A Sonic Net Excludes Birds from an Airfield: Implications for Reducing Bird Strike and Crop Losses

Collisions between birds and aircraft cause billions of dollars of damages annually to civil, commercial, and military aviation. Yet technology to reduce bird strike is not generally effective, especially over longer time periods. Previous information from our lab indicated that filling an area with acoustic noise, which masks important communication channels for birds, can displace European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) from food sources. Here we deployed a spatially controlled noise (termed a “sonic net”), designed to overlap with the frequency range of bird vocalizations, at an airfield. By conducting point counts, we monitored the presence of birds for four weeks before deployment of our sonic net, and for four weeks during deployment. We found an 82% reduction in bird presence in the sonic net area compared with change in the reference areas. This effect was as strong in the fourth week of exposure as in the first week. We also calculated the potential costs avoided resulting from this exclusion. We propose that spatially controlled acoustic manipulations that mask auditory communication for birds may be an effective long term and fairly benign way of excluding problem birds from areas of socioeconomic importance, such as airfields, agricultural sites, and commercial properties

A Sonic Net Excludes Birds from an Airfield: Implications for Reducing Bird Strike and Crop Losses

Collisions between birds and aircraft cause billions of dollars of damages annually to civil, commercial, and military aviation. Yet technology to reduce bird strike is not generally effective, especially over longer time periods. Previous information from our lab indicated that filling an area with acoustic noise, which masks important communication channels for birds, can displace European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) from food sources. Here we deployed a spatially controlled noise (termed a “sonic net”), designed to overlap with the frequency range of bird vocalizations, at an airfield. By conducting point counts, we monitored the presence of birds for four weeks before deployment of our sonic net, and for four weeks during deployment. We found an 82% reduction in bird presence in the sonic net area compared with change in the reference areas. This effect was as strong in the fourth week of exposure as in the first week. We also calculated the potential costs avoided resulting from this exclusion. We propose that spatially controlled acoustic manipulations that mask auditory communication for birds may be an effective long term and fairly benign way of excluding problem birds from areas of socioeconomic importance, such as airfields, agricultural sites, and commercial properties

A randomized, controlled trial to assess a novel colorectal cancer screening strategy: the conversion strategy

Our study was a randomized, controlled trial to assess a novel strategy that provides comprehensive colorectal cancer screening in a single visit versus traditional sigmoidoscopy and, where appropriate, colonoscopy on a subsequent day. METHODS : Consecutive patients referred for screening were randomized to control or so-called “conversion” groups. Patients in the control group were prepared for sigmoidoscopy with oral phospho-soda. Those with an abnormal sigmoidoscopy were scheduled for colonoscopy on a future day after oral polyethylene glycol preparation. In the conversion group, patients were prepared with oral phospho-soda. Patients with a polyp >5 mm or multiple diminutive polyps were converted from sigmoidoscopy to colonoscopy, allowing comprehensive screening in a single visit. Clinical outcomes were assessed by postprocedure physician and patient questionnaires. RESULTS : Two hundred thirty-five patients were randomized (control = 121, conversion = 114). In the control group, 28% had an indication for colonoscopy. Three of 33 (9%) with an abnormal sigmoidoscopy did not return for colonoscopy. At colonoscopy, 27% had a proximal adenoma. In the conversion group, 28% had an abnormal sigmoidoscopy and underwent conversion to colonoscopy. Forty-one percent undergoing colonoscopy in the conversion group had a proximal adenoma. Physicians reported no differences in preparation or procedure difficulty, whereas patients reported no differences in the level of comfort or overall satisfaction between groups. When queried regarding preferences for future screening, 96% chose the conversion strategy. CONCLUSIONS : The conversion strategy led to similar outcomes compared to traditional screening while improving compliance with colonoscopy in patients with an abnormal sigmoidoscopy.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73097/1/j.1572-0241.2000.02231.x.pd

ATLAST detector needs for direct spectroscopic biosignature characterization in the visible and near-IR

Are we alone? Answering this ageless question will be a major focus for astrophysics in coming decades. Our tools will include unprecedentedly large UV-Optical-IR space telescopes working with advanced coronagraphs and starshades. Yet, these facilities will not live up to their full potential without better detectors than we have today. To inform detector development, this paper provides an overview of visible and near-IR (VISIR; $\lambda=0.4-1.8~\mu\textrm{m}$) detector needs for the Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST), specifically for spectroscopic characterization of atmospheric biosignature gasses. We also provide a brief status update on some promising detector technologies for meeting these needs in the context of a passively cooled ATLAST.Comment: 8 pages, Presented 9 August 2015 at SPIE Optics + Photonics, San Diego, C

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor

The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is a four telescope array designed to characterize relic primordial gravitational waves from inflation and the optical depth to reionization through a measurement of the polarized cosmic microwave background (CMB) on the largest angular scales. The frequencies of the four CLASS telescopes, one at 38 GHz, two at 93 GHz, and one dichroic system at 145/217 GHz, are chosen to avoid spectral regions of high atmospheric emission and span the minimum of the polarized Galactic foregrounds: synchrotron emission at lower frequencies and dust emission at higher frequencies. Low-noise transition edge sensor detectors and a rapid front-end polarization modulator provide a unique combination of high sensitivity, stability, and control of systematics. The CLASS site, at 5200 m in the Chilean Atacama desert, allows for daily mapping of up to 70\% of the sky and enables the characterization of CMB polarization at the largest angular scales. Using this combination of a broad frequency range, large sky coverage, control over systematics, and high sensitivity, CLASS will observe the reionization and recombination peaks of the CMB E- and B-mode power spectra. CLASS will make a cosmic variance limited measurement of the optical depth to reionization and will measure or place upper limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r$, down to a level of 0.01 (95\% C.L.)

Advancing animal tuberculosis surveillance using culture-independent long-read whole-genome sequencing

Animal tuberculosis is a significant infectious disease affecting both livestock and wildlife populations worldwide. Effective disease surveillance and characterization of Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) strains are essential for understanding transmission dynamics and implementing control measures. Currently, sequencing of genomic information has relied on culture-based methods, which are time-consuming, resource-demanding, and concerning in terms of biosafety. This study explores the use of culture-independent long-read whole-genome sequencing (WGS) for a better understanding of M. bovis epidemiology in African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer). By comparing two sequencing approaches, we evaluated the efficacy of Illumina WGS performed on culture extracts and culture-independent Oxford Nanopore adaptive sampling (NAS). Our objective was to assess the potential of NAS to detect genomic variants without sample culture. In addition, culture-independent amplicon sequencing, targeting mycobacterial-specific housekeeping and full-length 16S rRNA genes, was applied to investigate the presence of microorganisms, including nontuberculous mycobacteria. The sequencing quality obtained from DNA extracted directly from tissues using NAS is comparable to the sequencing quality of reads generated from culture-derived DNA using both NAS and Illumina technologies. We present a new approach that provides complete and accurate genome sequence reconstruction, culture independently, and using an economically affordable technique

Advancing animal tuberculosis surveillance using culture-independent long-read whole-genome sequencing

Acknowledgments Some of the figures (Figures 4–6 and Supplementary Material S1) were generated using BioRender and draw.io, respectively. Funding The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was funded by the Wellcome Foundation (grant #222941/Z/21/Z), the South African Medical Research Council, American Association of Zoo Veterinarians Wild Animal Health Fund [S005651 and S007355], the National Research Foundation South African Research Chair Initiative [grant #86949], and MHM was supported by Wellcome Trust (grant #216634/Z/19/Z). AGL is supported by the EDCTP TESA III network (CSA2020NoE-3104).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Generation and characterisation of Friedreich ataxia YG8R mouse fibroblast and neural stem cell models

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Background: Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease caused by GAA repeat expansion in the first intron of the FXN gene, which encodes frataxin, an essential mitochondrial protein. To further characterise the molecular abnormalities associated with FRDA pathogenesis and to hasten drug screening, the development and use of animal and cellular models is considered essential. Studies of lower organisms have already contributed to understanding FRDA disease pathology, but mammalian cells are more related to FRDA patient cells in physiological terms. Methodology/Principal Findings: We have generated fibroblast cells and neural stem cells (NSCs) from control Y47R mice (9 GAA repeats) and GAA repeat expansion YG8R mice (190+120 GAA repeats). We then differentiated the NSCs in to neurons, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes as confirmed by immunocytochemical analysis of cell specific markers. The three YG8R mouse cell types (fibroblasts, NSCs and differentiated NSCs) exhibit GAA repeat stability, together with reduced expression of frataxin and reduced aconitase activity compared to control Y47R cells. Furthermore, YG8R cells also show increased sensitivity to oxidative stress and downregulation of Pgc-1α and antioxidant gene expression levels, especially Sod2. We also analysed various DNA mismatch repair (MMR) gene expression levels and found that YG8R cells displayed significant reduction in expression of several MMR genes, which may contribute to the GAA repeat stability. Conclusions/Significance: We describe the first fibroblast and NSC models from YG8R FRDA mice and we confirm that the NSCs can be differentiated into neurons and glia. These novel FRDA mouse cell models, which exhibit a FRDA-like cellular and molecular phenotype, will be valuable resources to further study FRDA molecular pathogenesis. They will also provide very useful tools for preclinical testing of frataxin-increasing compounds for FRDA drug therapy, for gene therapy, and as a source of cells for cell therapy testing in FRDA mice. © 2014 Sandi et al

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Power Spectrum at 148 and 218 GHz from the 2008 Southern Survey

We present measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectrum made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope at 148 GHz and 218 GHz, as well as the cross-frequency spectrum between the two channels. Our results clearly show the second through the seventh acoustic peaks in the CMB power spectrum. The measurements of these higher-order peaks provide an additional test of the {\Lambda}CDM cosmological model. At l > 3000, we detect power in excess of the primary anisotropy spectrum of the CMB. At lower multipoles 500 < l < 3000, we find evidence for gravitational lensing of the CMB in the power spectrum at the 2.8{\sigma} level. We also detect a low level of Galactic dust in our maps, which demonstrates that we can recover known faint, diffuse signals.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures. Submitted to ApJ. This paper is a companion to Hajian et al. (2010) and Dunkley et al. (2010