protocol to be developed that avoids unsafe clinical decisions at a distance. Trial registration Trial registration number: ACTRN1261100093692