76 research outputs found

    Bedrock and Surficial Geologic Map of the Red Rock 7.5’ Quadrangle, Beaverhead County, Southwestern Montana

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    The Red Rock 7.5 minute quadrangle, located in Beaverhead County, southwestern Montana, spans the Red Rock River Valley, an extensional graben formed between the Tendoy mountain front and the western flank of the Blacktail-Snowcrest uplift (Fig. 1). Notable landmarks within the quadrangle include the Clark Canyon Reservoir (Bureau of Reclamation dam number MT00569) located in the northwest area of the quadrangle and Interstate 15 which runs northwest-southeast through the quadrangle. The highest elevations in the map area are located within the Tendoy Mountains and the Red Rock Hills and are underlain by Paleozoic and Cenozoic bedrock. From these points, broad alluvial fans grade down to the Red Rock River Valley. The quadrangle contains about 3,000 ft of relief. Mapping of the Red Rock quadrangle was done at a scale of 1:12,000 and was compiled at a scale of 1:24,000. Field work was completed in the summer of 2005 in collaboration with the mapping of the adjacent Briggs Ranch and Kidd quadrangles (Figs. 1 and 2). This strategy allowed for the comparison of structure and stratigraphy across quadrangle boundaries and provided a regional context for the mapping of each quadrangle. This new mapping complements previous mapping of the Monument Hill quadrangle (Newton and others, 2005), Dixon Mountain quadrangle (Harkins and others, 2004b), Caboose Canyon quadrangle (Harkins and others, 2004a), and Dell quadrangle (Aschoff and Schmitt, 2005) and collectively provides new detailed mapping and analysis of a portion of the Red Rock River Valley from Lima to the Clark Canyon Dam (Figs. 1 and 2). This report includes a map and cross section for the Red Rock quadrangle as well as a discussion of the stratigraphy and structure of the map area

    Projeto “Meio Ambiente e Cidadania” – como ferramenta de transformação e apoio ao programa de gestão ambiental no município de Jaguari/RS

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    A Educação Ambiental é considerada, neste trabalho, uma ferramenta de transformação social, sendo desenvolvida através de uma educação dialógica, participativa e emancipatória, proporcionando o desenvolvimento de educadores ambientais críticos aptos a decidir e atuar nas escolas frente a realidade socioambiental vivenciada na atualidade. O projeto “Meio Ambiente e Cidadania” foi realizado a partir do Convênio de Cooperação Técnica e Consultoria Ambiental entre a Fundação MO´Ã - Estudos e Pesquisas para a Proteção e o Desenvolvimento Ambiental e o Município de Jaguari - RS. Este Projeto teve como objetivo geral auxiliar na formação de educadores ambientais para a construção da Agenda Ambiental nas Escolas Municipais. Os objetivos específicos foram: Estimular o debate acerca dos problemas e potencialidades existentes no Município; Contribuir na formação e qualificação de educadores ambientais com a finalidade de potencializar os esforços do núcleo formador e Promover por meio de uma formação teóricometodológica qualificada, a reflexão e proposição pelos professores de práticas educativas ambientais para o enfrentamento das questões sócio-ambientais vividas pela comunidade escolar. A metodologia buscou a dialogicidade, onde os temas, as propostas, as atividades serão com base na metodologia da Pesquisa Ação, tendo como referências teóricas Michel Thiollent, onde o grupo desempenha um papel ativo na própria realidade dos fatos observados e nas mudanças que se pretende alcançar, promovendo a melhoria da qualidade de vida da população local. Ralizou-se encontros, proporcionando espaços de diálogo, a partir de reflexões coletivas, explanações teórico-metodológicas, estudos de caso, discussão de textos e práticas educativas ambientais que permitiram unir a qualificação teórica com a experiência prática do grupo de professores participantes. Estes momentos presenciais, somados ao trabalho que os educadores desenvolvem nas suas respectivas escolas permitirão ao município contar com um grupo de educadores ambientais aptos a propor e desenvolverem práticas ambientais transformadoras e multidisciplinares, a partir das diferentes realidades escolares

    Variations in Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities and Biological Quality in the Aguarico and Coca River Basins in the Ecuadorian Amazon

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    Adequate environmental management in tropical aquatic ecosystems is imperative. Given the lack of knowledge about functional diversity and bioassessment programs, management is missing the needed evidence on pollution and its effect on biodiversity and functional ecology. Therefore, we investigated the composition and distribution of the macroinvertebrate community along two rivers. Specifically, 15 locations were sampled in the Coca and Aguarico Rivers (Ecuadorian Amazon) and the macroinvertebrates were used to indicate water quality (WQ), expressed as the Biological Monitoring Working Party Colombia (BMWP-Col) classes. Results indicate that elevation, pH, temperature, width, and water depth played an important role in the taxa and functional feeding groups (FFG) composition. The results show that diversity of taxa and FFG were generally scarce but were more abundant in good quality sites. Collector-gathers (CG) were, in general, dominant and were particularly abundant at low WQ and downstream sites. Scrapers (SC) were the second most abundant group, dominating mostly at good WQ and upstream sites. Predators (PR) were homogeneously distributed among the sites, without clear dominance, and their abundance was slightly higher in sites with medium-low WQ and downstream sites. Lastly, both shredders (SH) and collector-filterers (CF) were almost absent and were more abundant in good quality sites. The findings of this research can be used as baseline information in the studied region since a dam was constructed two years after the sampling campaign, which has been operating since. Furthermore, the results can be used to fill the knowledge gaps related to the bioassessments of other similar systems, particularly for a tropical rainforest

    Screening and brief interventions for hazardous and harmful alcohol use in primary care: a cluster randomised controlled trial protocol

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    A large number of randomised controlled trials in health settings have consistently reported positive effects of brief intervention in terms of reductions in alcohol use. However,although alcohol misuse is common amongst offenders, there is limited evidence of alcohol brief interventions in the criminal justice field. This factorial pragmatic cluster randomised controlledtrial with Offender Managers (OMs) as the unit of randomisation will evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different models of screening to identify hazardous and harmful drinkers in probation and different intensities of brief intervention to reduce excessive drinking in probation clients. Ninety-six OMs from 9 probation areas across 3 English regions (the NorthEast Region (n = 4) and London and the South East Regions (n = 5)) will be recruited. OMs will berandomly allocated to one of three intervention conditions: a client information leaflet control condition (n = 32 OMs); 5-minute simple structured advice (n = 32 OMs) and 20-minute brieflifestyle counselling delivered by an Alcohol Health Worker (n = 32 OMs). Randomisation will be stratified by probation area. To test the relative effectiveness of different screening methods all OMs will be randomised to either the Modified Single Item Screening Questionnaire (M-SASQ) orthe Fast Alcohol Screening Test (FAST). There will be a minimum of 480 clients recruited into the trial. There will be an intention to treat analysis of study outcomes at 6 and 12 months postintervention. Analysis will include client measures (screening result, weekly alcohol consumption,alcohol-related problems, re-offending, public service use and quality of life) and implementation measures from OMs (the extent of screening and brief intervention beyond the minimum recruitment threshold will provide data on acceptability and feasibility of different models of brief intervention). We will also examine the practitioner and organisational factors associated with successful implementation.The trial will evaluate the impact of screening and brief alcohol intervention in routine probation work and therefore its findings will be highly relevant to probation teams and thus the criminal justice system in the UK

    The Impact of multimorbidity burden, frailty risk scoring, and 3-directional morphological indices vs. testing for CSF responsiveness in normal pressure hydrocephalus

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    Objective: Multimorbidity burden across disease cohorts and variations in clinico-radiographic presentations within normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) confound its diagnosis, and the assessment of its amenability to interventions. We hypothesized that novel imaging techniques such as 3-directional linear morphological indices could help in distinguishing between hydrocephalus vs. non-hydrocephalus and correlate with responsiveness to external lumbar drainage (CSF responsiveness) within NPH subtypes.Methodology: Twenty-one participants with NPH were recruited and age-matched to 21 patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and 21 healthy controls (HC) selected from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. Patients with NPH underwent testing via the NPH programme with external lumbar drainage (ELD); pre- and post-ELD MRI scans were obtained. The modified Frailty Index (mFI-11) was used to stratify the NPH cohort, including Classic and Complex subtypes, by their comorbidity and frailty risks. The quantitative imaging network tool 3D Slicer was used to derive traditional 2-dimensional (2d) linear measures; Evans Index (EI), Bicaudate Index (BCI) and Callosal Angle (CA), along with novel 3-directional (3d) linear measures; z-Evans Index and Brain per Ventricle Ratio (BVR). 3-Dimensional (3D) ventricular volumetry was performed as an independent correlate of ventriculomegaly to CSF responsiveness.Results: Mean age for study participants was 71.14 ± 6.3 years (18, 85.7% males). The majority (15/21, 71.4%) of participants with NPH comprised the Complex subtype (overlay from vascular risk burden and AD); 12/21 (57.1%) were Non-Responders to ELD. Frailty alone was insufficient in distinguishing between NPH subtypes. By contrast, 3d linear measures distinguished NPH from both AD and HC cohorts, but also correlated to CSF responsiveness. The z-Evans Index was the most sensitive volumetric measure of CSF responsiveness (p = 0.012). Changes in 3d morphological indices across timepoints distinguished between Responders vs. Non-Responders to lumbar testing. There was a significant reduction of indices, only in Non-Responders and across multiple measures (z-Evans Index; p = 0.001, BVR at PC; p = 0.024). This was due to a significant decrease in ventricular measurement (p = 0.005) that correlated to independent 3D volumetry (p = 0.008).Conclusion. In the context of multimorbidity burden, frailty risks and overlay from neurodegenerative disease, 3d morphological indices demonstrated utility in distinguishing hydrocephalus vs. non-hydrocephalus and degree of CSF responsiveness. Further work may support the characterization of patients with Complex NPH who would best benefit from the risks of interventions

    Neuroimaging data repositories and AI-driven healthcare—Global aspirations vs. ethical considerations in machine learning models of neurological disease

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    Neuroimaging data repositories are data-rich resources comprising brain imaging with clinical and biomarker data. The potential for such repositories to transform healthcare is tremendous, especially in their capacity to support machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Current discussions about the generalizability of such tools in healthcare provoke concerns of risk of bias—ML models underperform in women and ethnic and racial minorities. The use of ML may exacerbate existing healthcare disparities or cause post-deployment harms. Do neuroimaging data repositories and their capacity to support ML/AI-driven clinical discoveries, have both the potential to accelerate innovative medicine and harden the gaps of social inequities in neuroscience-related healthcare? In this paper, we examined the ethical concerns of ML-driven modeling of global community neuroscience needs arising from the use of data amassed within neuroimaging data repositories. We explored this in two parts; firstly, in a theoretical experiment, we argued for a South East Asian-based repository to redress global imbalances. Within this context, we then considered the ethical framework toward the inclusion vs. exclusion of the migrant worker population, a group subject to healthcare inequities. Secondly, we created a model simulating the impact of global variations in the presentation of anosmia risks in COVID-19 toward altering brain structural findings; we then performed a mini AI ethics experiment. In this experiment, we interrogated an actual pilot dataset (n = 17; 8 non-anosmic (47%) vs. 9 anosmic (53%) using an ML clustering model. To create the COVID-19 simulation model, we bootstrapped to resample and amplify the dataset. This resulted in three hypothetical datasets: (i) matched (n = 68; 47% anosmic), (ii) predominant non-anosmic (n = 66; 73% disproportionate), and (iii) predominant anosmic (n = 66; 76% disproportionate). We found that the differing proportions of the same cohorts represented in each hypothetical dataset altered not only the relative importance of key features distinguishing between them but even the presence or absence of such features. The main objective of our mini experiment was to understand if ML/AI methodologies could be utilized toward modelling disproportionate datasets, in a manner we term “AI ethics.” Further work is required to expand the approach proposed here into a reproducible strategy

    Threshold responses of macroinvertebrate communities to stream velocity in relation to hydropower dam : a case study from the Guayas River Basin (Ecuador)

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    The Guayas River basin is one of the most important water resources in Ecuador, but the expansion of human activities has led to a degraded water quality. The purpose of this study was (1) to explore the importance of physical-chemical variables in structuring the macroinvertebrate communities and (2) to determine if the thresholds in stream velocity related to macroinvertebrate community composition could be identified in the Guayas River basin. Thus, macroinvertebrates and physical-chemical water quality variables were sampled at 120 locations during the dry season of 2013 in the Guayas River basin. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was performed to identify relevant physical-chemical characteristics of the river influencing the distribution of the macroinvertebrate communities. Threshold indicator taxa analysis (TITAN) was used to discriminate between the macroinvertebrate community related to stagnant waters (Daule-Peripa reservoir) and to running waters. CCA indicates that the most important environmental factors influencing the distribution of macroinvertebrate communities were stream velocity, chlorophyll concentration, conductivity, temperature and elevation. Tipping points for the macroinvertebrate community were defined by stream velocity at 0.03 m/s and 0.4 m/s, i.e., stagnant-water (including dam-related reservoirs) taxa start to quickly decrease in abundance and frequency at 0.03 m/s while running-water taxa start to quickly increase in abundance and frequency at 0.03 m/s until a stream velocity of 0.4 m/s. The results provide essential information to define environmental flows to further support water management plans of the Guayas River basin. Information obtained will be useful for management of similar rivers in South America, as well as the rest of the world
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