Implications of Spatially Variable Costs and Habitat Conversion Risk in Landscape-Scale Conservation Planning

‘‘Strategic habitat conservation’’ refers to a process used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop cost-efficient strategies for conserving wildlife populations and their habitats. Strategic habitat conservation focuses on resolving uncertainties surrounding habitat conservation to meet specific wildlife population objectives (i.e., targets) and developing tools to guide where conservation actions should be focused on the landscape. Although there are examples of using optimization models to highlight where conservation should be delivered, such methods often do not explicitly account for spatial variation in the costs of conservation actions. Furthermore, many planning approaches assume that habitat protection is a preferred option, but they do not assess its value relative to other actions, such as restoration. We developed a case study to assess the implications of accounting for and ignoring spatial variation in conservation costs in optimizing conservation targets. We included assumptions about habitat loss to determine the extent to which protection or restoration would be necessary to meet an established population target. Our case study focused on optimal placement of grassland protection or restoration actions to influence bobolink Dolichonyx oryzivorus populations in the tallgrass prairie ecoregion of the north central United States. Our results show that not accounting for spatially variable costs doubled or tripled the cost of meeting the population target. Furthermore, our results suggest that one should not assume that protecting existing habitat is always a preferred option. Rather, our results show that the balance between protection and restoration can be influenced by a combination of desired targets, assumptions about habitat loss, and the relative cost of the two actions. Our analysis also points out how difficult it may be to reach targets, given the expense to meet them. We suggest that a full accounting of expected costs and benefits will help to guide development of viable management actions and meaningful conservation plans

Effectiveness of Mandatory Driver Training Programs for Fire Service Drivers

This research attempts to measure the effectiveness of mandatory driver training programs for fire service drivers. Effectiveness is defined by a decrease in the number of crashes per number of runs. Two states were identified for comparison, one with mandatory driver training requirements, Washington State (WA) and the other with no requirements, Pennsylvania (PA). Data was collected from state Department of Transportation (DOT) databases and state National Fire Incident Reporting Systems (NFIRS). A cross-sectional study was conducted to compare raw and adjusted crash rates calculated from state DOT crash numbers and NFPA run numbers. The WA effectiveness rate was then compared to the PA effectiveness rate. There was a significant difference in the raw crash rate (per 100,000 runs) between Pennsylvania (PA) and Washington (WA) for 2003-2012 (t=3.48, p=.01); the raw mean number of crashes per 100,000 runs for PA was 188 (SD=162) while the raw mean number of crashes per 100,000 runs for WA was 10 (SD=2). There was also a significant difference in the adjusted crash rate (per 100,000 runs) between PA and WA for 2003-2012 (t=3.48, p=.01); the adjusted mean number of crashes per 100,000 runs for PA was 65 (SD=35) while the adjusted mean number of crashes per 100,000 runs for WA was 7 (SD=1). These results indicate that mandatory training as implemented through the Emergency Vehicle Accident Prevention (EVAP) program in Washington State was effective at reducing the number of crashes that fire apparatus were involved in over the study period. However, data analysis indicates that the program did not have a long-term impact beyond one or two years following its implementation or re-accreditation. Further, there is consistency of record high crash rates as time elapses following re-accreditation. If this trend continues, then the 2013 re-accreditation will have had a positive impact on the reduction of crash rates in 2013 and possibly into 2014, however a hypothesis can be made that there will be an increase in crash rates beginning in 2015 and beyond until the next re-accreditation occurs. Further studies are necessary to determine a more permanent method of reducing the number of crashes over a longer period of time. Focus should be given to program content that results in consistent and positive driver habits and choices

Relationship Between the Experience of Perceived and Physician Diagnosed Arthritis and the Presence of DSM-IV Criteria-based Major Depression (MDD) Among Older

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to explore both positive screened MDD and the perception of being depressed (P) and the likelihood of either increasing if the patient suffered from arthritis (P/E), either perceived or evaluated by a physician. The study explored the univariate, bivariate, and multivariate relationships between MDD and depression (P) to better describe influencing characteristics and their prevalence, as related to MDD and depression (P). METHODS: The study examined a cross section of patients 65 years and older (n=8,205) within the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NESARC) [2001-02] sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). A multivariate analysis was conducted using SAS Callable SUDAAN to account for the complex design of the study and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of modeling were computed to account for Models 1-4. RESULTS: Those persons age 65 and older who report having arthritis (P/E) were significantly more likely to be suffering from MDD than those who have not reported having an arthritic condition (P/E) [results were positive within Models 2-4]. Those persons age 65 and older who report having arthritis (P/E) were not significantly more likely to be suffering from depression (P) than those who have not reported having an arthritic condition (P/E) [results were negative within Models 2-4]. This creates significant concern, given that each of the multivariate models (2-4) examined arthritis (P/E) while utilizing the same control variables throughout. Further, many of the relationally significant variables in the MDD versus depression (P) models were not the same (Table 4.4 /4.5). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated a significant difference within the senior population between those with arthritis (P/E) and those who have positively screened MDD and depression (P). Seniors with arthritis (P/E) seem to respond differently with regards to positively screened MDD and depression (P). The results demonstrated conclusive evidence that one cannot count on an elderly patient to have a positive perception of depression as it relates to being positively screened for MDD. Further, it would appear that older persons may not disclose whether or not they are depressed in a clinical environment. This becomes important to clinicians and further demonstrated the need for clinically valid assessment measures to ensure preventative measures are being taken to address elderly depression

Injective Modules And Divisible Groups

An R-module M is injective provided that for every R-monomorphism g from R-modules A to B, any R-homomorphism f from A to M can be extended to an R-homomorphism h from B to M such that hg = [equals] f. That is one of several equivalent statements of injective modules that we will be discussing, including concepts dealing with ideals of rings, homomorphism modules, short exact sequences, and splitting sequences. A divisible group G is defined when for every element x of G and every nonzero integer n, there exists y in G such that x = [equals] ny. We will see how these two ideas (injectivity and divisibility) compare with each other in general rings, as well as special ones such as Noetherian, Dedekind, and Semi-simple. Since this thesis is a synopsis, the research gathered is scattered throughout the paper (Head, 1974), (Hungerford, 1974), (Lam, 1999), (Rotman, 1995), (Rotman, 1979), and (Sharpe and Vamos, 1972)

IL-17 can be protective or deleterious in murine pneumococcal pneumonia

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the major bacterial cause of community-acquired pneumonia, and the leading agent of childhood pneumonia deaths worldwide. Nasal colonization is an essential step prior to infection. The cytokine IL-17 protects against such colonization and vaccines that enhance IL-17 responses to pneumococcal colonization are being developed. The role of IL-17 in host defence against pneumonia is not known. To address this issue, we have utilized a murine model of pneumococcal pneumonia in which the gene for the IL-17 cytokine family receptor, Il17ra, has been inactivated. Using this model, we show that IL-17 produced predominantly from γδ T cells protects mice against death from the invasive TIGR4 strain (serotype 4) which expresses a relatively thin capsule. However, in pneumonia produced by two heavily encapsulated strains with low invasive potential (serotypes 3 and 6B), IL-17 significantly enhanced mortality. Neutrophil uptake and killing of the serotype 3 strain was significantly impaired compared to the serotype 4 strain and depletion of neutrophils with antibody enhanced survival of mice infected with the highly encapsulated SRL1 strain. These data strongly suggest that IL-17 mediated neutrophil recruitment to the lungs clears infection from the invasive TIGR4 strain but that lung neutrophils exacerbate disease caused by the highly encapsulated pneumococcal strains. Thus, whilst augmenting IL-17 immune responses against pneumococci may decrease nasal colonization, this may worsen outcome during pneumonia caused by some strains

Reduce, Reuse, Reengineer

Our senior project is a research exploration of renewable energy. We recognized there is a major need in the world for the advancement of green power sources. For our project, we wanted to go beyond what we have learned in our Cal Poly architectural engineering classes and to use some of our own creativity to investigate the possibilities of renewable energy from a structural perspective. The guiding question we asked ourselves was, “as architectural engineering students, how could we shift our world to use more renewable energy?” To start our journey off, was the original inspiration from the work of a German structural engineer named Jörg Schlaich and his design for a renewable power source called solar updraft tower that we touched on in our History of Structures class