An expert elicitation of the effects of low salinity water exposure on bottlenose dolphins

This research was funded by National Marine Fisheries Service for support via awards: NFFKPR00-19-01552 and NA20NMF0080281.There is increasing concern over anthropogenically driven changes in our oceans and seas, from a variety of stressors. Such stressors include the increased risk of storms and precipitation, offshore industries and increased coastal development which can affect the marine environment. For some coastal cetacean species, there is an increased exposure to low salinity waters which have been linked with a range of adverse health effects in bottlenose dolphins. Knowledge gaps persist regarding how different time–salinity exposures affect the health and survival of animals. In such data-poor instances, expert elicitation can be used to convert an expert’s qualitative knowledge into subjective probability distributions. The management implications of this stressor and the subjective nature of expert elicitation requires transparency; we have addressed this here, utilizing the Sheffield Elicitation Framework. The results are a series of time response scenarios to estimate time to death in bottlenose dolphins, for use when data are insufficient to estimate probabilistic summaries. This study improves our understanding of how low salinity exposure effects dolphins, guiding priorities for future research, while its outputs can be used to support coastal management on a global scale.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Academic Rhetoric in the Policy Arena: The Case of Capital Gains Taxation

We investigate possible explanations for the rhetorical gap that divides producers and influential consumers of economic knowledge, academic economists and policymakers, respectively. We argue that economics lacks a developed theory of how academic research influences political decision making. This theoretical lacuna and the nature of the rhetorical gap have consequences for the effectiveness of academic ideas. We sketch three models, and argue for a process analysis as superior to conventional accounts. The debate on taxation of capital gains is our case study.Economics; Economists; Taxation

Efficient incremental map segmentation in dense RGB-D maps

In this paper we present a method for incrementally segmenting large RGB-D maps as they are being created. Recent advances in dense RGB-D mapping have led to maps of increasing size and density. Segmentation of these raw maps is a first step for higher-level tasks such as object detection. Current popular methods of segmentation scale linearly with the size of the map and generally include all points. Our method takes a previously segmented map and segments new data added to that map incrementally online. Segments in the existing map are re-segmented with the new data based on an iterative voting method. Our segmentation method works in maps with loops to combine partial segmentations from each traversal into a complete segmentation model. We verify our algorithm on multiple real-world datasets spanning many meters and millions of points in real-time. We compare our method against a popular batch segmentation method for accuracy and timing complexity.United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-10-1-0936)United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-11-1-0688)United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-12-10020)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant IIS-1318392)Science Foundation Ireland (Strategic Research Cluster Grant 07/SRC/I1168

Neutropenic event risk and impaired chemotherapy delivery in six European audits of breast cancer treatment

Goals of work: The aims of this study were to assess chemotherapy treatment characteristics, neutropenic event (NE) occurrence and related risk factors in breast cancer patients in Western Europe. Materials and methods: Six retrospective audits of breast cancer chemotherapy were combined into a dataset of 2,860 individuals. NEs were defined as neutropenia-related hospitalisation, dose reduction ≥15% or dose delay ≥7days. Summation dose intensity (SDI) was calculated to compare different types of chemotherapy regimens on a single scale. Risk factors of NE occurrence and of low relative dose intensity (RDI) ≤85% were identified by multiple logistic regression. Main results: Patient populations were comparable between audits. Until 1998, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil regimens were most frequently used, but thereafter, anthracycline-based regimens were most common. NEs occurred in 20% of the patients and low RDI in 16%. NE occurrence predicted low RDI and was associated with higher age, bigger body surface area, lower body mass index, regimen type, more chemotherapy cycles planned, normal to high SDI, concomitant radiotherapy and year of treatment. First cycle NE occurrence predicted NEs from cycle 2 onwards. A risk score using age, SDI, number of planned chemotherapy cycles and concomitant radiotherapy differentiated patients with increasing NE risk (9-37%). An alternative score version not using concomitant radiotherapy performed moderately less well. Conclusions: NEs occurred frequently in this combined dataset and they affected treatment delivery. Identifying patients at high NE risk enables targeted prophylaxis and may avoid dose limitation

Grain morphological characterization and protein content of sixty-eight local rice (Oryza sativa L) cultivars from Cameroon

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivated in Cameroon is appreciated by consumers for its nutritive quality and good taste. Diversity of 68 local rice cultivars was investigated via grain morphology and protein content characterization. The size and shape of grains were determined and used with yield parameters to classify the cultivars and perform Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Total protein content and glutelin content of eight selected cultivars (CMRGNd, CMRGDn, CMRGTï, CMRTBa, CMRDWb, CMRDTc3, CMRDTx5 and CMRDTx6) were evaluated by Bradford assay and correlation analysis of all the parameters studied was performed. Long size grains (42) were predominant over extra-long (16), medium (9) and short (1) grains. Slender shaped grains (36) were distinguished as well as medium (28) and bold (4) grains. The 68 cultivars were grouped into four clusters independent of their origins. PCA revealed three principal components accounting for 74.4% of total variation. Highest total protein content was observed in CMRGNd (14.3%) and highest glutelin content in CMRGDn (10.1 mgEqvBSA/g DW). Pearson correlation of the different variables revealed no significant correlation between total protein and glutelin contents with the agro-morphological parameters evaluated in this study. This suggests that none of these parameters could be descriptor for protein content. Positive correlation between grain length and yield (r = 0.7) suggests grain length as yield descriptor

Whale distribution in a breeding area : spatial models of habitat use and abundance of western South Atlantic humpback whales

GA Bortolotto PhD is funded by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, CNPq; Science Without Borders, scholarship #208203/2014 - 1). Cetacean International Society granted GA Bortolotto with small grants which contributed to the development of this study.The western South Atlantic humpback whale population was severely depleted by commercial whaling in the late 19th and 20th centuries, and today inhabits a human-impacted environment in its wintering grounds off the Brazilian coast. We identified distribution patterns related to environmental features and provide new estimates of population size, which can inform future management actions. We fitted spatial models to line transect data from 2 research cruises conducted in 2008 and 2012 to investigate (1) habitat use and (2) abundance of humpback whales wintering in the Brazilian continental shelf. Potential explanatory variables were year, depth, seabed slope, sea-surface temperature (SST), northing and easting, current speed, wind speed, distance to coastline and to the continental shelf break, and shelter (a combination of wind speed and SST categories). Whale density was higher in slower currents, at shorter distances to both the coastline and shelf break, and at SSTs between 24 and 25°C. The distribution of whales was also strongly related to shelter. For abundance estimation, easting and northing were included in the model instead of SST; estimates were 14264 whales (CV = 0.084) for 2008 and 20389 (CV = 0.071) for 2012. Environmental variables explained well the variation in whale density; higher density was found to the south of the Abrolhos Archipelago, and shelter seems to be important for these animals in their breeding area. Estimated distribution patterns presented here can be used to mitigate potential human-related impacts, such as supporting protection in the population’s core habitat near the Abrolhos Archipelago.PostprintPeer reviewe

Optical Spectroscopy of Type Ib/c Supernovae

We present 84 spectra of Type Ib/c and Type IIb supernovae (SNe), describing the individual SNe in detail. The relative depths of the helium absorption lines in the spectra of the SNe Ib appear to provide a measurement of the temporal evolution of the SN, with He I 5876 and He I 7065 growing in strength relative to He I 6678 over time. Light curves for three of the SNe Ib provide a sequence for correlating the helium-line strengths. We find that some SNe Ic show evidence for weak helium absorption, but most do not. Aside from the presence or absence of the helium lines, there are other spectroscopic differences between SNe Ib and SNe Ic. On average, the O I 7774 line is stronger in SNe Ic than in SNe Ib. In addition, the SNe Ic have distinctly broader emission lines at late times, indicating either a consistently larger explosion energy and/or lower envelope mass for SNe Ic than for SNe Ib. While SNe Ib appear to be basically homogeneous, the SNe Ic are quite heterogeneous in their spectroscopic characteristics. Three SNe Ic that may have been associated with gamma-ray bursts are also discussed; two of these have clearly peculiar spectra, while the third seems fairly typical.Comment: Accepted for publication in the March issue of AJ. 75 pages, 35 figures, 6 tables included as figures, AASTeX V5.

The Berkeley Sample of Stripped-Envelope Supernovae

We present the complete sample of stripped-envelope supernova (SN) spectra observed by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) collaboration over the last three decades: 888 spectra of 302 SNe, 652 published here for the first time, with 384 spectra (of 92 SNe) having photometrically-determined phases. After correcting for redshift and Milky Way dust reddening and reevaluating the spectroscopic classifications for each SN, we construct mean spectra of the three major spectral subtypes (Types IIb, Ib, and Ic) binned by phase. We compare measures of line strengths and widths made from this sample to the results of previous efforts, confirming that O I {\lambda}7774 absorption is stronger and found at higher velocity in Type Ic SNe than in Types Ib or IIb SNe in the first 30 days after peak brightness, though the widths of nebular emission lines are consistent across subtypes. We also highlight newly available observations for a few rare subpopulations of interest.Comment: 13 pages; 14 figures; 3 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Supersymmetric dS/CFT

We put forward new explicit realisations of dS/CFT that relate ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric Euclidean vector models with reversed spin-statistics in three dimensions to specific supersymmetric Vasiliev theories in four-dimensional de Sitter space. The partition function of the free supersymmetric vector model deformed by a range of low spin deformations that preserve supersymmetry appears to specify a well-defined wave function with asymptotic de Sitter boundary conditions in the bulk. In particular we find the wave function is globally peaked at undeformed de Sitter space, with a low amplitude for strong deformations. This suggests that supersymmetric de Sitter space is stable in higher-spin gravity and in particular free from ghosts. We speculate this is a limiting case of the de Sitter realizations in exotic string theories.Comment: V2: references and comments added, typos corrected, version published in JHEP; 27 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Cerebellar c9RAN proteins associate with clinical and neuropathological characteristics of C9ORF72 repeat expansion carriers.

Clinical and neuropathological characteristics associated with G4C2 repeat expansions in chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9ORF72), the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia, are highly variable. To gain insight on the molecular basis for the heterogeneity among C9ORF72 mutation carriers, we evaluated associations between features of disease and levels of two abundantly expressed "c9RAN proteins" produced by repeat-associated non-ATG (RAN) translation of the expanded repeat. For these studies, we took a departure from traditional immunohistochemical approaches and instead employed immunoassays to quantitatively measure poly(GP) and poly(GA) levels in cerebellum, frontal cortex, motor cortex, and/or hippocampus from 55 C9ORF72 mutation carriers [12 patients with ALS, 24 with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and 19 with FTLD with motor neuron disease (FTLD-MND)]. We additionally investigated associations between levels of poly(GP) or poly(GA) and cognitive impairment in 15 C9ORF72 ALS patients for whom neuropsychological data were available. Among the neuroanatomical regions investigated, poly(GP) levels were highest in the cerebellum. In this same region, associations between poly(GP) and both neuropathological and clinical features were detected. Specifically, cerebellar poly(GP) levels were significantly lower in patients with ALS compared to patients with FTLD or FTLD-MND. Furthermore, cerebellar poly(GP) associated with cognitive score in our cohort of 15 patients. In the cerebellum, poly(GA) levels similarly trended lower in the ALS subgroup compared to FTLD or FTLD-MND subgroups, but no association between cerebellar poly(GA) and cognitive score was detected. Both cerebellar poly(GP) and poly(GA) associated with C9ORF72 variant 3 mRNA expression, but not variant 1 expression, repeat size, disease onset, or survival after onset. Overall, these data indicate that cerebellar abnormalities, as evidenced by poly(GP) accumulation, associate with neuropathological and clinical phenotypes, in particular cognitive impairment, of C9ORF72 mutation carriers