Changes in NDVI and human population in protected areas on the Tibetan Plateau

Understanding the Tibetan Plateau’s role in environmental change has gained increasing scientific attention in light of warming and changes in landmanagement. We examine changes in greenness over the Tibetan Plateau using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from the Global Inventory Monitoring and Modeling Study (GIMMS3g) to identify significant changes over the entire plateau, six ecoregions, and protected areas based on a multiyear time series of July imagery from 1982 to 2015. We also test whether there have been changes in human populations in protected areas. There has been relatively little change in mean NDVI over the Tibetan Plateau or ecoregions, however, there were significant changes at the pixel level. There are sixty-nine protected areas on the Tibetan Plateau; sixtytwo protected areas had no significant change in mean NDVI and seven protected areas experienced a significant increase in NDVI. There has been an increase in population within protected areas from 2000 to 2015; however, mean populations significantly increased in two protected areas and significantly decreased in four protected areas. Results suggest a slow greening of the Tibetan Plateau, ecoregions, and protected areas, with a more rapid greening in northern Tibet at the pixel level. Most protected areas are experiencing minor changes in NDVI independent of human population

Asynchronous Response of Tropical Forest Leaf Phenology to Seasonal and El Niño-Driven Drought

The Hawaiian Islands are an ideal location to study the response of tropical forests to climate variability because of their extreme isolation in the middle of the Pacific, which makes them especially sensitive to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Most research examining the response of tropical forests to drought or El Niño have focused on rainforests, however, tropical dry forests cover a large area of the tropics and may respond very differently than rainforests. We use satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from February 2000-February 2009 to show that rainforests and dry forests in the Hawaiian Islands exhibit asynchronous responses in leaf phenology to seasonal and El Niño-driven drought. Dry forest NDVI was more tightly coupled with precipitation compared to rainforest NDVI. Rainforest cloud frequency was negatively correlated with the degree of asynchronicity (ΔNDVI) between forest types, most strongly at a 1-month lag. Rainforest green-up and dry forest brown-down was particularly apparent during the 2002–003 El Niño. The spatial pattern of NDVI response to the NINO 3.4 Sea Surface Temperature (SST) index during 2002–2003 showed that the leeward side exhibited significant negative correlations to increased SSTs, whereas the windward side exhibited significant positive correlations to increased SSTs, most evident at an 8 to 9-month lag. This study demonstrates that different tropical forest types exhibit asynchronous responses to seasonal and El Niño-driven drought, and suggests that mechanisms controlling dry forest leaf phenology are related to water-limitation, whereas rainforests are more light-limited

Comparison of Agroforests and Protected Forests in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

Comparative studies on plant species richness, endemism, floristic composition, and structure between protected and unprotected forests are few in the Eastern Arc Mountains, one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in Africa. This study from one mountain range, the East Usambaras, examines floristic and structural tree data from 41–0.5 ha plots in four types of Eastern Arc forest: active agroforests, recently abandoned agroforests, mature secondary forest, and natural forest. Active agroforests had significantly lower tree species richness, endemic species richness, and stand density compared to natural and mature secondary forest. Recently abandoned agroforests contained a higher tree species richness, density, and tree height than active agroforests. Active and abandoned agroforests were dominated by an invasive tree, Maesopsis eminii. This tree species makes up a large percentage of the stems in active agroforests (26%), recently abandoned agroforests (32%), and in the canopy of mature secondary forests ∼ 30 years post logging (30%). Through time the increasing dominance of this non-native tree in active agroforests is a concern when considering the role of agroforests in a landscape scale conservation strategy

The interplay of intrinsic and extrinsic bounded noises in genetic networks

After being considered as a nuisance to be filtered out, it became recently clear that biochemical noise plays a complex role, often fully functional, for a genetic network. The influence of intrinsic and extrinsic noises on genetic networks has intensively been investigated in last ten years, though contributions on the co-presence of both are sparse. Extrinsic noise is usually modeled as an unbounded white or colored gaussian stochastic process, even though realistic stochastic perturbations are clearly bounded. In this paper we consider Gillespie-like stochastic models of nonlinear networks, i.e. the intrinsic noise, where the model jump rates are affected by colored bounded extrinsic noises synthesized by a suitable biochemical state-dependent Langevin system. These systems are described by a master equation, and a simulation algorithm to analyze them is derived. This new modeling paradigm should enlarge the class of systems amenable at modeling. We investigated the influence of both amplitude and autocorrelation time of a extrinsic Sine-Wiener noise on: $(i)$ the Michaelis-Menten approximation of noisy enzymatic reactions, which we show to be applicable also in co-presence of both intrinsic and extrinsic noise, $(ii)$ a model of enzymatic futile cycle and $(iii)$ a genetic toggle switch. In $(ii)$ and $(iii)$ we show that the presence of a bounded extrinsic noise induces qualitative modifications in the probability densities of the involved chemicals, where new modes emerge, thus suggesting the possibile functional role of bounded noises

Efficient Parallel Statistical Model Checking of Biochemical Networks

We consider the problem of verifying stochastic models of biochemical networks against behavioral properties expressed in temporal logic terms. Exact probabilistic verification approaches such as, for example, CSL/PCTL model checking, are undermined by a huge computational demand which rule them out for most real case studies. Less demanding approaches, such as statistical model checking, estimate the likelihood that a property is satisfied by sampling executions out of the stochastic model. We propose a methodology for efficiently estimating the likelihood that a LTL property P holds of a stochastic model of a biochemical network. As with other statistical verification techniques, the methodology we propose uses a stochastic simulation algorithm for generating execution samples, however there are three key aspects that improve the efficiency: first, the sample generation is driven by on-the-fly verification of P which results in optimal overall simulation time. Second, the confidence interval estimation for the probability of P to hold is based on an efficient variant of the Wilson method which ensures a faster convergence. Third, the whole methodology is designed according to a parallel fashion and a prototype software tool has been implemented that performs the sampling/verification process in parallel over an HPC architecture

Results of the combined U.S. multicenter postapproval study of the Nit‐Occlud PDA device for percutaneous closure of patent ductus arteriosus

ObjectivesTo report the results of the Nit‐Occlud PDA prospective postapproval study (PAS) along with a comparison to the results of the pivotal and continued access trials.BackgroundThe Nit‐Occlud PDA (PFM Medical, Cologne, Germany), a nitinol coil patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) occluder, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2013.MethodsThe PAS enrolled a total of 184 subjects greater than 6 months of age, weighing at least 5 kg, with PDAs less than 4 mm by angiography at 11 centers. Patients were followed prospectively at 2 months, 12 months, and 24 months postprocedure. These outcomes were compared to the 357 subjects enrolled in the pivotal and continued access protocols. Efficacy and safety data were reported.ResultsAmong 184 subjects enrolled for the PAS between 2014 and 2017, 180 (97.8%) had successful device implantation. After 12 months, 98.7% (150/152) had trivial or no residual shunt by echocardiography and two subjects had only small residual shunts. There were three device embolizations that were all retrieved by snare without clinical consequence. Together with the pivotal and continued access study, 97.4% (449/461) had complete echocardiographic closure at 12 months in 541 enrolled subjects. The composite success was 94.4%. There were no mortalities and no serious device‐related adverse events.ConclusionsThe Nit‐Occlud PDA is a safe and effective device for closure of a small to moderate sized PDA. There were no serious device‐related adverse events in a large cohort of three clinical trials.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148398/1/ccd27995_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/148398/2/ccd27995.pd

Exclusion of BMP6 as a candidate gene for cleidocranial dysplasia

Cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD) is an autosomal dominant, generalized skeletal dysplasia in humans that has been mapped to the short arm of chromosome 6. We report linkage of a CCD mutation to 6p21 in a large family and exclude the bone morphogenetic protein 6 gene (BMP6) as a candidate for the disease by cytogenetic localization and genetic recombination. CCD was linked with a maximal two-point LOD score of 7.22 with marker D6S452 at θ = 0. One relative with a recombination between D6S451 and D6S459 and another individual with a recombination between D6S465 and CCD places the mutation within a 7 cM region between D6S451 and D6S465 at 6p21. A phage P1 genomic clone spanning most of the BMP6 gene hybridized to chromosome 6 in band region p23–p24 using FISH analysis, placing this gene cytogenetically more distal than the region of linkage for CCD. We derived a new polymorphic marker from this same P1 clone and found recombinations between the marker and CCD in this family. The results confirm the map position of CCD on 6p21, further refine the CCD genetic interval by identifying a recombination between D6S451 and D6S459, and exclude BMP6 as a candidate gene. Am. J. Med. Genet. 71:292–297, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/38269/1/9_ftp.pd

Effects of Noise on Ecological Invasion Processes: Bacteriophage-mediated Competition in Bacteria

Pathogen-mediated competition, through which an invasive species carrying and transmitting a pathogen can be a superior competitor to a more vulnerable resident species, is one of the principle driving forces influencing biodiversity in nature. Using an experimental system of bacteriophage-mediated competition in bacterial populations and a deterministic model, we have shown in [Joo et al 2005] that the competitive advantage conferred by the phage depends only on the relative phage pathology and is independent of the initial phage concentration and other phage and host parameters such as the infection-causing contact rate, the spontaneous and infection-induced lysis rates, and the phage burst size. Here we investigate the effects of stochastic fluctuations on bacterial invasion facilitated by bacteriophage, and examine the validity of the deterministic approach. We use both numerical and analytical methods of stochastic processes to identify the source of noise and assess its magnitude. We show that the conclusions obtained from the deterministic model are robust against stochastic fluctuations, yet deviations become prominently large when the phage are more pathological to the invading bacterial strain.Comment: 39 pages, 7 figure

Tumor-associated endothelial cells display GSTP1 and RARβ2 promoter methylation in human prostate cancer

BACKGROUND: A functional blood supply is essential for tumor growth and proliferation. However, the mechanism of blood vessel recruitment to the tumor is still poorly understood. Ideally, a thorough molecular assessment of blood vessel cells would be critical in our comprehension of this process. Yet, to date, there is little known about the molecular makeup of the endothelial cells of tumor-associated blood vessels, due in part to the difficulty of isolating a pure population of endothelial cells from the heterogeneous tissue environment. METHODS: Here we describe the use of a recently developed technique, Expression Microdissection, to isolate endothelial cells from the tumor microenvironment. The methylation status of the dissected samples was evaluated for GSTP1 and RARβ2 promoters via the QMS-PCR method. RESULTS: Comparing GSTP1 and RARβ2 promoter methylation data, we show that 100% and 88% methylation is detected, respectively, in the tumor areas, both in epithelium and endothelium. Little to no methylation is observed in non-tumor tissue areas. CONCLUSION: We applied an accurate microdissection technique to isolate endothelial cells from tissues, enabling DNA analysis such as promoter methylation status. The observations suggest that epigenetic alterations may play a role in determining the phenotype of tumor-associated vasculature

Meditation Awareness Training (MAT) for Work-related Wellbeing and Job Performance: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Due to its potential to concurrently improve work-related wellbeing (WRW) and job performance, occupational stakeholders are becoming increasingly interested in the applications of meditation. The present study conducted the first randomized controlled trial to assess the effects of meditation on outcomes relating to both WRW and job performance. Office-based middle-hierarchy managers (n = 152) received an eight-week meditation intervention (Meditation Awareness Training; MAT) or an active control intervention. MAT participants demonstrated significant and sustainable improvements (with strong effect sizes) over control-group participants in levels of work-related stress, job satisfaction, psychological distress, and employer-rated job performance. There are a number of novel implications: (i) meditation can effectuate a perceptual shift in how employees experience their work and psychological environment and may thus constitute a cost-effective WRW intervention, (ii) meditation-based (i.e., present-moment-focussed) working styles may be more effective than goal-based (i.e., future-orientated) working styles, and (iii) meditation may reduce the separation made by employees between their own interests and those of the organizations they work for