scholarly journals First observations of the diet of the Pearl Kite (Gampsonyx swainsonii magnus) in southwestern Ecuador

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-198
Author(s):  
Adrian Orihuela-Torres ◽  
Jorge Brito ◽  
Juan Manuel Pérez-García
Keyword(s):  
Sample Size ◽  
Trophic Ecology ◽  
Taxonomic Group ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Active Nest ◽  
Pellet Analysis ◽  
Basic Studies

AbstractWe describe the diet of Pearl Kite (Gampsonyx swainsonii magnus) by pellet analysis collected in an active nest in southwest Ecuador in May 2018. Reptiles were the most consumed taxonomic group both in frequency of occurrence (FO = 46.4%) and in biomass (B = 59.8%), followed by birds (FO = 33.9% and B = 38.3%) and insects (FO = 19.6% and B = 1.8%). Our results showed Pearl Kite as a generalist raptor but with a higher consumption of reptiles, which is according with previous studies in other areas where other subspecies inhabit, despite this subspecies showed a higher consumption of birds. Despite the low sample size, this study is interesting as it is the first one on the diet of the Pearl Kite for Ecuador and also for this subspecies. Basic studies on the trophic ecology of Neotropical raptors such as this are needed. For this reason we encourage further studies to fill existing gaps in knowledge and improve effective long-term conservation strategies.

Nest cameras do not affect nest survival in a meadow-nesting shorebird

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
VOLKER SALEWSKI ◽  
LUIS SCHMIDT
Keyword(s):  
Nest Survival ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Survival Models ◽  
Northern Germany ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
Limosa Limosa ◽  
Study Sites

Summary Identifying the fate of birds’ nests and the causes of breeding failure is often crucial for the development of conservation strategies for threatened species. However, collecting these data by repeatedly visiting nests might itself contribute to nest failure or bias. To solve this dilemma, automatic cameras have increasingly been used as a time-efficient means for nest monitoring. Here, we consider whether the use of cameras itself may influence hatching success of nests of the Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa at two long-term study sites in northern Germany. Annually between 2013 and 2019, cameras were used to monitor godwit nests. In 2014 and 2019, nests were randomly equipped with cameras or not, and nest survival checked independently of the cameras. Nest-survival models indicated that survival probabilities varied between years, sites and with time of the season, but were unaffected by the presence of cameras. Even though predation is the main cause of hatching failure in our study system, we conclude that predators did not learn to associate cameras with food either when the cameras were initially installed or after they had been used for several years. Cameras were thus an effective and non-deleterious tool to collect data for conservation in this case. As other bird species may react differently to cameras at their nests, and as other sets of predators may differ in their ability to associate cameras with food, the effect of cameras on breeding success should be carefully monitored when they are used in a new study system.

scholarly journals A 12-year long global record of optical depth of absorbing aerosols above the clouds derived from the OMI/OMACA algorithm

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 5837-5864 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiren Jethva ◽  
Omar Torres ◽  
Changwoo Ahn
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Optical Depth ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Cloud Optical Depth ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Aerosol Cloud ◽  
Aerosol Absorption ◽  
The World ◽  
Absorbing Aerosols

Abstract. Aerosol–cloud interaction continues to be one of the leading uncertain components of climate models, primarily due to the lack of adequate knowledge of the complex microphysical and radiative processes of the aerosol–cloud system. Situations when light-absorbing aerosols such as carbonaceous particles and windblown dust overlay low-level cloud decks are commonly found in several regions of the world. Contrary to the known cooling effects of these aerosols in cloud-free scenario over darker surfaces, an overlapping situation of the absorbing aerosols over the cloud can lead to a significant level of atmospheric absorption exerting a positive radiative forcing (warming) at the top of the atmosphere. We contribute to this topic by introducing a new global product of above-cloud aerosol optical depth (ACAOD) of absorbing aerosols retrieved from the near-UV observations made by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) onboard NASA's Aura platform. Physically based on an unambiguous “color ratio” effect in the near-UV caused by the aerosol absorption above the cloud, the OMACA (OMI above-cloud aerosols) algorithm simultaneously retrieves the optical depths of aerosols and clouds under a prescribed state of the atmosphere. The OMACA algorithm shares many similarities with the two-channel cloud-free OMAERUV algorithm, including the use of AIRS carbon monoxide for aerosol type identification, CALIOP-based aerosol layer height dataset, and an OMI-based surface albedo database. We present the algorithm architecture, inversion procedure, retrieval quality flags, initial validation results, and results from a 12-year long OMI record (2005–2016) including global climatology of the frequency of occurrence, ACAOD, and aerosol-corrected cloud optical depth. A comparative analysis of the OMACA-retrieved ACAOD, collocated with equivalent accurate measurements from the HSRL-2 lidar for the ORACLES Phase I operation (August–September 2016), revealed a good agreement (R = 0.77, RMSE = 0.10). The long-term OMACA record reveals several important regions of the world, where the carbonaceous aerosols from the seasonal biomass burning and mineral dust originated over the continents are found to overlie low-level cloud decks with moderate (0.3 < ACAOD < 0.5, away from the sources) to higher levels of ACAOD (> 0.8 in the proximity to the sources), including the southeastern Atlantic Ocean, southern Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia, the tropical Atlantic Ocean off the coast of western Africa, and northern Arabian sea. No significant long-term trend in the frequency of occurrence of aerosols above the clouds and ACAOD is noticed when OMI observations that are free from the “row anomaly” throughout the operation are considered. If not accounted for, the effects of aerosol absorption above the clouds introduce low bias in the retrieval of cloud optical depth with a profound impact on increasing ACAOD and cloud brightness. The OMACA aerosol product from OMI presented in this paper offers a crucial missing piece of information from the aerosol loading above cloud that will help us to quantify the radiative effects of clouds when overlaid with aerosols and their resultant impact on cloud properties and climate.

Electrocautery Adenoidectomy Outcomes: A Metaanalysis

2008 ◽  
Vol 139 (2_suppl) ◽  
pp. P33-P34
Author(s):  
Jeremy T. Reed ◽  
Shankar K. Sridhara ◽  
Scott E Brietzke
Keyword(s):  
Sample Size ◽  
Random Effects ◽  
English Language ◽  
Operative Time ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Subjective Success ◽  
Random Effects Modeling ◽  
Lost To Follow Up

Objective Review and assess the current published literature regarding clinical outcomes of suction electrocautery adenoidectomy (ECA) in pediatric patients. Methods The MEDLINE database was systematically reviewed for articles reporting on the use of ECA. Inclusion criteria included English language, sample size greater than 5, and presentation of extractable data regarding pediatric outcomes with ECA. Random effects modeling was used to estimate summary outcomes. Results 9 studies met the inclusion criteria. There were 2 level 1b studies, 2 level 3b studies, and 5 level 4 studies. The mean sample size was 276 patients with a grand mean age of 6.0 years. Random effects modeling of summary estimates of intra-operative hemorrhage (4.1 cc vs. 24.0 cc 95% CI of difference = 16.5–23.1, p<0.001) and operative time (10.0 minutes vs. 11.9 minutes 95% CI of difference=0.82–2.90, p<0.001) favored ECA vs. traditional curette adenoidectomy. Subjective success was reported in 95.0% (95% CI=92.7–97.3%, p<0.001) of ECA patients with a grand mean of 5.8 months of postoperative follow-up and a grand mean lost to follow-up rate of 23.2%. Adenoid regrowth was evaluated objectively (endoscopy or X-ray) in only 116 of 2,132 (5.4%) total patients with an observed regrowth rate of 2.8% (95% CI=0–5.5%, p=0.052) with 846 total person years of follow-up. Conclusions The preponderance of evidence favors ECA versus curette adenoidectomy in terms of decreased intraoperative hemorrhage and decreased operative time. Long-term outcomes data for ECA are scarce, despite the fact that the procedure is likely performed hundreds of times each day, but suggest a low regrowth rate.

scholarly journals Population genetics of the coral Acropora millepora: Towards a genomic predictor of bleaching

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary L. Fuller ◽  
Veronique J.L. Mocellin ◽  
Luke Morris ◽  
Neal Cantin ◽  
Jihanne Shepherd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Wide Association Study ◽  
Balancing Selection ◽  
Genome Wide Association ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Genome Sequences ◽  
Acropora Millepora ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
A Genome ◽  
In The Wild

AbstractAlthough reef-building corals are rapidly declining worldwide, responses to bleaching vary both within and among species. Because these inter-individual differences are partly heritable, they should in principle be predictable from genomic data. Towards that goal, we generated a chromosome-scale genome assembly for the coral Acropora millepora. We then obtained whole genome sequences for 237 phenotyped samples collected at 12 reefs distributed along the Great Barrier Reef, among which we inferred very little population structure. Scanning the genome for evidence of local adaptation, we detected signatures of long-term balancing selection in the heat-shock co-chaperone sacsin. We further used 213 of the samples to conduct a genome-wide association study of visual bleaching score, incorporating the polygenic score derived from it into a predictive model for bleaching in the wild. These results set the stage for the use of genomics-based approaches in conservation strategies.

scholarly journals Long-Term Outcome of Deferasirox Chelation in Patients with Thalassemia Major

Blood ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 128 (22) ◽  
pp. 3620-3620
Author(s):  
Sule Unal ◽  
Neslihan Kalkan ◽  
Mualla Cetin ◽  
Fatma Gumruk
Keyword(s):  
Serum Creatinine ◽  
Sample Size ◽  
Serum Ferritin ◽  
Thalassemia Major ◽  
Iron Chelator ◽  
The Other ◽  
Single Center ◽  
Other Hand

Abstract Introduction: Iron overload is one of themajor complicationsof transfusion treatment in patient with thalassemia major. Deferasirox is a once-daily orally active iron chelator and long-term efficacy and safety data are being published. Herein we report the long-term follow-up data of thalassemia major patients in a single center. Methods: Of the 67 patients with thalassemia major who were under follow-up in a single center, 42 who were on deferasirox chelation for at least three years were included in the study. Patients' initial serum ferritin, ALT, creatinine, cardiac T2* and hepatic T2* values were recorded at the time of deferasirox initiation and at last visit. Deferasirox was not initiated as an iron chelator to none of the patients with a cardiac T2* value below 8 ms. All of the patients had creatinine clearance above 40 ml/minute and had serum creatinine levels within age appropriate normals at deferasirox initiation. None of the patients received any other chelations during the follow-up period. Results: Mean age of the patients were 16±9.4 years (2-33.4 years) at initiation of deferasirox and 22 (52%) were females. Eighteen (43%) of the patients were splenectomized. Median follow-up time of deferasirox chelation was 7.9 years (3-10). The median deferasirox doses at initiation of chelation and at last visit were 20.5 mg/kg/day and 30.7 mg/kg/day (7-40), respectively. Serum ferritin levels decreased significantly with deferasirox chelation (median 1969 ng/ml (516-5404) vs 1113 ng/ml (339-4003), p<0,001). We did not find statistically significant difference between the inital cardiac T2* values and the values at the last visit (median 25 .3 ms((8.7-42) vs 32 ms (6.6-42), p=0.607), despite a dramatic increase. On the other hand, hepatic T2* values did not significantly change compared to initial values, as well (median 3.7 ms (1-13.6) vs 3.3 (1-16), p=0.865). However of the patients who had cardiac T2* value between 10-20 ms, 67% was found to have T2* value above 20 ms by the end of the follow-up duration. On the other hand 53% of the patients with hepatic T2* value below 3.5 ms, had T2* values above 3.5 ms by the end of the follow-up, indicating improvement in iron stores. None of the patients exibited an adverse event that requires cessation of the drug totally, but patients exibited transient hypertransaminasemia that required transient cessation and/or dose decrement. The changes in serum ALT and serum creatinine levels at the initiation and at last visit were not significant. Conclusions: This is a a study that includes patients with a relatively long duration of follow-up. Although the cardiac T2* values improved by the end of the follow-up, this change was not found statistically significant. This can be attributed to the sample size and in a larger sample size, the change might be found significant. Additionally, the patients included in the study were composed of not only naive patients to chelation but also of the patients who were imcomplant to previous chelation and who were highly iron loaded before initiation of deferasirox. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

scholarly journals PITCH MEMORY AND EXPOSURE EFFECTS: Statistical learning and the effects of implicit "absolute pitch" on the perception and evaluation of music

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moshe Shay Ben-Haim ◽  
Zohar Eitan ◽  
Eran Chajut
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Considerable Proportion ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Auditory Cognition ◽  
Musical Cognition ◽  
Pitch Frequency

Recent studies indicate that the ability to represent absolute pitch values in long-term memory (LTM), long believed to be the possession of a small minority of trained musicians endowed with "absolute pitch" (AP), is in fact shared to some extent by a considerable proportion of the population. The current study examined whether this newly discovered ability affects aspects of music and auditory cognition, particularly pitch learning and evaluation. Our starting points are two well established premises: (1) frequency of occurrence has an influence on the way we process stimuli; (2) in Western music, some pitches and musical keys are much more frequent than others. Based on these premises, we hypothesize that if absolute pitch values are indeed represented in LTM, pitch frequency of occurrence in music would significantly affect cognitive processes, in particular pitch learning and evaluation. Two experiments were designed to test this hypothesis in participants with no AP, most with little or no musical training. Experiment 1 demonstrated a faster response and a learning advantage for frequent pitches over infrequent pitches in an identification task. In Experiment 2 participants evaluated infrequent pitches as more pleasing than frequent pitches when presented in isolation. These results suggest that absolute pitch representation in memory may play a substantial, hitherto unacknowledged role in auditory (and specifically musical) cognition.

scholarly journals The fish fauna of streams in the Madeira-Purus interfluvial region, Brazilian Amazon

Check List ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela de França Barros ◽  
Jansen Zuanon ◽  
Fernando Pereira De Mendonça ◽  
Helder Mateus Viana Espírito Santo ◽  
André Vieira Galuch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Fish Fauna ◽  
Brazilian Amazon ◽  
Neotropical Region ◽  
Environmental Conservation ◽  
Taxonomic Group ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Species Richness And Diversity ◽  
High Species Richness

Small headwaters streams of the Neotropical region usually have high species richness and diversity. This study aimed to investigate the species composition and abundance of fish fauna in the headwaters streams of the Madeira-Purus interfluvial plain in the Brazilian Amazon. A total of 22 streams of 1st to 3rd order were sampled during two expeditions at two separate locations in April-May and July of 2007. A total of 5508 fishes were captured using hand and small seine nets, belonging to 78 species, 22 families and six orders. Characiformes was the most diverse taxonomic group in the samples, followed by Gymnotiformes and Siluriformes. Our findings indicate that the fish fauna of streams in the Madeira- Purus interfluvial plain is both rich and diverse and should be considered during the implementation of strengthened environmental conservation strategies in this region. 

Reproductive success of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and its association with habitat or landscape features and weather in southeast Alaska

1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (10) ◽  
pp. 1595-1604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott M. Gende ◽  
Mary F. Wilson ◽  
Mike Jacobsen
Keyword(s):  
Early Spring ◽  
Average Density ◽  
Nesting Success ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Haliaeetus Leucocephalus ◽  
Bald Eagles ◽  
Active Nest ◽  
Southeast Alaska ◽  
Landscape Features

Long-term data have been collected on nesting bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in three areas of southeast Alaska. The average density of active nests was among the highest recorded, but nest productivity (average number of young fledged per active nest) and success (percentage of active nests that fledged at least one young) were similar to values in other areas. Using logistic regression, nest productivity was associated with several habitat or landscape features (productivity was highest in proximity to spawning herring and at a particular location), each of which could be related to the availability of prey (fish) in the early spring (April, May) during egg laying and incubation. Consistency of nesting success was associated with the presence of tidal flats at one study site. Nest use, but not nesting success, was related to nesting success the previous year. Multiple regression showed that fewer nests per kilometre were successful in years with a high frequency of spring rains.

Long term trends in the frequency of occurrence of the F3 layer over Fortaleza, Brazil

2002 ◽  
Vol 64 (12-14) ◽  
pp. 1409-1412 ◽  
Author(s):  
I.S Batista ◽  
M.A Abdu ◽  
J MacDougall ◽  
J.R Souza
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Long Term Trends

Primary Drivers of Reptile Overwintering Habitat Suitability: Integrating Wetland Ecohydrology and Spatial Complexity

BioScience ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (7) ◽  
pp. 597-609
Author(s):  
Chantel E Markle ◽  
Paul A Moore ◽  
James M Waddington
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Habitat Suitability ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Habitat Availability ◽  
Freshwater Turtles ◽  
Wetland Ecosystems ◽  
Winter Conditions

Abstract Identifying ecosystems resilient to climate and land-use changes is recognized as essential for conservation strategies. However, wetland ecosystems may respond differently to stressors depending on their successional state and the strength of ecohydrological feedbacks resulting in fluctuations in habitat availability and suitability. Long-term habitat suitability is necessary for the persistence of wetland-dependent species and a key characteristic of climatic refugia. In the present article, we review and synthesize biogeochemical, thermal, ecological, and hydrological feedbacks and interactions that operate within wetlands and, consequently, regulate overwintering suitability for many freshwater turtles and snakes. We propose that understanding the breadth and interconnected nature of processes controlling temperature, dissolved oxygen, and water table position are vital for the conservation of northern reptile populations that depend on wetlands to survive winter conditions. Finally, we suggest that our integrated framework can guide future research and the management of wetland ecosystems in an era of unprecedented change.

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