A comparison of the mating behavior of adolescent and adult female rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta )

This study compares adult and adolescent female rhesus macaques with regard to (1) characteristics of their copulatory partners, (2) their proceptive behaviors, and (3) adult male behaviors toward them during estrus. We conducted focal follows of 24 adolescent and 65 adult free-ranging estrous female rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago during two mating seasons. Compared to adult females, adolescents presented sexually to males at higher rates; copulated more frequently with rankless young male, and extra-group males; and, in one of two mating seasons, were ignored more frequently by males to whom they presented sexually. Adolescents tended to copulate with ranked, resident males at higher frequencies on days when the operational sex ratio (adult males:estrous adult females) was high. Males directed “muzzle-up” signals to adolescents at lower rates than to adults in one of two mating seasons, although this effect vanished when males who might have fathered adolescent females were excluded from analysis. Adolescents did not differ consistently from adults in strength of the correlation between proximity maintenance (dyadic Hinde's Index) and copulation rate, or in approach rate to males. Adolescent females, relative to adult females, presented sexually more to rankless young males, but did not present more to ranked, resident males. Both proximate (e.g. endocrine) and ultimate (e.g. differential fecundity; female-female mate competition) explanations may account for the reported differences between adult and adolescent female rhesus macaque sexuality.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41612/1/10329_2006_Article_BF02381913.pd

Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of premenstrual syndrome in a prospective cohort study

Background: Moderate to severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS) affects 8–20 percent of premenopausal women. Previous studies suggest that high dietary vitamin D intake may reduce risk. However, vitamin D status is influenced by both dietary vitamin D intake and sunlight exposure and the association of vitamin D status with PMS remains unclear. Methods: We assessed the relation of plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), total calcium and parathyroid hormone levels with risk of PMS and specific menstrual symptoms in a case–control study nested within the prospective Nurses’ Health Study II. Cases were 401 women free from PMS at baseline who developed PMS during follow-up (1991–2005). Controls were women not experiencing PMS (1991–2005), matched 1:1 with cases on age and other factors. Timed luteal phase blood samples were collected between 1996 and 1999 from cases and controls. We used conditional logistic regression to model the relation of 25OHD levels with risk of PMS and individual menstrual symptoms. Results: In analyses of all cases and controls, 25OHD levels were not associated with risk of PMS. However, results differed when the timing of blood collection vs. PMS diagnosis was considered. Among cases who had already been diagnosed with PMS at the time of blood collection (n = 279), 25OHD levels were positively associated with PMS, with each 10 nmol/L change in 25OHD associated with a 13% higher risk. Among cases who developed PMS after blood collection (n = 123), 25OHD levels were unrelated to risk of PMS overall, but inversely related to risk of specific menstrual symptoms. For example, each 10 nmol/L increase was associated with a significant 21% lower risk of breast tenderness (P = 0.02). Total calcium or parathyroid hormone levels were unrelated to PMS. Conclusions: 25OHD levels were not associated with overall risk of PMS. The positive association observed among women already experiencing PMS at the time of 25OHD measurement is likely due to confounding by indication related to use of dietary supplements to treat menstrual symptoms. Results from prospective analyses, which were less likely influenced by this bias, suggest that higher 25OHD levels may be inversely related to the development of specific menstrual symptoms

Simulating tidal and storm surge hydraulics with a simple 2D inertia based model, in the Humber Estuary, U.K

The hydraulic modelling of tidal estuarine environments has been largely limited to complex 3D models that are computationally expensive. This makes them unsuitable for applications which make use of live data to make real/near time forecasts, such as the modelling of storm surge propagation and associated flood inundation risks. To address this requirement for a computationally efficient method a reduced complexity, depth-integrated 2D storage cell model (Lisflood-FP) has been applied to the Humber Estuary, UK. The capability of Lisflood-FP to reproduce the tidal heights of the Humber Estuary has been shown by comparing modelled and observed tidal stage heights over a period of a week. The feasibility of using the Lisflood-FP model to forecast flood inundation risk from a storm surge is demonstrated by reproducing the major storm surge that struck the UK East Coast and Humber Estuary on 5 December 2013. Results show that even for this 2013 extreme event the model is capable of reproducing the hydraulics and tidal levels of the estuary. Using present day flood defences and observed flooding extents, the modelled flood inundation areas produced by the model were compared, showing agreement in most areas and illustrating the model's potential as a now-casting early warning system when driven by publically available data, and in near real-time. The Lisflood-FP model used was incorporated into the CAESAR-Lisflood GUI, with the calibration and verification of the estuarine hydraulics reported herein being a key step in creating an estuary evolution model, capable of operating in the decadal to century timescales that are presently underrepresented in estuarine predictive capability, and ultimately developing a model to predict the evolution of flood risk over the longer term

Gravity wave characteristics in the mesopause region revealed from OH airglow imager observations over Northern Colorado

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2014. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics 119 (2014): 630-645, doi:10.1002/2013JA018955.Using 5 years of all-sky OH airglow imager data over Yucca Ridge Field Station, CO (40.7°N, 104.9°W), from September 2003 to September 2008, we extract and deduce quasi-monochromatic gravity wave (GW) characteristics in the mesopause region. The intrinsic periods are clustered between approximately 4 and 10 min, and many of them are unstable and evanescent. GW occurrence frequency exhibits a clear semiannual variation with equinoctial minima, which is likely related to the seasonal variation of background wind. The anomalous propagation direction in January 2006, with strong southward before major warming starting in 21 January and weak southward propagation afterward, was most likely affected by stratospheric sudden warming. The momentum fluxes show strongly anticorrelated with the tides, with ~180° out of phase in the zonal component. While in the meridional component, the easterly maximum occurred approximately 2–6 h after maximum easterly tidal wind. However, the anticorrelations are both weakest during the summer. The dissipating and breaking of small-scale and high-frequency GW's components could have a potential impact on the general circulation in the mesopause region.This work was carried out at the University of Science and Technology of China, with support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China grants (41025016, 41127901, 41225017, 41074108, and 41121003), the National Basic Research Program of China grant 2012CB825605, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Research Program KZZD-EW-01, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.2014-07-3

The Coastline Evolution Model 2D (CEM2D) V1.1

Coasts are among the most intensely used environments on the planet, but they also present dynamic and unique hazards, including flooding and erosion. Sea level rise and changing wave climates will alter patterns of erosion and deposition, but some existing coastline evolution models are unable to simulate these effects due to their one-dimensional representation of the systems or the sediment transport processes. In this paper, the development and application of the Coastline Evolution Model 2D (CEM2D) are presented, a model which incorporates these influences. The model has been developed from the established CEM and is capable of simulating fundamental cause–effect relationships in coastal systems. The two-dimensional storage and transport of sediment in CEM2D, which are only done in one-dimension in CEM, mean it is also capable of exploring the influence of a variable water level on sediment transport and the formation and evolution of morphological features and landforms at the mesoscale. The model sits between one-dimensional and three-dimensional models, with the advantage of increased complexity and detail in model outputs compared to the former but with more efficiency and less computational expense than the latter

Vitamin D Status Is Not Associated with Risk of Early Menopause

Background: Early natural menopause, the cessation of ovarian function before age 45 y, is positively associated with cardiovascular disease and other conditions. Dietary vitamin D intake has been inversely associated with early menopause; however, no previous studies have evaluated risk with regard to plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations. Objective: We prospectively evaluated associations of total and free 25(OH)D and vitamin D–binding protein (VDBP) concentrations and the risk of early menopause in a case-control study nested within the Nurses’ Health Study II (NHS2). We also considered associations of 25(OH)D and VDBP with anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentrations. Methods: The NHS2 is a prospective study in 116,430 nurses, aged 25–42 y at baseline (1989). Premenopausal plasma blood samples were collected between 1996 and 1999, from which total 25(OH)D and VDBP concentrations were measured and free 25(OH)D concentrations were calculated. Cases experienced menopause between blood collection and age 45 y (n = 328) and were matched 1:1 by age and other factors to controls who experienced menopause after age 48 y (n = 328). Conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate ORs and 95% CIs for early menopause according to each biomarker. Generalized linear models were used to estimate AMH geometric means according to each biomarker. Results: After adjusting for smoking and other factors, total and free 25(OH)D were not associated with early menopause. Quartile 4 compared with quartile 1 ORs were 1.04 (95% CI: 0.60, 1.81) for total 25(OH)D and 0.70 (95% CI: 0.41, 1.20) for free 25(OH)D. 25(OH)D was unrelated to AMH concentrations. VDBP was positively associated with early menopause; the OR comparing the highest with the lowest quartile of VDBP was 1.80 (95% CI: 1.09, 2.98). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that total and free 25(OH)D are not importantly related to the risk of early menopause. VDBP may be associated with increased risk, but replication is warranted

Resting heart rate as a low tech predictor of coronary events in women: prospective cohort study

Objective To evaluate resting heart rate as an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk in women

“Are we talking just a bit of water out of bank? Or is it Armageddon?” Front line perspectives on transitioning to probabilistic fluvial flood forecasts in England

Abstract. The inclusion of uncertainty in flood forecasts is a recent, important yet challenging endeavour. In the chaotic and far from certain world we live in, probabilistic estimates of potential future floods are vital. By showing the uncertainty surrounding a prediction, probabilistic forecasts can give an earlier indication of potential future floods, increasing the amount of time we have to prepare. In practice, making a binary decision based on probabilistic information is challenging. The Environment Agency (EA), responsible for managing risks of flooding in England, is in the process of a transition to probabilistic fluvial flood forecasts. A series of interviews were carried out with EA decision-makers (i.e. duty officers) to understand how this transition might affect their decision-making activities. The interviews highlight the complex and evolving landscape (made of alternative hard scientific facts and soft values) in which EA duty officers operate, where forecasts play an integral role in decision-making. While EA duty officers already account for uncertainty and communicate their confidence in the system they use, they view the transition to probabilistic flood forecasts as both an opportunity and a challenge in practice. Based on the interview results, recommendations are made to the EA to ensure a successful transition to probabilistic forecasts for flood early warning in England. We believe that this paper is of wide interest for a range of sectors at the intersection between geoscience and society. A glossary of technical terms is highlighted by asterisks in the text and included in Appendix A