Summary of Coral Cay Conservation's habitat mapping data from Utila, Honduras

IIThe coral reefs of Honduras are of vital national and international importance,both ecologically and economically, but are threatened because of rapid economicand population growth.? During work on Utila between 1999 and 2000 (the ?Bay Islands 2000? project),Coral Cay Conservation developed a programme of surveys, training andconservation education aimed at assessing the status of local reefs and improvingenvironmental awareness amongst neighbouring communities.? This summary report provides an overview of the habitat mapping data collectedby the Bay Islands 2000 project.? CASA provided software, hardware and skills, on a charitable basis to ensure thatthe data collected by CCC could be developed into a GIS, not only for mappingthe status of the coral reefs of Honduras, but also to provide analysis of the aerialextent of these reefs.? Data were collected within individual ?study areas?, to facilitate analysis at a rangeof spatial scales, and utilised the CCC standard baseline survey technique for therapid assessment of the characteristics of reef communities. The surveys,therefore, utilised a series of transects, perpendicular to the reef.? Baseline transects discriminated nine benthic and six geomorpholgical classeswhich indicates Utila has a high habitat diversity. Habitat diversity is importantsince the number of habitat types has been shown to be a good representation ofspecies biodiversity.? The nine benthic classes that were distinguished were all relatively coral poorbecause of a suite of relatively long-term local and regional factors, exacerbatedby the combination of Hurricane Mitch and coral bleaching in 1995 and 1998.? Damselfish were the most abundant reef associated fish recorded during baselinetransect surveys. Commercially important fish were less abundant that wouldnormally be expected in unfished systems.? A recurring pattern in the baseline transect data was the greater abundance anddiversity of fish in coral rich classes. However, although the link between fishabundance and coral cover was clear, not all species were necessarily mostabundant in the most coral rich areas.? Invertebrates were generally uncommon, partly because of fishing pressure, andthe abundances of many invertebrate taxa were correlated with coral cover.? A habitat map is presented within this report as an indication of the distribution ofhabitat types around Utila.? Using the map, estimates of areal extents of each benthic class and habitat type areinstructive. For example, there is only approximately 27 km2 of reefal habitatsaround Utila. Furthermore, the area supporting the most coral rich benthic classesis only approximately 4 km2 (15%). These statistics both highlight the damagecaused by the bleaching event and Hurricane Mitch and other anthropogenicimpacts and the need to conserve remaining coral rich areas.? If further reserves were to be created, it would be important to try to protect arange of reef and habitat types. For this reason, it appears that the Turtle HarbourWildlife Refuge is well placed since this areas includes a wide range of habitattypes. However, placement of reserves in Utila should favour relatively coral richhabitats over sand dominated areas.? This study led to six recommendations:Summary Utila habitat mapping reportIII? One or more agencies should collect additional ground-truthing data fromaround Utila to facilitate both classification of currently ?Unknown? polygonsand an accuracy assessment of the map.? Establish an integrated GIS and associated meta-database for Utila, includingdata from the Bay Islands 2000 project.? Examine the potential of using data collected by the Bay Islands 2000 projectas the basis of national habitat classification scheme and subsequent nationalhabitat map.? Continue to aim to establish one or more additional multiple use marineprotected areas around Utila, with an integrated monitoring programme tomeasure their efficacy, and strengthen the enforcement of regulations in theTurtle Harbour Wildlife Sanctuary. Establish regulations, and enforce existinglegislation, to minimise the detrimental effects of coastal development on reefhealth.? Additional marine reserves in Utila should integrate factors such as thepreference of many fish species for coral rich habitats and the protection ofareas incorporating a range of habitat types, including mangroves and seagrassbeds, in order to allow for nursery areas, ontogenetic shifts and species thatrely on non-coral rich habitats. The corollary of the preference of fish speciesfor coral rich habitats is to protect coral cover within the reserves.? The reef on the south coast of Utila appears to be a good candidate forprotection because it is relatively sheltered from storm and hurricane damage

Probing the Super Star Cluster Environment of NGC 1569 Using FISICA

We present near-IR JH spectra of the central regions of the dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 1569 using the Florida Image Slicer for Infrared Cosmology and Astrophysics (FISICA). The dust-penetrating properties and available spectral features of the near-IR, combined with the integral field unit (IFU) capability to take spectra of a field, make FISICA an ideal tool for this work. We use the prominent [He I] (1.083\mu m) and Pa\beta (1.282 \mu m) lines to probe the dense star forming regions as well as characterize the general star forming environment around the super star clusters (SSCs) in NGC 1569. We find [He I] coincident with CO clouds to the north and west of the SSCs, which provides the first, conclusive evidence for embedded star clusters here.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the MNRA

Effect of Irradiation On Nissl Granules In Rat Spinal Cord Neurons - A Pilot Study

Literature concerning the structure and function of Nissl granules and the effect of irradiation on the central nervous system is reviewed. Four groups of rats were irradiated in the lower thoracic spinal region, using doses of 600 r, 900 r, 1200 r, and 4200 r respectively. Higher doses of the irradiation caused depletion of the Nissl granules and other effects on the nerve cells. Increasing chromatolysis was found with increasing doses of irradiation. These findings warrant further study

GGD 37: An Extreme Protostellar Outflow

We present the first Spitzer-IRS spectral maps of the Herbig-Haro flow GGD 37 detected in lines of [Ne III], [O IV], [Ar III], and [Ne v]. The detection of extended [O IV] (55 eV) and some extended emission in [Ne v] (97 eV) indicates a shock temperature in excess of 100,000 K, in agreement with X-ray observations, and a shock speed in excess of 200 km s(-1). The presence of an extended photoionization or collisional ionization region indicates that GGD 37 is a highly unusual protostellar outflow.Jet Propulsion Laboratory, under NASA 1407NASA 1257184Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) 960803University of Rochester 31419-5714Astronom

Active current sheets and hot flow anomalies in Mercury's bow shock

Hot flow anomalies (HFAs) represent a subset of solar wind discontinuities interacting with collisionless bow shocks. They are typically formed when the normal component of motional (convective) electric field points toward the embedded current sheet on at least one of its sides. The core region of an HFA contains hot and highly deflected ion flows and rather low and turbulent magnetic field. In this paper, we report first observations of HFA-like events at Mercury identified over a course of two planetary years. Using data from the orbital phase of the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission, we identify a representative ensemble of active current sheets magnetically connected to Mercury's bow shock. We show that some of these events exhibit unambiguous magnetic and particle signatures of HFAs similar to those observed earlier at other planets, and present their key physical characteristics. Our analysis suggests that Mercury's bow shock does not only mediate the flow of supersonic solar wind plasma but also provides conditions for local particle acceleration and heating as predicted by previous numerical simulations. Together with earlier observations of HFA activity at Earth, Venus and Saturn, our results confirm that hot flow anomalies are a common property of planetary bow shocks, and show that the characteristic size of these events is of the order of one planetary radius.Comment: 39 pages, 15 figures, 2 table

Patterns of Genital Sexual Arousal in Transgender Men

Most men show genital sexual arousal to one preferred gender. Most women show genital arousal to both genders, regardless of their sexual preferences. There is limited knowledge of whether this difference is driven by biological sex or gender identity. Transgender individuals, whose birth sex and gender identity are incongruent, provide a unique opportunity to address this question. We tested whether the genital responses of 25 (female-to-male) transgender men followed their female birth sex or male gender identity. Depending on their surgical status, arousal was assessed with penile gauges or vaginal plethysmographs. Transgender men’s sexual arousal showed both male-typical and female-typical patterns. Across measures, they responded more strongly to their preferred gender than to the other gender, similar to (but not entirely like) 145 cisgender (nontransgender) men. However, they still responded to both genders, similar to 178 cisgender women. In birth-assigned women, both gender identity and biological sex may influence sexual-arousal patterns

Telephone administered cognitive behaviour therapy for treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder: randomised controlled non-inferiority trial

This is a freely-available open access publication. Please cite the published version which is available via the DOI link in this record.To compare the effectiveness of cognitive behaviour therapy delivered by telephone with the same therapy given face to face in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder.NHS Executive North West (Research and Development Fund

Quantitation of CD8+ T Cell Responses to Newly Identified HLA-A*0201–restricted T Cell Epitopes Conserved Among Vaccinia and Variola (Smallpox) Viruses

Immunization with vaccinia virus resulted in long-lasting protection against smallpox and was the approach used to eliminate natural smallpox infections worldwide. Due to the concern about the potential use of smallpox virus as a bioweapon, smallpox vaccination is currently being reintroduced. Severe complications from vaccination were associated with congenital or acquired T cell deficiencies, but not with congenital agammaglobulinemia, suggesting the importance of T cell immunity in recovery from infection. In this report, we identified two CD8+ T cell epitopes restricted by the most common human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I allele, HLA-A*0201. Both epitopes are highly conserved in vaccinia and variola viruses. The frequency of vaccinia-specific CD8+ T cell responses to these epitopes measured by interferon (IFN)-γ enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay and HLA/peptide tetramer staining peaked 2 wk after primary immunization and then declined, but were still detectable 1 to 3 yr after primary immunization. 2 wk after immunization, IFN-γ–producing cells specific to these two epitopes were 14% of total vaccinia virus-specific IFN-γ–producing cells in one donor, 35% in the second donor, and 6% in the third donor. This information will be useful for studies of human T cell memory and for the design and analyses of the immunogenicity of experimental vaccinia vaccines

Efficient Implementation and the Product State Representation of Numbers

The relation between the requirement of efficient implementability and the product state representation of numbers is examined. Numbers are defined to be any model of the axioms of number theory or arithmetic. Efficient implementability (EI) means that the basic arithmetic operations are physically implementable and the space-time and thermodynamic resources needed to carry out the implementations are polynomial in the range of numbers considered. Different models of numbers are described to show the independence of both EI and the product state representation from the axioms. The relation between EI and the product state representation is examined. It is seen that the condition of a product state representation does not imply EI. Arguments used to refute the converse implication, EI implies a product state representation, seem reasonable; but they are not conclusive. Thus this implication remains an open question.Comment: Paragraph in page proof for Phys. Rev. A revise

Upstream Ultra‐Low Frequency Waves Observed by MESSENGER’s Magnetometer: Implications for Particle Acceleration at Mercury’s Bow Shock

We perform the first statistical analysis of the main properties of waves observed in the 0.05–0.41 Hz frequency range in the Hermean foreshock by the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) Magnetometer. Although we find similar polarization properties to the “30 s” waves observed at the Earth’s foreshock, the normalized wave amplitude (δB/|B0|∼0.2) and occurrence rate (∼0.5%) are much smaller. This could be associated with relatively lower backstreaming proton fluxes, the smaller foreshock size and/or less stable solar wind (SW) conditions around Mercury. Furthermore, we estimate that the speed of resonant backstreaming protons in the SW reference frame (likely source for these waves) ranges between 0.95 and 2.6 times the SW speed. The closeness between this range and what is observed at other planetary foreshocks suggests that similar acceleration processes are responsible for this energetic population and might be present in the shocks of exoplanets.Key PointsWe perform the first statistical analysis (4,536 events) of the main properties of the lowest‐frequency waves in the Hermean foreshockSmall normalized wave amplitude (0.2) and occurrence (0.5%) are likely due to low backstreaming proton flux and variable external conditionsThe normalized backstreaming protons speed (∼0.95–2.6) suggests similar acceleration processes occur at several planetary shocksPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155492/1/grl60476.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155492/2/grl60476_am.pd