Modeling abundance using N-mixture models: the importance of considering ecological mechanisms

Predicting abundance across a species' distribution is useful for studies of ecology and biodiversity management. Modeling of survey data in relation to environmental variables can be a powerful method for extrapolating abundances across a species' distribution and, consequently, calculating total abundances and ultimately trends. Research in this area has demonstrated that models of abundance are often unstable and produce spurious estimates, and until recently our ability to remove detection error limited the development of accurate models. The N-mixture model accounts for detection and abundance simultaneously and has been a significant advance in abundance modeling. Case studies that have tested these new models have demonstrated success for some species, but doubt remains over the appropriateness of standard N-mixture models for many species. Here we develop the N-mixture model to accommodate zero-inflated data, a common occurrence in ecology, by employing zero-inflated count models. To our knowledge, this is the first application of this method to modeling count data. We use four variants of the N-mixture model (Poisson, zero-inflated Poisson, negative binomial, and zero-inflated negative binomial) to model abundance, occupancy (zero-inflated models only) and detection probability of six birds in South Australia. We assess models by their statistical fit and the ecological realism of the parameter estimates. Specifically, we assess the statistical fit with AIC and assess the ecological realism by comparing the parameter estimates with expected values derived from literature, ecological theory, and expert opinion. We demonstrate that, despite being frequently ranked the “best model” according to AIC, the negative binomial variants of the N-mixture often produce ecologically unrealistic parameter estimates. The zero-inflated Poisson variant is preferable to the negative binomial variants of the N-mixture, as it models an ecological mechanism rather than a statistical phenomenon and generates reasonable parameter estimates. Our results emphasize the need to include ecological reasoning when choosing appropriate models and highlight the dangers of modeling statistical properties of the data. We demonstrate that, to obtain ecologically realistic estimates of abundance, occupancy and detection probability, it is essential to understand the sources of variation in the data and then use this information to choose appropriate error distributions. Copyright ESA. All rights reserved

Aromatherapy Use for Post-operative Nausea and Vomiting for Patients Undergoing Same-day Surgeries

Description: Nausea and vomiting are frequent complications of anesthesia post-operatively. There is an increased prevalence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in patients undergoing intra-abdominal and gynecologic surgeries. Many injectable and enteral medications are available for the prevention and treatment of PONV, each with the potential for side effects. Utilization of medications requires a provider order, which has the potential to delay initiation of therapy. The use of aromatherapy via inhalation for the treatment of PONV has been shown to eliminate nausea in up to 85% of patients. Patients have reported perceived effectiveness and favorable improvement with the use of aromatherapy for post-operative nausea. Aromatherapy products have been shown to be well tolerated with no adverse effects, drug interactions, or contraindications. Aim: To study the effectiveness of QueaseEASE® aromatherapy pods in the treatment of PONV in patients undergoing same-day intra-abdominal surgeries or hysterectomies. Intervention: We distributed 100 QueaseEASE® pods to patients scheduled for same-day intra-abdominal surgeries or hysterectomies. Informed consent was obtained preoperatively. Up to 24 hours after recovery, patients were instructed to document their episodes of nausea, severity at onset and severity 30 minutes after pod use. The severity of nausea was recorded using the visual analogue scale (0-100) where zero indicates no nausea and 100 indicates unbearable nausea. Use of traditional antiemetic medications was not excluded pursuant to individual provider practice. Data for concomitant antiemetic medication use was also recorded, including medication type, dose and frequency. Summary of Results: Results pending

Flow and retreat of the Late Quaternary Pine Island-Thwaites palaeo-ice stream, West Antarctica

Multibeam swath bathymetry and sub-bottom profiler data are used to establish constraints on the flow and retreat history of a major palaeo-ice stream that carried the combined discharge from the parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet now occupied by the Pine Island and Thwaites glacier basins. Sets of highly elongated bedforms show that, at the last glacial maximum, the route of the Pine Island-Thwaites palaeo-ice stream arced north-northeast following a prominent cross-shelf trough. In this area, the grounding line advanced to within similar to 68 km of, and probably reached, the shelf edge. Minimum ice thickness is estimated at 715 m on the outer shelf, and we estimate a minimum ice discharge of similar to 108 km(3) yr(-1) assuming velocities similar to today's Pine Island glacier (similar to 2.5 km yr(-1)). Additional bed forms observed in a trough northwest of Pine Island Bay likely formed via diachronous ice flows across the outer shelf and demonstrate switching ice stream behavior. The "style" of ice retreat is also evident in five grounding zone wedges, which suggest episodic deglaciation characterized by halts in grounding line migration up-trough. Stillstands occurred in association with changes in ice bed gradient, and phases of inferred rapid retreat correlate to higher bed slopes, supporting theoretical studies that show bed geometry as a control on ice margin recession. However, estimates that individual wedges could have formed within several centuries still imply a relatively rapid overall retreat. Our findings show that the ice stream channeled a substantial fraction of West Antarctica's discharge in the past, just as the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers do today

Attachment styles and personal growth following romantic breakups: The mediating roles of distress, rumination, and tendency to rebound

© 2013 Marshall et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.The purpose of this research was to examine the associations of attachment anxiety and avoidance with personal growth following relationship dissolution, and to test breakup distress, rumination, and tendency to rebound with new partners as mediators of these associations. Study 1 (N = 411) and Study 2 (N = 465) measured attachment style, breakup distress, and personal growth; Study 2 additionally measured ruminative reflection, brooding, and proclivity to rebound with new partners. Structural equation modelling revealed in both studies that anxiety was indirectly associated with greater personal growth through heightened breakup distress, whereas avoidance was indirectly associated with lower personal growth through inhibited breakup distress. Study 2 further showed that the positive association of breakup distress with personal growth was accounted for by enhanced reflection and brooding, and that anxious individuals’ greater personal growth was also explained by their proclivity to rebound. These findings suggest that anxious individuals’ hyperactivated breakup distress may act as a catalyst for personal growth by promoting the cognitive processing of breakup-related thoughts and emotions, whereas avoidant individuals’ deactivated distress may inhibit personal growth by suppressing this cognitive work

Needle stick injuries among dental students: risk factors and recommendations for prevention

Aim: To evaluate the risk factors of needle stick injuries (NSIs) sustained by undergraduate dental students and nurse students at the King's College London (KCL) Dental Institute. Materials and methods: A retrospective study evaluated the incident reports relating to NSIs reported over a period of 2 years. Factors including the dental department, study year, and when the injury took place during administration of local anaesthesia (LA) and recapping conventional syringe or clearing work surface or during disposal. Results: This report showed that students are at the highest risk of NSIs at the fourth year of their 5-year BDS course. About one-third of injuries were reported among this group of students followed by year 5 students (25%). Oral surgery clinics were the major source of incident reporting when compared with other specialised dental clinics within the institute. The left hands of the students were the most frequently affected by such injuries and then the right hands of student dental nurses. The attempt of needle recapping of conventional syringes was the least reported mechanism of injuries and constituted only 15% of the total injuries and mainly occurred in third year students. The most frequent injuries among student nurses were during disposal of the needle. Conclusion: Less NSIs occur when using safety syringes. A non-recapping policy with immediate disposal of either the conventional or safety syringe systems after injection would prevent all clearance-related NSIs sustained by nurses. To avoid NSIs, education plays a vital role particularly with effective implementation of the change to safety syringes with appropriate training

Omega-3 Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Intake by Ethnicity, Income, and Education Level in the United States: NHANES 2003-201414.

Although there are many recognized health benefits for the consumption of omega-3 (n-3) long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA), intake in the United States remains below recommended amounts. This analysis was designed to provide an updated assessment of fish and n-3 LCPUFA intake (eicosapentaenoic (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and EPA+DHA) in the United States adult population, based on education, income, and race/ethnicity, using data from the 2003-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (n = 44,585). Over this survey period, participants with less education and lower income had significantly lower n-3 LCPUFA intakes and fish intakes (p \u3c 0.001 for all between group comparisons). N-3 LCPUFA intake differed significantly according to ethnicity (p \u3c 0.001), with the highest intake of n-3 LCPUFA and fish in individuals in the Other category (including Asian Americans). Supplement use increased EPA + DHA intake, but only 7.4% of individuals consistently took supplements. Overall, n-3 LCPUFA intake in this study population was low, but our findings indicate that individuals with lower educational attainment and income are at even higher risk of lower n-3 LCPUFA and fish intake

MWA rapid follow-up of gravitational wave transients: prospects for detecting prompt radio counterparts

We present and evaluate the prospects for detecting coherent radio counterparts to gravitational wave (GW) events using Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) triggered observations. The MWA rapid-response system, combined with its buffering mode ($\sim4$ minutes negative latency), enables us to catch any radio signals produced from seconds prior to hours after a binary neutron star (BNS) merger. The large field of view of the MWA ($\sim1000\,\text{deg}^2$ at 120\,MHz) and its location under the high sensitivity sky region of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) detector network, forecast a high chance of being on-target for a GW event. We consider three observing configurations for the MWA to follow up GW BNS merger events, including a single dipole per tile, the full array, and four sub-arrays. We then perform a population synthesis of BNS systems to predict the radio detectable fraction of GW events using these configurations. We find that the configuration with four sub-arrays is the best compromise between sky coverage and sensitivity as it is capable of placing meaningful constraints on the radio emission from 12.6\% of GW BNS detections. Based on the timescales of four BNS merger coherent radio emission models, we propose an observing strategy that involves triggering the buffering mode to target coherent signals emitted prior to, during or shortly following the merger, which is then followed by continued recording for up to three hours to target later time post-merger emission. We expect MWA to trigger on $\sim5\text{--}22$ BNS merger events during the LVK O4 observing run, which could potentially result in two detections of predicted coherent emission.Comment: Accepted for publication in PAS

The Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

This paper describes the Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), marking the completion of the original goals of the SDSS and the end of the phase known as SDSS-II. It includes 11663 deg^2 of imaging data, with most of the roughly 2000 deg^2 increment over the previous data release lying in regions of low Galactic latitude. The catalog contains five-band photometry for 357 million distinct objects. The survey also includes repeat photometry over 250 deg^2 along the Celestial Equator in the Southern Galactic Cap. A coaddition of these data goes roughly two magnitudes fainter than the main survey. The spectroscopy is now complete over a contiguous area of 7500 deg^2 in the Northern Galactic Cap, closing the gap that was present in previous data releases. There are over 1.6 million spectra in total, including 930,000 galaxies, 120,000 quasars, and 460,000 stars. The data release includes improved stellar photometry at low Galactic latitude. The astrometry has all been recalibrated with the second version of the USNO CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC-2), reducing the rms statistical errors at the bright end to 45 milli-arcseconds per coordinate. A systematic error in bright galaxy photometr is less severe than previously reported for the majority of galaxies. Finally, we describe a series of improvements to the spectroscopic reductions, including better flat-fielding and improved wavelength calibration at the blue end, better processing of objects with extremely strong narrow emission lines, and an improved determination of stellar metallicities. (Abridged)Comment: 20 pages, 10 embedded figures. Accepted to ApJS after minor correction

A clinical practice guideline for the management of patients with acute spinal cord injury: recommendations on the use of methylprednisolone sodium succinate

Introduction: The objective of this guideline is to outline the appropriate use of methylprednisolone sodium succinate (MPSS) in patients with acute spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods: A systematic review of the literature was conducted to address key questions related to the use of MPSS in acute SCI. A multidisciplinary Guideline Development Group used this information, in combination with their clinical expertise, to develop recommendations for the use of MPSS. Based on GRADE (Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation), a strong recommendation is worded as "we recommend," whereas a weaker recommendation is indicated by "we suggest." Results: The main conclusions from the systematic review included the following: (1) there were no differences in motor score change at any time point in patients treated with MPSS compared to those not receiving steroids; (2) when MPSS was administered within 8 hours of injury, pooled results at 6- and 12-months indicated modest improvements in mean motor scores in the MPSS group compared with the control group; and (3) there was no statistical difference between treatment groups in the risk of complications. Our recommendations were: (1) "We suggest not offering a 24-hour infusion of high-dose MPSS to adult patients who present after 8 hours with acute SCI"; (2) "We suggest a 24-hour infusion of high-dose MPSS be offered to adult patients within 8 hours of acute SCI as a treatment option"; and (3) "We suggest not offering a 48-hour infusion of high-dose MPSS to adult patients with acute SCI." Conclusions: These guidelines should be implemented into clinical practice to improve outcomes and reduce morbidity in SCI patients