A cultural landscape approach to community-based conservation in Solomon Islands

International environmental organizations have an increasing commitment to the development of conservation programs in high-diversity regions where indigenous communities maintain customary rights to their lands and seas. A major challenge that these programs face is the alignment of international conservation values with those of the indigenous communities whose cooperation and support are vital. International environmental organizations are focused on biodiversity conservation, but local communities often have a different range of concerns and interests, only some of which relate to biodiversity. One solution to this problem involves adoption of a cultural landscape approach as the ethical and organizational foundation of the conservation program. In our conservation work in coastal Melanesia, we have developed a cultural landscape approach that involves the construction of a conceptual model of environment that reflects the indigenous perceptions of landscape. This model incorporates cultural, ideational, and spiritual values alongside other ecosystem services and underpins the conservation activities, priorities, and organizational structure of our programs. This cultural landscape model was a reaction to a survey of environmental values conducted by our team in which Solomon Islanders reported far greater interest in conserving cultural heritage sites than any other ecosystem resources. This caused a radical rethinking of community-based conservation programs. The methodologies we adopted are derived from the fields of archaeology and historical anthropology, in which there is an established practice of working through research problems within the framework of indigenous concepts of, and relationship to, landscape. In our work in Isabel Province, Solomon Islands, coastal communities have enthusiastically adopted conservation programs that are based on cultural landscape models that recognize indigenous values. A particularly useful tool is the Cultural Heritage Module, which identifies cultural heritage sites that become targets of conservation management and that are used as part of a holistic framework for thinking about broader conservation values

The Canada-UK Deep Sub-Millimeter Survey II: First identifications, redshifts and implications for galaxy evolution

Identifications are sought for 12 sub-mm sources detected by Eales et al (1998). Six are securely identified, two have probable identifications and four remain unidentified with I_AB > 25. Spectroscopic and estimated photometric redshifts indicate that four of the sources have z < 1, and four have 1 < z < 3, with the remaining four empty field sources probably lying at z > 3. The spectral energy distributions of the identifications are consistent with those of high extinction starbursts such as Arp 220. The far-IR luminosities of the sources at z > 0.5 are of order 3 x 10^12 h_50^-2 L_sun, i.e. slightly larger than that of Arp 220. Based on this small sample, the cumulative bolometric luminosity function shows strong evolution to z ~ 1, but weaker or possibly even negative evolution beyond. The redshift dependence of the far-IR luminosity density does not appear, at this early stage, to be inconsistent with that seen in the ultraviolet luminosity density. Assuming that the energy source in the far-IR is massive stars, the total luminous output from star-formation in the Universe is probably dominated by the far-IR emission. The detected systems have individual star-formation rates (exceeding 300 h_50^-2 M_O yr^-1) that are much higher than seen in the ultraviolet selected samples, and which are sufficient to form substantial stellar populations on dynamical timescales of 10^8 yr. The association with merger-like morphologies and the obvious presence of dust makes it attractive to identify these systems as forming the metal-rich spheroid population, in which case we would infer that much of this activity has occurred relatively recently, at z ~ 2.Comment: 17 pages text + 14 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. Gzipped tar file contains one text.ps file for text and tables, one Fig2.jpg file for Fig 2, and 13 Fig*.ps files for the remaining figure

Noninvasive imaging of focal atherosclerotic lesions using fluorescence molecular tomography

Insights into the etiology of stroke and myocardial infarction suggest that rupture of unstable atherosclerotic plaque is the precipitating event. Clinicians lack tools to detect lesion instability early enough to intervene, and are often left to manage patients empirically, or worse, after plaque rupture. Noninvasive imaging of the molecular events signaling prerupture plaque progression has the potential to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with myocardial infarction and stroke by allowing early intervention. Here, we demonstrate proof-of-principle in vivo molecular imaging of C-type natriuretic peptide receptor in focal atherosclerotic lesions in the femoral arteries of New Zealand white rabbits using a custom built fiber-based, fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) system. Longitudinal imaging showed changes in the fluorescence signal intensity as the plaque progressed in the air-desiccated vessel compared to the uninjured vessel, which was validated by ex vivo tissue studies. In summary, we demonstrate the potential of FMT for noninvasive detection of molecular events leading to unstable lesions heralding plaque rupture

Designing and Conducting Experiments for Range Beef Cows

Designing and conducting effective research for range beef systems involves analysis of intended application of the results, identification of factors affecting variation, and selection of appropriate research methods so that precise inferences can be made. Variances associated with time, location, animal, and error in grazing research can be high. Variation due to treatment × location and treatment × time interactions is reduced by increasing the number of locations and periods tested. Random error is reduced by increasing the total number of observations. Animals, pastures, and weather are significant sources of variation in grazing studies. Factors that influence nutrient requirements or nutrient intake of cows are potential sources of variation. Amount and quality of herbage produced are highly variable within and among years and are closely related to the amount and pattern of precipitation. Vegetative measurements (e.g., cover or standing biomass) should be planned as a step in developing experimental designs and to aid in experimental layout and interpretation of the data. Vegetation sampling should be less intensive and largely descriptive in large study areas when the objectives are to measure a livestock production response and vegetation responses are considered incidental. As the priority of the objectives moves toward emphasizing plant response and the size of the study area declines, the intensity of sampling on a land unit basis increases and the need for precision increases. Generally, multiple years of study are required to address between-year variances. Experimental units and replication are key to effective experimentation. Without replication in space and(or) time, there would be no estimate of experimental error. In supplementation studies on range, experimental units are generally animals, pastures, or ranches. Animal, pasture, and ranch have advantages and disadvantages as experimental units. The advantages and disadvantages are related to hypothesis, objectives, inference, resources, number of animals, and number of treatments. When economic evaluations are part of systems research, economists should be involved in planning the experiment and formulating hypotheses. Hypotheses and interpretation of biological data may be different than for economic data. Costs need to be estimated for correct unit of output, and cost alone may be insufficient to properly rank the economic outcomes of the research

Erenumab in chronic migraine: Patient-reported outcomes in a randomized double-blind study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of erenumab, a human monoclonal antibody targeting the calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor, on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), headache impact, and disability in patients with chronic migraine (CM). METHODS: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 667 adults with CM were randomized (3:2:2) to placebo or erenumab (70 or 140 mg monthly). Exploratory endpoints included migraine-specific HRQoL (Migraine-Specific Quality-of-Life Questionnaire [MSQ]), headache impact (Headache Impact Test-6 [HIT-6]), migraine-related disability (Migraine Disability Assessment [MIDAS] test), and pain interference (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System [PROMIS] Pain Interference Scale short form 6b). RESULTS: Improvements were observed for all endpoints in both erenumab groups at month 3, with greater changes relative to placebo observed at month 1 for many outcomes. All 3 MSQ domains were improved from baseline with treatment differences for both doses exceeding minimally important differences established for MSQ-role function-restrictive (≥3.2) and MSQ-emotional functioning (≥7.5) and for MSQ-role function-preventive (≥4.5) for erenumab 140 mg. Changes from baseline in HIT-6 scores at month 3 were -5.6 for both doses vs -3.1 for placebo. MIDAS scores at month 3 improved by -19.4 days for 70 mg and -19.8 days for 140 mg vs -7.5 days for placebo. Individual-level minimally important difference was achieved by larger proportions of erenumab-treated participants than placebo for all MSQ domains and HIT-6. Lower proportions of erenumab-treated participants had MIDAS scores of severe (≥21) or very severe (≥41) or PROMIS scores ≥60 at month 3. CONCLUSIONS: Erenumab-treated patients with CM experienced clinically relevant improvements across a broad range of patient-reported outcomes. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: NCT02066415. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that for patients with CM, erenumab treatment improves HRQoL, headache impact, and disability

Florida Coral Reef Damage from Nuclear Submarine Grounding and Proposed Restoration

The United States submarine Memphis grounded in approximately 10 m water depth on a tropical coral reef ofT southeast Florida in February, 1993. The grounding caused extensive physical and biological damage to the reef substrate and to the coral community. As part of a claim by the State of Florida against the United States, the impact of the grounding was assessed, and the area of damage was determined through field and photographic studies. A recovery rate for the reef was assigned from literature estimates. The NOAA Habitat Equivalency Model (HEM) was used to calculate the reef area needed to be replaced in order to compensate for damages. A plan devised to restore the reef included: removal of loose rubble generated from the grounding; stabilization of reef faces in danger of collapse: emplacement of six different types of artificial reefs; transplantation of reef-building corals (15% of the number damaged) to bare damaged substrate and to the artificial reefs; and a 20 year monitoring period to assess restoration plan efficacy. Settlement of the claim in April, 1997 resulted in an award of $750,000 to the Ecosystem Management Trust Fund of the State of Florida. Utilization of this fund necessitates a revised plan to restore the damaged reef within economic constraints. This plan will involve rubble removal/stabilization, artificial reef emplacement, stony coral transplantation, and monitoring