SAFETY PATROL: UTILIZING TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE RESPONSE TIMES IN EMERGENCY EVENT SITUATIONS

Mass shootings have, tragically, been on the rise in recent years and, heartbreakingly, those incidents can and do take place on school grounds. Techniques are presented herein that support a Safety Patrol facility that accelerates emergency services response times and equips first responders with the critical information that is required to act quickly in an emergency situation. According to the presented techniques, after an emergency event (such as a gunshot, a fire alarm, etc.) is detected, a network may react to the notification of that event by automatically creating a new Wi-Fi service set identifier (SSID) named FirstResponders and generating a splash page for first responder login. After successfully logging in, the presented techniques provide an overview of a facility (through floor plan maps) and identify the locations of video cameras which may be selected to receive live video feeds. Additionally, according to the presented techniques detected events may be displayed on a floor plan along with timestamps to provide historical situational awareness and equip first responders with not just information regarding what occurred where, but also access to the live feeds depicting what is currently happening

Declivi de la trenca (Lanius minor) al límit occidental de l'àrea de distribució: causes, mecanismes i propostes de conservació = Decline of the Lesser Grey Shrike (Lanius minor) at the western limit of the distribution area: causes, mechanisms and conservation proposals

[cat] Davant l’actual alta taxa d’extinció i pèrdua de biodiversitat, la biologia de la conservació s’ocupa d’estudiar la natura amb l’objectiu final de salvaguardar espècies, hàbitats i ecosistemes. Per a conservar i gestionar adequadament una espècie o població amenaçada, cal estudiar quines són les causes i els mecanismes que han derivat en aquest estat de conservació desfavorable. Les poblacions de trenca (Lanius minor) a Europa occidental són un bon cas d’estudi en biologia de la conservació, ja que 1) fa temps que es troben en declivi, però encara mantenen petites poblacions geogràficament aïllades entre sí, 2) es situen a la perifèria de l’àrea de distribució global i poden estar sotmeses a condicions diferents a les de les poblacions situades al centre de l’àrea de distribució i 3) la trenca és una especialista d’ambients agrícoles, un dels hàbitats més antropitzats i afectats pel canvi global, essent un bon escenari per compatibilitzar l’activitat humana i el manteniment de la biodiversitat. La present tesi té per objectius 1) descriure el declivi en els darrers 10-20 anys de les poblacions més occidentals de trenca (Catalunya, Espanya i França), 2) constatar si hi ha hagut conseqüències a nivell genètic d’aquest declivi i si hi ha una estructuració genètica entre diferents poblacions europees i asiàtiques, 3) identificar les principals causes de regressió i els mecanismes o paràmetres demogràfics que han tingut i tenen un paper més rellevant en la dinàmica poblacional i en el risc d’extinció d’aquestes poblacions occidentals i 4) proposar les mesures de gestió i conservació que siguin més prioritàries i idònies. Els resultats indiquen que l’àrea de distribució de totes les poblacions s’ha reduït al menys en un 50%, des de 1990, i que la tendència poblacional ha estat clarament negativa, fins al punt que dues de les cinc poblacions estudiades, ja s’han extingit l’any 2010. Com a conseqüència d’aquest declivi i possiblement de l’aïllament geogràfic, la població espanyola és la que mostra menys diversitat genètica de totes les poblacions europees i asiàtiques analitzades. L’anàlisi genètic identifica tres grans unitats evolutives (ESU) dins l’àrea de distribució global: un d’europeu i dos d’asiàtics, fet que aconsella una re-avaluació de les dues subespècies (una europea i una asiàtica) considerades per alguns autors. Algunes poblacions occidentals mostren una forta sincronia espacial en les fluctuacions interanuals de la mida de la població reproductora, fet que indica l’existència d’un factor comú que les regula. Aquest factor pot estar relacionat amb aspectes climàtics (increment tèrmic) i ambientals (pèrdua del desenvolupament vegetal) a les àrees de reproducció i, potser a l’àrea d’hivernada, tot i que calen més estudis per determinar el seu paper en el declivi d’aquestes poblacions. També es confirma la importància dels hàbitats naturals i semi-naturals de la matriu agrícola, per a la conservació d’aquestes poblacions, perquè ofereixen major disponibilitat d’insectes que altres hàbitats i són seleccionats com a lloc de cacera. La taxa d’envol de les parelles més primerenques també es veu positivament influenciada per la superfície disponible d’aquests hàbitats al voltant del niu. Tot i que una taxa d’envol menor de la desitjada podria ser un dels mecanismes demogràfics per explicar el declivi de la trenca, els models de viabilitat poblacional indiquen que, assumint que actualment no es produeix immigració, la taxa de retorn (supervivència i filopàtria) és el paràmetre més rellevant per evitar l’extinció de les poblacions. Per tant, una estratègia de conservació basada només en la millora dels paràmetres reproductius, a través d’una millora de l’hàbitat a nivell local (territori de nidificació), no seria suficient i caldria una gestió de l’hàbitat a gran escala, creant corredors i facilitant la dispersió entre les poblacions.[eng] To correctly preserve and manage threatened species or populations, it is crucial to understand the causes and mechanisms that have led to their unfavourable conservation status. This thesis aims 1) to describe the decline in the last 10-20 years of the Lesser Grey Shrike (Lanius minor) populations in Western Europe and to verify possible consequences at the genetic level 2) to identify the main causes of regression and the most relevant demographic mechanisms for population dynamics and 3) to propose conservation and management measures. In parallel to a negative population trend, the distribution area of the five populations has decreased to less than 50% since 1990, leading to the extinction of two of those populations until 2010. As a result of this decline, the Spanish population shows less genetic diversity than the rest of European and Asian studied populations. Genetic analysis identifies three evolutionary units (ESU) within the whole distribution area: one European and two Asian, suggesting a re-evaluation of the two subspecies considered by some authors. Some western populations show a spatial synchrony of the breeding population size across years, indicating the existence of a common regulation factor that may be related to climate (temperature increase) and/or environmental (loss of plant development) factors at the breeding and wintering area, according to a correlational analysis. It is confirmed the importance of natural habitats in farmland areas for conservation purposes, because they offer more availability of insects, they are positively selected for hunting and they enhance the reproductive output of shrikes breeding early in the season. Although a low fledgling success could be one of the demographic mechanisms to explain the decline of this Shrike in western Europe, the population viability analysis indicate that, assuming that there is currently no immigration, return rate (survival and philopatry) is the most relevant parameter to prevent the extinction of populations. Therefore, a conservation strategy based only on improving reproductive performance through local habitat management in the breeding territories would not be sufficient, and habitat management on a larger spatial would be needed, creating corridors and facilitating dispersal between populations

Landscape-scale effects of irrigation on a dry cereal farmland bird community

Landscape modification and habitat fragmentation are one of the major current threats to biodiversity. The main source of habitat fragmentation is the loss of focal habitat area, but changes in the composition of the surrounding landscape also have a direct effect on biodiversity. These changes may lead to the loss of some species but also may favor species replacement. Farmland birds in Europe are affected by landscape changes due to farmland intensification, such as the spread of irrigation, which may occur at different spatial scales. As irrigation is expected to increase in the coming years, which may affect protected areas, it is necessary to evaluate its potential consequences over focal biodiversity. In this study we assess the relationship between the increase of irrigated land at different spatial scales and changes in a dry cereal farmland bird community, bird abundance and species richness, using generalized linear models. We used a dry cereal farmland affinity index to describe the level of community specificity for dry cereal farmland. The increase in irrigated tree orchards produced an increase in species richness up to 500 m away from the irrigated area, which had a negative effect on the dry cereal farmland bird community, by triggering a replacement of specialist by generalist species. Our results show the importance of landscape-scale effects of irrigation occurring outside protected areas on the farmland bird community inside Natura 2000 sites, as well as how these effects are detected even at long distances from the disturbance source.Departament d’Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca i Alimentació and Infraestructures de la Generalitat de Catalunya S.A.U. have funded a relevant part of the field work and data acquisition

Passive acoustic monitoring for estimating human-wildlife conflicts: The case of bee-eaters and apiculture

In human-wildlife conflicts, it is crucial to develop accurate protocols for the reliable verification of the causative species and its relationship with potential damage claims. One of such conflicts is that occurring between apiarists and bee-eaters. In this work, we aim to assess the utility of passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) as an efficient methodology to measure European bee-eater (Merops apiaster) predation pressure at beehives and its impact on honeybees foraging activity. Using Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs) in apiaries, coupled to automated recognition methods for bee-eater calls identification, we found a positive relationship between Vocal Activity Rate (VAR) index and number of bee-eaters hunting attempts on honeybees. We also found that VAR varied over time, showing a lower predation pressure during midday hours and higher during the post-breeding migratory period. Honeybees flying activity was negatively associated with VAR and this relationship was conditioned by the hour of the day. Our study offers a new application of PAM and acoustic derived indices for the evaluation of potential damages caused by wildlife. We focused on the interaction between honeybees and the European bee-eater, but we expect PAM might be useful also to remotely monitor impacts to human activities produced by other vocally active species.European bee-eater monitoring was funded by the Department of Territory and Sustainability of the Generalitat de Catalunya. ARUs conception and design were partially supported by Programa de Investigación y Conservación del Zoo de Barcelona within the project ‘Nuevas tecnologías para viejos trabajos. Uso de grabadores automáticos para la detección y censo de especies raras y amenazadas. El caso de la alondra ricotí en Lleida y otras poblaciones pequeñas’. CPG acknowledges the support from Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional through the Beatriz Galindo Fellowship (Beatriz Galindo – Convocatoria 2020)

Cognitive science applied to reduce network operation margins

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Photonic Network Communications. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11107-017-0717-9.In an increasingly competitive market environment with smaller product offer differentiation, a continuous maximization of efficiency, while guarantying the quality of the provided services, remains a main objective for any telecom operator. In this work, we address the reduction of the operational costs of the optical transport network as one of the possible fields of action to achieve this aim. We propose to apply cognitive science for reducing these costs, specifically by reducing operation margins. We base our work on the case-based reasoning technique by proposing several new schemes to reduce the operation margins established during the design and commissioning phases of the optical links power budgets. From the obtained results, we find that our cognitive proposal provides a feasible solution allowing significant savings on transmitted power that can reach a 49%. We show that there is a certain dependency on network conditions, achieving higher efficiency in low loaded networks where improvements can raise up to 53%.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

SAFETY PATROL: MECHANISMS FOR IMPROVING EMERGENCY RESPONSE TIMES

To equip first responders with critical, time-sensitive information and accelerate emergency services response times, various solutions are provided herein through several techniques. Under a first technique, after an emergency event such as a gunshot is either automatically detected by a camera or manually initiated by a user, or when a dangerous object such as a gun is detected by a camera, a network may react by associating the source of the dangerous event or object with a person based on proximity data; identifying the physical characteristics of the person (such as height, hair color, clothing, visible tattoos, etc.); attaching such characteristics as textual metadata; and then transmitting that metadata to first responders. A second technique automatically develops a radio frequency (RF) signature profile of a person of interest (from RF signals emitted by devices carried by the person), associates that profile to the person, and leverages that profile to track the person as they move throughout a building or campus, allowing a user to look back in time (to, for example, identify where a person came from and how they entered a building) by tracking the RF profile over time. The above-described data is extremely important during any ongoing emergency and equips first responders with critical information which only a network can provide

Pricing proprietary research projects in large scientific facilities

Large scientific facilities in all domains of science, are looking at cooperation between science and the industry to alleviate their increasing financial constraints, as proprietary research proposals are charged a price for the time-use of the facility. We argue that present practices to determine those prices are completely ad hoc and thus, not based in any economic rationality. This paper presents several alternative pricing mechanisms based on three economic concepts: willingness to pay, social benefits, and opportunity cost. These mechanisms satisfy some desirable properties like publicity, simplicity, and based in well-accepted economic principles

Defining a Standard Set of Health Outcomes for Patients With Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck in Spain

Head and neck cancer; Outcome measurement; Patient-centered careCáncer de cabeza y cuello; Medición de resultados; Atención centrada en el pacienteCàncer de cap i coll; Mesura del resultat; Atenció centrada en el pacientPurpose: A systematic, standardized collection of health outcomes during patient treatment and follow-up, relevant from the perspective of all stakeholders, is a crucial step toward effective and efficient disease management. This project aimed to define a standard set of health outcomes for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). Methods: The project was led and coordinated by a scientific committee (SC). It comprised: (1) a literature review (to identify variables used during SCCHN management); (2) 1st-SC meeting (to select the variables for presentation during nominal groups-NG); (3) five NG (n=42 experts) and four interviews with patients (to reach consensus on the variables for inclusion); and (4) final-SC meeting (to review the results of NG ensuring consensus on the variables where consensus was not reached). Results: Experts agreed to include the following variables in the standard set: treatment-related (treatment intent and type, response to treatment, treatment toxicity/complication, treatment completion), degree of health (performance status, patient-reported health status, pain, dysphonia, feeding and speech limitations, body image alteration, tracheotomy), survival (overall and progression-free survival, cause of death), nutritional (weight, nutritional intervention), other variables (smoking status, alcohol consumption, patient satisfaction with aftermath care, employment status), and case-mix variables (demographic, tumor-related, clinical and nutritional factors). Conclusions: This project may pave the way to standardizing the collection of health outcomes in SCCHN and promote the incorporation of patients’ perspective in its management. The information provided through the systematic compilation of this standard set may define strategies to achieve high-quality, patient-centered care.The project was sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb