2,859 research outputs found
Habitat Quality Influences Migratory Strategy of Female White Tailed Deer
Partial migration is a life history strategy that is common for ungulate species living in seasonal environments. One factor that influences the decision to migrate by ungulates is access to high quality habitat. We evaluated the influence of access to winter habitat of high quality on the probability of an individual migrating, seasonal habitat use between and within migratory and resident classes of deer, and the effects of this decision on the survival of female white-tailed deer. We radio-collared 67 female white-tailed deer (Odocoileu virginianus) in 2012 and 2013. The odds of being a migrant increased as home range size increased and decreased as proportion of cropland within home range in winter increased. The habitat with the highest relative probability of use in winter for residents was pasture (1.00, SD = 0.01) and for migrants was riparian (0.73, SD = 0.39). In summer both groups had the highest relative probability of using pasture (resident = 0.96, SD = 0.15; migrant = 0.99, SD = 0.08). We integrated the migration probability and survival models to estimate annual and seasonal survival rates of migrants and residents. We found no difference between the annual and seasonal rates of survival for the different migration strategies. Our results indicate that access to habitat of high quality may be a strong influence on a female white-tailed deer’s decision to migrate. We suggest the presence of partial migration in a population may be a response to competition for high quality habitat
A Flexible Inventory of Survey Items for Environmental Concepts Generated via Special Attention to Content Validity and Item Response Theory
We demonstrate how many important measures of belief about the environmental suffer from poor content validity and inadequate conceptual breadth (dimensionality). We used scholarship in environmental science and philosophy to propose a list of 13 environmental concepts that can be held as beliefs. After precisely articulating the concepts, we developed 85 trial survey items that emphasized content validity for each concept. The concepts’ breadth and the items’ content validity were aided by scrutiny from 17 knowledgeable critics. We administered the trial items to 449 residents of the United States and used item response theory to reduce the 85 trial items to smaller sets of items for use when survey brevity is required. The reduced sets offered good predictive ability for two environmental attitudes (R2 = 0.42 and 0.46) and indices of pro-environmental behavior (PEB, R2 = 0.23) and behavioral intention (R2 = 0.25). The predictive results were highly interpretable, owing to their robust content validity. For example, PEB was predicted by the degree to which one believes nature to be sacred, but not by the degree of one’s non-anthropocentrism. Concepts with the greatest overall predictive ability were Sacredness and Hope. Belief in non-anthropocentrism had little predictive ability for all four response variables—a claim that previously could not have been made given the widespread poverty of content validity for items representing non-anthropocentrism in existing instruments. The approach described here is especially amenable to incremental improvement, as other researchers propose more informative survey items and potentially important concepts of environmental beliefs we overlooked
Creating Structure in Web Archives With Collections: Different Concepts From Web Archivists
As web archives' holdings grow, archivists subdivide them into collections so
they are easier to understand and manage. In this work, we review the
collection structures of eight web archive platforms: : Archive-It, Conifer,
the Croatian Web Archive (HAW), the Internet Archive's user account web
archives, Library of Congress (LC), PANDORA, Trove, and the UK Web Archive
(UKWA). We note a plethora of different approaches to web archive collection
structures. Some web archive collections support sub-collections and some
permit embargoes. Curatorial decisions may be attributed to a single
organization or many. Archived web pages are known by many names: mementos,
copies, captures, or snapshots. Some platforms restrict a memento to a single
collection and others allow mementos to cross collections. Knowledge of
collection structures has implications for many different applications and
users. Visitors will need to understand how to navigate collections. Future
archivists will need to understand what options are available for designing
collections. Platform designers need it to know what possibilities exist. The
developers of tools that consume collections need to understand collection
structures so they can meet the needs of their users.Comment: 5 figures, 16 pages, accepted for publication at TPDL 202
A VSA search for the extended Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect in the Corona Borealis Supercluster
We present interferometric imaging at 33 GHz of the Corona Borealis
supercluster, using the extended configuration of the Very Small Array. A total
area of 24 deg^2 has been imaged, with an angular resolution of 11 arcmin and a
sensitivity of 12 mJy/beam. The aim of these observations is to search for
Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) detections from known clusters of galaxies in this
supercluster and for a possible extended SZ decrement due to diffuse warm/hot
gas in the intercluster medium. We measure negative flux values in the
positions of the ten richest clusters in the region. Collectively, this implies
a 3.0-sigma detection of the SZ effect. In the clusters A2061 and A2065 we find
decrements of approximately 2-sigma. Our main result is the detection of two
strong and resolved negative features at -70+-12 mJy/beam (-157+-27 microK) and
-103+-10 mJy/beam (-230+-23 microK), respectively, located in a region with no
known clusters, near the centre of the supercluster. We discuss their possible
origins in terms of primordial CMB anisotropies and/or SZ signals related to
either unknown clusters or to a diffuse extended warm/hot gas distribution. Our
analyses have revealed that a primordial CMB fluctuation is a plausible
explanation for the weaker feature (probability of 37.82%). For the stronger
one, neither primordial CMB (probability of 0.33%) nor SZ can account alone for
its size and total intensity. The most reasonable explanation, then, is a
combination of both primordial CMB and SZ signal. Finally, we explore what
characteristics would be required for a filamentary structure consisting of
warm/hot diffuse gas in order to produce a significant contribution to such a
spot taking into account the constraints set by X-ray data.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures. Accepted in MNRA
Striosome–dendron bouquets highlight a unique striatonigral circuit targeting dopamine-containing neurons
The dopamine systems of the brain powerfully influence movement and motivation. We demonstrate that striatonigral fibers originating in striosomes form highly unusual bouquet-like arborizations that target bundles of ventrally extending dopamine-containing dendrites and clusters of their parent nigral cell bodies. Retrograde tracing showed that these clustered cell bodies in turn project to the striatum as part of the classic nigrostriatal pathway. Thus, these striosome-dendron formations, here termed "striosome-dendron bouquets," likely represent subsystems with the nigro-striato-nigral loop that are affected in human disorders including Parkinson's disease. Within the bouquets, expansion microscopy resolved many individual striosomal fibers tightly intertwined with the dopamine-containing dendrites and also with afferents labeled by glutamatergic, GABAergic, and cholinergic markers and markers for astrocytic cells and fibers and connexin 43 puncta. We suggest that the striosome-dendron bouquets form specialized integrative units within the dopamine-containing nigral system. Given evidence that striosomes receive input from cortical regions related to the control of mood and motivation and that they link functionally to reinforcement and decision-making, the striosome-dendron bouquets could be critical to dopamine-related function in health and disease
PneuMum: Impact from a randomised controlled trial of maternal 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination on middle ear disease amongst Indigenous infants, Northern Territory, Australia
BackgroundWe assessed maternal 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide (23vPPV) vaccine efficacy (VE) against middle ear disease and pneumococcal carriage amongst Australian Indigenous infants.MethodsIn an open label, allocation concealed, outcome-assessor blinded, community stratified, randomised controlled trial, healthy pregnant Indigenous women aged 17–39 years in the Northern Territory of Australia received the 23vPPV (1:1:1) at: 30–36 weeks gestation, birth, or were unvaccinated (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00714064). Co-primary outcomes were the point prevalences of infant middle ear disease and 23vPPV-type carriage at age 7 months.ResultsThe consent rate was 50% (313/632). Among 227 eligible participants randomised, retention rates were 86% (66/77) controls; 89% (67/75) pregnancy vaccinees; 88% (66/75) birth vaccinees. At infant age 7 months, ear disease prevalence was: 71% (47/66) controls, 63% (42/67) pregnancy vaccinees, 76% (50/66) birth vaccinees; and 23vPPV-type carriage was: 26% (17/66) controls, 18% (12/67) pregnancy vaccinees, 18% (12/66) birth vaccinees. For pregnancy vaccinees, VE was 12% (95% CI −12% to 31%) against infant ear disease and 30% (95% CI −34% to 64%) against 23vPPV-type carriage. In a post-hoc analysis, VE against infant ear disease concurrent with carriage of 23vPPV or related types was 51% (95% CI −2% to 76%). There were no serious adverse effects following receipt of the 23vPPV in pregnancy or at birth.ConclusionsIn a high risk population, our study was unable to demonstrate efficacy of 23vPPV in pregnancy against the co-primary outcomes of either all-cause infant ear disease or 23vPPV-type nasopharyngeal carriage at age 7 months. Efficacy against ear disease concurrent with carriage of vaccine-related serotypes (a more specific outcome) suggests 23vPPV in pregnancy may complement childhood pneumococcal vaccination programs
Effectiveness of Ledipasvir-Sofosbuvir Combination in Patients With Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Factors Associated With Sustained Virologic Response
The combination of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir has been approved for treatment of genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, including an 8-week regimen for treatment-naĂŻve patients without cirrhosis and a baseline level of HCV RNA <6 million IU/mL. We analyzed data from a multicenter, prospective, observational study to determine real-world sustained virologic responses 12 weeks after treatment (SVR12) with regimens containing ledipasvir and sofosbuvir and identify factors associated with treatment failure
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