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Abstract Effective wildlife monitoring and management are reliant on unbiased estimators of population parameters. Most standard survey approaches ignore spatial pattern in the data although spatial relationships can be leveraged to produce more efficient designs for future surveys, thereby reducing project cost. Landscape‐scale surveys for brown bears are notoriously expensive and difficult to complete, leading to the development of a non‐invasive mark–resight aerial survey approach as a practical alternative to more commonly employed approaches for estimating brown bear density across large areas. Here we extend that model to accommodate spatial covariate information and explicitly model residual spatial autocorrelation. Using brown bear survey data from northwestern Alaska, USA from 2015 to 2021, we demonstrate how our extension can be useful in exploring ecological factors related to spatial variation in bear density and detection probability. We found that detection probability was higher in more rugged terrain, and occurrence probability was higher at mid‐elevations where denning habitat was more prevalent and in areas with more salmon streams. The descriptive model of residual autocorrelation confirmed that additional unmeasured factors were associated with bear distribution. While these findings were not unexpected, they are very useful when considering future survey effort. Using this information, we explored a hypothetical redesign of the 2021 brown bear survey that removed 50% of the survey subunits with elevation values below the mean, where bears were least likely to occur. We demonstrated that the resulting estimates were unbiased, suggesting that adopting the spatial approach to analysis could reduce overall project costs by ~20%–30% going forward. Overall, our work indicates that directly accounting for spatial pattern within the non‐invasive mark–resight framework has substantive advantages over the original non‐spatial approach and may be useful in increasing the amount of information available for brown bear populations.

BackgroundPremenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is an understudied, debilitating disorder of women. Given evidence for prefrontal cortical and limbic dysfunction in PMDD, we compared intrinsic connectivity of the executive control network (ECN), default mode network (DMN), and amygdala in women with PMDD vs. controls.MethodsThirty-six women (18 PMDD, 18 control) participated in fMRI during the follicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. At each time, resting-state functional connectivity was evaluated both before and after participants performed an emotion regulation task. The ECN was identified using independent components analysis, and connectivity of left and right amygdala seeds was also evaluated.ResultsNonparametric permutation testing identified a cluster in the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG) with significantly stronger connectivity to the left ECN in women with PMDD vs. controls in all four fMRI sessions. Women with PMDD exhibited no difference in functional connectivity between menstrual cycle phases. Amygdala connectivity did not differ between the groups but differed significantly with menstrual phase, with left amygdala connectivity to cingulate cortex being significantly stronger during the follicular vs. luteal phase. Right amygdala connectivity to the middle frontal gyrus was also stronger during the follicular vs. luteal phase, with no group differences. These findings suggest that women with PMDD have different intrinsic network dynamics in the left executive control network compared to healthy controls.

A variety of genetic techniques have been devised to determine cell lineage relationships during tissue development. Some of these systems monitor cell lineages spatially and/or temporally without regard to gene expression by the cells, whereas others correlate gene expression with the lineage under study. The GAL4 Technique for Real-time and Clonal Expression (G-TRACE) system allows for rapid, fluorescent protein-based visualization of both current and past GAL4 expression patterns and is therefore amenable to genome-wide expression-based lineage screens. Here we describe the results from such a screen, performed by undergraduate students of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Undergraduate Research Consortium for Functional Genomics (URCFG) and high school summer scholars as part of a discovery-based education program. The results of the screen, which reveal novel expression-based lineage patterns within the brain, the imaginal disc epithelia, and the hematopoietic lymph gland, have been compiled into the G-TRACE Expression Database (GED), an online resource for use by the Drosophila research community. The impact of this discovery-based research experience on student learning gains was assessed independently and shown to be greater than that of similar programs conducted elsewhere. Furthermore, students participating in the URCFG showed considerably higher STEM retention rates than UCLA STEM students that did not participate in the URCFG, as well as STEM students nationwide.

The objective of this article was to analyze the credit activity of the Popular and Solidarity Financial Sector of Ecuador in the first five-month period of 2021, according to the data generated by the Superintendency of Popular and Solidarity Economy with cuts to the months of January, February, March, April, and May of the same year. The figures of the loan portfolio by the segment of the popular and solidarity financial sector, by economic activity, as well as the distribution of the loan portfolio by segment, type of credit, sex, age range, and level of education were identified and analyzed, which made it possible to know the performance of the credit portfolio in this sector during the time analyzed.

This article presents initial results from excavations at Maritime Academy, Frindsbury, which produced several handaxes, two of which can be classed as 'giant handaxes'. Artefacts were recovered from fluvial deposits in the Medway Valley and are thought to date from the Marine Isotope Stage 9 interglacial. This article focuses on the largest of these handaxes and presents metrical data for the artefact and initial comparison with similar artefacts from the British Palaeolithic.

Secondary lesions and hemopathy localized in sternal bone may be responsible for persistent pain and resistant to classical analgesics. Surgical treatment is not applicable in these cases. We report on 2 cases of sternal osteosynthesis by internal cemented screw fixation, under fluoroscopy and CT scan control, without complication and with clear, immediate reduction of pain. Cementoplasty alone does not appear to be the most appropriate approach for treating lytic sternal lesions which are subject to traction and distraction forces, and resistant to analgesics. Discussion of these 2 cases demonstrate that internal cemented screw fixation allows for rapid management of pain in lytic lesions of the sternum in cancer-related context and should be more widespread in the medical community.

La dinámica escolar ha dependido del sector económico garantizando que el conocimiento circule, en la escuela, de manera homogénea, al ocultar sistemáticamente, las epistemes afrocolombianas que el Movimiento Social Afro ha protegido. De hecho, los planes de desarrollo definen el horizonte institucional al que se ve sujeto toda la ciudadanía, poniendo en tensión a las comunidades, sin tener en cuenta su concepción de desarrollo. El presente artículo, producto de una investigación en curso, visibiliza que a partir de la expedición de la Ley Páez se consolidó el modelo económico generando transformaciones de las concepciones educativas y curriculares causando impedimento para garantizar el respeto a la integridad étnica, cultural, ambiental, territorial y política, de las comunidades afronortecaucanas.

BackgroundDifficulties in regulating emotions are linked to the core symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). We therefore investigated the neural substrates of emotion-regulation problems in women with PMDD.MethodsOn the basis of self-evaluations over 2 months on the Daily Record of Severity of Problems, eligible participants were assigned to two groups: PMDD and control (18 per group). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a well-validated task were used to assess brain function during emotion regulation. Participants were tested twice, once during the follicular (asymptomatic) and once in the late luteal (symptomatic) phase of the menstrual cycle.ResultsWomen with PMDD gave higher ratings of negative affect in the luteal phase than in the follicular phase, and compared with healthy control participants during the luteal phase. A region-of-interest fMRI analysis indicated that during the late luteal phase, women with PMDD had hypoactivation in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) during all conditions of the emotion-regulation task, not only in the contrast that isolated emotion regulation. An exploratory whole-brain, voxel-wise analysis showed that women with PMDD had less activation in the precentral gyrus during the luteal phase than the follicular phase, and less activation in the postcentral gyrus compared with control participants.ConclusionsDuring the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, women with PMDD experience difficulty regulating emotions. Hypoactivation in the right dlPFC may contribute to this problem, but may be related more generally to other affective symptoms of PMDD. Hypofunction in the right pre- and postcentral gyri warrants additional study.

Improved forest management (IFM) has the potential to remove and store large quantities of carbon from the atmosphere. Around the world, 293 IFM offset projects have produced 11% of offset credits by voluntary offset registries to date, channeling substantial climate mitigation funds into forest management projects. This paper summarizes the state of the scientific literature for key carbon offset quality criteria—additionality, baselines, leakage, durability, and forest carbon accounting—and discusses how well currently used IFM protocols align with this literature. Our analysis identifies important areas where the protocols deviate from scientific understanding related to baselines, leakage, risk of reversal, and the accounting of carbon in forests and harvested wood products, risking significant over-estimation of carbon offset credits. We recommend specific improvements to the protocols that would likely result in more accurate estimates of program impact, and identify areas in need of more research. Most importantly, more conservative baselines can substantially reduce, but not resolve, over-crediting risk from multiple factors.

Financial support is a critical enabling factor for healthy agri-food innovation systems, particularly within resource-limited settings, though additional forms of support are also necessary. This motivated a critical comparative review of evidence in peer-reviewed and gray literature on the range of instruments that support innovation in agri-food systems in the Global South, toward achieving sustainable agriculture intensification. The main aim is to provide recommendations to innovation managers on the choice of different instruments for supporting innovation. The key guiding questions for the comparative analysis were whether the instrument fosters uptake of innovation and whether it promotes inclusive development. A review of the literature was supplemented with a scan of websites for sources of peer-reviewed and gray literature documenting the application of the 12 selected instruments. The study revealed three categories of instruments: (Type A) those that support entrepreneurship; (Type B) those that primarily finance innovation; and (Type C) those that support innovation in real-life contexts. Our analysis indicates that innovation managers and funders need to select instruments that are likely to fit the specific context as well as to address the mandates of their organizations, and in so doing, they must consider how to ensure the sustainability of their investments and meet the needs of their beneficiaries. This review represents one of a handful that have compared the use of multiple instruments across multiple continents in the Global South, and can serve as an important decision-making tool for investors and funders looking to invest in agri-food innovation systems.

This study aims to count the transaction costs on farms of hybrid corn of dry seeds and analyze the factors that the transaction costs affect on farms of hybrid corn of dry seeds at through UPJ. This research was conducted in the Gorontalo province with samples in Gorontalo disctrict and Boalemo and using ekononometric equation analysis as a method of analysis. The results showed that the value of the average transaction costs on farm of hybrid corn of dry seed sales amounted to Rp1.545.466,- per transaction on per farming, and the factors that affect significantly the fault tolerance of 5 percent to the transaction cost on farms of hybrid corn of dry seeds sales consist of the total production, regional market prices, technical labor wages, commissions and degradation rate. The conclusions in this study stated that the total transaction costs incurred the hybrid maize of dry seeds farmers on sales is still high enough to reduce farm income and the factors that the transaction cost affect on sales of hybrid corn of dry seeds significantly includes the total production, regional market prices, technical labor wages, commissions and degradation rate. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menghitung biaya transaksi usahatani jagung hibrida pipilan kering dan menganalisis faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi biaya transaksi usahatani jagung hibrida pipilan kering melalui penjualan ke UPJ. Penelitian ini dilakukan di Provinsi Gorontalo dengan sampel kabupaten Gorontalo dan kabupaten Boalemo dengan menggunakan analisis persamaan ekononometrika sebagai metode analisisnya. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa besaran biaya transaksi ratarata penjualan jagung hibrida pipilan kering sebesar Rp1.545.466,- per transaksi per usahatani, serta terdapat faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi secara signifikan pada toleransi kesalahan 5 persen terhadap biaya transaksi penjualan jagung pipilan kering yang meliputi total produksi, harga pasar regional, upah tenaga teknis, komisi dan nilai degradasi. Kesimpulan dalam penelitian ini menyatakan bahwa total biaya transaksi yang dikeluarkan petani atas penjualan jagung pipilan kering masih cukup tinggi sehingga memperkecil pendapatan usahatani jagung hibrida, serta faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi biaya transaksi penjualan jagung hibrida pipilan kering secara signifikan meliputi total produksi, harga pasar regional, upah tenaga teknis, komisi dan nilai degradasi.

Significant attention has been paid in the international literature to the effect of in-service training on the interaction skills of teachers in early childhood education and care. The growth of pre-service teachers during teacher education has received relatively little attention to date, however. In a mixed-methods longitudinal study, we monitored the development of interaction skills among a group of Dutch pre-service teachers with repeated measures for 3 years and structured interviews. The results of a linear mixed-effects model revealed an impressive growth of interaction skills during the pre-service training. The qualitative interview data revealed progress of pre-service teachers' professional reflection on their interaction with young children. These outcomes show the effectiveness of pre-service training for the development of interaction skills and professional reflection in early childhood education and care. However, progress is relatively modest for instructional skills and this domain needs further investment in pre-service training.

Cocoa is one of the important plantation commodities that plays a significant role in Indonesia's economy. CV. Putra Mataram is an industry in Polewali Mandar, South Sulawesi, that processes cocoa into Macoa chocolate products. The challenges faced by the company in developing Macoa chocolate products include its less strategic geographic location, limited labor during production and marketing, inadequate production equipment for small businesses, insufficient funding for large stock procurement, numerous competitors for Macoa chocolate products, lack of continuous supply of fermented cocoa beans, rising raw material costs, and unpredictable weather. This study aims to analyze the priority strategies suitable for developing Macoa chocolate products at CV. Putra Mataram in Polewali Mandar. The research methods used were TOWS and QSPM analysis. The results showed that the appropriate strategy for the business development of Macoa chocolate products at CV. Putra Mataram, based on the IE matrix, falls into cell II, with weighted scores from internal and external factors (2.97 and 3.23), placing CV. Putra Mataram in the "Hold and Maintain" position. This strategy indicates that the marketing activities of Macoa chocolate products require a "hold and maintain" approach. Based on the TOWS analysis, nine alternative strategies were identified. The priority strategies for developing Macoa chocolate products at CV. Putra Mataram, based on QSPM analysis, include improving the quality of Macoa chocolate products and expanding partnerships in various cities/regions. The highest total attractiveness score (TAS) for the SO strategy was 6.26. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Monitoring of airborne pollen concentrations provides an important source of information for the globally increasing number of hay fever patients. Airborne pollen is traditionally counted under the microscope, but with the latest developments in image recognition methods, automating this process has become feasible. A challenge that persists, however, is that many pollen grains cannot be distinguished beyond the genus or family level using a microscope. Here, we assess the use of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to increase taxonomic accuracy for airborne pollen. As a case study we use the nettle family (Urticaceae), which contains two main genera (Urtica and Parietaria) common in European landscapes which pollen cannot be separated by trained specialists. While pollen from Urtica species has very low allergenic relevance, pollen from several species of Parietaria is severely allergenic. We collect pollen from both fresh as well as from herbarium specimens and use these without the often used acetolysis step to train the CNN model. The models show that unacetolyzed Urticaceae pollen grains can be distinguished with > 98% accuracy. We then apply our model on before unseen Urticaceae pollen collected from aerobiological samples and show that the genera can be confidently distinguished, despite the more challenging input images that are often overlain by debris. Our method can also be applied to other pollen families in the future and will thus help to make allergenic pollen monitoring more specific.

Despite data supporting the rapid adoption of telehealth in the delivery of clinical care in North America, the implementation of telehealth visits in clinical research studies has faced critical barriers. These challenges include: (1) variations in state licensure requirements for telehealth; (2) disparities in access to telehealth among disadvantaged populations; (3) lack of consistency among individual Investigational Review Boards (IRBs). Each barrier prevents the systematic conversion of research protocols to include telehealth visits. The Parkinson’s Foundation and members of the Parkinson Study Group submit this Comment to highlight current challenges to implementing telehealth visits for clinical research studies. Our objective is to provide a consensus statement emphasizing the urgent need for regulators to standardize adoption of telehealth practices and to propose recommendations to reduce the burden for implementation in existing research study protocols.

Perú ha sido uno de los países más afectados por la pandemia de COVID-19. Luego de haber sufrido dos olas epidémicas devastadoras, el departamento de emergencia del Hospital Nacional Edgardo Rebagliati Martins mantuvo como reto la preparación, de forma constante y dinámica, para afrontar una tercera ola que ya azotó a muchos países del mundo. Para esto, el departamento se preparó en todos los ámbitos para contribuir a la reducción del impacto de la enfermedad, garantizando no solo la calidad en la atención, sino también la seguridad del personal de salud, modulando la carga laboral y mental generada por la sobredemanda de la pandemia. De esta manera, el departamento estuvo mejor preparado cuando ocurrió la tercera ola. En conclusión, la preparación constante y dinámica es fundamental para afrontar el aumento de casos; así como también, garantizar la seguridad y bienestar del personal de salud.

El ibis de la puna Plegadis ridgwayi, es una especie de Threskiornithidae que habita humedales andinos y realiza migraciones altitudinales hacia la costa. Datos propios, de GBIF, información bibliográfica y del Censo Neotropical de Aves Acuáticas (1992 a 2015) muestran que el ibis de la puna Plegadis ridgwayi se distribuye en Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, Argentina y Chile, con las mayores densidades poblacionales en Perú y Bolivia en siete y tres localidades respectivamente, que acumulan más del 1% de la población biogeográfica. Se encuentran de 0 a 5000 m de altitud, con las mayores densidades entre 3000 a 4500 m y 0 a 500 m. La mayor incidencia de registros ocurre al sur y centro del Perú, así como costa del centro y norte del Perú. La ampliación de la distribución hacia el norte y costa peruana puede deberse a la disponibilidad ambiental y al deterioro de su hábitat andino. En cuatro humedales costeros del centro del Perú se registraron hasta 818 ibis en 2006, la gran mayoría en Pantanos de Villa y Paraíso. El número de migrantes costeros parece relacionado a la intensidad de sequías en la sierra del Perú central. La abundancia de ibis en el lago altoandino de Junín muestra una disminución histórica, con énfasis después de la sequía de 2004-2005. La expansión distribucional requiere investigar la posible hibridación con las otras especies del género antes alopátridas.