Density- and age-dependent reproduction partially compensates culling efforts of invasive non-native American mink

Management strategies of wildlife species must pay due regard to density dependent changes in vital rates. Knowledge of density dependent relationships is sparse for most species but such knowledge ought to inform adaptive management. Using data from a large-scale, 6 years of control effort of the invasive non-native American mink (Neovison vison) in Scotland, we analysed density dependent changes in reproduction as revealed by placental scar counts in culled females. Control strongly reduced mink density but it varied substantially over time and space, reflecting variation in when control was initiated in each river section. We used hurdle statistical models to simultaneously relate the probability of conception, litter size and female age to prevailing mink density in river sections where the female was culled. Both the probability of conceiving a litter (average 0.81) and litter size (average 5.52 pups) increased as the density of females, but not males, declined. In addition, there was a senescent decline in both components of fecundity, which given culling of mink and subsequent reinvasions, resulted in a younger population, adding further to density dependent compensation in fecundity. There was no evidence of depensation, even at the lowest density. The predicted combined impact of changes in density and age structure could lead to an increase in fecundity of up to 2.1 pups per female occupying or reinvading the controlled area. Control strategies must be sufficiently adaptable and robust in order to overcome this compensation and suppress densities of mink and other invasive mammals

Explaining Student Debt Levels at Kansas Universities

Student debt levels in graduates have historically risen each year. As undergraduate students, it is important for us to analyze what factors lead to more or less student debt. Our null hypothesis for our research is that there is no statistical relationship between costs of attendance and average student debt levels. When measuring costs of attendance, we determined that it was best to use tuition and costs as our first independent variable. we also decided to include the average estimated grant or scholarship aid for full-time beginning undergraduate students and the average ACT scores. Average ACT scores are included because higher ACT scores result in more scholarship aid offered by universities. These two explanatory variables help explain the correlation between costs of attendance and student debt

Characteristics and outcomes of people with gout hospitalized due to COVID-19: data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Physician - reported registry

Objective. To describe people with gout who were diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and hospitalized and to characterize their outcomes. Methods. Data on patients with gout hospitalized for COVID-19 between March 12, 2020, and October 25, 2021,were extracted from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance registry. Descriptive statistics were used to describethe demographics, comorbidities, medication exposures, and COVID-19 outcomes including oxygenation or ventilation support and death. Results. One hundred sixty-three patients with gout who developed COVID-19 and were hospitalized were included. The mean age was 63 years, and 85% were male. The majority of the group lived in the Western Pacific Region (35%) and North America (18%). Nearly half (46%) had two or more comorbidities, with hypertension (56%), cardiovascular disease(28%), diabetes mellitus (26%), chronic kidney disease (25%), and obesity (23%) being the most common. Glucocorticoids and colchicine were used pre-COVID-19 in 11% and 12% of the cohort, respectively. Over two thirds (68%) ofthe cohort required supplemental oxygen or ventilatory support during hospitalization. COVID-19-related death wasreported in 16% of the overall cohort, with 73% of deaths documented in people with two or more comorbidities. Conclusion. This cohort of people with gout and COVID-19 who were hospitalized had high frequencies of ventilatory support and death. This suggests that patients with gout who were hospitalized for COVID-19 may be at risk of poor outcomes, perhaps related to known risk factors for poor outcomes, such as age and presence of comorbidity

Impact of an L5 magnetograph on nonpotential solar global magnetic field modeling

We present the first theoretical study to consider what improvement could be obtained in global nonpotential modeling of the solar corona if magnetograph data were available from the L5 Lagrange point, in addition to from the direction of Earth. To consider this, we first carry out a "reference Sun" simulation over two solar cycles. An important property of this simulation is that random bipole emergences are allowed across the entire solar surface at any given time (such as can occur on the Sun). Next we construct two "limited data" simulations, where bipoles are only included when they could be seen from (i) an Earth-based magnetograph and (ii) either Earth- or L5 based magnetographs. The improvement in reproducing the reference Sun simulation when an L5 view is available is quantified through considering global quantities in the limited data simulations. These include surface and polar flux, total magnetic energy, volume electric current, open flux and the number of flux ropes. Results show that when an L5 observational viewpoint is included, the accuracy of the global quantities in the limited data simulations can increase by 26-40%. This clearly shows that a magnetograph at the L5 point could significantly increase the accuracy of global nonpotential modeling and with this the accuracy of future space weather forecasts.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Thermal Protection System with Staggered Joints

The thermal protection system disclosed herein is suitable for use with a spacecraft such as a reentry module or vehicle, where the spacecraft has a convex surface to be protected. An embodiment of the thermal protection system includes a plurality of heat resistant panels, each having an outer surface configured for exposure to atmosphere, an inner surface opposite the outer surface and configured for attachment to the convex surface of the spacecraft, and a joint edge defined between the outer surface and the inner surface. The joint edges of adjacent ones of the heat resistant panels are configured to mate with each other to form staggered joints that run between the peak of the convex surface and the base section of the convex surface

Deserción escolar en los estudiantes del BGU Unidad Educativa Americano 2023

La deserción escolar es un tema de gran importancia que afecta tanto el desarrollo académico y profesional de los estudiantes como el progreso social. Esta investigación se enfoca en analizar el impacto negativo que esta problemática tiene en el bienestar emocional y social de los jóvenes de la unidad educativa americano. El propósito es comprender los factores subyacentes que contribuyen a esta situación, para lo cual se emplea una metodología mixta que combina enfoques cuantitativos y cualitativos. Esto incluye la recopilación de datos estadísticos sobre la deserción escolar en la Unidad Educativa Americano, así como la realización de entrevistas, encuestas y grupos focales con estudiantes, una parte esencial de esta investigación consiste en llevar a cabo encuestas para verificar y analizar las opiniones de los estudiantes. Se encuestó a 103 alumnos de la unidad educativa americano, originarios de la Península de Santa Elena, revelando que 50 mujeres (51%), 41 hombres (41.8%) y 6 personas que pertenecen a la comunidad LGBTIQ+ (6.1%) participaron en el análisis. El objetivo primordial es investigar los factores determinantes de la deserción escolar en la unidad educativa americano en la Península de Santa Elena en 2023, con la finalidad de proporcionar información relevante que permita diseñar estrategias efectivas para reducir la deserción y fomentar la permanencia de los estudiantes en el sistema educativo

Lines pinning lines

A line g is a transversal to a family F of convex polytopes in 3-dimensional space if it intersects every member of F. If, in addition, g is an isolated point of the space of line transversals to F, we say that F is a pinning of g. We show that any minimal pinning of a line by convex polytopes such that no face of a polytope is coplanar with the line has size at most eight. If, in addition, the polytopes are disjoint, then it has size at most six. We completely characterize configurations of disjoint polytopes that form minimal pinnings of a line.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figure

Custos totais no modelo de eficiência das distribuidoras de energia brasileiras: uma análise Total costs in the brazilian efficiency model of energy distribuidors: an analysis

Este artigo analisa a eficiência das distribuidoras de energia elétrica no Brasil, considerando os custos totais. O impacto da inclusão dessa variável é avaliado através de quatro diferentes modelos de eficiência, empregando as metodologias DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) e SFA (Stochastic Frontier Analysis). A aplicação foi conduzida com dados de uma amostra de 60 distribuidoras divididas em dois períodos: 2008 a 2010 para cálculo da fronteira de eficiência e 2011 a 2012 para validação da metodologia. Os resultados mostraram que em média os custos totais estimados pelos métodos de benchmarking foram aproximadamente 7% menores do que o praticado em 2011 e 2012, ou seja, as distribuidoras necessitariam reduzir em média aproximadamente R$ 40 milhões/ano dos seus custos totais.

Mode of commuting to school and its association with physical activity and sedentary habits in young Ecuadorian students

Active commuting to and from school (ACS) could help to increase daily physical activity levels in youth; however, this association remains unknown in Ecuadorian youth. Thus, the aims of this study were (1) to determine the patterns of commuting to and from school and (2) to analyze the associations between ACS, physical activity (PA), and sedentary habits in Ecuadorian youth. A total of 732 students (65.3% males), aged 10–18 years (children = 246, young adolescents = 310, older adolescents = 162) from the central region of Ecuador participated in this study. A self-report questionnaire, including the usual mode and frequency of commuting, distance from home to school (PACO-Questionnaire), and PA and sedentary habits (YAP-Questionnaire), was used. Most of the sample lived ?2 km from school; however, they were mainly passive commuters (96%). The most common mode of commuting was by car (to school = 43.4%, from school = 31.6%; p less than 0.001). Children presented significantly higher scores (0–4) in PA outside school and total PA compared with older adolescents (2.20 ± 0.97 vs. 1.97 ± 0.96; p = 0.013 and 2.30 ± 0.76 vs. 2.09 ± 0.74, p = 0.019, respectively), as well as the lowest scores in sedentary habits (1.51 ± 0.65, p less than 0.001). PA at school and total PA were positively associated with ACS (OR 3.137; 95% CI, 1.918 to 5.131; p less than 0.001, and OR 2.543; 95% CI, 1.428 to 4.527; p = 0.002, respectively). In conclusion, passive modes of transportation were the most frequently used to commute to and from school in young Ecuadorians. PA at school and total PA were positively associated with ACS. Thus, interventions at school setting could be an opportunity to improve PA levels and additionally ACS in youth from the central region of Ecuador. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland