The application of spatial capture-recapture models to investigate leopard ecology and conservation in South Africa

Population monitoring is essential to wildlife conservation and management. Rare and elusive species are difficult to observe, and hence monitor, in wild populations. Leopards (Panthera pardus) are an iconic and threatened species whose conservation is hampered by a lack of robust population data, in part due to their sparse populations and cryptic nature. I used cameratrap surveys from 27 protected areas in northeastern South Africa to make inferences about the status and conservation needs of leopards. I first evaluated the relationship between leopard density and proportion of area used within protected areas to determine if the latter could serve as a more efficient yet robust proxy for the former. I found that the relationship was too imprecise to be informative, that many populations of varying density used all the space available, and that the scale of individual movement strongly influenced the proportion of area used regardless of density. I then fit multisession spatial capture-recapture models to time series data from seven of these leopard populations to assess their threat level based on the estimated probability of population declines. I found some evidence of decline in six of the seven populations and found that the population at one site has a 75% chance of declining by 80% over three leopard generations. Lastly, I investigated the relative influence of bottom-up ecological factors and top-down anthropogenic factors as possible determinants of leopard density to identify what conditions are most suitable for conserving leopard populations. I found that while habitat and management characteristics of protected areas matter, human impacts around and within protected areas are the primary drivers of variation in leopard density. Based on these analyses, I conclude that South African protected areas are not conferring sufficient protection to leopard populations and that more must be done to mitigate human impacts inside protected areas. I also show that the leopard monitoring program would benefit from longer surveys with more sampling locations to increase the statistical power for detecting changes. This thesis demonstrates the capacity for large-scale monitoring programs to greatly expand our understanding of the conservation needs of a cryptic species

Get Your Shirts At Moody’s! Samuel Nadin Moody: Advertising Genius in New Orleans, 1848 to 1874

Mid-nineteenth century immigrant to New Orleans and businessman, Samuel Nadin Moody, leveraged the tools of the market revolution to pioneer advertisement with innovation and flamboyance to sell men’s clothing, specifically men’s shirts of his own manufacture. Through over saturation of billboards, a massive, sustained, and creative newspaper advertising campaign, and the invention—and careful curation of—a personal brand, Moody thrived in the era’s volatile marketplace. This micro-history peers into this impressive success story enjoyed by a singular individual

Get Your Shirts At Moody’s! Samuel Nadin Moody: Advertising Genius in New Orleans, 1848 to 1874

Mid-nineteenth century immigrant to New Orleans and businessman, Samuel Nadin Moody, leveraged the tools of the market revolution to pioneer advertisement with innovation and flamboyance to sell men’s clothing, specifically men’s shirts of his own manufacture. Through over saturation of billboards, a massive, sustained, and creative newspaper advertising campaign, and the invention—and careful curation of—a personal brand, Moody thrived in the era’s volatile marketplace. This micro-history peers into this impressive success story enjoyed by a singular individual

Moulting phenology of the harbour seal in south-west Ireland

Studies on the phenology of harbour seal moult have been carried out in the Atlantic and Pacific, however there has been no research into this process in the Republic of Ireland, at the southern edge of the species range in the north-east Atlantic. Population estimates of harbour seals are derived by counts primarily during the moulting seasons. In the absence of information on the moult phenology planning the optimal timing of such surveys is impossible. Furthermore, changes in moult phenology may reflect changes in resource availability or competition, or demographic changes. The phenology of the harbour seal moult was investigated in south-west Ireland in this study. Timing of the moult differed among all cohorts, yearlings began moulting first followed by adult females and finally adult males. The number of seals hauled out was generally positively related to the proportion of seals in active moult. The timing of the moult period was different to other parts of the species' range and should be considered in determining optimal timing of future surveys for assessing populations abundance and trends in Ireland

Chlamydia trachomatis infection and the risk of perinatal mortality in Hungary

Introduction: Chlamydial infections of the genital tract are thought to often lead to preterm birth, which is the most important perinatal problem in Hungary. Aim of study: A multicenter study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection, risk factors for the infection and to relate the infection to perinatal mortality, accounting for potential confounding effects. Methods: The nucleic acid hybridization method (PACE2 Gen-Probe) was applied for the examination of Chlamydia trachomatis. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess risk. Results: A total of 6156 pregnant women were examined for the occurrence of Chlamydia trachomatis. The observed overall rate of chlamydial infection was 5.9%. Young age (less than 24 years old) (OR and 95% CI:1.6 (1.3-2.0)), unmarried status (1.5 (1.2-1.9)) and the high unemployment rate (2.1 (1.6-2.7)) were statistically significant predictors of the infection. In logistic regression analysis, chlamydial infection (1.9 (1.1-3.3)). high unemployment rate (1.5 (1.2-2.2)) and low birth weight (1.7 (1.1-2.7) were significant predictors of perinatal mortality. Conclusions: Testing pregnant women for diseases that can be transmitted perinatally is an important part of obstetric cart. Screening for C. trachomatis of unmarried women under 24 years of age is suggested and need increased observation during labor

The Potential Clinical and Economic Value of Primary Tumour Identification in Metastatic Cancer of Unknown Primary Tumour: A Population-Based Retrospective Matched Cohort Study.

PurposeSeveral genomic tests have recently been developed to identify the primary tumour in cancer of unknown primary tumour (CUP). However, the value of identifying the primary tumour in clinical practice for CUP patients remains questionable and difficult to prove in randomized trials.ObjectiveWe aimed to assess the clinical and economic value of primary tumour identification in CUP using a retrospective matched cohort study.MethodsWe used the Manitoba Cancer Registry to identify all patients initially diagnosed with metastatic cancer between 2002 and 2011. We defined patients as having CUP if their primary tumour was found 6 months or more after initial diagnosis or never found during the course of disease. Otherwise, we considered patients to have metastatic cancer from a known primary tumour (CKP). We linked all patients with Manitoba Health databases to estimate their direct healthcare costs using a phase-of-care approach. We used the propensity score matching technique to match each CUP patient with a CKP patient on clinicopathologic characteristics. We compared treatment patterns, overall survival (OS) and phase-specific healthcare costs between the two patient groups and assessed association with OS using Cox regression adjustment.ResultsOf 5839 patients diagnosed with metastatic cancer, 395 had CUP (6.8%); 1:1 matching created a matched group of 395 CKP patients. CUP patients were less likely to receive surgery, radiation, hormonal and targeted therapy and more likely to receive cytotoxic empiric chemotherapeutic agents. Having CUP was associated with reduced OS (hazard ratio [HR] 1.31; 95% confidence interval 1.1-1.58), but this lost statistical significance with adjustment for treatment differences. CUP patients had a significant increase in the mean net cost of initial diagnostic workup before diagnosis and a significant reduction in the mean net cost of continuing cancer care.ConclusionIdentifying the primary tumour in CUP patients might enable the use of more effective therapies, improve OS and allow more efficient allocation of healthcare resources

Observation and studies of jet quenching in PbPb collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV

Jet production in PbPb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 2.76 TeV was studied with the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector at the LHC, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6.7 μb^(−1). Jets are reconstructed using the energy deposited in the CMS calorimeters and studied as a function of collision centrality. With increasing collision centrality, a striking imbalance in dijet transverse momentum is observed, consistent with jet quenching. The observed effect extends from the lower cutoff used in this study (jet pT = 120 GeV/c) up to the statistical limit of the available data sample (jet pT ≈ 210 GeV/c). Correlations of charged particle tracks with jets indicate that the momentum imbalance is accompanied by a softening of the fragmentation pattern of the second most energetic, away-side jet. The dijet momentum balance is recovered when integrating low transverse momentum particles distributed over a wide angular range relative to the direction of the away-side jet

Biomarkers of Toxic Exposure and Oxidative Stress Among U.S. Adult Users of Premium Cigar Versus Other Cigar Subtypes: 2013-2019

INTRODUCTION: Cigars are currently the second-highest-used combustible tobacco product among U.S. adults, but knowledge about health effects of premium cigars versus other cigar subtype use is limited. AIMS AND METHODS: This study analyzed the biospecimen data (n = 31 875) from Waves 1-5 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study, collected during 2013-2019. Multivariable generalized estimation equations, accounting for within-person clustering, were conducted to examine differences in urine biomarkers of exposure (BOE) from five classes of harmful and potentially harmful constituents along with a biomarker of oxidative stress (urine 8-isoprostane) among exclusive users of premium cigars versus other exclusive cigar subtypes (ie, non-premium large cigars, cigarillos, and filtered cigars), cigarettes, and non-tobacco users. RESULTS: In comparison to non-tobacco users, exclusive premium cigar users had higher geometric mean concentrations of the nicotine metabolite cotinine (5.8 vs. 0.5ng/mg, p \u3c .0001), tobacco-specific nitrosamine (TSNA) (4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL): 7.8 vs. 1.3pg/mg, p \u3c .0001), and volatile organic compound (VOC) (N-Acetyl-S-(2-cyanoethyl)-L-cysteine (CYMA, acrylonitrile): 4.7 vs. 1.6ng/mg, p \u3c .0001). Exclusive premium cigar users were less likely to be daily users than other tobacco user groups and had comparable BOEs with exclusive non-premium large cigar users but generally lower BOEs than exclusive cigarillo, filtered cigar, and cigarette smokers. Daily exclusive premium cigar users had similar nicotine and TSNA exposure but lower exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds than exclusive cigarillo and filtered cigar users. CONCLUSIONS: Premium cigar use exhibits different exposure to toxicants from other cigar subtype users. Regulations of premium cigars need to formalize product definition and take the population\u27s health effects into consideration. IMPLICATIONS: This population study provides important information on BOE and potential harm with premium cigar use and its potential health effects. At present, premium cigars appear to pose a relatively low overall population health risk due to low frequency of use. However, future regulation of other tobacco products might change the landscape of premium cigar use and alter the overall health impact

Search for resonances in the dilepton mass distribution in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV

A search for narrow resonances at high mass in the dimuon and dielectron channels has been performed by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC, using pp collision data recorded at √s=7 TeV. The event samples correspond to integrated luminosities of 40 pb^(−1) in the dimuon channel and 35 pb^(−1) in the dielectron channel. Heavy dilepton resonances are predicted in theoretical models with extra gauge bosons (Z′) or as Kaluza-Klein graviton excitations (G_(KK)) in the Randall-Sundrum model. Upper limits on the inclusive cross section of Z′(G_(KK)) → ℓ^+ ℓ^− relative to Z → ℓ^+ ℓ^− are presented. These limits exclude at 95% confidence level a Z′ with standard-model-like couplings below 1140GeV, the superstring-inspired Z'_ψ below 887 GeV, and, for values of the coupling parameter kM_(Pl) of 0.05 (0.1), Kaluza-Klein gravitons below 855 (1079) GeV