Assessments of the Southern Hemisphere humpback whale Breeding Stock B: Results for the models and sensitivities proposed at and following the 62nd meeting of the Scientific Committee of the IWC

This document reports on the results of several models and sensitivities proposed at the 62nd meeting of the Scientific Committee (SC) of the IWC for the assessment of the Southern Hemisphere humpback whale Breeding Stock B, as well as some additional models and sensitivities that were proposed intersessionally. These models and sensitivities explore various stock structure hypotheses and alternative input data. Prior incoherence resulting from the implementation of genetic Nmin constraints was found to be a problem throughout the analyses, and the preferred way of including these constraints was the use of a global Nmin constraint for the Gabon and WSA regions combined. The estimated intrinsic growth rate for B1 ranges from 0.039 to 0.052 for the main models and 0.043 to 0.069 for B2. The estimated 2010 abundance relative to pristine level ranges from 0.508 to 0.750 for B1, and 0.045 to 0.124 for B2

Simulation testing of two estimators for the assessment of Southern Hemisphere humpback whale breeding Stock C and its component Sub-stocks

This paper develops operating models of the C1 and C3 substocks of humpback whales in the western Indian Ocean which allow interchange between the two on the basis of the Sabbatical model for this mixing process. These operating models are used to compare the performance of the Sabbatical and Resident estimators, in what is intended as a preliminary exercise whose primary aim is to illustrate this simulation testing approach in the context of the substocks of breeding stock C of Southern Hemisphere humpback whales.,

It\u27s All Fun and Games... Until Students Learn

Faculty are often frustrated by student preparedness (or lack thereof) for exams and review sessions. This may be partially attributed to passive involvement during lectures and the failure of students to discuss and reflect on topics as they are introduced. Active learning refers to techniques that move students beyond listening to lectures to activities (in and out of the classroom) that engage students in topics (e.g., discussion, reflection). The purpose of this teaching tip is to describe the use of games as active learning techniques to encourage students to review materials over the life of a course and engage them in review sessions. Through a study conducted in two different information systems courses, we provide evidence of effectiveness including impact on exam performance and feedback from students derived from a questionnaire

Playing 'Tetris' reduces the strength, frequency and vividness of naturally occurring cravings.

Elaborated Intrusion Theory (EI) postulates that imagery is central to craving, therefore a visually based task should decrease craving and craving imagery. This study provides the first laboratory test of this hypothesis in naturally occurring, rather than artificially induced, cravings. Participants reported if they were experiencing a craving and rated the strength, vividness and intrusiveness of their craving. They then either played 'Tetris' or they waited for a computer program to load (they were told it would load, but it was designed not to). Before task completion, craving scores between conditions did not differ; after, however, participants who had played 'Tetris' had significantly lower craving and less vivid craving imagery. The findings support EI theory, showing that a visuospatial working memory load reduces naturally occurring cravings, and that Tetris might be a useful task for tackling cravings outside the laboratory. Methodologically, the findings show that craving can be studied in the laboratory without using craving induction procedures

Factors associated with treatment of women with osteoporosis or osteopenia from a national survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Health outcomes could be improved if women at high risk for osteoporotic fracture were matched to effective treatment. This study determined the extent to which treatment for osteoporosis/osteopenia corresponded to the presence of specific risk factors for osteoporotic fracture.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This retrospective analysis of the United States 2007 National Health and Wellness Survey included women age ≥ 40 years who reported having a diagnosis of osteoporosis (69% of 3276) or osteopenia (31% of 3276). Patients were stratified by whether they were or were not taking prescription treatment for osteoporosis/osteopenia. Using 34 patient characteristics as covariates, logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with treatment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Current prescription treatment was reported by 1800 of 3276 (54.9%) women with osteoporosis/osteopenia. The following factors were associated with receiving prescription treatment: patient-reported diagnosis of osteoporosis (versus osteopenia); previous bone mineral density test; ≥ 2 fractures since age 50; older age; lower body mass index; better physical functioning; postmenopausal status; family history of osteoporosis; fewer comorbidities; prescription insurance coverage; higher total prescription count; higher ratio of prescription costs to monthly income; higher income; single status; previous visit to a rheumatologist or gynecologist; and 1 or 2 outpatient visits to healthcare provider (vs. none) in the prior 6 months. Glucocorticoid, tobacco, and daily alcohol use were risk factors for fracture that were not associated with treatment.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There is a mismatch between those women who could benefit from treatment for osteoporosis and those who are actually treated. For example, self-reported use of glucocorticoids, tobacco, and alcohol were not associated with prescription treatment of osteoporosis. Other clinical and socioeconomic factors were associated with treatment (e.g. prescription drug coverage and higher income) or not (e.g. comorbid osteoarthritis and anxiety) and could be opportunities to improve care.</p

Simulation testing of the sabbatical model estimator for the assessment of Southern Hemisphere humpback whale breeding Stock C and its component Sub-stocks

Johnston and Butterworth (2009) implement four models (Resident, Sabbatical, Tourist and Migrant) to estimate parameters for the C1 and C3 substocks, including the probability of interchange between them, using a Bayesian approach which takes account of capture-recapture information from photo-id data. This estimator generally captures the underlying parameter values reasonably, though with a tendency to estimate r too low and K too high. Interchange rates are also reasonably estimated, both when the true rates are low and high. In the latter case, abundance estimates in terms are lower. Here a range of Operating Models (OMs) are defined and used to test the Sabbatical estimato

Quantitative data analysis of perceived barriers and motivators to physical activity in stroke survivors

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A polygenic basis for birth weight in a wild population of red deer ( Cervus elaphus )

The genetic architecture of traits under selection has important consequences for the response to selection and potentially for population viability. Early QTL mapping studies in wild populations have reported loci with large effect on trait variation. However, these results are contradicted by more recent genome-wide association analyses, which strongly support the idea that most quantitative traits have a polygenic basis. This study aims to re-evaluate the genetic architecture of a key morphological trait, birth weight, in a wild population of red deer (Cervus elaphus), using genomic approaches. A previous study using 93 microsatellite and allozyme markers and linkage mapping on a kindred of 364 deer detected a pronounced QTL on chromosome 21 explaining 29% of the variance in birth weight, suggesting that this trait is partly controlled by genes with large effects. Here, we used data for more than 2,300 calves genotyped at >39,000 SNP markers and two approaches to characterise the genetic architecture of birth weight. First, we performed a genome-wide association (GWA) analysis, using a genomic relatedness matrix to account for population structure. We found no SNPs significantly associated with birth weight. Second, we used genomic prediction to estimate the proportion of variance explained by each SNP and chromosome. This analysis confirmed that most genetic variance in birth weight was explained by loci with very small effect sizes. Third, we found that the proportion of variance explained by each chromosome was slightly positively correlated with its size. These three findings highlight a highly polygenic architecture for birth weight, which contradicts the previous QTL study. These results are probably explained by the differences in how associations are modelled between QTL mapping and GWA. Our study suggests that models of polygenic adaptation are the most appropriate to study the evolutionary trajectory of this trait