A roadmap to integrating resilience into the practice of coral reef restoration.

Recent warm temperatures driven by climate change have caused mass coral bleaching and mortality across the world, prompting managers, policymakers, and conservation practitioners to embrace restoration as a strategy to sustain coral reefs. Despite a proliferation of new coral reef restoration efforts globally and increasing scientific recognition and research on interventions aimed at supporting reef resilience to climate impacts, few restoration programs are currently incorporating climate change and resilience in project design. As climate change will continue to degrade coral reefs for decades to come, guidance is needed to support managers and restoration practitioners to conduct restoration that promotes resilience through enhanced coral reef recovery, resistance, and adaptation. Here, we address this critical implementation gap by providing recommendations that integrate resilience principles into restoration design and practice, including for project planning and design, coral selection, site selection, and broader ecosystem context. We also discuss future opportunities to improve restoration methods to support enhanced outcomes for coral reefs in response to climate change. As coral reefs are one of the most vulnerable ecosystems to climate change, interventions that enhance reef resilience will help to ensure restoration efforts have a greater chance of success in a warming world. They are also more likely to provide essential contributions to global targets to protect natural biodiversity and the human communities that rely on reefs

Assessment of the role of transcript for GATA-4 as a marker of unfavorable outcome in human adrenocortical neoplasms

BACKGROUND: Malignant neoplasia of the adrenal cortex is usually associated with very poor prognosis. When adrenocortical neoplasms are diagnosed in the early stages, distinction between carcinoma and adenoma can be very difficult to accomplish, since there is yet no reliable marker to predict tumor recurrence or dissemination. GATA transcription factors play an essential role in the developmental control of cell fate, cell proliferation and differentiation, organ morphogenesis, and tissue-specific gene expression. Normal mouse adrenal cortex expresses GATA-6 while its malignant counterpart only expresses GATA-4. The goal of the present study was to assess whether this reciprocal change in the expression of GATA factors might be relevant for predicting the prognosis of human adrenocortical neoplasms. Since human adrenal cortices express luteinizing hormone (LH/hCG) receptor and the gonadotropins are known to up-regulate GATA-4 in gonadal tumor cell lines, we also studied the expression of LH/hCG receptor. METHODS: We conducted a study on 13 non-metastasizing (NM) and 10 metastasizing/recurrent (MR) tumors obtained from a group of twenty-two adult and pediatric patients. The expression of GATA-4, GATA-6, and LH/hCG receptor (LHR) in normal and tumoral human adrenal cortices was analysed using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) complemented by dot blot hybridization. RESULTS: Messenger RNA for GATA-6 was detected in normal adrenal tissue, as well as in the totality of NM and MR tumors. GATA-4, by its turn, was detected in normal adrenal tissue, in 11 out of 13 NM tumors, and in 9 of the 10 MR tumors, with larger amounts of mRNA found among those presenting aggressive clinical behavior. Transcripts for LH receptor were observed both in normal tissue and neoplasms. A more intense LHR transcript accumulation was observed on those tumors with better clinical outcome. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that the expression of GATA-6 in human adrenal cortex is not affected by tumorigenesis. GATA-4 expression is more abundant in MR tumors, while NM tumors express more intensely LHR. Further studies with larger cohorts are needed to test whether relative expression levels of LHR or GATA-4 might be used as prognosis predictors

A Model for the Detection of Moving Targets in Visual Clutter Inspired by Insect Physiology

We present a computational model for target discrimination based on intracellular recordings from neurons in the fly visual system. Determining how insects detect and track small moving features, often against cluttered moving backgrounds, is an intriguing challenge, both from a physiological and a computational perspective. Previous research has characterized higher-order neurons within the fly brain, known as ‘small target motion detectors’ (STMD), that respond robustly to moving features, even when the velocity of the target is matched to the background (i.e. with no relative motion cues). We recorded from intermediate-order neurons in the fly visual system that are well suited as a component along the target detection pathway. This full-wave rectifying, transient cell (RTC) reveals independent adaptation to luminance changes of opposite signs (suggesting separate ON and OFF channels) and fast adaptive temporal mechanisms, similar to other cell types previously described. From this physiological data we have created a numerical model for target discrimination. This model includes nonlinear filtering based on the fly optics, the photoreceptors, the 1st order interneurons (Large Monopolar Cells), and the newly derived parameters for the RTC. We show that our RTC-based target detection model is well matched to properties described for the STMDs, such as contrast sensitivity, height tuning and velocity tuning. The model output shows that the spatiotemporal profile of small targets is sufficiently rare within natural scene imagery to allow our highly nonlinear ‘matched filter’ to successfully detect most targets from the background. Importantly, this model can explain this type of feature discrimination without the need for relative motion cues

Expression of the zinc-finger transcription factor Snail in adrenocortical carcinoma is associated with decreased survival

In this study, we evaluate whether Snail is expressed in adrenocortical cancer (ACC) and if its expression is related to patient outcome. One of the best known functions of the zinc-finger transcription factor Snail is to induce epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Increasing evidence suggests that EMT plays a pivotal role in tumour progression and metastatic spread. Snail and E-cadherin expression were assessed by immunohistochemistry in 26 resected ACCs and real-time quantitative RT–PCR expression analysis was performed. Data were correlated with clinical outcome and in particular with overall patient survival. Seventeen of 26 (65%) ACC tumour samples expressed Snail when assessed by immunohistochemistry. Snail expression was neither detected in normal adrenocortical tissue, nor in benign adrenocortical adenomas. Expression levels were confirmed on the mRNA level by Real-Time–PCR. Survival rates were significantly decreased in Snail-positive tumours compared to Snail-negative tumours: 10 out of 16 vs one out of eight patients succumbed to disease after a median follow up of 14.5 and 28.5 months, respectively (P=0.03). Patients with Snail-expressing ACCs presented in advanced disease (11 out of 12 vs 6 out of 14, P=0.01) and tend to develop distant metastases more frequently than patients with negative staining (7 out of 11 vs two out of eight, P=0.19). In conclusion, we describe for the first time that Snail is expressed in a large subset of ACCs. Furthermore, Snail expression is associated with decreased survival, advanced disease and higher risk of developing distant metastases

Global warming and recurrent mass bleaching of corals

During 2015–2016, record temperatures triggered a pan-tropical episode of coral bleaching, the third global-scale event since mass bleaching was first documented in the 1980s. Here we examine how and why the severity of recurrent major bleaching events has varied at multiple scales, using aerial and underwater surveys of Australian reefs combined with satellite-derived sea surface temperatures. The distinctive geographic footprints of recurrent bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in 1998, 2002 and 2016 were determined by the spatial pattern of sea temperatures in each year. Water quality and fishing pressure had minimal effect on the unprecedented bleaching in 2016, suggesting that local protection of reefs affords little or no resistance to extreme heat. Similarly, past exposure to bleaching in 1998 and 2002 did not lessen the severity of bleaching in 2016. Consequently, immediate global action to curb future warming is essential to secure a future for coral reefs

Genetic Traces of Recent Long-Distance Dispersal in a Predominantly Self-Recruiting Coral

Understanding of the magnitude and direction of the exchange of individuals among geographically separated subpopulations that comprise a metapopulation (connectivity) can lead to an improved ability to forecast how fast coral reef organisms are likely to recover from disturbance events that cause extensive mortality. Reef corals that brood their larvae internally and release mature larvae are believed to show little exchange of larvae over ecological times scales and are therefore expected to recover extremely slowly from large-scale perturbations.Using analysis of ten DNA microsatellite loci, we show that although Great Barrier Reef (GBR) populations of the brooding coral, Seriatopora hystrix, are mostly self-seeded and some populations are highly isolated, a considerable amount of sexual larvae (up to approximately 4%) has been exchanged among several reefs 10 s to 100 s km apart over the past few generations. Our results further indicate that S. hystrix is capable of producing asexual propagules with similar long-distance dispersal abilities (approximately 1.4% of the sampled colonies had a multilocus genotype that also occurred at another sampling location), which may aid in recovery from environmental disturbances.Patterns of connectivity in this and probably other GBR corals are complex and need to be resolved in greater detail through genetic characterisation of different cohorts and linkage of genetic data with fine-scale hydrodynamic models

Data Visualization in Social Science and Market Research

Datenvisualisierungen und Infografiken sind spätestens seit Ausbruch der Corona-Pandemie in aller Munde oder besser gesagt „in aller Augen“. Kaum ein News-Portal, kaum eine Online-Ausgabe renommierter Zeitungen kommt ohne die fast schon obligatorische interaktive Datenvisualisierung über den Verlauf der Pandemie, die Entwicklung der Infektionszahlen oder einen Ländervergleich aus. Der vorliegende erste Sammelband zum Thema möchte (interaktive) Datenvisualisierung praxisorientiert aufgreifen, um sowohl die grundlagen-orientierte wie auch die angewandte Forschung zu inspirieren, näher zusammenzuführen, zukünftige Forschung zu unterstützen sowie für offene Fragen in diesem dynamischen Prozess zu sensibilisieren.:O. Tabino, C. M. Stützer & A. Wachenfeld-Schell, Editorial Board: Data Visualization and Information Design: Bringing Data to Life B. Wiederkehr: Interactive Things Data Visualization for Exploration and Explanation S. Sieben & P. Simmering, Q | Agentur für Forschung GmbH: Storytelling vs. Dashboards – Wie Sie die richtige Methode zur Datenvisualisierung auswählen M. Bonera, The Visual Agency | Politecnico di Milano: Data Visualization as a Tool to Access Leonardo da Vinci’s Greatest Work: The Codex Atlanticus P. Blau, GIM Gesellschaft für Innovative Marktforschung mbH: Visualisierung qualitativer Daten: Die Komplexität des EinfachenSince the outbreak of the Corona pandemic at the latest, data visualisations and infographics have been on everyone's mind, or rather 'in everyone's eyes'. Barely any news portal or online edition of well-known newspapers can do without the almost obligatory interactive data visualisation on the path of the pandemic, the development of infection figures or a comparison of countries. This first volume on this topic aims to take up (interactive) data visualisation in a practice-oriented way in order to inspire both fundamentally-oriented and applied research, to bring it closer together, to support future research as well as to sensitise for open questions in this dynamic process.:O. Tabino, C. M. Stützer & A. Wachenfeld-Schell, Editorial Board: Data Visualization and Information Design: Bringing Data to Life B. Wiederkehr: Interactive Things Data Visualization for Exploration and Explanation S. Sieben & P. Simmering, Q | Agentur für Forschung GmbH: Storytelling vs. Dashboards – Wie Sie die richtige Methode zur Datenvisualisierung auswählen M. Bonera, The Visual Agency | Politecnico di Milano: Data Visualization as a Tool to Access Leonardo da Vinci’s Greatest Work: The Codex Atlanticus P. Blau, GIM Gesellschaft für Innovative Marktforschung mbH: Visualisierung qualitativer Daten: Die Komplexität des Einfache

(Intelligentes) Text Mining in der Marktforschung

Die Extraktion von Informationen aus Texten – insbesondere aus unstrukturierten Textdaten wie Foren, Bewertungsportalen bzw. aus offenen Angaben – stellen heute eine besondere Herausforderung für Marktforscher und Marktforscherinnen dar. Hierzu wird zum einen neues methodisches Know-how gebraucht, um mit den komplexen Datenbeständen sowohl bei der Erhebung wie auch bei der Bewertung dieser umzugehen. Zum anderen müssen im Kontext der digitalen Beforschung von neuen Customer Insights sowohl technische als auch organisationale Infrastrukturen geschaffen werden, um u. a. Geschäftsmodelle in Abläufen und Arbeitsprozessen von Unternehmen, Institutionen und Organisationen etablieren zu können. Die Beiträge des Bandes besprechen nicht nur vielfältigste Methoden und Verfahren zur automatischen Textextraktion, sondern zeigen hierbei sowohl die Relevanz als auch die Herausforderungen für die Online-Marktforschung auf, die mit dem Einsatz solch innovativer Ansätze und Verfahren verbunden sind.:C. M. Stützer, A. Wachenfeld-Schell & S. Oglesby: Digitale Transformation der Marktforschung A. Lang & M. Egger, Insius UG: Wie Marktforscher durch kooperatives Natural Language Processing bei der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse profitieren können M. Heurich & S. Štajner, Symanto Research: Durch Technologie zu mehr Empathie in der Kundenansprache – Wie Text Analytics helfen kann, die Stimme des digitalen Verbrauchers zu verstehen G. Heisenberg, TH Köln & T. Hees, Questback GmbH: Text Mining-Verfahren zur Analyse offener Antworten in Online-Befragungen im Bereich der Markt- und Medienforschung T. Reuter, Cogia Intelligence GmbH: Automatische semantische Analysen für die Online-Marktforschung P. de Buren, Caplena GmbH: Offenen Nennungen gekonnt analysiere

Data Visualization and Information design: bringing data to life

aus dem Inhalt: „Spätestens seit Ausbruch der Corona-Pandemie sind Datenvisualisierungen und Infografiken in aller Munde oder besser gesagt «in aller Augen ». Kaum ein News-Portal, kaum eine Online-Ausgabe renommierter Zeitungen kommt ohne die fast schon obligatorische interaktive Datenvisualisierung über den Verlauf der Pandemie, die Entwicklung der Infektionszahlen oder einen Ländervergleich aus.