How Much Practical Cure Research Do the Major Type 1 Non-Profits Fund?

This report quantifies the major type 1 non-profits' funding for Practical Cure research. The key finding is that the four major non-profits combined allocated just two cents of every donor dollar to Practical Cure research in 2012. The remaining ninety-eight cents of every donor dollar were used to fund other types of research and non-research activities. This allocation is inconsistent with donors' wish to have Practical Cure research well-funded. The report breaks down the ninety-eight cents of every donor dollar that is not directed to Practical Cure research to evaluate how donor contributions are being used at each of the four non-profits. Suggestions to better align donor interests with how their contributions are spent are also included. In assembling the data, the JDCA examined the abstracts for over 550 individual research project that were funded in 2012. The JDRF and ADA make abstracts for nearly all of their type 1 projects publicly available on their websites. The DRIF and Joslin do not make abstracts for individual research projects publicly available. In the case of the DRIF, the JDCA obtained and reviewed information on their 2012 projects from management and the Diabetes Research Institute. Joslin declined to provide any such information

Nearshore morphology and lithology: Links to framework geology and shoreline change

Despite evidence of the geologic and morphologic complexity of inner shelves worldwide, there is a paucity of observations from the nearshore, inhibiting direct comparison of these factors to coastal change. Using geophysical instruments to characterize the geology of the nearshore, this research focuses on the relationships between nearshore stratigraphy, sediment heterogeneity, shoreface morphology and shoreline behavior. While generally not considered in engineering models of shoreline evolution, these factors influence nearshore processes. Overall, the findings presented highlight the importance of nearshore geology, both at the seafloor and underlying it, in contributing to modem sediment transport processes affecting beaches. Shallow, sub-seafloor geology limits the availability of nearshore sediment available for exchange with the shoreline and is correlated to shoreline change occurring over time scales related to coastal sediment resource management (decades). Shore-oblique sandbars are related to higher volumetric variability in the nearshore and on the beach, whereas traditional shore-parallel sandbars are not. Shorelines adjacent to shore-oblique bars respond to hurricanes and nor\u27easters differently than other regions of shoreline, helping to explain some spatial variability in patterns of shoreline erosion and accretion. Finally, the geologic framework underlying the seafloor is a source of mixed sediments to the modern coastal system. This contribution has implications for the formation and preservation of specific inner shelf morphologies associated with varied sediments. These results further our knowledge of the geologic variability inherent to sandy coastlines and challenge coastal scientists and engineers to represent this natural variability in predictive models of shoreline change to better predict coastal response to rising sea level and storms

Calculating shoreline erosion potential using nearshore stratigraphy and sediment volume: Outer Banks, North Carolina

[1] Despite the acknowledged influence of coastal geological framework on the behavior of beaches and barrier islands and a wealth of geological and bathymetric observations from the inner shelf, quantitatively connecting those observations to shoreline behavior has been difficult. Nearshore geologic and morphologic variability described by recent research is not well represented by conventional geologic parameters, such as mean grain size and shoreface slope, used in most shoreline change models. We propose that total nearshore sediment volume, as calculated to a continuous seismic reflection surface, provides a flexible and robust metric for use in the prediction of shoreline change. This method of determining the volume of sediment in the nearshore accounts for three-dimensional sandbar morphologies and heterogeneous seafloor sediments. The decadal-scale shoreline change rate for northeastern North Carolina is significantly correlated to the volume of sediment in the nearshore when a geologically defined base is used in volume determinations, suggesting that the shallow stratigraphic framework of transgressive coasts is an important influence on decadal shoreline behavior. Nearshore sediment volume was overestimated when an arbitrary depth-constant baseline was used and was not correlated to decadal shoreline change. This implies that a volume metric which accounts for both framework geology and variable seafloor morphology better represents the geologic character of the shoreface and may help to improve existing models of shoreline change. An empirical model of regional shoreline erosion potential demonstrates the importance of incorporating nearshore sediment volume, shallow framework geology, and surface morphology when predicting seasonal to decadal shoreline evolution

Seeing Through Models’ Eyes: Decomposing Latent Representations of Convolutional Networks

“To comprehend inner data representations constructed by convolutional networks” is an ambitious task attracting a constantly growing number of researchers across the globe. The joint effort has led to the broad space of interpretability techniques that roughly fall into two groups: attribution and feature visualization. The former shines the light on “where” the algorithm looks, while the latter reveals “what” the network sees. Combining them into rich interfaces provides new ways to understand convolutional networks and develop deeper intuitions about their complex behavior. In this thesis, two novel techniques are proposed to advance the analyses in the field of interpretability: Latent Factor Attribution (LFA) and Distilled Class Factors Atlas. LFA identifies distinct concepts in the activation tensor using matrix decomposition and estimates their influence on the classification result. Distilled Class Factors Atlas then aggregates these concepts and presents them in an interactive, exploratory interface that makes it possible to see the entire class of images through the model’s eyes by leveraging feature visualization. Both techniques introduced in this thesis extend the holistic view on latent representations of convolutional networks by enabling the collective perspective on the patterns that recur in the activation tensors

Physical and biogeochemical controls on light attenuation in a eutrophic, back-barrier estuary

© The Author(s), 2014. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Biogeosciences 11 (2014): 7193-7205, doi:10.5194/bg-11-7193-2014.Light attenuation is a critical parameter governing the ecological function of shallow estuaries. In these systems primary production is often dominated by benthic macroalgae and seagrass; thus light penetration to the bed is of primary importance. We quantified light attenuation in three seagrass meadows in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, a shallow eutrophic back-barrier estuary; two of the sites were located within designated Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs). We sequentially deployed instrumentation measuring photosynthetically active radiation, chlorophyll a (chl a) fluorescence, dissolved organic matter fluorescence (fDOM; a proxy for colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) absorbance), turbidity, pressure, and water velocity at 10 min intervals over 3-week periods at each site. At the southernmost site, where sediment availability was highest, light attenuation was highest and dominated by turbidity and to a lesser extent chl a and CDOM. At the central site, chl a dominated followed by turbidity and CDOM, and at the northernmost site turbidity and CDOM contributed equally to light attenuation. At a given site, the temporal variability of light attenuation exceeded the difference in median light attenuation between the three sites. Vessel wakes, anecdotally implicated in increasing sediment resuspension, did not contribute to local resuspension within the seagrass beds, though frequent vessel wakes were observed in the channels. With regards to light attenuation and water clarity, physical and biogeochemical variables appear to outweigh any regulation of boat traffic within the ESAs.Funding was provided by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program

TEOLOGIA NEGRA: ENCARNACIÓN Y DIÁSPORA BLACK THEOLOGY: ENCARNATION AND DIASPORA

En el presente artículo, se encontró un desafío a reflexionar sobre una Teología Negra encarnada y diaspórica en la historia. Mi opción es falar desde el mi pueblo, a la nación Guandule, para pensar en las posibilidades de una teología que atraviesa los pueblos indígenas, y por tanto encarnados y diaspóricos. Somos una antigua nación indígena, hijas e hijos de la Madre Tierra, nacimos en Abya Yala, una tierra madura, una tierra vital, una tierra de sangre. Germinamos como flores delicadas y hermosas. Nuestras raíces son profundas y nuestra savia transmitirá a las nuevas generaciones que somos un pueblo libre que canta para no morir en libertad en las montañas de Daggargunyala, la tierra sagrada del Gunadule. la vida en comunidad como fortaleza de inter-relacionarnos y depender uno de otros como expresión de la manifestación de la divinidad en medio de nosotros y nosotras, la metodología en escuchar-orando como acción subversiva que se ve en la danza, como el cuerpo danzante se une al movimiento profético de la Madre Tierra, de la Negra Madre Tierra, como propuesta de liberación

Quantifying thresholds of barrier geomorphic change in a cross-shore sediment-partitioning model

Barrier coasts, including barrier islands, beach-ridge plains, and associated landforms, can assume a broad spectrum of morphologies over multi-decadal scales that reflect conditions of sediment availability, accommodation, and relative sea-level rise. However, the quantitative thresholds of these controls on barrier-system behavior remain largely unexplored, even as modern sea-level rise and anthropogenic modification of sediment availability increasingly reshape the world\u27s sandy coastlines. In this study, we conceptualize barrier coasts as sediment-partitioning frameworks, distributing sand delivered from the shoreface to the subaqueous and subaerial components of the coastal system. Using an idealized morphodynamic model, we explore thresholds of behavioral and morphologic change over decadal to centennial timescales, simulating barrier evolution within quasi-stratigraphic morphological cross sections. Our results indicate a wide diversity of barrier behaviors can be explained by the balance of fluxes delivered to the beach vs. the dune or backbarrier, including previously understudied forms of transgression that allow the subaerial system to continue accumulating sediment during landward migration. Most importantly, our results show that barrier state transitions between progradation, cross-shore amalgamation, aggradation, and transgression are controlled largely through balances within a narrow range of relative sea-level rise and sediment flux. This suggests that, in the face of rising sea levels, subtle changes in sediment fluxes could result in significant changes in barrier morphology. We also demonstrate that modeled barriers with reduced vertical sediment accommodation are highly sensitive to the magnitude and direction of shoreface fluxes. Therefore, natural barriers with limited sediment accommodation could allow for exploration of the future effects of sea-level rise and changing flux magnitudes over a period of years as opposed to the decades required for similar responses in sediment-rich barrier systems. Finally, because our model creates stratigraphy generated under different input parameters, we propose that it could be used in combination with stratigraphic data to hindcast the sensitivity of existing barriers and infer changes in prehistoric morphology, which we anticipate will provide a baseline to assess the reliability of forward modeling predictions

Toxoplasma gondii Induces Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor and Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor Secretion by Human Fibroblasts: Implications for Neutrophil Apoptosis

Human neutrophils are rescued from apoptosis following incubation with once-washed, fibroblast-derived Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites. Both infected and uninfected neutrophils are rescued, implicating a soluble mediator. In this study we investigated the origin and identity of this soluble mediator. Neutrophils were incubated either with purified tachyzoites or with conditioned medium derived from T. gondii-infected human fibroblasts. Conditioned medium was found to be a potent stimulus that delayed neutrophil apoptosis up to 72 h, whereas purified and extensively washed tachyzoites had no effect. Delayed apoptosis correlated with up-regulation of the neutrophil antiapoptotic protein, Mcl-1, and the neutrophil interleukin 3 receptor alpha subunit (IL-3Ralpha), suggesting a role for granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). GM-CSF and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) were measurable in conditioned medium by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Neutralizing antibodies to GM-CSF and G-CSF were additive in abrogating delayed neutrophil apoptosis induced by conditioned medium. Inhibitors of Src family tyrosine kinases, G(i) proteins, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, p44(erk1) and p42(erk2) mitogen-activated protein kinases, and Jak2 kinases partially attenuated the effect of conditioned medium, consistent with a role for G-CSF and/or GM-CSF. Hence, delayed neutrophil apoptosis is mediated by GM-CSF and G-CSF secreted by T. gondii-infected human fibroblasts. This enhanced neutrophil survival may contribute to the robust proinflammatory response elicited in the T. gondii-infected host

Evolution of Mid-Atlantic coastal and back-barrier estuary environments in response to a hurricane : implications for barrier-estuary connectivity

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Estuaries and Coasts 39 (2016): 916-934, doi:10.1007/s12237-015-0057-x.Assessments of coupled barrier island-estuary storm response are rare. Hurricane Sandy made landfall during an investigation in Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor estuary that included water quality monitoring, geomorphologic characterization, and numerical modeling; this provided an opportunity to characterize the storm response of the barrier island-estuary system. Barrier island morphologic response was characterized by significant changes in shoreline position, dune elevation, and beach volume; morphologic changes within the estuary were less dramatic with a net gain of only 200,000 m3 of sediment. When observed, estuarine deposition was adjacent to the back-barrier shoreline or collocated with maximum estuary depths. Estuarine sedimentologic changes correlated well with bed shear stresses derived from numerically simulated storm conditions, suggesting that change is linked to winnowing from elevated storm-related wave-current interactions rather than deposition. Rapid storm-related changes in estuarine water level, turbidity, and salinity were coincident with minima in island and estuarine widths, which may have influenced the location of two barrier island breaches. Barrier-estuary connectivity, or the transport of sediment from barrier island to estuary, was influenced by barrier island land use and width. Coupled assessments like this one provide critical information about storm-related coastal and estuarine sediment transport that may not be evident from investigations that consider only one component of the coastal system.Funding for this project was provided by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the US Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program

Quantification of storm-induced bathymetric change in a back-barrier estuary

© The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Estuaries and Coasts 40 (2017): 22-36, doi:10.1007/s12237-016-0138-5.Geomorphology is a fundamental control on ecological and economic function of estuaries. However, relative to open coasts, there has been little quantification of storm-induced bathymetric change in back-barrier estuaries. Vessel-based and airborne bathymetric mapping can cover large areas quickly, but change detection is difficult because measurement errors can be larger than the actual changes over the storm timescale. We quantified storm-induced bathymetric changes at several locations in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland/Virginia, over the August 2014 to July 2015 period using fixed, downward-looking altimeters and numerical modeling. At sand-dominated shoal sites, measurements showed storm-induced changes on the order of 5 cm, with variability related to stress magnitude and wind direction. Numerical modeling indicates that the predominantly northeasterly wind direction in the fall and winter promotes southwest-directed sediment transport, causing erosion of the northern face of sandy shoals; southwesterly winds in the spring and summer lead to the opposite trend. Our results suggest that storm-induced estuarine bathymetric change magnitudes are often smaller than those detectable with methods such as LiDAR. More precise fixed-sensor methods have the ability to elucidate the geomorphic processes responsible for modulating estuarine bathymetry on the event and seasonal timescale, but are limited spatially. Numerical modeling enables interpretation of broad-scale geomorphic processes and can be used to infer the long-term trajectory of estuarine bathymetric change due to episodic events, when informed by fixed-sensor methods