77 research outputs found
Distribution and Movements of the Teshekpuk Caribou Herd 1990â2005: Prior to Oil and Gas Development
Four caribou (Rangifer tarandus grantii) herds calve on the North Slope of Alaska, three of which have been exposed to little or no resource development. We present 15 years of baseline data on the distribution and movements of 72 satellite-collared and 10 GPS-collared caribou from the Teshekpuk caribou herd (TCH) that have had little to no exposure to oil and gas activities. Fixed-kernel home range analyses of collared caribou revealed that calving grounds were concentrated (i.e., 50% kernel utilization distribution) along the northeastern, eastern, and southeastern shores of Teshekpuk Lake. During the postcalving period, 51% and 35% of caribou moved through two constricted zones to the east and west of Teshekpuk Lake, respectively, and accessed insect-relief habitat along the Beaufort Sea coast. During late summer and early fall, TCH caribou were concentrated to the southeast and southwest of Teshekpuk Lake. Although 65% of the Teshekpuk caribou wintered in two areas on the central coastal plain around the village of Atqasuk and south of Teshekpuk Lake, other TCH animals wintered in a great variety of places, including the Seward Peninsula, the eastern and southern Brooks Range, and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We detected an apparent emigration rate of 6.9%. One male and five female TCH caribou joined the breeding populations of the Western Arctic and Central Arctic herds. TCH caribou traveled an average distance of 2348 ± 190 km annually. Movement rates were at a maximum in midsummer, lowest in winter, and intermediate during spring and fall migrations. Restrictions on oil and gas leasing and surface occupancy have been in place to protect calving, migratory corridors, and insect-relief habitat for the TCH, but these protections are likely to be removed. These data will provide a good baseline that can be used to compare predevelopment distribution and movement patterns of TCH caribou to distribution and movement patterns during and after petroleum development.Quatre hardes de caribous (Rangifer tarandus grantii) vĂȘlent sur la cĂŽte nord de lâAlaska, dont trois de ces hardes ont Ă©tĂ© exposĂ©es Ă peu ou pas dâamĂ©nagement des ressources. Nous prĂ©sentons des donnĂ©es de base Ă©chelonnĂ©es sur 15 ans relativement Ă la rĂ©partition et aux dĂ©placements de 72 caribous dotĂ©s dâun collier Ă©metteur par satellite et de 10 caribous munis dâun collier Ă©metteur GPS de la harde de caribous de Teshekpuk (HCT), caribous qui ont Ă©tĂ© peu ou pas du tout frottĂ©s aux activitĂ©s pĂ©troliĂšres et gaziĂšres. Lâanalyse du noyau fixe des domaines vitaux des caribous Ă collier a rĂ©vĂ©lĂ© que les lieux de vĂȘlage Ă©taient concentrĂ©s (câest-Ă -dire 50 % de la rĂ©partition de lâutilisation du noyau) le long des cĂŽtes nord-est, est et sud-est du lac Teshekpuk. AprĂšs la pĂ©riode de vĂȘlage, 51 pour cent et 35 pour cent des caribous se dĂ©plaçaient au sein de deux zones de constriction Ă lâest et Ă lâouest du lac Teshekpuk, respectivement, et accĂ©daient un habitat oĂč se trouvait moins dâinsectes sur la cĂŽte de la mer de Beaufort. Vers la fin de lâĂ©tĂ© et le dĂ©but de lâautomne, les caribous de la HCT Ă©taient concentrĂ©s au sud-est et au sud-ouest du lac Teshekpuk. Bien que 65 pour cent des caribous de Teshekpuk passaient lâhiver dans deux rĂ©gions de la plaine cĂŽtiĂšre centrale autour du village dâAtqasuk et au sud du lac Teshekpuk, les autres bĂȘtes de la HCT passaient lâhiver dans divers endroits, dont la pĂ©ninsule de Seward, les versants est et sud des montagnes de Brooks et la RĂ©serve faunique nationale de lâArctique. Nous avons dĂ©tectĂ© un taux dâĂ©migration apparent de 6,9 pour cent. Un caribou mĂąle et cinq caribous femelles de la HCT ont rejoint les populations de reproduction des hardes de lâouest et du centre de lâArctique. En moyenne, le caribou de la HCT parcourait une distance de 2348 ± 190 km annuellement. Les taux de dĂ©placement Ă©taient Ă leur point le plus Ă©levĂ© au milieu de lâĂ©tĂ©, tandis quâils Ă©taient Ă leur niveau le plus bas lâhiver et Ă un niveau intermĂ©diaire pendant les migrations du printemps et de lâautomne. Il existe des restrictions en matiĂšre de location et dâoccupation en surface pour le pĂ©trole et le gaz afin de protĂ©ger le vĂȘlage, les corridors de migration et les habitats Ă faible taux dâinsectes pour la HCT, mais il est vraisemblable que ces restrictions soient Ă©liminĂ©es. Ces donnĂ©es fourniront une bonne base pour comparer la rĂ©partition et les dĂ©placements du caribou de la HCT avant la mise en valeur des ressources Ă la rĂ©partition et aux dĂ©placements du caribou de la HCT pendant et aprĂšs la mise en valeur pĂ©troliĂšre
The Ursinus Weekly, May 10, 1973
USGA meets, discusses possible demerit change âą Shakespeare\u27s Shrew tames Thompson-Gay gym tonight âą Randy Cole, a sophomore, will study in Scotland next year âą Buddhis Follies perform at Valley Forge hospital âą IRC, representing India, takes third place in N.Y. âą Editorial: The Food at Ursinus âą Travelin\u27 6 show is a success due to variety of acts and talent âą A memorial to the skipped diploma; A salute to the Good Humor man âą Current events series presents wiretap lecture âą Musical organizations at U.C. in review; Credit hours given âą Tennis enters intercollegiates; Lacrosse places 12 in trials âą Sports buffs\u27 corner âą Ursinus beats Haverford in baseball, 9-2; Bears 5 & 6 âą Letters to the sports editors: Seniors are, for the most part, still alive and well; Who\u27s dying out ?https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1104/thumbnail.jp
CLICK-A: Optical Communication Experiments From a CubeSat Downlink Terminal
The CubeSat Laser Infrared CrosslinK (CLICK) mission is a technology demonstration of low size, weight, and power (SWaP) CubeSat optical communication terminals for downlink and crosslinks. The mission is broken into two phases: CLICK-A, which consists of a downlink terminal hosted in a 3U CubeSat, and CLICK-B/C, which consists of a pair of crosslink terminals each hosted in their own 3U CubeSat. This work focuses on the CLICK-A 1.2U downlink terminal, whose goal was to establish a 10 Mbps link to a low-cost portable 28 cm optical ground station called PorTeL. The terminal communicates with M-ary pulse position modulation (PPM) at 1550 nm using a 200 mW Erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) with a 1.3 mrad FWHM beam divergence. CLICK-A ultimately serves as a risk reduction phase for the CLICK-B/C terminals, with many components first being demonstrated on CLICK-A. CLICK-A was launched to the International Space Station on July 15th, 2022 and was deployed by Nanoracks on September 6th, 2022 into a 51.6° 414 km orbit.
We present the results of experiments performed by the mission with the optical ground station located at MIT Wallace Astrophysical Observatory in Westford, MA. Successful acquisition of an Earth to space 5 mrad FWHM (5 Watts at 976 nm) pointing beacon was demonstrated by the terminal on the second experiment on November 2nd, 2022. First light on the optical ground station tracking camera was established on the third experiment on November 10th, 2022. The optical ground station showed sufficient open, coarse, and fine tracking performance to support links with the terminal with a closed-loop RMS tracking error of 0.053 mrad. Results of three optical downlink experiments that produced beacon tracking results are discussed. These experiments demonstrated that the internal microelectromechanical system (MEMS) fine steering mirror (FSM) corrected for an average blind spacecraft pointing error of 8.494 mrad and maintained an average RMS pointing error of 0.175 mrad after initial blind pointing error correction. With these results, the terminal demonstrated the ability to achieve sufficient fine pointing of the 1.3 mrad FWHM optical communication beam without pointing feedback from the terminal to improve the nominal spacecraft pointing. Spacecraft drag reduction maneuvers were used to extend mission life and inform the mission operations of the CLICK-B/C phase of the mission. Results from the spacecraft drag maneuvers are also presented
Feasibility and Effectiveness of Basic Lymphedema Management in Leogane, Haiti, an Area Endemic for Bancroftian Filariasis
Lymphatic filariasis is a parasitic disease that is spread by mosquitoes. In tropical countries where lymphatic filariasis occurs, approximately 14 million people suffer from chronic swelling of the leg, known as lymphedema. Repeated episodes of bacterial skin infection (acute attacks) cause lymphedema to progress to its disfiguring form, elephantiasis. To help achieve the goal of eliminating lymphatic filariasis globally, the World Health Organization recommends basic lymphedema management, which emphasizes hygiene, skin care, exercise, and leg elevation. Its effectiveness in reducing acute attack frequency, as well as the role of compressive bandaging, have not been adequately evaluated in filariasis-endemic areas. Between 1995 and 1998, we studied 175 people with lymphedema of the leg in Leogane, Haiti. During Phase I of the study, when compression bandaging was used to reduce leg volume, the average acute attack rate was 1.56 episodes per year; it was greater in people who were illiterate and those who used compression bandages. After March 1997, when hygiene and skin care were emphasized and bandaging discouraged, acute attack frequency significantly decreased to 0.48 episodes per year. This study highlights the effectiveness of hygiene and skin care, as well as limitations of compressive bandaging, in managing lymphedema in filariasis-endemic areas
Mechanism of KMT5B haploinsufficiency in neurodevelopment in humans and mice.
Pathogenic variants in KMT5B, a lysine methyltransferase, are associated with global developmental delay, macrocephaly, autism, and congenital anomalies (OMIM# 617788). Given the relatively recent discovery of this disorder, it has not been fully characterized. Deep phenotyping of the largest (n = 43) patient cohort to date identified that hypotonia and congenital heart defects are prominent features that were previously not associated with this syndrome. Both missense variants and putative loss-of-function variants resulted in slow growth in patient-derived cell lines. KMT5B homozygous knockout mice were smaller in size than their wild-type littermates but did not have significantly smaller brains, suggesting relative macrocephaly, also noted as a prominent clinical feature. RNA sequencing of patient lymphoblasts and Kmt5b haploinsufficient mouse brains identified differentially expressed pathways associated with nervous system development and function including axon guidance signaling. Overall, we identified additional pathogenic variants and clinical features in KMT5B-related neurodevelopmental disorder and provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of the disorder using multiple model systems
New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.
Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (PÂ <Â 5Â ĂÂ 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms
Rare and low-frequency coding variants alter human adult height
Height is a highly heritable, classic polygenic trait with ~700 common associated variants identified so far through genome - wide association studies . Here , we report 83 height - associated coding variants with lower minor allele frequenc ies ( range of 0.1 - 4.8% ) and effects of up to 2 16 cm /allele ( e.g. in IHH , STC2 , AR and CRISPLD2 ) , >10 times the average effect of common variants . In functional follow - up studies, rare height - increasing alleles of STC2 (+1 - 2 cm/allele) compromise d proteolytic inhibition of PAPP - A and increased cleavage of IGFBP - 4 in vitro , resulting in higher bioavailability of insulin - like growth factors . The se 83 height - associated variants overlap genes mutated in monogenic growth disorders and highlight new biological candidates ( e.g. ADAMTS3, IL11RA, NOX4 ) and pathways ( e.g . proteoglycan/ glycosaminoglycan synthesis ) involved in growth . Our results demonstrate that sufficiently large sample sizes can uncover rare and low - frequency variants of moderate to large effect associated with polygenic human phenotypes , and that these variants implicate relevant genes and pathways
Heterozygous Variants in KMT2E Cause a Spectrum of Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Epilepsy.
We delineate a KMT2E-related neurodevelopmental disorder on the basis of 38 individuals in 36 families. This study includes 31 distinct heterozygous variants in KMT2E (28 ascertained from Matchmaker Exchange and three previously reported), and four individuals with chromosome 7q22.2-22.23 microdeletions encompassing KMT2E (one previously reported). Almost all variants occurred de novo, and most were truncating. Most affected individuals with protein-truncating variants presented with mild intellectual disability. One-quarter of individuals met criteria for autism. Additional common features include macrocephaly, hypotonia, functional gastrointestinal abnormalities, and a subtle facial gestalt. Epilepsy was present in about one-fifth of individuals with truncating variants and was responsive to treatment with anti-epileptic medications in almost all. More than 70% of the individuals were male, and expressivity was variable by sex; epilepsy was more common in females and autism more common in males. The four individuals with microdeletions encompassing KMT2E generally presented similarly to those with truncating variants, but the degree of developmental delay was greater. The group of four individuals with missense variants in KMT2E presented with the most severe developmental delays. Epilepsy was present in all individuals with missense variants, often manifesting as treatment-resistant infantile epileptic encephalopathy. Microcephaly was also common in this group. Haploinsufficiency versus gain-of-function or dominant-negative effects specific to these missense variants in KMT2E might explain this divergence in phenotype, but requires independent validation. Disruptive variants in KMT2E are an under-recognized cause of neurodevelopmental abnormalities
Sex-stratified Genome-wide Association Studies Including 270,000 Individuals Show Sexual Dimorphism in Genetic Loci for Anthropometric Traits
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