A Serological Survey of Infectious Disease in Yellowstone National Park’s Canid Community

BACKGROUND:Gray wolves (Canis lupus) were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park (YNP) after a >70 year absence, and as part of recovery efforts, the population has been closely monitored. In 1999 and 2005, pup survival was significantly reduced, suggestive of disease outbreaks. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We analyzed sympatric wolf, coyote (Canis latrans), and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) serologic data from YNP, spanning 1991-2007, to identify long-term patterns of pathogen exposure, identify associated risk factors, and examine evidence for disease-induced mortality among wolves for which there were survival data. We found high, constant exposure to canine parvovirus (wolf seroprevalence: 100%; coyote: 94%), canine adenovirus-1 (wolf pups [0.5-0.9 yr]: 91%, adults [>or=1 yr]: 96%; coyote juveniles [0.5-1.5 yrs]: 18%, adults [>or=1.6 yrs]: 83%), and canine herpesvirus (wolf: 87%; coyote juveniles: 23%, young adults [1.6-4.9 yrs]: 51%, old adults [>or=5 yrs]: 87%) suggesting that these pathogens were enzootic within YNP wolves and coyotes. An average of 50% of wolves exhibited exposure to the protozoan parasite, Neospora caninum, although individuals' odds of exposure tended to increase with age and was temporally variable. Wolf, coyote, and fox exposure to canine distemper virus (CDV) was temporally variable, with evidence for distinct multi-host outbreaks in 1999 and 2005, and perhaps a smaller, isolated outbreak among wolves in the interior of YNP in 2002. The years of high wolf-pup mortality in 1999 and 2005 in the northern region of the park were correlated with peaks in CDV seroprevalence, suggesting that CDV contributed to the observed mortality. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Of the pathogens we examined, none appear to jeopardize the long-term population of canids in YNP. However, CDV appears capable of causing short-term population declines. Additional information on how and where CDV is maintained and the frequency with which future epizootics might be expected might be useful for future management of the Northern Rocky Mountain wolf population

PaLM 2 Technical Report

We introduce PaLM 2, a new state-of-the-art language model that has better multilingual and reasoning capabilities and is more compute-efficient than its predecessor PaLM. PaLM 2 is a Transformer-based model trained using a mixture of objectives. Through extensive evaluations on English and multilingual language, and reasoning tasks, we demonstrate that PaLM 2 has significantly improved quality on downstream tasks across different model sizes, while simultaneously exhibiting faster and more efficient inference compared to PaLM. This improved efficiency enables broader deployment while also allowing the model to respond faster, for a more natural pace of interaction. PaLM 2 demonstrates robust reasoning capabilities exemplified by large improvements over PaLM on BIG-Bench and other reasoning tasks. PaLM 2 exhibits stable performance on a suite of responsible AI evaluations, and enables inference-time control over toxicity without additional overhead or impact on other capabilities. Overall, PaLM 2 achieves state-of-the-art performance across a diverse set of tasks and capabilities. When discussing the PaLM 2 family, it is important to distinguish between pre-trained models (of various sizes), fine-tuned variants of these models, and the user-facing products that use these models. In particular, user-facing products typically include additional pre- and post-processing steps. Additionally, the underlying models may evolve over time. Therefore, one should not expect the performance of user-facing products to exactly match the results reported in this report

An Ecological Momentary Assessment of Disordered Eating Behaviors within Alcohol Use Episodes: Determining Temporal Sequencing in Food and Alcohol Disturbance

The co-occurrence of disordered eating and alcohol use has been well documented in the literature. Food and Alcohol Disturbance (FAD), previously referred to as “drunkorexia,” refers to the use of disordered eating behaviors within an alcohol use episode for the purpose of increasing alcohol effects and/or offsetting caloric intake from alcohol. There is a relatively limited literature base which examines FAD; however, there is evidence that FAD is associated with alcohol-related consequences and health risk behaviors. As such, further study into this phenomenon is necessary. The current study aimed to address significant limitations in the literature. While the aims of the study were threefold, the primary aim of the study was to examine a proposed theoretical model of FAD. The study used a pre-/post- design to examine longitudinal consequences of FAD, as well as an in vivo examination of FAD using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). The aims were to 1) examine frequency of FAD engagement, 2) test a portion of the proposed model, 3) explore longitudinal consequences of FAD behaviors. Approximately 75% of the current sample engaged in at least one FAD behavior at baseline. While this may be slightly higher due to recruitment requirements, previous studies have found similar rates of engagement. The results of the EMA provided mixed support for the proposed theoretical model. In line with hypotheses, intention to consume alcohol was related to future alcohol use and compensatory FAD. Intention to consume alcohol was only predictive of concurrent alcohol effects FAD, which was not consistent with the theoretical model. Further, FAD behaviors did not predict future alcohol use. In partial support of the model, alcohol use only predicted concurrent compensatory behaviors, but not future compensatory FAD behaviors or alcohol effects FAD. While the null results may have been in part due to methodological limitations, these null results may also suggest key components still not accounted for in the theoretical model (e.g., expectancies for engagement in FAD). Finally, FAD did not predict subsequent alcohol-related consequences which was contrary to previous work. Overall, this study was the first to examine and find partial support for the proposed theoretical model of FAD behaviors. Future research should work to incorporate the findings of the current study to further elucidate the relationships of FAD, alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences as well as other elements which may increase engagement in FAD

An Ecological Momentary Assessment of Disordered Eating Behaviors within Alcohol Use Episodes: Determining Temporal Sequencing in Food and Alcohol Disturbance

The co-occurrence of disordered eating and alcohol use has been well documented in the literature. Food and Alcohol Disturbance (FAD), previously referred to as “drunkorexia,” refers to the use of disordered eating behaviors within an alcohol use episode for the purpose of increasing alcohol effects and/or offsetting caloric intake from alcohol. There is a relatively limited literature base which examines FAD; however, there is evidence that FAD is associated with alcohol-related consequences and health risk behaviors. As such, further study into this phenomenon is necessary. The current study aimed to address significant limitations in the literature. While the aims of the study were threefold, the primary aim of the study was to examine a proposed theoretical model of FAD. The study used a pre-/post- design to examine longitudinal consequences of FAD, as well as an in vivo examination of FAD using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). The aims were to 1) examine frequency of FAD engagement, 2) test a portion of the proposed model, 3) explore longitudinal consequences of FAD behaviors. Approximately 75% of the current sample engaged in at least one FAD behavior at baseline. While this may be slightly higher due to recruitment requirements, previous studies have found similar rates of engagement. The results of the EMA provided mixed support for the proposed theoretical model. In line with hypotheses, intention to consume alcohol was related to future alcohol use and compensatory FAD. Intention to consume alcohol was only predictive of concurrent alcohol effects FAD, which was not consistent with the theoretical model. Further, FAD behaviors did not predict future alcohol use. In partial support of the model, alcohol use only predicted concurrent compensatory behaviors, but not future compensatory FAD behaviors or alcohol effects FAD. While the null results may have been in part due to methodological limitations, these null results may also suggest key components still not accounted for in the theoretical model (e.g., expectancies for engagement in FAD). Finally, FAD did not predict subsequent alcohol-related consequences which was contrary to previous work. Overall, this study was the first to examine and find partial support for the proposed theoretical model of FAD behaviors. Future research should work to incorporate the findings of the current study to further elucidate the relationships of FAD, alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences as well as other elements which may increase engagement in FAD

A Psychometric Evaluation of the Compensatory Eating and Behaviors in Response to Alcohol Consumption Scale (CEBRACS)

Drunkorexia refers to a set of disordered eating behaviors that occur in the context of a drinking episode for the purpose of 1) off setting caloric intake of the alcohol or 2) increasing the effects of alcohol. The Compensatory Eating and Behaviors in Response to Alcohol Consumption Scale (CEBRACS) was developed with the purpose of measuring drunkorexia behaviors at three time points: before, during, and after a drinking episode. The purpose of this study was to further validate the measure for use in men and women by examining measurement invariance, reliability, and validity. First, single group confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted separately by gender to examine the underlying factor structure of the measure. The two groups independently showed similar factor structure. The factor structure for both men and women indicated the removal of the original CEBRACS Restriction subscale. A multi-group CFA was conducted on the modified factor structure using gender as the grouping variable. This revised measure was found to have scalar invariance suggesting that means and variances of this measure can be compared. The current study addressed several limitations of previous measurement validation studies including a large diverse sample and thorough examination of the psychometric properties of the CEBRACS. This work provides additional evidence supporting the validity of the CEBRACS and suggests measurement invariance between genders

Mass mortality of Northern Map Turtles (Graptemys geographica)

We report a mass mortality of Northern Map Turtles (Graptemys geographica [LeSueur, 1817]) on the north shore of Lake Erie, Ontario, Canada. Thirty-five dead adult females were recovered from a nesting area over a period of four weeks. Predation and boat strikes were both excluded as potential cause of death, but the actual cause could not be determined because of the poor condition of the carcasses. Other possible explanations for the mortality include poisoning, drowning, and infection with an unidentified pathogen. Mass mortality in long-lived species, such as turtles, can have long-term effects on population growth and is a cause for concern in a species at risk

Thinness Pressures in Ethnically Diverse College Women in the United States

While research consistently supports the negative impact of thinness pressures on body image, this work has primarily utilized White samples in the United States, limiting generalizability to other ethnicities. Further, limited research has examined ethnic differences in thinness pressures from distinct sociocultural influences. This study examined distinct sources of thinness pressures in 598 White, 135 Black, and 131 Hispanic college women in the United States. Mean levels of thinness pressures significantly differed across ethnicity, with Black women generally reporting the lowest levels of each pressure. Additionally, distinct sources of thinness pressures were more highly related to negative outcomes within ethnic groups. For White women, each source was salient for disordered eating. For Black women, family pressure was particularly salient for appearance evaluation. For Hispanic women, family pressure was particularly salient for disordered eating and appearance evaluation. Findings suggest possible ethnic differences in the relative salience of some pressures over others

Thinness Pressures in Ethnically Diverse College Women in the United States

While research consistently supports the negative impact of thinness pressures on body image, this work has primarily utilized White samples in the United States, limiting generalizability to other ethnicities. Further, limited research has examined ethnic differences in thinness pressures from distinct sociocultural influences. This study examined distinct sources of thinness pressures in 598 White, 135 Black, and 131 Hispanic college women in the United States. Mean levels of thinness pressures significantly differed across ethnicity, with Black women generally reporting the lowest levels of each pressure. Additionally, distinct sources of thinness pressures were more highly related to negative outcomes within ethnic groups. For White women, each source was salient for disordered eating. For Black women, family pressure was particularly salient for appearance evaluation. For Hispanic women, family pressure was particularly salient for disordered eating and appearance evaluation. Findings suggest possible ethnic differences in the relative salience of some pressures over others